Sunny November

Now that we're in the middle of a very wet, cold, and gray January, I'm realizing just how sunny and nice November was. I miss the sunshine!

Mason was my good leaf helper this year. He really tried hard to help rake the leaves, but was much better at scattering by jumping in, running through, and throwing them. ;)

Not having anyone to carpool with for Mason's preschool has become a huge blessing in disguise. His preschool is a little too far from home to make driving back there worth my time so I run errands, work on my computer at the Tigard library, OR go to the temple. There is just barely enough time to do a session. I have been able to attend the temple more regularly in the last few months than I ever have and it has been wonderful! I have so needed the Spirit and peace I feel every time I enter this beautiful building. It is my happy place!

Spencer's last soccer game of the season was the first Saturday of November. Look at that sun! He had another good season with Coach Anderson. They didn't win as many games as they did last year, but Spencer still grew a lot as a player, made some new friends, and had a great time. As someone who never played a team sport, I have been so pleased with all of the life lessons sports have taught Spencer. I don't always love the schedules, but Spencer is a better person because of the things he has learned on the field and court. Mason doesn't love having to wait until after halftime to play games on my phone. ;)

This $75 trampoline was our best purchase of the year. So much laughter and good old exercise happen out there!

I took the boys to their favorite Lego store in Canby one Saturday. We all made mini figures. The mustached, afro guy cracks me up!

Spencer was super upset when he found out that he got placed in a FACS (home ec.) class for one of his electives at school. He has wound up really enjoying the class though and learned some great basic cooking skills during the first trimester. Spencer has never wanted to help much in the kitchen so I'm very grateful that he's developing a new interest there! He made these brownies almost totally by himself and is a good egg-scrambler.

Veteran's Day turned out to be beautiful so we took advantage and went hiking at Tryon Creek State Park. There was actually very little complaining for once and it was a lovely, refreshing afternoon.

Mason learned how to zip his own jacket! Whoot whoot!

Once again, our school district had the entire week of Thanksgiving off. That left the boys and I with lots of time to kills while Alan prepped for the Turkeythons like crazy. I know we did more than play with Legos, but I didn't take pictures, so I don't remember details. I'm sure the boys had some friends over and that I spent lots of time in the kitchen though!

Thanksgiving morning was cold and sunny this year. There were three Turkeythons this year and we went to the closest one at Cook Park. Spencer and I ran the 5k together while Mason hung out with Alan and then I ran the kid's race with Mason. Both boys did a great job running and I'm so glad they enjoy this tradition. And I have to say that Alan pulled off another fantastic race! He was too busy for pictures this time though.

After the race, the boys watching the Macy's parade and played with Snap Circuits while I showered and took a short nap to help with my usual post-race migraine. :( I was smarter this year and had prepped everything I possibly could food-wise in the days before Thanksgiving.

We had a small group for the feast this year - just Alan's parents, Teri, Jim, and Clara, and us. The meal was as wonderful as always. Mason LOVED Teri's ranch dip and didn't want to stop eating cucumbers with it! Super funny since Mason usually hates veggies! It was really fun to catch up with the Dunlops. We don't get to see them often enough! They are fun game players and taught us a new game called Cover Your Assets. Clara was so sweet and cute with Mason. She let him be on her team and made him feel like a million bucks. That girl is a gem!

Thanksgiving fell late this year (the 28th) so we were still on break at the end of the month and took advantage of that time to get our Christmas tree up. We bought a new artificial tree this year because I purchased a shag rug for our living room last spring and didn't want pine needles all over in my cozy rug. Our house is tiny so there was no where else to put the tree. This artificial tree is WAY nicer than our old one and wasn't as disappointing as I expected it to be. As always, decorating the tree was a special and favorite tradition. I think this was Mason's last year on Alan's shoulders though. Alan's smile didn't last long. Haha!