If you’re new around these parts, this monthly series is an exercise in brevity as I try (sometimes not very hard) to summarize each day of our month in one sentence. (Also, I’ve been taking a picture of my daughter every day since she was born, and this is a GREAT place for me to share several of those!). Although I’ve almost always included the photo at the top of its corresponding day, the daily captions of what we did and the photos often do not match. (Just to clarify!)
Thanks to the wonderful Rebecca Jo for the post idea!
Wednesday 11/1 – Matt had to run his Scout pack meeting that night so we didn’t get to see him much, but luckily he got out early enough that I could make an 8:30 exercise class, something I haven’t been able to do on a Wednesday in a long time! (Also, Raven was beyond confused when all the Halloween decorations were gone when we went on a (quick) family walk after dinner. However, she is now excited about the prospect of Thanksgiving and pretty Christmas lights, so I’m sure that excitement will be channeled into those upcoming holidays soon!)
Thursday 11/2 – Raven and I had a fun play date in the morning with my friend and her son, and since we were pushing lunchtime and still needed to go to the grocery store, I made the rare call to eat lunch at Sam’s Club. What made it even better? The fact that Matt was able to take a long lunch break from work and join us. Hurrah for unexpected and happy family-together time!
Friday 11/3 – Took a family date out to McDonald’s for dinner so Matt and I could get in some good chatting while Raven went crazy on the indoor playground. (Side note: I think this was the first time in our marriage Matt and I have ever gone into a McDonald’s and eaten together. Funny how proximity to something changes how you feel about it, since we both used to be fast food snobs and avoid McD’s before…)
Saturday 11/4 – We had a whole massive list of projects we really NEEDED to get done in the yard, and go figure that on our first free(ish) Saturday in weeks and weeks, we got snowed and rained on all day. We did at least make it out to go get Matt some new shoes for work though, which we’ve been putting off for longer than we should have.
Sunday 11/5 – We were worried that Daylight Savings time would wreak havoc on our sleep schedule, but Raven miraculously slept in until 7 the next morning (instead of waking up at 6 like we thought she would), so all in all, not too shabby! We did get a bit of a shock with our first taste of what after-dinner walks are going to be like from now on though with the shift in time–we bundled up to go out after dinner, and it was already completely dark by 5:40 p.m. (AND it had been snowing over the weekend, so it was cold, too!). We decided we just need to commit now to keep doing it or it will be all too easy to just stay inside from now on!
Monday 11/6 – Attempted too many errands in the morning (3 stores + library storytime), which resulted in the Queen of Cranky Toddlers. Note to self: Do NOT attempt this again. (At least she went down super easy for her nap and slept for a long time, though!)
Tuesday 11/7 – Was quite sore from my strength workout Monday night, but decided I needed some more pain and requested the toughest song at my hip hop aerobics class after a string of back-to-back tough routines. Everyone in the class loved me for that one.
Wednesday 11/8 – Had a bit of a blog crisis when I tried to delete an old WordPress account. Spent the afternoon crying, being a bit hysterical, and trying frantically to hunt down my tech-savvy friend for help (who is awesome and basically fixed the gigantic mess I created). So, if you wondered why the site was wonky for awhile, that’s why. Seriously, I need to take a class on How Not to Be an Idiot Blogger 101 or something like that.
Thursday 11/9 – Matt forgot his jacket at work, so Raven and I drove out to return my library books, bring him some hot chocolate (and visit the animals there!), and listen to the end of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows on the drive. I wouldn’t mind if he forgot his jacket more often! (Any excuse to get 7-11’s hot chocolate is a good one in my book!)
Friday 11/10 – Date night, baby! Matt and I went to the temple together and followed it up with dinner at Le Nonne, one of our favorite restaurants in Logan. Big thanks to our friends for watching Raven for us!
Saturday 11/11 – Did a photo shoot with my cousin in the morning as a trade-out for her coming to give us design tips for our house (she’s an interior designer). A great trade, I’d have to say! I’m super excited to implement her ideas for our basement.
Sunday 11/12 – Matt had the opportunity to go help with the church service at the hospital today, which meant that I was left to wrangle Raven alone for most of the first church meeting. Luckily, she was her usual (mostly) well-behaved self, even though I worried about her reaction to Matt leaving. (It helped that I was taking her to the bathroom when he stepped out.) Also, I got some new dresses for Raven this last week from Old Navy for a steal, and she wore her first one to church today and looked completely adorable, naturally.
Monday 11/13 – Storytime as usual in the morning, which always gets our week off on the right foot, even if Raven seems more interested in watching some of the other kids rather than listening to the stories.
Tuesday 11/14 – Did a ton of errands in the morning, including picking up the turkey and all the trimmings for Friendsgiving on Saturday. And the best part? I was able to use a $100 gift card I’d somewhat unexpectedly gotten from a submission to Begin With the Children to pay for the whole thing. Score!
Wednesday 11/15 – Was able to make the first hour of my book club meeting AND go to my exercise class since Matt didn’t have any Scouting meetings tonight. Woo hoo! (And I was proud of myself for reading the title for book club anyway, even though it was definitely not my kind of book! I figure that’s partly what a book club is for, right?)
Thursday 11/16 – Went visiting teaching in the morning, which has quickly become Raven’s favorite day of the month as she gets two play dates in a row, basically. Got takeout Chinese as a rare treat at night since I didn’t feel like cooking and had decided to stay home rather than go to a church activity (since I’d been gone basically every night all week). Note: I realized in reading through this month’s post that these “rare treats” of eating out weren’t so rare this month…whoops! Guess I’d better watch the budget more closely for December, ha ha.
Friday 11/17 – Went to a girls’ night with some ladies from my new neighborhood, where we had soup and rolls (and I was a rebel and brought dessert!), which was good for me to start building better friendships with my new neighbors. After I came home, we caught up a bit with my sister and brother-in-law who stayed the night at our place, and we started the turkey in the oven in preparation for tomorrow’s big party (using my mother-in-law’s famous overnight turkey roasting method!).
Saturday 11/18 – Friendsgiving!!! It was great fun getting the ol’ game night gang back together again for one full afternoon of food, catching up, and even a good ol’ fashioned game of Munchkin (for the guys, anyway!). Traditions like this are always a lot of work, but they are also ALWAYS worth it. So fun to have these memories from year to year with good friends! (Also, it was nuts to realize in our playroom with the 4 kids that I had been present for the birth of all of them!)
Sunday 11/19 – Matt sat in with me as I taught my Primary class since my co-teacher was out for the week and was able to see firsthand that having a dozen, ahem, ENERGETIC kids all together in one small room can get a bit crazy sometimes. And FAST.
Monday 11/20 – Raven spent the rest of the day singing the “Where is Turkey?” song she learned at library storytime today, courtesy of the library presenting all the kids with a little finger turkey puppet to take home. Our local library is awesome. Also (because I seem to need to give a potty training update in all these), ever since we started giving Raven marshmallows and puppy stickers for going on the “big potty,” we’ve rarely been needing to clean out her little potty by hand. Can I get a hallelujah?
Tuesday 11/21 – Forgot to record what I did on this day, but I do know that I at least attended my hip hop class that night. So there’s that.
Wednesday 11/22 – Matt unexpectedly was told he could come home a bit early to start an early holiday weekend, so he spent the night helping me make some pies for the big day.
Thursday 11/23 – Thanksgiving (with my family this year)! My mom and stepdad have been renovating their kitchen, so we had it at my sister’s for the first time. My favorite part of the day was probably playing Telestrations after dinner (but before pie) with my siblings/siblings-in-law/mom. That game is always a winner at any gathering! A great day overall.
Friday 11/24 – Came down with some horrible 24-hour plague thing (that seemed to attack half the family as well—thank you, Thanksgiving!) that meant I had the extremely memorable experience of running out of a temple session right in the middle to go find a garbage can to vomit in. Was consequently immediately surrounded by about half a dozen temple workers who walked me to the bathroom, got me a freshly laundered dress, and sent me home. Spent the rest of the night sick, sick, sick.
Saturday 11/25 – Felt mostly all better by the morning, which was good since I had an engagement photo shoot to do bright and early! Later that night, Matt and I had one of the most rewarding experiences we’ve had together as a couple as we were able to go to the temple with almost all of Matt’s immediate family to do family names together. Before the sealing session, we all ordered in Mexican food and basically just had a fabulous day all around.
Sunday 11/26 – After such a packed weekend of one family thing after another (including Matt and I both finally getting those haircuts we’ve been putting off forever!), we took it a bit easy on Sunday and headed back home after just the first hour of church (which we spent at my mom’s ward).
Monday 11/27 – Even though all I felt like doing was napping after a PACKED Thanksgiving weekend, I made myself be super productive and got quite a lot done, including getting several previews up from the engagement shoot I did over the weekend and running a bunch of errands. We also put up the Christmas tree for Family Night (which we try to do every Monday), and this was the first year where Raven really understood the concept of putting the ornaments on the Christmas tree and could do it all by herself (which is why the bottom of our Christmas tree is much more loaded with ornaments than the top!). The best part about the whole thing was that she would stop at random intervals every two minutes or so, throw her arms wide and shout, “CHRISTMAS TREE!” (with as much enthusiasm the hundredth time as the first). Kids make the holidays so much better.
Tuesday 11/28 – This day went nothing as planned since Raven appeared to be feeling a bit under the weather, but we couldn’t quite be sure. It basically meant that nothing got done until Matt got home, and we finally got at least the grocery shopping done. (Note: Raven has started this new trend where she ALWAYS needs to go potty at the grocery store, even if she just went at home. She basically loves the self-flushing toilets and the fact that Walmart has a sink that’s right down at her level. Weird kid.)
Wednesday 11/29 – Got to enjoy a special midweek lunch at Sam’s Club with Matt 🙂 It’s not often Matt takes a lunch break where he leaves work, but if he does, you’d better believe we’ll be there with him (most likely livin’ it up at the Sam’s Club eatery like the classy citizens we are)!
Thursday 11/30 – Enjoyed some early winter sunshine by going out on a little morning walk and letting Raven ride her tricycle (which we sorely need to replace as the front wheel is badly dented) around the driveway. It might have only been about 38 degrees outside, but it was sunny!
I always say that once the end of September hits, our lives don’t slow again until January, and this year it’s proving true again. I’m so glad that we have so many opportunities to celebrate and spend time with those we love, though! Hope you had a good November, too!
