November was definitely slower-paced than September and October were. I wasn’t sad about that! ;) Brooklyn finished up her soccer season with one more tournament, we celebrated Thanksgiving, and started getting ready for Christmas. Here’s the recap:
Abigail and I took Gabby to the vet for her yearly checkup on November 1st…
On November 2nd, Savannah wrote a journal entry at school about how kids should not have to wear uniforms to school :)
I got this picture from Gabriella’s mom on November 3rd. She ate lunch with Gabriella that day and got a quick pic of Savannah, Lilliana, and Gabriella together (all friends from Savannah’s 1st grade class).
Abigail and I played a lot of board games this month, and Gabby joined us for some of them ;)
Brooklyn was so engrossed in her book on November 4th that she tried to read while she was walking home from school…haha. I love that she loves to read so much!
That evening, Brooklyn’s team played their first game in the AYSO area tournament. It was held in Madison (yay!), so we didn’t have to travel far to the games. The game was at 5:30 PM on Palmer 8. Brooklyn’s team was playing a team from Harvest/Monrovia. (We found out later that this team hadn’t lost a game all season). We only had 6 players show up, and the other team played with 7 players the whole game, plus they had a couple of subs.
Our girls played so hard! It was a very physical game. The other team was really the better team…they did a good job of passing and staying spread out on the field, but they just couldn’t get their shots to go in. Diana made some amazing saves when she was playing goalie! Campbell scored in the 4th quarter with only a couple of minutes left to play. The Warriors ended up winning 1-0!! We were SO proud of the girls!!
Brooklyn’s 2nd game of the tournament was on Saturday at 11:30 AM on Dublin 3. Carter’s team actually played on the same field right before Brooklyn, so we went early to see him play…
Carter’s team lost, but played so hard. It was raining pretty hard for most of the game, and they were all soaked by the end. Sometimes the kids have even more fun in the rain though!
Brooklyn and Carter had quite a few “fans” come to cheer them on, despite the weather…
We were thankful for Phil and Gena’s tent that helped us stay dry (at least the spectators!).
Brooklyn’s team played a team from East Limestone during this game. This team wasn’t as talented as the one from Friday night. The East Limestone team also started the game with only 6 players, trying to be nice since we only had 6. They scored first to go up 1-0, but we scored 3 goals in the 3rd quarter…and then they put their 7th player in ;) We ended up winning 4-1! Brooklyn scored the final goal in the 4th quarter. She also made a really beautiful cross to Campbell, who scored one of the earlier goals. It was an exciting game!
It was a bittersweet victory because this meant that the girls would advance to the semi-final game on Sunday at 9 AM. We had already told Coach Theresa that Brooklyn wouldn’t be able to play Sunday morning if we made it that far. We debated about Travis and Brooklyn trying to worship somewhere else with a later service on Sunday morning so that she could still play in the game, but we ultimately decided that we didn’t feel right about prioritizing soccer over worship. So Brooklyn missed the game. We found out later that the Warriors played with 5 girls against 7 the entire game and made it to overtime! They ended up losing 2-1 because of a handball in the box that gave the other team a penalty kick. Coach Theresa said the girls played their hearts out and got a standing ovation from all the parents after the game. I really hated that Brooklyn missed it. The refs told our coach after the game that we should have won the whole tournament! I hated it for the team, but we also had 3 other girls on the team who didn’t show up for the tournament at all (one was out of town, but the other two were just completely MIA). So it wasn’t all on us for not being there. It was a hard ending to a fun tournament, but I feel like we made the right decision for our family. Soccer isn’t our main priority, even though we love it and love watching the girls play!
On November 7th, Abigail and I met Danielle and her kids at the library for some playtime together. Abigail and Hannah put on a puppet show for us :)
Later that day, I went up to the school to help Savannah and her classmates make some signs for the Veteran’s Day parade. They turned out really cute!
I found this list of Old Testament books that Savannah wrote in one of her notebooks. I loved seeing how she thought some of the words were pronounced (ex. Lebeca and Sethaniah instead of Habbakuk and Zephaniah).
Brooklyn’s soccer team had an end-of-the-season dinner at Sam and Greg’s on November 8th. She was glad to have one last evening with her teammates. Coach Theresa spoke about each one of them and gave them a card too.
It was a fun group of girls to watch!
On November 9th, Savannah wrote a journal entry about why they should take naps at school :)
I’m going to miss my little errand-running sidekick when she goes to kindergarten next year!
Mill Creek had its first ever Veteran’s Day parade on November 9th. I thought it was a great way to honor the men and women who have served our country. Students who had a parent or grandparent marching in the parade were able to walk with them, which was really neat.
Ms. Kuenzli’s class held their signs up at the parade…
The tissue paper hearts looked very patriotic :)
Abigail was a big helper that week as I was getting ready for us to host our small group for dinner and games :)
Ms. Kuenzli’s class started decorating for Christmas early–well before Thanksgiving!
Our small group dinner was November 11th. We really enjoyed having everyone that was able to make it!
I took the girls to DSW to look for some winter church shoes, and Brooklyn hit a new milestone–picking out her first pair of women’s shoes! These are women’s size 7, and they fit great!
I taught the K-1 bible class at church for the session that went through the whole month of November, and the kids always loved acting out the lesson if we had time. Wrapping each other up in “burial cloths” was especially fun when we acted out Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
We don’t go out to eat too often on Sunday nights, but we got adventurous and joined the Loveless crew and Phil and Gena for dinner on November 13th. They let Brooklyn pick, and of course she chose IHOP :) That girl loves pancakes…
Abigail definitely has her own unique style, and at this point, I have just started letting her wear what she wants (within reason…haha). Ex. on this particular day, she wore Christmas fuzzy socks pulled up over her pants.
On November 14th, Brooklyn and Savannah went to an American Girl Doll book club meeting at the library. Abigail and I read books out in the kids area while they were there.
Playing Monopoly Jr. by the fire :)
We got crafty this month and made these handprint “trees” with heart leaves. My favorite things that Abigail said she was thankful for were: “our hands and nail polish”, and “the garden food that God gives us.” :)
I loved how Savannah mentioned all of her teachers…past and present: Mrs. Curry, Mrs. Pride, AND Ms. Kuenzli.
Meanwhile, Brooklyn used up a lot of hearts on various foods and animals :)
On the weird medical front, Abigail had several days in a row this month where she would get hives in the afternoon/evening and overnight. They were so itchy that she was waking up because of them. I called the nurse at her pediatrician’s office, and they said to bring her in to get checked out if they happened again. So I took her in to get checked on November 18th, and she tested positive for covid on a rapid test! That thought hadn’t even crossed my mind even though she also had some congestion. So we were afraid that we were going to have to postpone our Thanksgiving travel plans…until the next day when I got a call saying her PCR test had come back negative. So apparently the rapid test result was a false positive. We never found out what caused the hives in the first place, but thankfully she stopped getting them completely after a few more days.
Gabby had the right idea by sitting close to the fire on a cold day :)
Savannah caught a ride home from school on the back of Abigail’s scooter!
Nolan’s mom came to school and helped the kids in Savannah’s class make marionettes out of toilet paper rolls. I thought that was a fun idea!
Savannah made a really cute black cat!
Before Abigail’s appointment with Dr. Dudley on November 18th, we had time to scooter/jog down to the greenway. She loves to throw rocks into the creek, and I enjoy getting out in nature with her.
Michael and Lauren came into town on the weekend before Thanksgiving for a wedding, and they met up with us on November 19th at the greenway near our house. We enjoyed walking with them and hearing about how things were going with their own wedding plans :)
The girls rode their scooters while the rest of us walked. It was a crisp morning, but it was great to get outside.
Seeing Lance and Luna (Cici’s bunnies) on Sunday is always high on the priority list!
On November 22nd, before we headed down to Trussville for Thanksgiving, the girls rode bikes while Travis and I trimmed some trees and bushes in our front yard.
We also dropped Gabby off at a new place for boarding this time because our regular vet was full when I called to make a reservation. We actually know someone who works at the new place (Leah), and she texted me this picture while we were gone to say that Gabby was doing well :) The girls were so glad to hear that!
Uncle Bill and Aunt Gale came from Richmond for Thanksgiving this year, and it was great to see them!
They brought their dog, Phoebe, with them, and she won the girls’ hearts instantly, especially Brooklyn and Savannah.
Rae Rae ordered matching fall shirts for the five of us girls, so we wore them on Thanksgiving :)
Savannah helped a little bit with the turkey preparation!
Uncle Gary, Aunt Ann, Rob, and Rachel also came over to eat with us, and Rob drew each of the girls an animal of their choice. He is an amazing artist! Brooklyn chose a lion, Savannah chose a polar bear, and Abigail chose a cat.
Then, to thank Rob for his artwork, they serenaded him after dinner with a song they made up called “Good Job to Rob”…to the tune of the Happy Birthday song. As you can tell, he loved it ;)
While we were in town, we also helped Rae Rae and Paw put up their Christmas decorations…
The big tree in the living room requires a step stool to reach the top!
I loved these Rae Rae and Paw pumpkins that Savannah drew while we were there :)
We headed home on Saturday (November 26th) before the Iron Bowl. Rae Rae and Paw had tickets for the game, and we decided to head home in time to watch it at our house. Yes, we are still a house divided this year. Brooklyn is as determined as ever to cheer for Auburn, and Abigail cheers for both teams but leans toward Auburn too.
Thankfully, this year’s game wasn’t as close as the year before ;) Brooklyn made a chart where she was keeping notes for a while on how the game was going. Maybe one day she will figure out she’s cheering for the wrong team :)
That night, we decorated our own tree!
The next day at church, Caitlyn noticed that Abigail and Audrey were both wearing Minnie Mouse smocked dresses, so she got a picture of them together :)
That afternoon, we did some shopping for Kids to Love and let the girls pick out some clothes and toys for a few wish lists we’d picked up.
Savannah recapped her fun Thanksgiving in her journal on November 29th.
Gabby always gets plenty of attention around here…
On November 30th, Savannah wrote in her journal about why we should pay for college. If you didn’t pay, “it wouldn’t be fair for your college teachers. The teachers would teach you so much, but you wouldn’t pay them back.” :)
Abigail got on a kick this month of pushing her dolls in the baby stroller. She has even pushed them to school a few times when we are picking up Brooklyn and Savannah in the afternoon.
Notes and Quotes from November 2022:
- 11/3/22 – Brooklyn and Savannah were taking turns eating a caramel apple tonight after supper. They ate it all the way to the core and pulled out an apple seed. They were making plans to plant it in our backyard, but Travis said, “I don’t think you want to plant that type of apple.” Savannah exclaimed, “But why?? I’d love to grow a caramel apple!” She was dead serious :)
- 11/16/22 – Brooklyn had a field trip to Guillion Farms today, but she told me beforehand that she didn’t want me to come with her. Sniff. I asked her a few times to make sure she was serious, and she was, so I didn’t go along. She said she had a lot of fun, but I didn’t get any pictures from her teachers or hear much detail afterward. Hoping I can convince her to let me tag along next time! ;)
- 11/22/22 – The girls went with me to drop Gabby off for boarding before we went to Trussville for Thanksgiving. We had to take her to a new place (West Madison Vet) because our vet was full when I called to make her reservation. This new place had a fish tank in the lobby with glass on the other side so the cats could see the fish. As we left, Savannah asked me if the fish were there for decoration or if they were boarding too ;) I thought that was so cute…how she thought someone might drop off their pet fish for boarding!
- 11/25/22 – We were at Paw and Rae Rae’s house for Thanksgiving, and we spent a lot of the day on Friday helping Rae Rae decorate her house for Christmas. At some point that afternoon, Travis found a Reese Cup wrapper on the floor in the living room and proceeded to lecture the girls: “Whose wrapper is this? Does this floor look like a trash can?” And they all said, “That’s not our wrapper. It’s Rae Rae’s! She left it there.” Haha! We all got a big kick out of Travis lecturing his mother-in-law unknowingly in her own house!
- 11/26/22 – Savannah and Abigail usually take a bath together (Brooklyn does her own shower), and they are bad about splashing and getting water all over the floor. Travis walked in the bathroom after they’d been playing for a few minutes and said, “There’s a flood in here! Where’s Noah?” And Abigail replied, “In HEAVEN??”
- 11/28/22 – Abigail loves to play soccer with me in the backyard after lunch. Today she declared that her team was the Metal Jewelries and my team name was the Bally Ball Fasties. She likes to change up the rules in the middle of us playing, so I never know exactly what goal she is going to score on. Keeps it interesting, I guess! ;)
- 11/28/22 – Abigail was telling me about her doll, Addie, being sick: “She’s been asleep for 4 or 5 days. I took her temperature when I got home, and it was 8.6. “Was she too hot or too cold ?” I asked. “A little of both!” she replied, “But mostly too hot. I am going to order her some French fries to help her feel better. And some meat. The doctor said meat would help her get better. And one or two or five teeny desserts.” :)
Thanks for reading!!
