Grateful for...

November has been wonderful for many reasons; here is my last-day-of-the-month attempt to document some goodies!

We continued our Thanksgiving month tradition of posting "I'm grateful for..." thoughts on the back side of our front door.  Our third annual attempt was very successful.  Both Ezra and Maren were studious and thoughtful for a full twenty minutes.  Ezra didn't want any help with ideas or spelling, and even illustrated each of his little sticky notes.  Maren needed help with ideas; she came to me, pencil and paper in hand asking, "Mom, what am I grateful for?"  I rattled off ideas, and when I mentioned one she liked, she would smile and go back to her little table and draw the concept.  In the end, we had quite a collection of creative "I'm grateful for" ideas.

Ezra included the following in his list:

"I'm grateful for books."
"I'm grateful for General Conference."
"I'm grateful for friends." (I love his depiction of this idea!)
"I'm grateful for music."
"I'm grateful for airplanes." (that fly to Grandma's house!)
"I'm grateful for Grandma." (and I believe the curly hair is Roslyn hair!)
"I'm grateful for piano."
"I'm grateful for the temple."
"I'm grateful for baby's."
"I'm grateful for family."
"I'm grateful for violin."
"I'm grateful for Thanksgiving."
"I'm grateful for Maren friend."
"I'm grateful for Jonathan."

A rather impressive list for a six-year old!

Maren illustrated her ideas with a style all her own.  Her people have big sunny-side-up egg eyes, many eyelashes, active arms, and poofy hair.  I love it!

From top left, her illustrations represent the following:

"I'm grateful for flower gardens."
"I'm grateful for Jonathan."
"I'm grateful for airplanes." (that fly to Grandma's house!)
"I'm grateful for my house."
"I'm grateful for rainbows."
"I'm grateful for legs for walking."
"I'm grateful for friends."
"I'm grateful for opening Christmas presents."
"I'm grateful for gum from Grandma." (Roslyn has a particular flavor of fruity gum that is a Maren favorite.)

And, just for the sake of "see how far we've come in a year", refer to last year's post on our Thanksgiving gratitude ideas.  Both kids have really grown up!  November 2016: Count your Blessings

We made turkeys in disguise--just for fun!  The kids and I love an excuse for an art project.  We created a sports fan turkey, two diseased turkeys (note the spots--don't eat me!), a chef turkey (beef is what's for dinner, of course), a ballerina turkey, and Where's Waldo turkey. 

Ezra had his very first violin recital organized by Roslyn at her chapel on Sunday November 12.  Ezra played "Go Tell Aunt Rhody," and made a number of mistakes, but was brave and calm, and finished the song!  I was so proud of his composure and willingness to participate, his poise, and his effort.  As he walked back to his chair, he was beaming from ear to ear.  "I did it Mom!" he announced in an excited whisper.  Hooray for Ezra!

 As of yesterday, 29 November, Jonathan can crawl!  He has been rocking on all fours, backing himself into corners, rolling over, coming out of sit, and reaching for things all month, and he finally figured out crawling too!  He is a little clumsy, and slow, but definitely on the move.  We certainly love our happy Jona-boy.  Also, mid-month, I started introducing some bites of people food, and our meal time experience has completely transformed into a very positive experience.  He was not much a fan of baby food, and would either refuse to eat, or scream when offered baby food.  Now, he can't get enough of little bites of almond butter toast, blueberries, cheese crumbs, ham pieces, avocado, pancakes, grapes, etc.

And, best of all, we spent five truly wonderful days of our Thanksgiving break in Utah with my extended family.  I was in college the last time I attended such a gathering for Thanksgiving.  I was especially grateful that my kids got loved on, spoiled, and entertained by many adoring aunts and uncles, and had quality play time with darling cousins.  There were a number of cousin free-play opportunities, including getting to play with Grandpa's electric train set and forest animal set-up.  Movie night with popcorn and blankets in Grandma and Grandpa's theater room was a big highlight.  Ezra and Maren loved rolling dough for homemade crescent rolls on Thanksgiving.  Molly and John announced the upcoming arrival of their "Baby Jolly" due in June 2018!  We also enjoyed bowling, a Trax train ride to downtown Salt Lake City, and opening night of the Lights at Temple Square.  We are so grateful for family! 

Cousin lunch at Grandma's house