I know it’s November if I find myself cheering at the elementary school for their annual fundraiser. This year I was able to switch days with my part time coworker so that I could sign up to volunteer. Imagine my surprise when I showed up to help and they handed me a cow bell and a Pom Pom and the only thing I did other than encourage was tie AT’s shoe. Pretty easy way to earn a t-shirt to wear to work the next day. Lol. Natalie really pushed herself and was more than ready to be done when the time was up. I’m so proud of her grit with this and with so many other school related things.
When another mom takes your kid’s picture while she’s marking other people’s laps and…
When your mom takes a picture after you’ve given it your all running around your school. So proud of you, Natalie. Guess what. You only get to do this one more time and then you’re off to middle school where they have inflatables and bubbles and no one keeps track of how many times you go around.
When your guys run errands together and later dress the same.
When your twelve year old tries out your senior prom dress as an option for her orchestra concert but ends up deciding against it. Still pretty cool that she gave it a shot.
The concert was simple amazing. It was a joy to watch and hear them play in person such wonderful music. I am always amazed at how much these students can learn in a short period of time with an incredible teacher at the helm.
Photo of Michelle's fan club showing her a dance before we all headed to the concert together. Hubby and my dad were there too but I neglected to get any good photos (which my brain woke me at 4am to remind me of the next day). Too late now!
Turns out I wasn't too late to vote! I had thought voting was the first Tuesday of November so when I was cleaning the house I shredded my ballot. Then I found out I had the week wrong so was able to vote in person. Having Chris Evans and ASP remind me on Instagram was helpful but also heading to the dry cleaner, which shares a parking lot with my polling place, was also helpful. lol.
As you know, Danny has had quite the couple months. This week he was sick so missed some important basketball practices and one of the three school basketball games he could potentially play in. So imagine how excited he was to wake up on a Friday morning knowing there were not one, not two, but three basketball games on his calendar for the day. His second and last game of the middle school season was an intense win in overtime and I was super glad to see no more damage done to my son. I am grateful for all his coaches for being so supportive and understanding and especially for Coach S. who was there for Danny when all my boy wanted to do was be able to play sports again. But my favorite part of the picture is the bestie photo bomb. lol. P.S. The team photo included coaches and varsity players from the high school cheering on potentially future players.
Then Hubby drove Danny down to his first games with his new competitive team. All reports suggest those games were close too but their team came away with first seed in a "pre season" tournament. My guys seemed pretty happy when they came home triumphant at 10:30pm.
On Saturday it was my turn to take Danny to basketball while Hubby took Kate and Natalie to CU v OSU volleyball game. I hear they had fun! Danny got lots of playing time the first game and I caught this photo of his free throw going in. They won by about a dozen points and made it to the championship game. It was a rematch against the team they had only beat by one point the night before. I liked seeing how our team stayed positive as they worked together. It was such a close game the entire time and super intense. Our boys were able to win the game by two points and received these t-shirts to celebrate their 1st place finish in the silver division. Not a bad way to begin the season! We did stay to watch the end of the gold division game and those players looked like they were all old enough to have drivers licenses. Lol. Both teams were quite impressive. It made me want to move somewhere else and have Danny repeat 7th grade so he had a better chance in high school sports. Ha! But don’t worry, he has three sisters that should not move to somewhere new right now.
Sunday was the annual Primary program. It was so cute to see how excited and nervous the children were and how great they did. I loved being up there with my class to cue them. My favorite part was when one of the little boys heard the intro to I Will Follow God’s Plan and yelled, “I love this song!” And of course A Child’s Prayer made the audience cry because there is just something so beautiful about that song.
It’s moments like this, seeing my son at the local high school’s open house, that make me want to move away and make him repeat a grade and not just for sports like I mentioned above! He’s not even 13 and a half yet and we are already getting ready for high school?!? I just love spending time with this guy and I am going to miss him a whole heck of a lot when he’s not at the middle school anymore.
The last day of school before break ended up being an online learning day due to to a snowstorm that came in on Thursday. I got to help Natalie submit an assignment on Schoology and the middle schoolers were done by 10:30am. I won’t name names but a certain high schooler I know refused to do any school on a snow day and I didn’t excuse her absence. I’m sure she’s not the only teenager that took that route.
Our first day off school and work went by so fast. Natalie got to go to half of her mini horse camp, Danny and I went to the rec center and I was struck by how beautiful the view was from the stationary bike I was on at one point, Kate had her friend A over, Michelle practiced her viola and did other things before she went to the orthodontist, car wash, and thrift store with me in the afternoon. Hubby did go to work but got some good news at the end of the day. Let’s just say he’s relieved. Danny also hung out with J & C since there was no basketball practice. Good thing because he has a blister on one heel and hurt his other ankle at the rec center. At one point I counted 14 middle school boys all playing basketball.
Saturday we ended up painting all the light pink walls in Michelle’s room the same “Simply White” as the playroom. We were hoping to only need one coat using the extra paint from last year but Hubby ended taking a trip to Benjamin Moore to buy a whole gallon more when we realized we would actually need a second coat to kill the pink off. I know it’s hard to see in the photograph, but I promise our day’s worth of work did make a big difference. We got to end the day with going to Shauna’s birthday party and then heading up to Scheel’s to buy Danny a basketball bag and new winter boots and replace my favorite winter hat I left at the orthodontist. (It was pretty obvious after he went sledding and needed my help getting them back off his feet that it was time for a bigger pair!)
Our first day off school and work went by so fast. Natalie got to go to half of her mini horse camp, Danny and I went to the rec center and I was struck by how beautiful the view was from the stationary bike I was on at one point, Kate had her friend A over, Michelle practiced her viola and did other things before she went to the orthodontist, car wash, and thrift store with me in the afternoon. Hubby did go to work but got some good news at the end of the day. Let’s just say he’s relieved. Danny also hung out with J & C since there was no basketball practice. Good thing because he has a blister on one heel and hurt his other ankle at the rec center. At one point I counted 14 middle school boys all playing basketball.
Tuesday involved a lot of house work and laundry even with help from Teresa and Wednesday I baked a pumpkin version of my favorite GF/DF spice cake mix for my Thanksgiving dessert. Natalie has asked for a lot of scruggle time and has watched movies she has never seen before such as Bumblebee and TMNT and the second season of The Mysterious Benedict Society along with older favorite like The Secret Society of Second Born Royals and her favorite YouTube channels. I would feel worse about it if she hadn’t spent two days at horse camp. Lol. She is also the one who helped me place our Etsy decals on the trash and recycling cans in the basement and I love how they turned out. And she helped us attack our driveway and sidewalks from the storm that gave them a day of online learning.
Since Thanksgiving is on the 24th this year I thought I would write down 24 things I was thankful for this month, trying to pin it down to one for every day:
November 1st: That Hubby could go to Brother Altman's funeral and share with me how it made him feel.
2. To have help at Activity Days.
3. To be able to cheer on my youngest at the Turkey Trot.
4. For my coworkers and their appreciation of me.
5. For my husband.
6. For Primary Program Practice.
7. For windows cleaner than they have been for a year and a half and our entire house.
8. Being able to go to school orchestra concerts.
9. For my children and the times we get to talk and laugh together.
10. For chiropractors and dog groomers, orthodontists and book club ladies.
11. For basketball games and time at home with my girls.
12. For my phone that lets me listen to scriptures, President Nelson, podcasts, book & YouTube videos while I go about getting ready for the day or cleaning my house.
13. The Primary Program
14. Safety in travel while going to and from things like Natalie’s picture retake & our other activities.
15. That Tina took a picture of my boy at high school open house
16. To be able to get my blood drawn with one poke and have a successful trip to Costco on the way home
17. Not having an accident in the fresh snow
18. For how happy my kids were to have a snow day
19. For time laughing with family & friends
20. For Primary and ward members like JB willing to jump in and help
21. Getting some exercise for the first time in a couple weeks
22. Enjoying listening to the audiobook “As You Wish” by Cary Elwes about the “The Princess Bride” movie
23. Technology for things like phone genetic consults and all the paperwork done online beforehand.
24. Hubby’s mastery of Thanksgiving prep!
Our meal was absolutely incredible. Hubby did a fantastic job smoking the turkey and making his special mashed potatoes with herbs and goat cheese. I heard his honey butter to go with the rolls was amazing too. Danny and Natalie also helped out in the kitchen like with the deviled eggs which made the prep even more enjoyable. Costco helped a lot too. Lol. My family devoured those pies while I savored the GF DF pumpkin spice cake I made the day before. Everyone seemed super satisfied and we ended the night by showing my parents Top Gun Maverick for their first time. It was a great day and over so soon! Happy Thanksgiving!
P.S. One of the perks of being home for Thanksgiving week is that you get to help out your neighbors. We are pet sitting the H’s bird that absolutely loves Hubby, Michelle is pet sitting the D’s cat, and I have been picking up packages for the R family. It feels good to help out!
Comments