November Snapshots

November was filled with lots of trips to the dentist for me. With a temporary crown, followed by a broken temporary crown, followed by a permanent crown that didn't fit, followed by another temporary crown and then my final permanent crown...I was in and out of the dentist chair too many times this month! 

  

These two melt my heart!

This sweet sweet CHEESE face!

Uncle Tommy was on the train from Boston to NYC and sent me a message to tell me Anna Kendrick was on the same train as him. I jokingly encouraged him to go say hi and get a video for the girls. The girls didn't know who Anna Kendrick was, but they were definitely familiar with her latest leading movie role in Trolls. The best part is the girls and I had plans to go see Princess Poppy in Trolls the next morning. Tommy and I joked back and forth for a bit, but then the conversation kind of ended. I didn't think much more of it, but fifteen minutes later, I got this video! Three troll loving girls were all smiles the next morning and couldn't believe the video was made especially for them! Now, they definitely know who Anna Kendrick is! 😁

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mPiU64mAX2g

We enjoyed all the fall things in November as the crisp air rolled in and the leaves started to fall!

I chaperoned Abby's field trip downtown to the local theater for a show. It was especially fun when we got to enjoy the show from the front row. I love hanging with these kiddos!

Grandma had to say goodbye to her 14 year old black lab, Midnight. It was a really hard time for her this fall. Ella knew that Grandma was heartbroken, so she made her this picture. She wanted it to help Grandma "always remember Midnight and the walks they took together". The hearts were to remind her of all the love.

Always lots and lots of sweet sister time happening around here...

We traveled through the National Parks at our school's Literacy Night and saw the girls' beautiful artwork.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b5f46WsweMQ

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MEjNTBiX1LA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IPSMbIHWkdY

Thanks to the help of many friends and family who purchased magazine subscriptions to support the school's fundraiser, Abby won another limo ride to lunch at Pizza Hut! A definite highlight of her month. 

Joe was away for a weekend ministry conference and this guy was missing his dad, so he headed to school pick up with all the ladies. 

The truth is we were all missing Joe! Our home just isn't the same without him here. Bedtime was especially hard for Ella while Joe was away, so our sweet girl slept in her daddy's shirt every night.

Cory helped me hold down the fort the first night Joe was away.😜

 Night #2 in Daddy's shirt

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oOB582-I2no

One of these things is not like the other! 😍

Before the month was over, we were off on the hunt for the perfect Christmas tree! 

Adoption Day: Kit & Lea

Last Christmas, Joe and I surprised the girls with the gift of their dreams. They each got their very own American Girl doll. Ella got Grace because she has always loved baking. She fell in love with Grace and all things Paris after watching her movie on repeat for months. Abby got Mary Ellen, a teacher from the 50's who loves poodle skirts and her jukebox. One year later and we have never once regretted the decision to get the girls this special gift. They take extra good care of them and treat them like they are real kids. I'm sure when they look back on their childhood these will be the dolls they will always remember and keep forever.

All that to say, two months after they got their girls, they decided they couldn't wait to "add to their family" with another American Girl. They started studying the catalog and creating their wish list for us. While this is totally sweet, that was our cue to teach them just how special and expensive these dolls are and help them understand it isn't something we can just get whenever we want to. We encouraged Abby and Ella to make a plan and start saving their own money for their next American Girl. Joe and I promised that if they both saved up the money, we would take them to the American Girl store to adopt their new kids. This was no small task for a four and six year old, but they were up to the challenge and took it very seriously. Ella was saving for Kit and Abby was saving for Lea. We made charts and they saved their money from March to November. Ella reached her goal first (thanks to a July birthday) and assured Abby that she would wait for her as long as it took. She waited and Abby kept saving. Abby finished up sometime in late October, so Joe and I planned a surprise trip to Boston for adoption day!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sGWc-tqjfg

We loved seeing the looks on the girls faces as we pulled into the mall and they started to realize what could be happening. I encouraged them to bring Grace and Mary Ellen with us for a ride. I thought they would want to be there for the special moment. :)

 

 

Taking my girls to the American Girl store has been a dream of mine for as long as I can remember, so I loved every minute of it. But, the most amazing part of the whole experience was knowing how hard our girls worked and saved and choose not to spend for months just to have this moment. Watching them experience the fruit of their hard work was so much better than gifting them another doll for Christmas. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i1nHRAt_blE

"Kit! I'm here for you! I'm here to take you home today!" - Ella

 

 Because Joe and I weren't spending any money on the dolls, we surprised the girls with appointments at the hair salon for Mary Ellen and Grace. They got to pick a hair style and special ribbon for their dolls and then watch them make the dolls hair like new again. 

 

  

 

 

We told the girls that we were driving to Boston to meet our friends for lunch, which was totally true.We just never told them about the pit stop we were making before lunch. The girls were so excited by their morning, but pretty wiped out by the time we sat down for lunch with Chrissy, Terry and Devon. Our whole lunch looked like corralling four kids and a whole lot of half finished sentences, but it didn't really matter because we've been friends since we were 12 and we get it. We did look around as we were seated at our table and wonder when we became a party of 8! :) Look at this sweet guy! He reached for me and gave me a hug as we were leaving.

This day was full of surprises. After lunch, we piled into the car and told the girls that instead of heading home, we were going to visit Uncle Tommy who is studying at MIT. We got to see his new apartment and explore his neighborhood a bit. The girls were pretty excited about their first ride on the T. Well...Ella was terrified until she was in her seat, but she didn't want the ride to end once we got going.

We took the T to Harvard and walked around campus for a bit.

 

We grabbed dinner and made sure we snuck in a quick visit to Uncle Tommy's campus before it was time to head home. The girls got a quick tour of the management school and saw what one of his classrooms looks like. We were so thankful for our time together.

Our day was full of Saturday adventures and lots of new memories were made! It was a great trip.

Welcome to the family, Lea and Kit. We've been waiting for you!