November 2021

 I can't believe it's almost Thanksgiving! Time is a thief and everday my babies get bigger and older.  I love them all so much my heart could burst.  We are in the sweet spot of childhood where its mostly enjoyable. We've gotten into a good routine with the kids now that we've been in our new house for almost 3 months.  They rarely watch TV or play video games because they have been able to play outside so much.  Today was cold and rainy so they even though they stayed inside all day they played with each other and did lots of artwork.  The blue cabinet I made Ben buy me at Costco was so worth it. I keep all of their arts and crafts and montessori inspired activities in there and they pull it out every day to create whatever comes into their little imaginations.  Peter was drawing faces tonight and naming them, to me they looked just like Benjamin Franklin and Abraham Lincoln, he really has a gift for art. Briscoe is such a determined little learner he sits for hours at the table writing numbers, letters and words as well as drawing pictures.  Briscoe kept making me little notes that said mom with hearts all over it was so sweet. Henry sometimes moves at a slower pace but he always stays on task and finishes his chores before moving on to free time.  He spent extra time getting his veteran's day picture ready for his class tomorrow and that slowed him down but he did everything he was supposed to and still had time to draw.  It was such a peaceful day with the kids today even though Ben was working late.  I let them have a break after school and just go downstairs to play before doing chores and reading and that seemed to work really well for them.  They were happy to clean up for big daddy sized bites of cookie dough and then they got ready for bed and sat down at the table quietly working on their art projects. 

Little Belle worked so hard on her name today.  It's fun to watch her practice tracing it and she knows all the letters and their sounds.  Preschool at home is going well for us and she enjoys it.  Ben was impressed with how many letters she knows and their sounds.  I love our mornings together and so does she.  She is happy to do her preschool lesson and help mama clean up the house.  I took her to dance class today and she insisted on wearing the tutu she wore in her newborn photoshoot.  It was adorable.  

While she was at dance class I took Daisy our new Boston Terrier puppy to training and it helped so much.  I have never trained a dog this way and it does seem to wear her out and gets her to behave the way I want her to. I wasn't so sure this training was going to work for me but after our lesson help today I think we might just make it.

I had a girls night out with the sisters from my mission last night in Salt Lake.  I had to bring the kids into town with me and hand them off to Ben who decided to surprise them with a movie just across the street from where I was having dinner with my friends. The kids were super excited and passed out immediately when we all got home so late. Meanwhile at dinner we all got real with the stuff going on in our lives and I felt a weight lifted after visiting with them and unloading all my anxiety about the move and the issues we had with our contractor.  Everything seemed to melt away and I was able to just enjoy being my best friends and feel their love and support for me. 

I had been very upset about our contractor not pulling a permit when he finished our basement and for messing up the plumbing in that bathroom.  I feel so much better today though and Ben was actually really helpful with that as well. He had such a great attitude about the whole thing and reminded me that this was not a problem it was just an annoyance.