No Vember

I will say this month was full of crazy, of all varieties.  We had my in-laws here for a bit more (luckily our health stayed steady for that), we took a fun (and yes somewhat crazy) day trip to the mountains, we had a very blessed brief break from the sickness for Thanksgiving, a totaled van, a down and out mom and little bits in between...

 One thing that encourages me is getting out in the sun!  Even on days when I'm not doing well, if I have a little energy I try to get out (even if this just means sitting in a chair on a driveway).

 Zoe wanted to reenact a leaf throwing picture that she had seen of herself from the previous year.

 How I do love her passion.

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Beach was honored at the alumni banquet at CIU for receiving one of the young alumni of the year awards.

"The Cookie Lady" did not disappoint and even snuck us in some of her specialties!  I say we lucked out on a table partner.

The other honorees that attended!

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In that I cannot have most of the things from the Midlands Swap, and I love it so, I decided to host my own and got so many goodies from this holistic swap!!  It was a hit from those that participated and they wanted to do it again next month!

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Shiloh wanted some leaf throwing pictures of her own!

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It was that time again for the dentist and I think this was the best experience yet!  They allowed the girls to share a seat while they got their work done, and therefore they was able to still see the TV.  They even squeezed Ezra in, even though he didn't have an appointment!  That took a lot more coxing geared at him but we made it through.

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Thanksgiving feast for the kindergartners and even daddy was able to come!

We were able to have Adalyn at our table for even more family!

Cousin loving!

This little sure is loved!

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While in 2nd grade they don't dress up, it was still a joy to have lunch with my first born the following day.  She was not feeling that well, so she she left early with me to rest at home.

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Such a special night in so many ways!  I was blessed by my friend teaching a watercolor painting class and catching up with some old friends.

I was surprised and pleased with the results thanks to this beauty!

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Ezra always likes to get into something fun when he comes to work with momma at the roaster!

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Co-oping again and this time we needed to re-create the picture of the littlest from exactly three years ago (it popped up on my Facebook time hop).

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The worst part of the month occurred one night when I got rear ended with all the kids in the van.  It was pretty traumatic for us all and a big pain to deal with but thankful that we are okay overall!

 A kind police man let us attempt to keep warm in his car.  I'm pretty sure I was in shock the whole night!

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A sweet afternoon with friends and I'm not sure who had more fun, the kids or us!

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Sigh!  The rest of the month and the many moments in-between were dealt with sickness and hardships of various degrees that unfortunately continued way beyond the month.  However, I don't want to forget all the sweet moments in-between! Count your blessings!

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Counting the Thanks

Oh Thanksgiving, one to be truly thankful for.  It was sandwiched between some very tough weeks yet by God's grace, this day was a breath of fresh air with all of us well!

We enjoyed a slower morning pace with a huge breakfast by Daddy and the Macy's Day Parade.  The Russells joined us for a bit.

Then it was on to some food prep...and my girls were all ready to help!

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I had to include some pictures of "Emma".  After not getting around to carving our pumpkin, Zoe borrowed the idea from her classroom of taking turns writing our thanks each day on her.

 I do love how she really took the initiative on this one and was always ready to remind us!

 

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Thanksgiving afternoon was spent at my parent's beautiful property.

Poppy and kids love gator rides around the pond.

Waiting for them, I realized I did not have any pictures to include of myself....so selfie time!

Pictures by Aaron.

As the day ended, I yet again realized I had not taken pictures of the grown ups....so I captured the last activities of the day!

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The fun was not completely over, though, as the following day we were able to be with Beach's extended family.

Kid table, complete with adorable pumpkins.

Jenni brought supplies for making bird pine cones that the adults spent way more time with...

while the kids played, enjoying the beautiful day and tree house.

Kathy even organized a scavenger hunt that had them scrambling around the house!

With such the difficulties that can be around this time, how much more important it is to take time to count our thanks and spend it with family!

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Mountains Here we Come Ready or Not

With seeing all of my sister, Danielle's amazing post of her travels around the state, I so wanted to have a trip together!  So we planned one for the fall.  What I didn't know at the time was how my body doesn't always corporate (in fact it is mostly unreliable lately) with what my heart and plans want to do.  Despite having a really rough night the day before, we decided to push on with our plans anyway, knowing this would be the only time this year we could do so.

Our tip started with a 2.5 hour car ride to the mountains.  However, we didn't get but about an hour away (and still on the interstate) when Shiloh starts crying from the very back stating she didn't feel well, wanting to go home and then that she was going to throw up.  Oh boy!  I scrambled to find a bag to pass back to her, just in time.  In my heart I wanted to chalk it up to motion sickness, as she had been perfectly fine, but I wasn't so sure.  No sooner had that happened, then Zoe covers her mouth, with huge eyes, and I knew what that meant....more scrambling for a bag on my part...just in time for her to throw up, too.  So we had an unexpected stop at a near by battle ground to get some fresh air!

After cleaning everything off, the unexpected hole in Zoe's bag led to a pretty freaked out 7-year-old.  She put on the extra pair of pants I THANKFUL had brought "just in case" (that were entirely to big and had to be secured by a rubber band). The kids were happy for a car break and by how they were acting, we concluded that it must just be car sickness (and Zoe learned to not look at someone who was in the middle of being sick).  

I attempted to get a cute group leaf picture....but not so much.

Shiloh was excited to give her aunt some love!

We checked out their pretty extensive visitor center before heading back on our planned journey.

Thankfully I found additional grocery bags in the car, as Shiloh needed them yet again on the way to our next stop!

Then we made it to long sought after park High Shoals Falls, with a quick trip to the visitor's center and washing our hands.

It was remarkably cooler there and the wind encouraged us to hoodie up during lunch time!

The trials were finally calling!

With a walk along the river bed, the setting was just perfect!

The kids took turns running up ahead and finding treasures along the way.

The awesome photographer, Aaron, captured some great pictures (just assume if the picture is a good one it is his work!)

Girl cousins.

Love that my main love can be with us today!

My little Zoe loved to lead the way (which reminded me of myself as a youth), this also may or may not have led to a melt down when she was not allowed to run tooooo far ahead.

Adalyn had her own camera that she was fixed on capturing all the great shots as well!

The base of part of the waterfall had some fun boardwalks.

We decided to let the guys check on if there was more to see up the large steep stairs before all attempting ourselves...and had some fun playing on boulders while we waited.

The verdict was that it was worth it with way more to see, and the littles were troopers up all the stairs!

I'm glad they were as it was a pretty little spot and the first time my littles have seen a waterfall!

Someone kindly attempted a group shot for us there!

On the way out it was a little more tricky keeping the littles energized.  When we got to the stage they wanted to put on a show for us.  However, one little's feelings were hurt so much so that she wasn't able to shake it and just had a good cry instead.

One last play in the cold mountain water.

Aren't they too cute!

We attempted a happy family photo but Lydia was not feeling it.

Back in the car I knew we (except Beach) would have a good rest, as we all needed it!  However, mine was short lived due to more motion sickness from Shi.  Luckily she was able to go to sleep after that to spare her from more...side note: how do kids sleep like that?!

We took a different route home in order to go by Windy Hill Orchard & Cider Mill.

The girls wanted to be measured.  Lydia was a bit confused with her age and was sure she was 4!

With all that walking there was a reward at the end!  Cider and donuts.  I may have eaten one (been a few months since I have had gluten) and felt the SIBO consequences for days!

We were all fans!

It was fun to try all their different varieties; I do love samples!

Picking season was over for the apples, although that would have been a lot of fun too!

It was getting a bit colder with the sun going down so we enjoyed warming by the fire pit.

We ended the evening finding a Mexican Restaurant, that we will not ever return to (in which I spent a lot of time with both my girls in bathroom...a lot of time).  Overall, though a great trip and a tradition of cousin hiking that needs to be repeated for years to come. 

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