Insta Joys: November Catch Up

november is over

wowza

that month flew by

its always a busy month in this house

two girls with birthdays

plus thanksgiving

its pretty much a blur

i am thankful for some iPhone picture to remind me of what we did this month!

 our thankful chart

each day we sit down and remember something we were thankful for

a great way to help keep our hearts and minds focused on what is truly important

 i was sorting through my homeschool binder and found this self portrait landon drew when he was in kindergarten

now he's a third grader

i love having this little reminder of him as a little guy

 well chick fil a finally opened in our area

i couldn't wait to try it

i was super impressed with the service

my kids loved it

 its the most wonderful time of the year

schwan's french vanilla ice cream

it only comes around for the holidays

its my favorite

 i might stock up on it so it lasts into the spring

its SOO good!

 her last night as a 5 year old

she wanted to snuggle and sleep in my bed

i couldn't say no

soon she'll be too big

this turning 6 business was hard on this mama's heart

 up early on mauryn's birthday making doughnuts for her party

 the one request she had for her birthday was to eat LOTS of ice cream

 i am so glad these two have each other

they are the best of friends most of the time

i love when they choose to bunk in together

 all ready for the doughnut shop party

misspelled sign and all :O)

 in the same week that mauryn turned 6, morgan turned 13!

aah! it was not right that my baby turns 6 and i have a teenager in the same week

a week full of fun and celebrating but realizing time whisks by in a blur

i love the hand on the head

she was done done DONE

i was thankful she gave into sleep for a few minutes in the car

 afternoon crafting

doing crafts with my kids is not my favorite because its MESSY

they love it

i need to remember how much they love it and do it more

even if it is MESSY

i had just cleaned the kitchen and they were looking for something to do

they made turkeys

it was MESSY

but they had so much fun

it was worth the mess

 the night of the breaking dawn premiere i was leaving to pick up my friend kaylynn

i opened the door to go in the garage and there was edward

well a cut out of edward

it totally freaked me out!

i knew she had the cut out because we were going to use it to scare the other girls we were going to the movie with that night.

they totally got me.

so funny!

 we had grilled pizzas one night for dinner

hands down one of my most favorite meals

yummy!

my sister in law started posting pics from the wedding

as soon as i saw this one i snapped a screen shot 

such a great picture of my family

parents, siblings, spouses, kiddos

so so fun to have everyone together

 my kids are big on tradition

every year on thanksgiving morning and on christmas eve morning we make lefse

its a favorite amongst everyone in our house

the kids are now experts so i get the potatoes ready and they do all the rolling and cooking

i am pretty ok with that deal

as long as i still get to eat it :o)

 our church holds an advent fair each year around thanksgiving

its a fun night filled with crafts and fellowship

i love getting new ideas for our advent activities

this year i picked up these cute cards for a game

card stock cards + little hands = not a good mix

i ran them through a laminator to make them sturdier so hopefully they will last more than one season

 i shop for christmas early

i wrap everything right away

{i may have a child who likes to snoop}

the gifts go under the tree and then the kids start to sort the gifts and group them

this year i decided to be a little trickier with the gifts

i assigned each gift a random number so the kids have no idea who the gifts belong to

even if they figure out one number there is no correlation to another gift

i am putting together a little scavenger hunt for them to figure out their gifts on christmas day

{thanks for the ideas instagram friends}

 mauryn had her first dance performance on black friday

they danced at a local festival of trees

i was so impressed with how well all the dancers did that day

 some very happy mail

i can't wait to get these prints up on my walls!

 mauryn is in a new dance studio this year

parents are allowed to watch class one time a month

we were gone last month for watch week

this week i was able to sneak in for a peek at her class

 my morning workouts are my time to get caught up on my shows on tivo

the other morning i went to set up for my workout and i could not find the remote

an ipad app saved the day

its a tivo remote for the ipad

it worked great

advent calendar ready to be filled with slips of paper explaining our daily bible reading and activities

i can't wait to get started!

if your on instagram you can follow me @kristencheney

linking up with jeannett