Looking back at November

Sometime in October I went through our annual family photobook and allocated pages for the rest of the year.  To get lay-flat pages I can only have 90 of them and they are very carefully parceled out.  Besides my two usual month-end recap pages that each month gets (one of random pictures of the boys and one of just other life things), I gave 2 pages to Thanksgiving weekend and then left one other page for November.  It didn't seem like many, especially when the summer months each get about a dozen, but, turns out it was.  Nothing much happens in November.  That one other November page went to the snow we got mid-month that gave Luke his first 2 hour delay of the year.

November is an in between month, especially this year with Thanksgiving so late.  Besides parenting and (some) sleeping (will Sam ever grow out of his sleep problems?  5 months in and it's starting to feel like NO), school runs, reading, house cleaning...not a lot happened.  I did get to meet our newest nephew (adorable) and was a confirmation sponsor for a niece (honored), Sam is talking up a storm and Luke is making strides in his reading.  We were home a lot and I Christmas prepped and baked and did some shopping (still plenty left) and kinda just relaxed and took a breath before December crazy-ness kicked in.  Oh and we had an adoption home visit, I keep for getting about that one.

Looking back:
1 year ago: Viva Las Vegas!
2 years ago: {25} Christmas Picture Books (we rereading all of these again this year!)
3 years ago: Flying with a Three Year Old (MUCH easier than flying with an 8 month old!)
4 years ago: Dark Chocolate Oatmeal Cookies
5 years ago: Praying for the Next One
6 years ago: Christmas Treats: Reindeer and Turtle Noses
7 years ago: It's Almost the Most Wonderful Time of the Year
8 years ago: Kitchen Project 
9 years ago: Guess What We Did This Weekend? (I may have hated this project even more than the bathroom remodel)
10 years ago: On Vacation!


Here's how November looked to us!

1) Matt & Luke made a No Noggin that they were VERY proud of.  I assume most parents of kids under 10 know what I am referring to.
2) We still had beautiful fall colors at the beginning of the month!
3) Spritz cookie baking day with my Mom, 3 of my sisters, and a combined 9 kids not yet in school!  I think we did about 11 batches!
4) So we need to activate those child locks more...
5) SNOW
6) And more snow!
7) And then I had a snowball in my freezer...
8) Beautiful sunrise, back when the sun was rising before we left for school.
9) Getting back into family movie night!  Sam spent the ~15 minutes of the movie he watched yelling "Vader! Vader!" at the tv.
10) Sam got into my Christmas book stash (this is still the week before Thanksgiving)...more than once.
11) Mashing 12 lbs of potatoes.  Maybe not the best thing for my arthritic hands.  But I LOVE mashed potatoes.
12) A brief moment of quiet before the busy of Thanksgiving weekend began!
13) My Thanksgiving Eve tradition for about 10 years now.  I watch The Family Stone and address Christmas cards and I LOVE it.
14) Place settings on Thanksgiving.  What this doesn't show is the ~2 hours I put into figuring out a seating chart for our 13 adults and 16 kids (all under 10).
15) On Black Friday I get a solo Target shopping trip and I LOVE it.  Thanksgiving weekend has a lot of things I love.
16) Starting the decorating process.  It is a process.  But I also LOVE that.




Books finished: 13, just 17 more I want to read by the end of the year, it's fine.  It's not like we have anything else going on or anything.
Miles ran: 0.00, usually I run at least a couple in November but with lingering foot problem and already having taken a month off...I'll be back to it in the spring!
Currently watching: Two of our usual shows are on a break until the new year (The Good Place for us both and Grey's Anatomy for me), we're one episode into The Mandalorian and a couple episodes into The 2000s on Netflix.  We do intend to start season 2 of Jack Ryan soon-ish too, but really haven't had much time for tv lately!

Most read post this month: Quick Lit - November and then A Day in the Life #11
Luke's current favorite song: I played Jingle Bell Rock on my phone when we were driving to get a Christmas tree and Luke was reminded of how much he loves it.  I will probably come to regret that by the end of the month.

Happy December!  How is there just one month left in this decade???