To catch up a bit. I have no idea what happened in October so we'll just skip that.
November, being the month in which we specifically remember the souls of the faithful departed, we made some cemetery visits and some stone rubbings so that we could remember specifically those for whom we pray. The kids also made up a great calendar of one-soul-per-day that we remembered in evening prayer.
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| I asked the back two why they wouldn't smile, "Because, Mom, we are at a cemetery!" |
We caught the Eastern relatives when we made our most recent trip to New Jersey. It's tough to be that far away from the graves but good that we get there when we can, which must be more often because we found them without too much trouble this time (it's a really, really huge place).
Our trip east was to help celebrate the birthday of dh's sweet Uncle Frank, who turned 93! It's always a good time visiting with this wonderful man but this trip was even more special. He went to fight for our country at the tender age of 17 during WWII and during this visit, he was very open about sharing his experiences with the kids. It's amazing what he went through and what was the continual theme? "We just prayed...we prayed." Faith continuing for 93 years is a beautiful thing.
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| We bought the center some new puzzles and games which they had to "try out" first ;0) |
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| Nothing says birthday like a box of Tastykakes! |
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| Uncle Frank is a mean Yahtzee player! |
The middle of the month brought a salute to even more of our living heroes, the veterans. Our top three were honored to take part in the local school's program, performing in the color guard and table ceremony. I love Young Marines. It's an extracurricular with all the right ideas. 
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| Young Marines aren't supposed to smile...go figure ;0) |
We also finished up Little Kickers for the Fall. Again, a wonderful "sports" activity but without all the crazy travel/competition/etc. No worries, our kids are plenty competitive with one another and it doesn't take us out of the house on Sunday! Seriously, though, we love LK - the people are great and all the kids can be involved in one way or another. Bonus.
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| dad/coach! |
Last week we joined with our two favorite matriarchs and sat to give thanks for all of our blessings. They (and my friends who have the same philosophy) are my favorite guests. No stress, no cleaning (not much), no pinterest-worthy table...just good food and good company.
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| the hosts being a bit silly |
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| our fully, happy table |
The most exciting thing, kitchen-wise, is that this guy has been taking up cooking as extra credit for one of his online classes. Pretty good potato pancakes, I must say!
We rounded out the holiday weekend with the first, ever Rocco Academy spelling bee (a qualifier for the regional bee early next year...I had no idea you could run it through your family. Bonus on scheduling, for sure)
The winner was not as surprising as how many rounds the tiny guy held up. He and the older two hung in for at least 5 rounds until I started throwing him 5 letter words (he said first graders were only required to spell 4 letters at a time) and he started throwing a fit. The middle guy is clearly not cut out for the individual competition thing. I'm with him...I may refrain from attending regionals this year. Too much stress for me :0( Congratulations, #1, on the success of your last spelling year. It seems eighth grade is turning out to be special in lots of ways.
There was also a trip to the opera and some other things that happened but, for the most part, that was November, 2018, which is officially in the books in a few hours.
There are two decade-birthdays around here over the next few weeks but that's December and it will come in its own time. I'm going to try to step away from FB for Advent and spend more time here compiling all the joys and challenges we'll be facing as we close out 2018. It promises to be one incredible month.
Wishing you the peace that comes with the quiet dark before the glorious light of His birth. We are blessed.
