november, randomness. – lidbom family life

after a month filled with exciting travel in october, november was pretty chill. even though it’s not quite the same as fall in western new york, it’s still my favorite season in north carolina. cooler temps. pumpkin themed foods. upcoming holidays. falling leaves. fewer bugs. you get the idea.

here’s how our november went.

we kicked things off with a little dia de los muertos gathering. with the big two sort of over halloween, we decided to skip it (and the weather confirmed this decision) and in it’s place, we thought it would be fun to have a little campfire party with some friends. s’mores. chili. snacks. lots of candy. who needs halloween.

fire pit beginnings.
boys at the bar.
crazelnut and goofy lewis kiddos.

at this point in the timeline, i was desperately trying to stay keto until thanksgiving, possibly even christmas. looking back, it was a trainwreck of an effort. i was on and off repeatedly, until finally just eating everything in sight and gaining a billion pounds to cap off 2019. but. back then, i was all in. and keto chaffles were all the rage. i scored a dash waffle maker at target and started off with some pretty epic looking chaffle sandwiches. i just had to post them.

delicious.
tasty.

upon the completion of my single girl quilt top, i convinced anna to have a quilt basting party with me, to finally get moving on the quilt she’s been working on since april of 2018. she had a goal of completing it by the end of 2019. spoiler alert: she didn’t. anyhow. the giant gaping foyer proves to be a great place for basting quilts.

hard at work.
aerial view. (from the loft).

i moved the girls legos to the living room cabinets, which has sparked renewed interest in legos. it also has sparked the entire living room being filled with lego creations, but whatever.

lego 2 movie set.
legos and football.

and now. a ruby snuggle montage. (she’s really easygoing, if you can’t tell. and loves to lie on the back of the couch and make all of my pillows smooshed).

bills fan.
crushed.
she loves the boy.
and tolerates the girls.
she enjoys watching movies with built in stadium seating.

and now some general randomness.

local homeschool store model train.
people of walmart.
war paint weirdo.
mario kart.
the general state of affairs.

if you don’t know. we live in the woods. surrounded by a million trees. trees that lose their leaves. making for lots of opportunities for GIANT leaf piles. fun for everyone. well, maybe not derek who is tasked with making the piles. and isaac who had just showered and didn’t want to get dirty. and anyone who is inadvertently pounced on by the beloved pup.

leaf pile maker extraordinaire.
pouncer. (note injured anna in background).
fun.

small child tossing.
reconciled..
all the smiling faces.

isaac has been taking “kitchen chemistry” at our co-op, where he’s learned how to make some fun kid friendly recipes. he’s been putting his skills to work at the house, making jello gummies and homemade pancakes from scratch. i can’t complain.

gummies.
pancakes (with maine maple syrup!)
chef/chemist at work.

in other baking news, the girls worked hard to decorate a birthday cake for me. they helped make the cake. and frosting. but i stacked and frosting the cake and prepared the icing bags with colors they selected. and then set them free with a blank slate. it was a masterpiece, and even though i posted a pic in my official birthday post, here’s another. 🙂

anna was in charge of lettering.
beautiful.
hazel handled stars and they both were on sprinkle placement detail.

homeschool for tiny artist girls in november is fun. thanksgiving. pilgrims. turkey. etcetera. we concocted this turkey craft, using a cardboard egg carton, hot glue, paint, sharpies, and some ribbon scraps i scored at michaels. the girls worked hard. and our results were perfection, if i do say so myself.

artist at work.
cutest focus.
turkey flock.

while things were going swimmingly on the elementary grade arts and crafts front, there have been trying times with the resident middle schooler. so, here’s a little snapshot of what our real homeschool life often consists of. a ripped up math book, thrown down the hall. i can’t remember if this was the day he also threw the day’s lesson into the fireplace, but that has also recently happened. anyhow. all that to say. it’s not all unicorns and rainbows. or rainbow turkeys, as it were.

frustrated with math, aftermath.

our co-op semester ended just before thanksgiving, concluding with a fall program, where many of the classes had a performance or a slideshow. the older two weren’t in any of the performances, but one of hazel’s classes was first up. her “busy brains and bodies” class showed off some sign language, before performing feats of teamwork and strength and it was the cutest thing ever. and then we sat through two hours of all the other kids. (guitar, handbells, robotics, etc).

lining up the cute kiddos.
waiting patiently.
sign language showoffs.

november anna dance roundup….

and lastly, the ruby section. she’s still the perfect doggo. often found lounging in a chair, sprawled out in the sun, or on the back of the couch. she’s so snuggly and sweet and easy going. she does, however, still do that puppy thing of occasionally getting into something she shouldn’t. and destroying it.