November 2010

November 1- did school, enjoyed the cooler weather with the kiddos, went on a field trip to tour the back of CFA with the kiddos and the williams, watched caden and caroline for a couple hours of fun, had a dead van battery after waking ephram up to go to the Y, played with my teething baby, heard, "i will!" all day from e, realized that he's been saying "animals" instead of 'elmo', got messy painting with kinsey, and watched braden ride his bike a ton.

November 2- ran 4+ in the neighborhood, LOVED the hours of outside time with the kiddos that was actually a little cold, took cailey to meredith's for a playdate, did school, cut coupons, cleaned, loved, hugged, watched my little girl play outside with a friend, held, rocked, played princess games with kinsey, read books to all four, had talks, sang songs with e, listened...to piano, listened to children, found the girls asleep in the twin bed together, and prayed.

November 3- ran 5 with beth, did school, played lots of games on our dreary day, heard ephram say, "mama here?", had a puppet show with kinsey, snuggled with my teething baby, had a fun talk with braden, met the papa's at cfa for dinner, and served at awanas.

November 4- did spelling, math, and english, went to two craft shows in the pouring rain, took cailey to have her wart frozen for the third (and most painful time)...she was SO brave!, did super double shopping (again in the pouring rain), fed the kiddos lots of cookies, muffins, pretzels, and other craft show 'junk', bought some cute things, went to dinner and toy story 3 at the klick's, watched cailey be AMAZED at their new playroom, went to a Sunday school women's social, put all the kiddos to bed LATE and discovered a blinking light in the van...very scary with the kiddos (brian followed me home).

November 5- spent lots of money having the van fixed for the third time this week, went to co op, subbed in a great Native American class, taught preschoolers about bears, realized that ephram always sucks on his stuffed animals noses while sucking his thumb...and will only suck his thumb when he has a stuffed animal (any), had a cleaning day and watched Cailey and Braden do an AWESOME job on their jobs, was amazed by Cailey on the piano, celebrated with Braden as he was so diligent at his given tasks, loved on Kinsey extra...because it was a hard day for her, and cleaned under everything (couches, beds, dressers, etc.)

November 6- woke up with a pinched nerve in my shoulder/neck which altered our entire day of plans, entertained the kiddos from bed while brian ran 10 miles in the rain, and enjoyed a day of listening to the kiddos play inside with each other (and daddy).

November 7- missed yet another long run because I couldn't move my arms w/o pain, thanked the Lord it wasn't something worse, had awesome one on one time with cailey talking about God's will and different times in my life, and spent another day laying down while listening to the kiddos play outside, inside, and have a blast with each other.


November 8- did double school, had a sick big girl who tried her best, watched Toy Story with cailey, tried to rest my shoulder more and spent time snuggling and reading to my babies, chased ephram all around just to hear him giggle and squeal, watched braden ride his bike 'super fast', and stayed up too late reading.

November 9- ran 4 with Beth, did double school, cleaned, sang lots of songs with a super cute boy and girl who just happen to have almond eyes, had a teething baby, listened to piano lessons, read an awesome Uganda blog, read TONS of books with kinsey, had a playdate with the Lawley's and met sweet Alex, went on a super doubles 'date' with kinsey, snuggled with cailey LOTS, got sweet compliments from braden at dinner, and realized that ephram does.not.like.to.share....toys.

November 10- ran early with super fast kelly:), drove to laura's for a playdate and sleepover, had a blast all day catching up and hugging on lots of littles, got extra lovin' from my hannah, took all the kiddos to AWANAS and went on a date with Laura and ephram (who ended up being sick for a while), got the kiddos to sleep quickly (yay:), and laughed a lot....especially about perforated handwriting pages:).

November 11- was pleasantly surprised to wake up in the morning and NOT in the middle of the night, all night (from ephram) on our sleepover, spent all day with cailey, rebecca, and auntie anne at the southern Christmas show, traveled down memory lane, LOVED the precious time with all three girls, ate my fav. coated nuts, bought crafts, decided we'd DEF do this again, was blessed by laura, who watched all 6 other kids, was THRILLED to see my other three babies again and get lots of hugs covered in chalk, drove home to see my hubby, and didn't unpack.

November 12- had a great 6 mile run with the girls, went to the last fall co op, picnicked with kelly and beth at the park, cleaned, hugged, hung out with my sweet kiddos, played games, read scripture, encouraged, loved, snuggled, met the klicks for dinner, went to legacy co op finale night, and came home to pack.

November 13- went to the wakefield craft show with braden and cailey, loved that braden bought a gift for cailey when she wasn't looking, packed up and drove to the OBX, picked up brian's race packet, enjoyed WINDY time together on the beach, loved hanging out with the fam in front of a fire, listened to loud laughter as the kiddos played and jumped on the bed, and was surprised that everyone fell asleep in the same room early and slept soundly.

November 14- woke up early to cheer brian on for his 1/2 marathon!, didn't get lost, cheered the kiddos on as they walked a mile to the finish line, congratulated brian, cheered on friends, packe, ate lunch out together, picked cotton with the big kids, watched the littles nap, got perspective on the face of 1/2 marathoners, cleaned up kinsey after she was sick...twice...in the van, snuggled with her, read books to her while the others were at choir, heard so many new words from ephram, watched cailey read two ramona and one american girl book in the van, and loved chatting with braden.

November 15- slept in just a little, woke to big hugs, did some school, took a Y break to run 4 miles, got many giggles from the biggest, had crocodile tears from the littlest as i attempted to take a Christmas picture, did more school, beamed as braden got an award and walking stick at boy scouts, had a fun playdate with the Corbetts, left lots undone, chased a happy boy, sent kinsey to find a lost shoe...three times in one day, loved, hugged more, chased, was given a sweet note from cailey, listened, and crashed.

November 16- took cailey and braden on their first 2.2 mile training run for the Jingle Bell Run, finally got adoption paperwork notarized at the bank, did school, listened to an AWESOME piano lesson, played a new loop game with kinsey...all day, did sorting (aka throwing) with ephram, read some great stories written by the oldest two, did speed work with molly, received a special homemade card from kinsey, finally figured out that ephram's "ah knee" means "help me' and spent great time with braden.

November 17- had SORE legs on my 5 mile run (loved running two of those with cailey), heard tons of new words from ephram (just like everyday) but none as cute as "knock knock knock" after the song "i stand at the door and..." he even did the motions and we had NO clue he knew that song, ate yummy chili, wiped e's nose a lot, read tons of books to the youngest two, and was a proud mama at AWANAS when Cailey finished her entire book as well as the gold and silver AND braden said the entire first chapter of Genesis.

November 18- cheered on c and b when they came home from running 2.4 with brian, went on a nature hike with the hileman's and klick's, saw God's AMAZING colors in the woods, laughed, watched rocks being thrown into water, hugged a silly big girl, shared kinsey's excitement as she went to her first drop off party (sniff sniff), hung out at the klick's all day and night, went shopping with kelly...without kids...to the mall for dinner, uggs, and great deals at old navy, and came home to kiss my sleeping babies.

November 19- ran 7 (5 on treadmill 2 outside solo), prayed for sick brian, spent over 5 hours having a blast at marbles with the klicks and williams, laughed a lot, rocked all my babies, learned how to ping chat, consoled a sad girl who had a tummyache and had to miss her first AG book club, and put the kiddos to bed early with lots of reading:).

November 20-parade day! went to the christmas parade and watched the joy on the kids faces as the different things passed by, went to casa linga for lunch with the williams afterwards, watched the kiddos play in leaf 'tornados', got the house cleaned so we could decorate for Christmas, got sick and couldn't help, spent the night in pain and throwing up:(, and got lots of hugs from my Cailey girl.

November 21-heard ephram say the sweetest words EVER "love you", spent my day in bed trying to get better but still feeling sick, listened to braden's adventures about his scouting hike, wiped baby's nose...a lot, sent two kiddos to choir, and prayed for my sweet Cailey girl as she was SO sick all day long...throwing up so much:(.

November 22- loved watching the look on Cailey's face as her sister made her a get well card, took care of my sick Cailey and let her watch TWO movies, did a little school, played games with kinsey, read Barney's 5 senses to Ephram about 10 times, read a "Samantha" book to the girls, prayed, laughed, and tickled with Braden, called uncle matt for his birthday, and packed for our Thanksgiving trip.

November 23-LOVES that cailey said she was thankful for 'lightricity', ran with beth, did school, ran errands, met the williams for lunch, praised GOD for saving cailey's life when she ran in front of a car, ran more errands, laughed at littles, got great deals on Christmas gifts online, watched precious kinsey sing in her Thanksgiving program for choir, drove to MD late at night, sang carols with the family, had great talks with Cailey, listened to my big book read, and chased my baby boy.

November 24- ran 3.1 miles with cailey and braden!!, went shopping with the fam, met nonny for lunch, played many games (including jenga, to grandma's house, scrabble, tiddly winks, candy land, plus more), listened to kinsey read, kissed braden's squishy cheeks and tickled him...lots, loved on my four precious kiddos, and talked about thankfulness and I Corinthians 13.

November 25- woke up early to a sad stinky baby and barking dog, went to CVS with braden for some great deals, talked about things we're thankful for, had a great 8 mile run with Brian in 1.23!, took mom to CVS, smelled yumminess from the oven all day, made pizzelles, played lots of games, tickled, snugged, rocked, fed, helped, cleaned, sung, taught cailey hand slap games (say say oh playmate), watched the kiddos play in the leaves, kissed boo boos from kinsey falling outside and ephram inside, was very thankful, hung out with mom, and was filled to the brim.

November 26- went shopping early and realized it wasn't worth the fuss when the Internet has better deals, cheered on the kiddos as they ran 3 miles again, played lots of games, went to a 'bouncy store' with the kiddos and loved watching ephram enjoy his freedom, play air hockey w/ the oldest two, watched braden box with poppy, loved hearing about all of mom's ornaments as we unpacked them, watched kinsey show off her reading skills to nonny and poppy, listened to cailey play the piano (and watched how proud poppy was of her), and went out for ice cream and shopping with nonny.

November 27- ran a fast 3 (and cailey joined me for the first mile), the kiddos ran over 2, played games, watched cailey rake up bunches of leaves, sent them trash or treating with poppy, took Christmas pics outside in the COLD windy weather, ate lunch at the amish place, chased my baby, read to my biggest boy, decorated nonny's tree with the three oldest, had a great talk with cailey, ate one last dinner with nonny and poppy and drove home late.

November 28- woke up super dizzy, unpacked, relaxed, watched daddy make a model heart with the big kids out of marshmallows, graham crackers, and frosting, spent hours on a picture calendar, wrapped presents, and read to my babies.

November 29- did school, had the kiddos help decorate the 'kid tree', cleaned as a team, started teaching ephram to feed himself with a spoon/fork, read lots of books, chased, heard ephram say, "help me mommy" in addition to a ton of other phrases he says daily, started picking out toys to donate with the kiddos, had a sweet moment with cailey when she offered to pray for me, and heard all about braden's 'go see it' to the police station.

November 30- ran 5.2 miles (3.2 with cailey and braden), school with my sweet babies, 'dejunked' and got rid of toys with braden, got extra hugs from kinsey, cleaned, read lots of books to ephram and kinsey, dressed babies with kinsey, saved $20 on a new ice maker because braden said chapter 1 of Genesis, listened to piano lessons, made pizzas for lunch, took my biggest girl on a surprise date to Chili's for a brownie sundae before shopping for a black skirt for choir...loved our talk time! and came home to rock a baby who was calling my name from his crib:)