November 2017

We started off November with a fantastic field trip to the Log Cabin Village in Fort Worth!  We had never been here before and all loved it!  The kids were able to dip candles and explore a hands-on settler's cabin.  Josiah's favorite thing was pushing this wheelbarrow all around!  

We made pumpkin muffins one afternoon to share with the kids' CC classes.  Isaac ended up getting sick that night, so we didn't go to CC the next day and had oodles of extra pumpkin muffins!

Emma loves her Monday ballet class!

My kids really enjoy their sleepovers at Mom-o and Pop's!  Emma and Isaac rotate back and forth for sleepovers, but now Josiah has joined the rotation!  This was his first sleepover, and he was so proud to pack his suitcase!

The Walmart toy catalog came, and Emma poured over it!  It reminded my sister and me of how we used to devour the Sears and JCPenney catalogs that came in the mail! 

Isaac received this bed canopy for his birthday!  He loves animals, so the Arctic animal theme was perfect for him!

Emma painted fall trees using Q Tips! 

We had a coupon code to use for InstaCart grocery delivery!  It really is amazing to live in a time when groceries can be delivered to your door!  We've only done this two others times, but it is a treat!  And, Emma and Isaac are now fantastic at unpacking and putting up all the groceries each week!  

Sweet girls in Sunday School 

Our favorite donut shop has a new amazing kind of donut--frosted blueberry!  I think we buy all of them whenever we go!  (They run out of this flavor early in the morning!)  We always get a laugh out of how carefully Josiah eats his donut so as not to get any frosting on his hands!  He'd really prefer that you cut it up so he can eat it with a fork.

Sunday lunch at our favorite~Dickey's--you can always count on seeing many CBC families there each Sunday!  :)

School in November

Emma has started "reading" to Josiah--she narrates the stories very well for Josiah by following the pictures!

Emma began a short math unit on money!  

my favorite moments of homeschool--all cuddled up reading!

One of my favorite things is my kids in holiday/seasonal clothes, and fall is my favorite of all!  "Pumpkin spice and everything nice"

Last day of CC before Thanksgiving and Christmas break 

Emma helped Dave make pies on Thanksgiving morning.  Isaac had spent the night before Thanksgiving at my parent's house, which is why he isn't in this picture!  

Isaac's favorite is to eat the turkey leg!

We left the morning after Thanksgiving to go camping with my parents at Cedar Hill State Park!  It was so beautiful!  On Friday evening, Isaac and I went on a nighttime nature walk led by one of the park rangers.  Isaac was so proud of me for touching the ranger's pet snake (just for a millisecond)!!

from Isaac: "My mom and I were coming down the road to a night exploring walk.  I touched a corn snake, and my mom touched a corn snake, too!  We went on a hike to a barn and a house and a big barn.  We looked for scorpions there by shining purple lights, which made the scorpions glow.  When we walked around the corner there was a dead skunk, and I got to hold it!" 

We celebrated my dad's 65th birthday a few days early while we were camping!

Goodwill finds of the month (ha!)--this little Elsa wagon that Emma loves pulling around the house!  On this particular night, she pulled all the Jello to the table in it.  We also found Tupperware-brand trays, which the kids think are so fun to use for lunchtime!  (Maybe it makes them feel that they're in a cafeteria!?!)

My dad turned 65 on November 30!  He was in town that night, and we all loved celebrating and singing "Happy Birthday!"  The kids picked out lots of his favorite candy and treats for him (mainly licorice)!

I'm thankful for these sweet moments! 

Emma's Birthday Tea Party

Happy 6th Birthday to our precious Emma Victoria!  

She woke up to 6 balloons on her door and a (slightly burned) #6 pancake at breakfast!  We baked cupcakes that afternoon to eat after dinner, and then we took the rest to her CC class to share the next morning!  This is a figurine I received on my sixth birthday.  

Emma's favorite gift was the Doc McStuffin's vet mobile!  Her cousin has one, and she loves playing with it every time we are at her house.  

Emma loves riding her bike, so we planned to have a bike and tea party to celebrate her 6th birthday! But, we had so many rainy days (receiving over 9"!) in the week before her birthday party that we felt it was just too wet and muddy to ride bikes to the park!  Maybe next year!  Instead, the girls dressed up and brought their dolls.  

On her party day, Emma woke up early, dressed in her Ariel costume, and began setting the table.  It was darling to see how attentive she was to folding the napkins!  After the table was set, we went to Isaac's basketball game.  Dave had quickly hung up some poms and balloons from the light fixture before he left for the basketball game.  When we returned home from the game, Emma walked into the kitchen and said, "Wow!  That came together well!"  

Five sweet little friends came for a tea party, and we had a lot of fun!

This is Emma's friend with the same name, and they get such a laugh over having the same name!  My Emma changed costumes (mid-party) to match her friend Emma.  :)

The girls did lots of crafts and necklace-making in our school room.  They were concentrating so hard on their projects and were absolutely silent!  Dave and I kept laughing about how different this was than Isaac's rambunctious football party!

We had a relay game where the girls had to get the doll out of bed, put her in the stroller, push the doll in the stroller around the kitchen, put her in the highchair, feed her a cupcake, and pour her a cup of tea!  Whew!  It was hilarious!  These girls took it seriously and the dolls had quite a ride!  

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I set out all our girly-themed cake decorations that I've accumulated over the years, and Emma decorated the cupcakes on her own.  After snacks and cake, the girls played another game outside where they had to balance a heart-shaped marshmallow on a spoon as they walked down the driveway.  

My mother-in-law gave Emma tea set pieces that she had as a child, and Emma and her friends had so much fun playing with them.  They poured so much sugar back and forth between the pieces, ha!  

We celebrated with my parents that evening, and Emma received new princess sheets!  Of course, we had to put them on right away when we got home!

Six years old seems so big!  We love you, Emma!