November

Where does the time go?  The last two months were a whirlwind!!!  Someone once told me that the days are long but the years are short.  I'm beginning to understand what they were talking about.  So I will share with you a little about what we did in November.

November for us always starts off in a kind of bittersweet way.  It seems like it is getting harder and harder for me to know how to best celebrate Caden and what he meant to us and to let others know that I need them at the time of year.  I never want to be a bother to anyone, but I also am aware that they may not know how to help and need direction from us what will be helpful.  So we got away for a day and ended up in Tulsa where we experienced the aquarium there.

We spent the rest of the month thinking about what we are thankful for.  Here are some of our favorites:

• Each Other - It's hard to believe, but we've been with each other for nearly 16 years.
• Our Kids - Even though there are some days when discipline is hard, those two have been a HUGE blessing to our lives and have brought us so much needed joy.  I will never get over some of the funny things Jaycee says, and how Miles learns from her so quickly.
• Health - We've been trying to eat, live, and play a little more healthier these days.  I've ventured in to the smoothie world, and I love it!!!  We have also been going to the YMCA on a semi-regular basis.
• Tom's Job- Even though he has had a really busy year with some different schedules and class assignments, he is blessed to be working and doing something where the time goes by so quickly that he barely has time to stop and think some days.  Our family is so lucky to have such a hard working husband and dad.
• Staying Home - I have prayed about that decision for a long time.  I've always wanted to stay home with my kids, and now that I am, it is so very different that I expected, but it is so good too.  The lack of income was a little hard to adjust to at first, but I'm still busy as I was before, just now it's in a different way.  Running myself and two kiddos around has been a challenge for me, but also a lot of fun for my kids.
• Lastly, we are so thankful that we get to study and learn about God and His lessons for our lives.  I honestly don't know how I would make it sometimes if I didn't have my Bible to help walk me through some of the decisions we've had to make in the last couple of years.

Speaking of Thanksgiving, we celebrated with my grandparents and some aunts and uncles at the farm.  I have so many memories of that farm and I'm glad that my kids get to make some of their own too.  It was a beautiful day!!!  I was so glad b/c the kids got to run and play without having to be watched so closely. 

These are my grandparents.  They are in their nineties and still live out on the farm on their own.  They do get a little help from my mom and aunt, and are quite feisty, but I guess when you're that old, you've earned the right to be a little feisty from time to time.

 

 

 

 I thought instead of holding Miles in my lap that I would let him sit on a couple of phone books and sit in a chair by himself.  He's been wanting to feed himself without my help these days.  So he went to it with mashed sweet potatoes all over his face, but I know he loved it.  Hard to believe that my boy is growing too fast!!!

 

 

 

 I'm not quite sure what Tom was trying to tell me here, but he obviously had something to say, or it could be that he knew I was taking a picture and planned out what he was going to do.

 

 

 

 Of course I had to get a picture of this little cutie!!!  She is definitely not camera shy.  She actually ended up staying overnight with grandma the Friday after Thanksgiving while Tom and I did some Black Friday shopping.  It was just a little easier to do it without her.  My mom was kind enough to meet us in Maize and take her for a quick overnight stay, and then we would pick her up the next Saturday when we went to my grandma's house.

 

 

 It was an amazingly beautiful day for November in Kansas.  After eating, we let the kids go outside and enjoy the fresh air.  My grandparents have a rather long driveway, so we let the kids have races up and down the driveway.  It was great, b/c they both slept really well on the almost hour drive home.  This guy loves to run!!! 

 

 

 

 Tom even tried to do some running with them.  Miles' feet sometimes got a little ahead of the rest of his body, but he continued to pick himself up and run to keep up with Tom and Jaycee.

November was a month to reflect on many things for me.  Some moments were very hard and it seemed like I would not withstand the challenges that were placed in front of me. I ended up working a lot at the church Nursery, which meant a little extra spending money for us, but most things that were challenging or difficult to deal with seemed to work out in the end.

Be looking for many more wordless posts of just pictures to come soon.