November in a Nutshell

We went to Maryland for Thanksgiving week to celebrate with Scott's family. For the first time since before I have joined the family, we had everyone there for a holiday! It was so much fun! My mother-in-law outdid herself, and we all had a blast. Talk about good food...I haven't dared weigh myself since we got home...since the eating hasn't slowed since. ;-> Caden and Soleil had so much fun with their cousins! And I have almost thawed out. Brr!!


Playing in the leaves. The kids LOVED those leaves!


Seriously, they loved those leaves. 3 acres of leaves!!


What's a Thanksgiving without a little touch football?
That's Caden in the blue sweater with the ball...already a quarterback!


Well, it was supposed to be touch football until the uncles started tackling each other.
I think that's Scott getting tackled by his older bro Brent. Tackled or wrestled....just like old times.


The 3 boy cousins, or should I say the 3 boy superheroes?


Soleil loved playing with Grandma.


Grandpa and Caden's birthdays are a day apart, so they had a joint family birthday party.
Happy Birthday boys!

We went to the Baltimore and Ohio Train Museum on our last day there. ( The B&O Railroad has a square on the Monopoly board if it sounds familiar to you) Caden still loves all things trains, and we all had fun.










Well, we all had fun until it was nap time, right Soleil?

Thanks for a wonderful trip, Barry and Linda! We can't wait for the next family reunion!

My good friend Maree was kind enough to have her birthday in November as well, so we rounded up the gang and went to lunch. It was perfect, crazy chaos with as many kids as adults, but it was so fun being with good friends, eating good food, and only having 1 kid to wrestle myself. Happy Birthday Maree! And sorry I didn't get these pictures to you any sooner!

My mom was able to spend some time with us in November. She timed her trip with Caden's party, so we had an extra set of hands to help and she got to help us celebrate his birthday. It was fun to have her!

Grannie with her favorite grandkids.

My dad was also here for a couple of days, but for some reason I CANNOT remember to take a picture when he is with my kids. I kept him busy with house projects - thanks Dad for being my Mr Fix It!

This is from his July visit. At least we have good tans!

Love you both!

Caden turned four in November. It's been a fast four years! He is such a sweet kid - so funny and kind. He is a great helper, which I love, and is becoming quite the sports fanatic, which Scott loves. Caden loves playing with his friends and being outside, so this year we did a Batman birthday party in the park. We played lots of games, ate pizza and cake, and hit the Batman pinata. It was a super hot day (because what else would you expect at the end of November?) but we stayed cool in the shade. Happy Birthday, Caden! I love you!!


Duck Duck Goose...but where did the Goose go?


The boys waiting their turn for the pinata.


You are going down, Batman!


Showing off some of his Batman spoils.

Soleil got her first haircut at the beginning of November. It was time to clean it up and make it less mullet-ish. She's watched Caden get his haircut for a year now, and has wanted her turn for a long time. She loved every minute of it. This girl is all girl!

The end result. She even got bedazzled!

Note to self: even though it sounds cute, do not get the glitter again. It just makes a mess and gets all over everything!