November seemed to go by in the blink of an eye. As usual, life got the best of me and I've failed at updating the blog. November was full of pizza movie nights (okay, only two), colder weather, birthday parties, time with family, and more.
Friday night dance party, instrument practices, pizza, and movies. Those are my kind of Friday nights.
The programming committee (that I'm a part of) for the Museum came up with all of this! Which means I've been spending quite a few Saturday's at the Museum. I feel guilty for coming up with a bunch of ideas and not being there for them.
Elizabeth had dance practice every Saturday in November, so the boys were with me. We enjoyed our Saturday morning Caribou coffee stops.
We spent an afternoon at the Civic Center to see a Livewire production of The Ugly Duckling. It was awesome!
After the play, we let the minis run through the skywalk,, then we headed to The Hall for drinks, dinner, and time with friends.
Sunday mornings are for sleeping in...even if it's just for a little bit. On this particular Sunday, I was asleep in bed when Elizabeth tapped me awake, "mom, can you open these bubbles please?" (long pause as I open them half asleep) "and can I go outside and blow the bubbles? I don't really think you'd like them on your carpet or the other floor. I'll put boots on." I had to get out of bed for a picture of this: bubbles, boots, shorts and a tee on a rainy, 40 degree day.
This lasted all of 6 minutes before she was right back in my face asking, "mom, can I blow bubbles in your bathtub please??? It'll wash off when you shower whenever you decide to shower." Brilliant and a slam at the same time.
The minis made forts in the boy's room. They made a giant pile of clothes to jump into from the bunk bed. Sometimes (or most of the time) I don't really care what they're doing as long as they're not fighting with each other!
So, we're not a totally vegan family, however, I am vegetarian and making a conscience effort to eat less animal products. Surprisingly, the minis have been on board with this as well (although, as the main meal prep person, they don't have much of a choice) and we have several favorite vegan recipes and treats. We tried this a few weeks ago and two of the minis (and myself) prefer this vegan mac to regular mac and cheese.
Friday nights usually find me at home in sweats. This Friday night I went to a craft show with my mom and sister. This is where I found the reusable sandwich bags and I instantly regretted not buying more!
The minis joined me at the Museum for a busy Saturday morning. We had just enough time after our shift to visit Santa (as a family!) before heading to a little friend's birthday party.
Birthday games, pizza, and running around (on top of a busy day) made for exhausted minis. I can't honestly remember what Hubs and I did for the night, but judging by the numerous pictures I took of the cats, I'm guessing we put on jammies and Netflix.
November was birthday party month. The following day, we went to a birthday party for my Aunt Cindi. The minis played board games most of the day. Their favorite this month is Clue.
The minis are in charge of gift wrapping for all of these birthday parties. Just think, their wrapping skills are getting better (hard to believe, huh?). The ripped portion on the top makes me giggle because I had a gift card taped to it, but the oldest mini ripped it off and taped it inside of his card!
"O.M.G. mom, these pumpkin bars are so good. Why do yours taste different?" Probably because I make vegan pumpkin bars and these are the yummy ones!
We stopped at Michael's for craft supply shopping. The minis instantly spotted these and begged to get every color so they could be ready to go for next summer. These might be going in stockings for Christmas.
Our haul from Michael's and Dollar Tree. I didn't come home broke either!
Sunday nights are hard, especially when we've been busy all day/weekend. It's a rush to get everyone into bed at a decent hour, no one wants to listen, and there's only a certain amount of time to do get my to do list complete before the start of a new week. I've made a plan for our December weekends to have plenty of down time so there's no major breakdowns from any of us (Hubs and I are included in this).
Daycare by day, writer when I need an escape, and programming coordinator for the Des Moines Children's Museum by night. I've had to make a few late night trips to the Museum to drop off supplies for programming events I scheduled and forgot about. Someday, when I'm a grown up, I'll be organized. Or so I tell myself.
The weekend before Thanksgiving had us at dance practice all Saturday morning, errand running, and attending more birthday parties. The minis were rock stars and kept up with the craziness of the weekend. We also decided it was the perfect weekend to demolish the basement (don't ask me why because it will now be completely torn up until January). The highlight was eating Charlie Brown Thanksgiving for lunch and going to The Grinch movie with Grandma, Grandpa, and Aunt Jenny.
We love Trader Joe's soy chorizo and numerous other products. We bought a lot for our Thanksgiving meals, but I loved these chocolate ornaments. We had to test them out, but managed to save most of them for the Christmas tree.
I spy a little cat waiting for a bite. Spoiler kitty cat: is soy chorizo, not meat and it's spicy. Soon after this was taken, kitty cat would soon find this out.