Nov Random

Getting ready for ski season around here. Now let it snow

Thanksgiving Weekend

 Thanksgiving at the Brower's house. We decided to basically do all the holiday in one weekend since we aren't together that often. Nic taught each of the kids how to make pie and they got to help make the crust. This house is made for hosting. I feel like my family is often hesitant to come visit and Im not really sure why but I try not to take it personally. I don't like being crammed in a space where we have to stand to eat and wish I understood why we don't do things here more often. Seems silly to me

There was a lot of prep that went into getting dinner ready but we tried this new way of taking a pineapple apart and Luke and Hallie loved drinking the juice

I love when we do our service project. The last couple years we have done the afterschool packets for the kids in school over the weekend. I think it's also really important for the kids to see us using our time and resources to help others because we have been so blessed

For part of Christmas we made and decorated sugar cookies

The girls were thrilled that Maddi would do nails

We were able to go down to the Santa run and the watch the parade to light up the Christmas Village. The weather was warmer than I anticipated so that was nice.

We put up all the Christmas decor...not everyone was thrilled or wanted to help

Made homemade pizza

We did plenty of Just Dance

Nate and Kennady put together a pinata for all the kids and it was so fun

Here's our group photo for the holiday

It was exhausting and I think we'd do it different last time but we crammed a lot into a few days. I love that we all had our own space. We had oven space and room to sit and eat and visit. Hopefully we will do more things here in the future. If not I really hope I can work thru not worrying about taking it personally.

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

 This cute boy had his last preschool Thanksgiving dinner. He was so excited to sing the songs and take jello to share

Spelling Bee

 Gracie qualified for the spelling bee for the 6th grade. She did a great job and ended up taking 8th place

This is how Liam entertained himself quietly while I watched Grace

Weekend Away

 We decided to sneak away and spend some time with the kids. We grabbed Cheesecake Factory and a hotel and we were set. We called and invited Maddi to join us for dinner. The waitress accidently hit Emy in the eye while serving dinner so she got to pick a free dessert and of coarse she chose carrot cake. We had a great dinner and evening hanging out at the hotel

Keeping the Cousins

 I love when Nic asks us to keep the kids. I don't know what it is but I assume it's because we lived so close growing up and watching the kids grow up. My kids love when they are around so there isn't a doubt in my mind to say yes when Nic asks.

We went to a community night where they gave us all the ingredients to make pizza then we took it home and made it.

We also had enough dough to make bread sticks

Brushing all their teeth together