November highs and lows

November has been such a busy month that it is suddenly the end of it and I haven't even recorded anything.  The highs were wonderful!  The lows painful.  And everything in between was pretty good.

Here are some highlights for our family to remember:

Cade turned 18 months old!  He is getting to be such a little boy now, not a baby.  He runs around everywhere he goes and falls down a lot.  His forehead has constant bruises on it to prove it.

Cade also got his first haircut.  His hair has really taken it's time to grow and most of the time he still looks pretty bald but the back was getting a little flyaway crazy so it needed a trim.  He was surprisingly compliant and let me cut it while he smiled!  Gotta love the third child.

Ben had a thanksgiving party at preschool and we decided to make cornucopias.  They turned out pretty.

Ben has been really taking leaps and bounds at school and he knows all the sounds of the letters.  The other day he read his first words by blending the sounds!  Cat!  I am a proud momma.

School is a big part of our lives now and Afton has been learning lots of interesting facts in her history class about the ancient greek gods and about egypt and the Pharaohs.  She is learning math and says it is her favorite subject.  We really love watching her snuggle up on the couch to read a book and get lost in it till she's done.  She also got a full lesson on table etiquette just in time for Thanksgiving.  She helped me make another apple pie for her class feast.  This time we worked on a fancier crust.

 
We welcomed twin baby nephews into our family from my brother Dave and his wife Kara named Caleb and Isaac on November 16th.  For two days we got to celebrate Isaac's life and then we had to say goodbye.  He passed on November 18th.  We got to meet Caleb the day of Isaac's viewing.  They are sweet, tiny babies and I love them eternally.  We also got to meet my sister's baby girl for the first time.  Holding brand new babies is as close to heaven as I can think of being.  Thanksgiving was a very sweet and sad time to spend with my family.  The contrast in emotions is still overwhelming for me.  Needless to say it was good to be with family last week.

We also got to see all of the Stubbs cousins as we went on a real train ride adventure to the "North Pole" and they got to meet Santa.  It was a lovely, memorable time and I'm so glad we got to be with all of the family.