Much of November was cold.
A once-in-a-lifetime treat: eating hot dogs at Costco for lunch. It was a hit.
Building forts with Nana. She's way better at it than I am.
Me watching Jane the Virgin, which is one of my new favorite shows. I don't know why I took this picture. Maybe I didn't?
Poor sad Jude. He had just woken up from a nap and was very angry at me for taking this picture. But how could I not?!
Cute kids at Cahoots. This is what I do on Friday morning in exchange for working out on the other days. Usually my boys aren't in here with me, but they had already done an hour of preschool and wanted a change of scenery.
Also at the beginning of November, some house projects I had been trying to get done for a year or so finally started happening. Nate hung up these shelves for me. They have more than just a jar on them now.
My bookshelves still need help. Like trim on the top and bottom and along the seams. And I still need to figure out how to display my display stuff so it doesn't look like I just threw junk on the shelf (which is all I have done so far).
Nate refused to hang another collage wall for me, so I did it myself. I'm really pleased with how it turned out, but I still need to fill all the picture frames with the pictures I want.
The kids took down the toys we bought them in Mexico and started a band. They sang and danced and even wrote down their own music.
They had many different combinations of bands with different names and different songs. Colin organized everything and had a sheet with the order of the performance.
Preschool field trip to BYU's dinosaur museum. The kids loved it, as usual.
This is Jude being naughty on the stairs and refusing to come down.
Gray dressed up as something weird. I think that was supposed to be lava coming out of his head.
Jude was delighted to discover that his overalls had pockets.
My mother-in-law works at Sage Creek Elementary and sent me these pictures. Apparently the faculty put together some sort of book 19-ish years ago and included quotes from students. (And they misspelled my name, go figure.)
Another preschool field trip, this time to the BYU museum of Peoples and Cultures, or something like that. I had never heard of it before. It was super small, and I think only part of what they usually have, but the kids liked it.
Silly faces with the kids.
On the 19th I took Kate and her friend Hazel to see the Nutcracker ballet performed by Barlow Arts Conservatory. It was a the Covey Center in Provo, and it was excellent. Kate insisted that we be fancy, so we were. It was a big deal for these girls, and it didn't disappoint. We stopped and got a milkshake on our way.
Striking a ballet pose. (They are in the same ballet class.)
I didn't even ask them to pose this time.
I was surprised the girls stayed awake and interested through the whole thing. It didn't start until 7:30 pm, and they put on the entire ballet, so it was over 2 hours long. But the girls were just enchanted, and I really enjoyed it too.
A little something Kate brought home from school.
The children love the fireplace. They are obsessed with it. This was the first time we had turned it on since Kate was a baby.
Thanksgiving did not go as planned for us. We were supposed to join Nate's family for dinner and games at Caleb's house in Bluffdale. But the night before Kate and Jude decided to puke their guts out. Sweet! We cancelled our plans and decided to just stay home. (Full disclosure, Kate had thrown up 3 other separate days in the previous 2 weeks, and Gray and Colin had each had 1 turn too.) The only food I had planned on making that day was raspberry salad dessert and rolls. The kids were super bummed about missing out on a feast (Kate had missed her kindergarten feast because she threw up the night before that too) so I decided last-minute to throw something together to make the day special for them.
The kids entertaining themselves while a sleep-deprived crazy person tried to cook.
Success! We ended up with green beans, clementine oranges, mashed potatoes, rolls, pie, raspberry salad, stuffing, glazed carrots, and sweet paprika chicken. I used the fanciest serving dishes I had. Everyone had a great lunch.
Scotty stopped by on his way home from Caleb's house with some extra pie and the game Pie Face for the kids. Pie Face made up for everything. They were so happy.
Snuggles/wrestles with dad at the end of the day.
Two tuckered out little boys who decided to sleep in the same bed that night. Awww.
On Friday I told the kids that if we got all the chores done (and there were a lot) we could play Rock Band and put up the Christmas tree. It was a loooooong day. But eventually we earned our rewards.
Our old Christmas tree is the Charlie Brownest of all Charlie Brown Christmas trees. It doesn't even stand straight anymore. But I let the kids put the decorations on it and I haven't touched it since. They love it, so I love it.
My Christmas printables. Usually temple pictures hang here, but they are getting a break for the holidays.
Have I mentioned that the kids love the fireplace?
Kate displayed all of the stockings on the couch.
Brother hugs.
Spirits were still kind of down after Thanksgiving weekend was spoiled, so I let Kate open her gift from Mom and Dad on Saturday night, the day before her birthday. I threw in the two boy Barbie doll-type princes that she was given before but had decided she didn't want to play with. I thought she might like them again. She was not pleased that I put them in her present. For some reason, she really hates Flynn Rider now (which kind of breaks my heart because he's my favorite).
There's a genuine smile. She asked for boots for her birthday.
Nana's Minnie Mouse hoodie was also in the bag (whoops) and Kate liked that too.
All I wanted was to take a picture of Jude playing sweetly with his Elsa, but the rest of those dumb boys had to ruin the picture.
There we go. Kind of.
Awww.
Kate opening presents on her actual birthday. She was less smiley, but just as pleased with her gifts.
I don't know why she couldn't muster up a smile.
She wasn't pleased that I made her put on the hoodie again.
Birthday cake!
On Monday the boys were in desperate need of haircuts, so after I took the kids to school in the morning I cut hair and gave baths. Then we picked up Kate from kindergarten, and Nana from her house so we could take Nana to the airport.
Naturally, we had to stop for hamburgers at our favorite Hamburger Store. (In'N'Out)
Monday after school I let Kate invite some friends over for a birthday play date and tea party. It was super last minute that I invited people, so I didn't think many girls would be able to come. Oh how wrong I was. I think I had 10 girls including Kate. Yikes. But we were fancy and had a lot of fun.
I tried to tell the moms that presents weren't necessary since it was supposed to be just a play date and not a birthday party, but some were kind enough to send a gift anyway. Kate was grateful.
The girls all crowded around her, so it was hard for me to take pictures.
