November

In November it got considerably colder. One week was nothing but temperatures below 0. The cold weather has not stopped us from having some fun. Here are some things we did in the month of November. The front of our house. We had several huge potted plants on our driveway but as you can see they are buried in the snow.
Rock climbing. Sydney loves to rock climb. We still want to make a rock climbing wall in our basement but haven't gotten around to it yet.
Swimming and waterslides that Sydney and Jordyn loved. Sydney went down the waterslide by herself over and over and over.
This is one of our traditions at Thanksgiving. We put it on the wall and throughout the month we write the things were thankful for about eachother. We also have a blessing basket to write what our blessings are and do some giving to a family.
Here's are family photo on Thanksgiving day, right before we went to a friend's house for dinner. It was a great dinner with great friends. On Friday we went to another home in our neighborhood for another Thanksgiving dinner. I'm so thankful for good friends we have made up here. They make being far from family not as difficult.
Sydney and I went to our first ballet--The Nutcracker. We both enjoyed it and had a good time going with other moms from my ward and their daughters. Sydney said she wanted to go on stage and dance with the ballerinas.
Of course we had to go sledding with all this new snow that came in November. I'd love to go, but will have to wait next year. The girls loved sledding so much in fact that they threw a fit when we left. That's how we gauge how much they enjoy something even if we are laughing at them for whining and crying in the car.

The adventures of Tom Sawyer

I should probably read this book again. I remember thinking as a kid that it would have be fun if I were Tom Sawyer's side kick tagging along with him on his adventures. I know I would be honored if he considered tagging along with me on some of mine.

Tomorrow night I am going to the midnight show of New Moon. I never stay up late, unless I have a newborn. I'm an early to bed early to rise person. When I hear people waiting in line all night to see movies I always thought, "Why would people do that? They can just see the movie the next day at a decent hour." I still have the same thought process but yet I am doing that same thing tomorrow night. At least I have tickets and I don't have to wait in line for hours. Before you call me a hypocrite, I have to explain my self discovery that hit me this morning. First of all, I'm not putting myself through this because I'm a Twilight freak. It's actually part of my self discovery as well. Before reading the Twilight series, I hadn't read a book from cover to cover since high school. I'm not a reader and with young ones, I don't know how moms get a chance to read. I always thought sitting down for a couple hours to read was boring. I'd rather be up and moving around. By the time my kids go to bed, I'm ready to climb into my own (remember "early to bed"). But this last May when Jeff and I went to Hawaii with no kids, I thought, "I am going to read a book" stepping "out of my box." Well that week I read 2 of the Twilight books and I later read the last 2. It was enjoying, but I'm not going to reread them over and over like some people do. I'm not going to buy myself a shirt or buy movie. I didn't even buy the books, I borrowed them.

Going to see the movie at midnight tomorrow has got me thinking. I would have never done this, so why am I doing it now? Here's where the self discovery or "ahh-ha" moment comes to life. Looking back this past year, I have realized that I have a love for life, a zest for adventure and I don't have to be a bubbly, funny, outgoing extravert of a person to have that love of life that I assumed those people have (although I'm sure that is true in some cases, it's not always). In Hawaii, I read those books, that I normally would'nt, I have been in a shark tank, I moved to ALASKA (which is still shocking to me), I'm not finding out the gender of our baby, and now I'm staying up until at least 3 am tomorrow morning knowing I'm going to be exhausted the next day. These are some of my adventures. Reading Twilight took me extra strength to just "sit" and lose myself in a book, the shark tank took extra guts to get in the ocean w/ sharks swimming around me, moving to alaska required extra faith, not finding out the gender took extra willpower, and going to this movie at midnight will take extra energy to keep my eyes open. I realized that all these adventures required "EXTRA," meaning I have it in me, but needed a push. These adventures were all fun and exhilarating to me. These adventures although lame to some people create in myself a love for life, an enthusiasm for self awareness, a challenge to see what I can do. I spend most my hours serving kids and these adventures are for me only. In doing things for myself once in awhile, I am having a fun life that I enjoy. It makes me love motherhood and being a wife because I love myself (that sounds cocky, but I think you know what I mean). I'm pushing and challenging myself to things I wouldn't normally do. Life is too short so why not experience things I normally wouldn't do if the opportunity arises, thus becoming my adventures.

So these have been my adventures this past year and I strongly feel that of all my adventures Tom Sawyer would certainly love Alaska and have many new adventures of his own in this state. What are your adventures?

For your viewing pleasure: Our backyard in November

Poems

This came to my mind within a few short minutes. I had to write it down before I forgot. Sydney:

Smiles

saYs funny things

Dances to music everyday

williNg to lend a hand

chEws on her toenails when she's sitting on the toilet

plaYing with kids of any age

Jordyn

Jumping fool

loves fOod

weaRing sydney's dresses

Dimple on left cheek

cuddleY

obsessioN with toothpaste and brushing teeth