I like you, I like you, even when I don't try to

 November 2021

As I collected pictures from November, I concluded that I would more than happily relive the entire month. It had some tricky parts, but overall was ah-maz-ing.

For part of our homeschool, I got to make ice cream with Batman and Spiderman. It was yummy, and also tested the superheroes' patience.

Playing baby dolls with friends.

Our next big event was Matthew's birthday! He wanted a cake with "a sun setting over the mountains and across the water". I honestly have no idea where that specific mental image came from, but he stuck to it for many months. I think Andrew was a little intimidated to make the cake, but still decided to go big and make a 3D creation. Alex called it "Matthew's weird cake" and Andrew said it wasn't his best, but it made Matthew smile so I'm still calling it a win. And how to describe Matthew these days? Matthew is incredibly tuned into the needs of others. I've lied in bed on a Saturday morning and heard him wake up, get dressed, and go out to the backyard to bring in all the dirty socks and clothes that people left out the day before. He reads books to his siblings and he'll take people's dishes to the sink for them. He is my fastest to get dressed in the morning-his norm is to immediately make his bed and then jump down and get dressed. He has an insatiable thirst for books and reads at an alarming pace. It's great until he's staying up past 10pm or stuck in a book when we're trying to leave for school. Matthew is excelling at piano lessons and loves to "tinker" with trying to figure out other minor triads or other patterns he can find on the piano. At school, he's been complaining of being bored and just as I approached his teacher about it, she asked if they could invite him to the second grade lessons. Matthew has apparently been learning the second grade "jobs" and then teaching them to other first graders. I'm grateful that at least for now he's (mostly) finding things to do when he's bored at school, because I would hate it if his natural curiosity was ever squashed out by the public school setting. Matthew also loves video games (or any screens) but is incredibly sensitive to even small amounts of screen time. We don't have any gaming devices at home, but he regularly tells me that he's going to buy video games when he's a grown up. Matthew is funny and loves to be silly-he's especially into mad libs right now. He loves to cuddle and likes to have me lie next to him and he'll brush my hair when he's trying to calm down and fall asleep. We just really love our Matthew and are enjoying the current version of him a real whole lot. 

I had gotten stuff to make/decorate Halloween cookies and then got busy/forgot about it. So we had a random day of making random cookies-a little from every holiday I think.

When dad is home, he gets to help with home school! They had a fun morning learning about mixing colors. 

While I was making dinner, Alex came into the kitchen with this toy picnic basket and started filling it up with whatever looked good to him. A little while after he left, I went looking for him and found this fantastic picnic that he set up all by himself. 

Our sweet friends who have four kids all around our kids' ages recently moved 2-3 hours away. While we are so sad about it, we are grateful that they are still close enough to meet up with once in a while. On a beautiful, sunny Saturday, we met at a park with a 50 foot metal slide. Everyone (grown-ups included) took some turns seeing how fast we could go. It was a nice day catching up and visiting while enjoying the sunshine. 

Soon afterwards, the kids and I headed off on an epic adventure! After my grandpa passed away, I really wanted to schedule some time to visit my grandma and Texas family again soon. It just forced me to see the reality of how short life really is. Andrew was prepping for a start up at work, so he had almost no availability to take time off, but I decided that that wasn't going to stop me and the kids. With it being so expensive to fly around the holidays, we pushed out our trip on either end by a few days, so we picked the kids up from school a little early on Friday and then they even missed a couple days on the other end too. Andrew was kind enough to drop us off at the airport so I at least didn't need to navigate the shuttle with all of our stuff. The kids were very excited and willing to help at the onset of our trip. They helped me wheel all the car seats and luggage up to be checked and then were super cooperative and great listeners getting through security and finding our gate. 

We had a LONG flight (a little over 5 hours) since we had one stop, but didn't change planes. With the time change, it was around 10pm when we got into Dallas and the kids were feeling a little done. We had some hectic challenges (one kid pooping their pants, other kids deciding they no longer wanted to help with the luggage) BUT we made it out to the rental car. After changing vehicles, installing carseats, and waiting in a long line to leave, we finally made it out and could get some dinner around 11:30. Everyone agreed that their burgers were the best they had ever eaten because they were so hungry. Andrew chatted with me on the phone while I drove out to grandma Nichols' house so that I could stay awake. In the wee hours of the morning, we finally arrived and got everyone settled into their beds and crashed hard for the night. Do I feel a bit like super woman? Yeah, you could say that. 

The wet erase markers might have been a bad idea. 

On Saturday we got to sleep in and have a slow day with Grandma and Jackson. We chatted, went out to lunch, and got groceries before my parents drove in that night. 

Matthew could almost always be found near Buddy

Andrew texted me this picture to show me that back home he had taken down the fallen over fence

The kids had so much fun playing games with my mom and grandma. I think Strike was one of their favorites because it's quick and equal opportunity

Adaline and I were sharing a bed-something that she is not used to. I learned that she sleeps diagonally across the bed, hogs the blankets, and likes to snuggle up against someone. Eventually I had it figured out and gave her her own blanket and put up a pillow wall between us for her to snuggle with.

Before I can tell more about our trip, I need to back up and tell a story about Alex. About a week before our trip, he had started complaining about his arm hurting. He wasn't really consistent, but mostly said that it was his elbow and he didn't like if we bumped his arm when picking him but would otherwise play normally. The day we were going to fly out, he seemed to be complaining about it more and wanted to be held a lot. Knowing the kind of day we had ahead of us, I gave him a pain killer and he seemed to feel better. However, after we got in on Friday and I put everyone to bed, he woke up multiple times in the night with a high fever, crying hysterically, and refusing to move his arm at all. He seemed a lot better the next day so I thought maybe it was related to being over tired or traveling. I called my aunt (who is a nurse) to ask what things to look for if it was something serious and didn't worry about it too much. However, Saturday night ended up being more of the same, but with an even higher fever. I ended up being awake most of the night-either taking care of Alex and trying to get him back to sleep or waiting for the Teladoc doctor to call me back. I was exhausted and by morning I felt like I had to take him in somewhere. 

This was a little tricky seeing as it was a Sunday morning and I had all my kids with me but no Andrew. I decided I would just have to get everybody up and take them with me because the rest of the family had plans to pick up Daniel and his girlfriend from the airport and then meet up with Anna's family and visit with Peggy. After some tears and talking with my parents, Harris/Chloe/Grandma helped my older kids, mom went to pick up people from the airport, and my dad came with me to take Alex to an urgent care clinic. The first place we went had an hour long wait (at least) and their x-ray services were unavailable so we ended up at another one and waiting in line outside to make sure we could be first inside. Honestly, it was a weird appointment. Alex was acting mostly fine and his fever was gone again (just like it kept doing). The nurse practitioner agreed that it didn't seem like anything was broken/an x-ray wouldn't show anything. We ended up doing a Covid test (negative) and blood work (everything looked normal/it didn't indicate that he was fighting a viral infection or bacterial infection). She talked with her colleagues and looked up some things in her reference book, but we were all stumped. She said to just give it some more time and watch out for signs of anything getting worse. *Side note to brag on what a good job Alex did during his blood draw! He is 3 years old and he sat perfectly still in my lap like a champ. The phlebotomist was nervous they don't have a ton of little kids come in and she said the youngest she had ever done a blood draw on before was 5 years old. I think it was a highlight of her career that it went so well. She had promised Alex many lollipops, so after she left and he had sat in my lap quietly for a few minutes, he looks up and asks, "when is she going to bring me lollipops?" He's such a sweetheart.* So, although we still didn't know what was wrong or how to help him, we at least now knew that he was contagious and we could feel confident going over to visit my grandma (almost 90) and newborn niece. It was a whirlwind of a morning. I was stressed, I was worried about all the ways I was inconveniencing other people, I was wishing I knew how to help my kid feel better, and I was so very tired. There really wasn't anything I could do about it though, so we drove back to Grandma Nichols' house, called dibs on driving over Daniel and Ellie, loaded up the rest of my kids, and headed over to see Peggy and meet baby Audrey. It was fun catching up with Daniel and getting to know Ellie during the drive. Daniel even got some major uncle points when Michael needed an urgent stop and Daniel quickly got him unbuckled while I ran around the car with a trash bag. He didn't throw up until he was out of the car and it all made it into the bag. Teamwork!

Despite the hectic morning, we had a great time visiting with everyone. I love seeing my kids and my sister's kids play together and especially in my grandma's house where I have lots of memories of playing too. I wasn't good at taking pictures, but I got to hold Audrey, chat with everyone, watch the kids outside, eat bean soup and cornbread and strawberry pie, and just enjoy being surrounded by family. 

Sunday night Alex was up with a fever again, and again the next morning it was gone again. I wanted to skip the zoo the next day because I was so tired and worried about Alex, but people assured me they would help out with my kids and I'm glad we went. Alex was a little lethargic and wouldn't use his right arm at all, but overall he seemed in good spirits. We moseyed around and enjoyed the otters, an alligator who was active and right up at the glass interacting with us, and lots more. Matthew could have stayed in the reptile house the entire day. I couldn't find him at one point and retraced my steps to find him way back near the entrance. He had been watching one animal almost the whole time waiting to see it eat something that was in its tank. I adore his curiosity and natural interest in the world. I was moving slowly because of Alex and Matthew and my dad hung back with me so we had lots of time to chat-oh and to witness all the coyotes going nuts...I can't imagine why...

Tuesday was a little more chill. My parents were still working on helping my grandma clean out her shed so I chatted with Harris, spent some time at the park, played games, talked with my parents while they worked, and watched the kids play. That evening, my dad invited my kiddos to go with him to give Boomer a bath at the tractor supply store (I had know idea that was a thing). They loved helping to get Boomer scrubbed and fluffy again. 

On Wednesday, we went over to visit Peggy again and had some amazing brisket and potatoes. My grandma's brisket is still the best I have ever tasted. Of course I took no pictures again because I was completely caught up in chatting, eating, holding Audrey, and parenting my kiddos. That night Harris and Chloe talked me into driving them over to the grocery store to get some Blue Bell. Other than that fact that I was tired and had been planning to go to sleep early, I wasn't exactly resistant. 

They found some very old eggs in the shed and my dad wanted to see what was inside. My kids were super interested in the impromptu science lesson and the eventual verdict was that they were geckos. The picture I took doesn't show it well, but it was really cool to see the mostly formed skeletons coiled up inside the eggs. 

Thanksgiving day was exciting for so many reasons! Andrew had flown in the night before and stayed with my sister, so I got to go and pick him up in the morning! My parents agreed to help my kids once they woke up, because Andrew and I were also going to run a turkey trot while we were over near Dallas. This was the day! Based on the races I did in October and September, and the splits I was running in my training, I was pretty sure I could run a sub 24 minute 5K. When we arrived, the weather caught us a big off guard-it was freezing and incredibly windy. I absolutely hate running in wind like this and I was feeling underdressed for the cold and a bit nervous. We did our best to warm up and then we were off! I set a speed limit of 8min/mile for the first mile and a half and I stuck to it almost perfectly. The wind was completely obnoxious, but the race was also going by pretty quickly. I came in at 8:02 for the first mile and was feeling great so once slowly started to pick up the pace about half way through the next mile. Andrew went on ahead around mile one, but I could still see him only a short way in front of me. My second mile was 7:39 and I was still feeling great so I kept picking up the pace gradually. I really wanted to catch Andrew, but I also really wanted to feel good the whole way and be able to keep increasing my pace all the way to the finish. By halfway through mile 3, I was realizing that I had paced well and still felt great so it was really time to get moving. I got that mile done in 7:08 and gave everything I had left has I ran straight into the wind for the finish. I almost started crying when I knew I was going to make it with time to spare. My official time was 23:47 and I was thrilled! I might not have caught Andrew, but he was only about 20 seconds in front of me, and I had smashed my goal! We drove back to grandma's on an absolute runner's high (well, some of it may have been relief about having my parenting partner back again).

3rd in my age group this time

my mom sent me evidence that Papa was taking good care of Alex while I was running

I took no pictures, of course, but the rest of the day was filled with making food, Anna's family coming over, Wilson's family getting into town, cousins and aunts/uncles coming over, Keller and Chantel flying in, and eating food-obviously. 

On Friday, we played at the park, ate bbq, visited, played games, and gave the cousins plenty of play time. That night we ran errands to finish getting things ready for Peggy's surprise 90th birthday party the next day!

So much love for Boomer.

This is what happens when you keep your parents up all night, I guess. His makeshift sling was sad while still being kind of adorable. 

On Saturday we celebrated (early) my grandma's 90th birthday! Someone please send me a picture from grandma's party that I can put in here! My phone was playing music during the party, so I didn't have a chance to take any pictures. 

It was such a success. Anna did such a good job adding that extra touch to everything to make it look great-and everything was so yummy! The best part was seeing grandma walk in and be truly shocked, and then touched, that we had all come together to celebrate her. It was fun to hear her and Jay's stories of how he had gotten her over there without raising suspicion. The next best part was getting to see my cousins/aunt/uncle who I have not seen since I was pregnant with Adaline! It was so good to visit and catch up with them, reminisce about back in the day, see my cousin's adorable kids, and just reconnect. It was absolutely lovely.  We went back over to Peggy's afterward to squeeze in a little more time together and another piece or two of her cheesecake from earlier in the week. 

Can we take a second to appreciate the significance of celebrating a 90th birthday? I mean wow, my grandma has lived through so much and seen much change happen over the course of her life. She raised 4 boys, has 15 grandkids and about that many great-grandkids. She is a good listener; she always makes me feel like she really is interested in my stories and my life. She has the ability to make me feel like the funniest and most important person in the room. She is well cultured and earned a college degree (something not many women born in 1931 can say) and yet, for me there are very different things about her life that stand out. It's the hours spent making pickles or cheesecake or scrambled eggs and biscuits together in her kitchen. It's the stories she tells me about when she came to help out/take care of my siblings and I after my mom had a baby. It's the dressing up in outfits she collected from around the world. It's the many rounds of Scrabble, Yahtzee, and Rummikub played around her kitchen table. She got us together for family reunions in Colorado during the summer and made sure we had completely ridiculous talent shows. She laughed with us and never asked us not to be kids around her. Now it's her patience with my little kids and the way she appreciates the messes they leave in their wake all around her house. She shows me how to be busy and driven in my personal life while still slowing down and soaking it in when family is around. 

I'm really hoping that one day we get to throw her a 100th birthday party that blows this one out of the water.

My parents went back home Sunday morning, but my gang plus Keller and Chantel went to church with Grandma Nichols and then hung out with Amy and Wilson for a bit before they needed to leave town as well. The kids put together and decorated the gingerbread houses from my mom and played outside or snuggled with Buddy a lot. We played some games and tried to sneak in naps. 

On Monday, our trip was winding down and after spending the day packing, we headed to Dallas with Keller and Chantel to get in one last visit with Anna and Dave-plus we were all sleeping in Dallas due to early flights the next day. For such a short visit with them, we managed to pack in full of fun. We walked over the park near their apartment and had delicious Mexican food for dinner. (Sorry if that was confusing, it's not a normal park-it's huge and has restaurants in it). After dinner, we wandered over to the play area next door and let the kids (and adults, actually) have some unstructured fun.

Way too soon, it was time to say good bye and head over to our hotel for the night. It was such a good visit with everyone! We got to pack in visits to so many family members and lots of play time. 3am came way too early the next morning, and before we knew it, we were back in tired and back in California by 8am. I had originally though I might send the kids to school that day, but that was a silly idea and we took the day to rest and get ready for the next day (except for Andrew who did go straight to work). I'm already looking forward to the next time we can plan some time to visit the Texas gang again. These pictures really do a sad job of portraying how much play time and talking time we got with so much of our family. All but one of my siblings was there for at least part of the time-the cousins all got to play together! I think between the family reunion and this get together, they're actually getting to know each other a little bit and getting comfortable around each other. I'm going to leave you with this warm, happy feeling of family togetherness, the victorious feeling of achieving hard fought personal goals, and a picture of a very tired boy who fell asleep with a book on his face.