our november.

Wasn't it just Halloween? And now I'm cleaning up from one Thanksgiving dinner with friends and preparing for our big Thanksgiving dinner just a few days away. Slow down time!

It's been such a good month. With a short break in between sports seasons we've had more time on the weekends to spend as a family and more cuddle time together as the weather gets colder.

One of the kids' favorite things to do is visit bookstores. They wander, browse and read for over an hour and beg to stay longer when it's time to go. I love it!

The other day one of the local bookstores had a Reading with Rover session. We didn't plan to be there for it but it turned out great! Lucy finally had some confidence to try reading out loud and Simon loved petting all the dogs.

 We went home and cuddled up on the couch to watch the Seahawks game. Matt was at the game and it happened to be cold, wet and rainy. So while I love going to games, staying home was fine by me!

 I've really tried to make more of an effort to spend time with friends regularly. In this busy season of having young kids it's often hard to remember to take time for yourself. But getting together with a few of my mom friends away from the kids (playdates are great but mom nights are fun too!) is so good for us. One of my good friends Amber and I have started taking quarterly cooking classes. This time we chose a demo class so we could sit back and watch the meal get made but still have tastings and get all the recipes at the end. It was a fun night learning some new skills!

 I got to spend a few hours alone with Carter last week and loved it. He's growing up so fast and changing so much so I love these moments where we can have time to reconnect. He insisted we sit next to each other in the booth at lunch and then took the lid off his milkshake so he could share his fries with me and dip them in. Ha!

 Last weekend we got away for a few days and went up to the beach house. We usually don't come up much in the winter but it was actually really fun to bundle up and take a cold, wet walk around the neighborhood.

 For an afternoon treat we took the kids (all bundled up!) to the local Dairy queen. I opted for some hot coffee because I'm basically freezing nonstop from October to March. Matt just laughs at how cold my hands are on a regular basis.

 Simon is such a flexible toddler and always gets shuttled around day after day. This means naps are either nonexistent some days or just way too short. Luckily, last week we had 2 uninterrupted days where I could just cuddle up and let him sleep in my arms. He needed the extra sleep so badly and I didn't mind sitting for a bit either.

 Lucy is now a full fledged reader and we couldn't be more proud. She is memorizing more sight words every day, feeling confident in sounding out letter sounds and putting new words together. It's fun to watch her try different books and get excited to read to her brothers.

 To celebrate a week of school, conferences and family movie night we ordered pizza for the kids Friday night. To be honest, it was their reward for flushing the toilet after every bathroom use for 1 straight week. Yes, I was desperate. It was a huge problem and this was a big incentive. It took 3 weeks but they did it! Whew.

 And finally, last night we had Friendsgiving with 2 other amazing families. We've gotten to know them the past 3 years through sports and all 9 of the kids get along so well! We made a feast, let the kids run and play and spent hours just talking. Such a fun night and definitely the beginning of an annual tradition with them.

 Next week....Thanksgiving, Black Friday shopping, reindeer visits, Polar Express train and getting a Christmas tree. It's my absolute favorite weekend of the year. Yay!