November 2023

We started November out with a concert. The whole of Nolan's 3rd grade peers sang some fun patriotic song. I love that their favorite song was 50 Nifty United States. I was MY favorite song in 4th grade and I can still sing the names of all 50 states in alphabetical order. 

Tyler continues to make our Sunday dinners extra delicious. Smoked salmon and chicken were delicious, but I think ribs are our family favorite. 

Nolan tested into our school district's gifted and talented program. Here it's called PACE. Once a week he meet with all the 3rd grade PACE students for the last few hours of the day. He loves, it and while I think it's great for him, these "projects" are getting out of hand. Jk, jk. We have learned a lot and I love seeing what he gets to learn and how he is challenged. 

I had my first every yard sale. Seeing how little we put out made me think how people have so much stuff to actually have yard sales! We sold the kayaks and some other items, that brought in a little bit of cash and cleaned our lives up just a little bit more. I'm not sure that I'll ever do one again. I really like to "try" minimalize. We don't usually buy "new" things, so most of what we don't use anymore can be donated. Anyways, Nolan wade this really great catch while "watching" the yard sale. 

My mom, grandma and sister came down for Thanksgiving. Lots of fun was had and some REALLY great naps were taken. Every other time they have visited, it was too hot to be outside. They finally got to visit The Stockyards and we even went to school lunch with the kids before their flight home. We also convinced Cal Lee to sit on the Longhorn. Used to be $5 but now it's $10. Only worth it for one time! They are huge and gentle and SOO cool to watch. 

Tyler smoked us some turkey and it was very good! This is the first ever Thanksgiving meal that I've been in charge of. Usually, we just bring drinks. It was fun cooking all the things I love and not failing at it! 

We started teaching the kids Skull King; a family favorite. They started picking it up and had lots of extra fun. 

After our vistors were gone, we set up for Christmas. This year, the kids got small trees for their bedrooms. It was a fun addition to our Christmas traditions. 

For Thanksgiving, the kids get the whole week off of school. We started a tradition of watching Harry Potter during that week. We watch 2 movies a day and work our way through the series. Earlier this year, I saw a bunch of Lego sets; that when combined make a really great Hogwarts Castle. I worked and researched and found great deals on all the sets. We put one set together per movie. By the end we have THE epic castle. You can BARELY see a piece of it in the picture below. We put it away some time before Christmas or New Years and I love it! 

Next up, IT'S CHRISTMAS! 

Until next time...