Cramming November

I can not believe that November is over and I hardly posted a thing! I have so many good things to post for November too! I guess it will be a really really long November catch-up blog. Grab a drink and some popcorn - this could take awhile.

Saying goodbye to Lagoon for a season:
November 1st was the last day for Lagoon's 2008 season. We had season passes this year so we decided to use them until the end! The weather couldn't have been more perfect and we had a blast. I don't know about all kids - but Ellie is usally really fun to do things with and take places - but of course some days are better than others. This day was incredible. She really just enjoyed being there and had a great attitude. This trip she discovered and fell in love with the sky ride. We rode it six times across the park. Of course, the carousel is always one of her favorites. She kept getting on rides with other kids and I asked her why she didn't go alone. I knew she just doesn't like to be alone on rides, but her response was - "I am just making friends." So cute!


I love how Ellie plays. She is so creative and so cute to listen to. This was her "birthday party." I love the way she arranges and uses her imagination to make one toy something it is not intended to be. In this picture her baskets are tables and chairs. I love just sitting and listening to her play.


We missed Thursday night bowling in October, so we took it up again in November. Ellie was more interested in the other games than bowling this time. We said we should go again and she said, "it takes too long." I think she may have just been worn out that day.

Sundays at Grandma's in November usually involve a craft. Here is our Sunday craft of the month. We made the turkey bodies with our feet and their feathers with our hands. Ellie was really into it and did all of the gluing herself.


I work from home and during the day Ellie is here a lot and I don't get to do much playing with her. I have been feeling a little bad about it lately, so I've tried to stop in the day a few times or plan something fun at night to do together. She really just likes the simple things and spending time playing with mom. Here are some of our Playdoh creations.


When driving on I-15 south heading toward PeeGee - there is a factory with a smoke stack. Every day the smoke is a little different and honestly, I never used to notice it. Ellie started saying what the smoke looked like. My favorite was when she said it looked like a beanstalk and then created a story to go along with the smoke. This picture is not the beanstalk day - do you know what it is? If not, just ask Ellie.


One day in November, the 12th I think - it rained really hard. We were once again driving in the car and Ellie said, "Look mom, it looks like a shark is coming towards us." I tried and tried to see what she was looking at and just couldn't get it. I finally found it. It was the section in the windshield the wipers miss that form the perfect shark fin. She is so creative!


Madagascar 2: so great - Ellie saw it two times in November. Once with Dad and once with Mom. We laughed in bed one night over and over about Moto Moto and his lines.

"I like 'em big. I like 'em chunky. I like 'em big. I like 'em plumpy."
"Goodness girl, you huge."
"Girl, you as quick as you are hefty."
"The name's so nice, you say it twice."
"I'll see you around girl, it won't be hard because you so plumpy."
http://www.traileraddict.com/clip/madagascar-the-crate-escape/moto-meets-gloria

We are always glad when friends can come over to play. Isabel, Luke and Ellie played on this slide forever. They were climbing up it instead of sliding down and when someone in front would fall they would all get knocked down - laugh - and then do it again. In a few more years, I'll have to have a talk with Luke about that last picture. :)




Disney on Ice:
On our way to Disney on Ice we ran into Ellie's cousin on her dad's side - Analia. You can actually see the resemblance. Ellie enjoyed the show but was quick to point out that Sleepy Beauty was missing. That girl knows her princesses.



Ellie has a Build-a-Bear bear. Her name is Abbie. We decided it was time for Abbie to get some new digs.


Since Ellie and I weren't able to spend Thanksgiving together - we had my family over for Sunday dinner the week before. We spent the morning making our first pumpkin pies. Ellie likes to help in the kitchen. She has wanted to be like mom and do what mom does a lot lately. I love it of course and think it's so dang cute.


It is tradition in my family to put the Christmas tree up the Saturday after Thanksgiving. (Actually, I think I am the only one left that keeps true to this tradition.) So we spent a good part of Saturday finding decorations, a tree, and getting the house all Christmas cute. Friday night Ellie was in charge of putting up the nativity scene. As she was setting out the three wise men she said, "Look - a trophy, a crayon, and a box." I'm sure Christ would be just as happy with those three gifts as he was with gold, frankincense and myrrh.
She also got the job of putting out all of the treats and of course decorating the tree. We are so happy with the finished products and had so much fun getting it done.






The last thing we did in November was send a letter to Santa. Ellie wanted to include on the letter what I wanted. Later Kevin came over so she wanted to add that as well.

It originally read:
Ellie wants
a Little Bear toothpaste
Mom wants
peanut clusters
Ellie Mom

She added Kevin in the blank spaces and it ended up a little crazy. I was trying to teach her how the lines in sentences flow and she thought it was funny that Santa might think we all wanted something we didn't. We decided that Santa was probably smart enough to figure it out.




If you stayed along for the entire ride - I hope you enjoyed November as much as I did!