November (minus Thanksgiving)

it was another fly by month for us! here are the highlights...

i love taking Sunday pictures =o]

kent plays the piano every sunday, and sometimes other nights too and i love it- so do the kids!

we cleaned the church and had some fun while we were at it!!

our backyard has some pretty cool features, like this walkway up to the wildlife preserve. jenna made it all the way to the top one day and wouldn't come down (she might have been scared because it is steep!) so indiana jones aka natalie had to help rescue her. 

i love the mornings around here- no stress!

both of the girls have princess nightgowns as pictured here- though jenna doesn't get to wear hers without a onesie underneath because she will take off her diaper in bed!

we have to get creative sometimes while waiting for dad to get home now that it is too dark to play outside to keep our sanity =o] natalie and caleb are actually playing together using their imaginations so much lately!

homeschool is still going well. i'm so grateful it is an option for us! natalie has to do PE each day and sometimes we do unconventional things like sand skating art 

quidditch

a kick-boxing video 

or trampoline dancing (notice jenna with the no pants situation. what am i going to to with that girl? soon she will learn to unzip feet pajamas and unsnap onesies. will she be one of those wants-to-be-naked kids???) we love our adventures each day!

i have had to lower my expectations for the cleanliness of my homes since having four children. maybe someday i will be able to go back to doing my weekly chores but for now i can't handle it. i only have two hands! so i made this chore chart and we are sharing the load more and just simply doing less. (the "E" stands for everyone) i have to keep reminding myself that i am choosing to spend my time on eternal things, not temporal things. and that it will not be what i have done for my children that counts, but what i have taught them to do for themselves that will be important in the end. 

natalie got to meet Rapunzel at a friend's birthday party- she was thrilled! and yes she is wearing her Dorothy slippers from halloween. why argue?

caleb continues to hone his baking and cooking skills. once he told me he wants to be a chef. i said his wife is going to love him so much and she smiled the cutest smile. (this is pumpkin cheesecake for thanksgiving)

jenna continues to be a train wreck. 

but a cute one. 

and our little seth is lookin large!

we also took family pictures to send out in our christmas cards and for our walls and mantle. here are my favorites (don't worry, they aren't copyrighted =o]):

this month and last month have been special to me. i know that this next month will be too. it feels good to fill my life with memories i want to keep. i love my family so much- my immediate family and family of origin! what do people do without family to make their lives meaningful? i will never know.