November

Posted by Amanda Watts December 09, 2014

November

November was AAAAMAZING for may reasons. I finally feel like we had a chance to settle down in November. Really, November was the first month we didn't have some big event in our lives and we got to just be. And it was fantastic.

Unfortunately winter came a little early this year. I think this is the first time in 3 1/2 years that we have experience sub zero temperatures and snow in November. I blame the snow on Mr. P.

The week of the first predicted snow storm I made the mistake of telling Peyton. This kid lives for snow. I think he may be the male version of Madeline..."She loved winter, snow and ice"-Yep, that's Peyton. He prayed for snow. He was so mad at me that I couldn't make it snow. I told him only Heavenly Father could help the snow come. So he continued to pray for snow. It took a couple days of patience but his prayer was answered! We got our snow and played in the snow a lot. We even went sledding on Thanksgiving on a crisp 2* morning. Avery, on the other hand, was not a fan of snow last year and this year her first snow experience was not welcomed. But when round 2 hit, I think she figured she might as well enjoy it because, girlfriend, we live in Minnesota.

So my favorite part of the month took place on the 13th. Let's back up, a while ago Chad was on call and I got caught up on FB seeing what people were up to and whatnot and I ran across a post that Garth Brooks was coming to Minneapolis. The concert was like 2 weeks away and I thought there would be no way we could make it happen. Then my angel of a friend said they had a concert they wanted to go to in Minneapolis as well and we could swap babysitting. I bought the tickets and we got to see GARTH BROOKS!! It was INCREDIBLE. I honestly had been waiting my entire life for that moment and I never thought it would happen. He did not disappoint. Even Chad (Who never uttered a note during the show) said it was the best show he has ever been to. It was seriously so amazing...I have no words.

So some other pretty cool (and not so cool) things that happened in November...

We got to watch Baby Owen while his mama practiced piano upstairs. Avery is a born mama. But Peyton is only now showing interest in his sister. So I was surprised when he loved Baby Owen so much. Peyton even played "Baby Owen". One day after O came over, Peyton took a baby doll and put her in the swing. I came down stairs and he asked me to come say hi to his baby. The day went on and a few hours later he said. "I'll be right back, Mom, I have to go check on my baby." He brought her upstairs. I told him he was so sweet to his baby. I said, "Are you his brother, or daddy?" and melt my heart he said, "No, I am a good mommy for this baby".

Peyton got into cutting paper, vacuuming and taking pictures. And when we got the Christmas stuff out, he liked to pretend to play Santa but only Mom gets to be Santa and wear the hat.

Avery learned to go down the slide on her bum in November and started going to nursery which wasn't so successful.

Peyton and Mommy dropped out of swim class. It was not a good experience. My boy is in no way afraid of the water but he is pretty opinionated and stubborn. He wanted to do what he wanted to do and not play the games. The water was super cold too and and we just felt sad and defeated after each lesson. When we would get in the car to go Peyton would say "I'm unhappy!" Maybe we'll try a different class in the future.

We had some great family dates this month and it even "worked out" to go visit Dad at the hospital when he was on call. "Mommy, I'm so glad it worked out." These babes do love their dad. What's not to love??

I started playing in a basketball league which nearly killed me the first time out. I haven't played basketball since 8th grade and have not truly exercised in probably just as long unless you count walking around the block. Eeek!

So, our annual flu bug hit our home in November. It started with the kids and then of course I got it. So hopefully we are done with that for the year.

We spent Thanksgiving with our good friends. It as a happy day! I would love to say that it was nice and quiet but with 4 kids under 4 running around, it was anything but and I wouldn't have had it any other way.

We clogged our garbage disposal on Thanksgiving. This is only worth mentioning because....When Chad and I first got married, I had to learn how to cook. Sure I had done simple things-mac 'n" cheese, Top Ramen- and some baking but I didn't have any experience. So I was making potatoes and I thought it was no big deal to put the ends and the peels in the garbage disposal...WRONG. And Chad was not happy with me. It is probably the first time I remember him being visibly annoyed at me. I sat in the bedroom and cried while he fixed it because I just felt so bad! (It's stupid, I know.) But I tell you that story to tell this story...6 1/2 years later, Chad thought it was a good idea to put carrot peels and carrot toss offs in the garbage disposal....WRONG!

And finally, we kicked off our fun old fashioned family Christmas by trimming the tree. It was a pretty magical (and stressful) experience putting all the "wents" aka ornaments on the tree with our sweet little Avery and Peyton.