November was a special and wonderful month. The kids and I enjoyed a few days off of school. On election day I took them to get their flu shots. Last year's experience is still vivid in my memory (think four cats being thrown into a bucket of water) so I was nervous to tell the kids, but as soon as we told them, Boyd flexed his muscles and declared, "This is my moment to be brave!" All the kids did really well.
I then took them to the nature center so they could vote for their favorite animal.
Joy found the horse to be a real shady character.
We enjoyed some wonderful family time at home this month.
I sure love these kids.
My daily adventures with Joy and Rose continue while the big kids are at school.
Joy continues to be 220V of emotion. She is either ecstatic or livid. Unfortunately she has been sick a lot lately so it's been more of the latter. About once a day she will tell someone off. She yells while shaking her finger at them. For better or worse we can't understand a word she says but there is no denying who's in big trouble.
Rose is an absolutely doll. She is so easy going and always smiling. She's our best sleeper and so patient and kind to me.
When someone is in timeout, she often crawls over to make them feel better.
I've tried to turn the mundane moments into bonding moments. One day while shuttling everyone around Smith and I (plus Joy & Rose) snuck in a ice cream date and talked all about kindergarten.
Joy and I turned an oil change into a donut date. (I guess I've just been adding sugar to the mundane moments!)
The gorgeous New England fall covered our lawn and the kids got to experience jumping into leaves for the first time.
We've only had one good snow storm, but Elias continued the tradition of taking them night sledding at the park behind our house.
The next morning the kids and I got our fort building on.
Thanksgiving was lovely.
My dad was in Utah taking care of Grandpa Boyd, but we enjoyed time with my mom, Aunt Eve, Uncle Jeff, Cousin Anne and her family as well as our dear friends the Pretoriuses.
The next day we headed to Groton to prepare for Christmas with Gram and Grandpa Erickson.
Upon arriving home we set up our own Christmas.
A highlight of the month was celebrating this dear girl's birthday. I can't believe my girl is seven!
Summer is such an amazing girl. Elias often jokes that had we stopped having children after Summer, we would have thought we were great parents. She has such a desire to be good. She is understanding and thoughtful. She is creative and kind. She is always making new things, engineering projects or developing new activities. She is the best big sister anyone could ask for. I'm so grateful to have her in my life. I love you SummerGirl.
Brittany et al.
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