November 29

Tonight I put together our daily Advent activity... we're doing a different kind of Advent "calendar". I took 24 holiday books - some secular and some church-related - and wrapped and numbered each one. Before bed each night the boys and I will open a book and read it together to learn more about all of the fun of Christmas and the "reasons for the season".

November 28

We started off this morning by burning some energy with friends at the playground!

But today was extra special because it's Abe's birthday!! This is the start of the two months out of every year that Abe and I are the same age (he gets a big kick out of this fact!).

November 26

Today we got our Christmas tree! We went to Whispering Pines Tree Farm in Breinigsville where you can wander around, pick your tree, and then the staff cuts it down for you. We saw about 3/4 of the trees before we found the one we wanted.

Riley loved the baby trees...

This is the one!

And how perfect for the boys that there was a little train there also!

November 24

Happy Thanksgiving!! Riley has been looking forward to this day for a LONG time! We have a calendar in our family room and every day we'd look at what day it was and count how many days until Thanksgiving, and he was very excited today that it was the day with the turkey on it!

On our way to Thanksgiving dinner we stopped for a private showing at Poppop's train club! Both Riley and Jonah were so excited to see the trains. Riley loved being able to tell Poppop which one he wanted to move next.

November 22

Jonah has a speech therapy appointment every Tuesday right after we drop off Riley at school. His therapist, Debbie, is so amazing. When she started working with him in July he wasn't saying anything, and now just 4 months later he's so close to saying two-word phrases and is imitating everything that we say. It's such a joy to hear how Jonah talks his way through the day. Debbie teaches him through playing games and playing with different toys, and they just have the best time together!

Today Debbie brought a special turkey craft for the two of them to make - very cute!

November 18

Another playdate today! Our playgroup hosts a monthly event called Recipe Club where everyone brings a dish that goes with that month's theme. This week the theme was party food - yum! The kids all played really nicely which left lots of time for the mommies to snack and chat.

Jonah and his pal Jack found this very large Elmo... no tussle ensued, but it was cute to see their little faces try to figure out who loved him more!

Of course Riley found the trains in the basement and didn't leave them the entire time we were there!

November 14

This afternoon we headed to the boys' friend's house to enjoy an outdoor playdate in the unusually warm weather! It was nice to play with some things that they boys haven't seen in a few months!

November 13

Yesterday we made a trip to Ikea and got a new chair, and today after I put the chair together Riley decided the box would make a nice bed!

November 11

Today we made some cute Thanksgiving-themed snacks... who knew you could make turkeys out of cookies & some candy?

November 10

Today during some basement playtime, Riley was showing some aptitude as a car mechanic...

And Jonah was very excited to show off his nose!

November 9

Another beautiful afternoon! Our playgroup had a scavenger hunt in the Rose Garden this afternoon, and the kids had so much fun running around and looking for everything on their list!

November 8

This morning while Riley was in school Jonah and I went to a friend's house to play in the leaves! It was unusually warm today which was so nice!

November 7

No good story with our pictures today - the boys were just running around being silly after Jonah's nap, cracking themselves up over nothing...

Until someone decided he was done!

November 6

We went to a sweet birthday party for the boys' friends Gwen & Cole this afternoon and Miss Erin was the entertainment! She read Gwen & Cole's favorite books (one of which Cole recited right along with her!). The second book she read was Knuffle Bunny, so the craft project was for the kids to color their own Knuffle bunny picture and to pin it to a washing machine picture so it would spin.

November 5

We went for a steam train ride this afternoon and as we were waiting for our train a freight train passed on the tracks overhead... I think when the train was passing by was the only time the boys were still as we waited for our train!

November 4

"I DON'T NEED A NAP!!"

November 3

Each child in Riley's class was asked to bring in an envelope on Monday addressed to themselves. They wrote a letter to someone during school and then dropped them in a mailbox. Today I checked the mail while Riley was in school and saw that his letter had made it to our house! I left it in the mailbox and then asked Riley to help me check the mail after lunch. He was so excited to see his letter!

November 2

One of the things that I love about Riley these days is that he gets so excited when he's going to see his friends and he talks about them for days before and after we see them. We see his friend Sophia at storytime every week - they sit next to each other for the stories and then sit next to each other when it's time to make their project. And this week we had just been at their house for dinner the night before, so it was extra special to see Sophia twice in 24 hours!

November 1

Yesterday Abe left for a business trip, and since our power still wasn't on the boys and I checked into a hotel! The only rooms that our hotel had were ones with a jacuzzi tub - the boys had a great time taking their bath last night! Thankfully the power came back on at our house sometime this afternoon - we were all so thankful to be back at home and be warm. Although the three days that our power was out seemed so long as we were going through it, I'm so grateful that we are able to live in our house, keep it heated and keep food on the table. All I could think about for the last three days was that there are so many people who would be cold all winter and not just when a big storm hit.

Changing gears...

This week is community helpers week at Riley's school. Monday they had a visit from a mailman, and today a police officer visited. They each got to take home this officer's trading card.