Three Months in Review

Let's take this back to the beginning of October. As I look back, there are many events that encompass our fall and early winter. My cursory overview will capture highlights, but I'm kicking myself that I didn't do more. Oh well...

My birthday falls early in October, but we didn't capture any photos. I went to breakfast with my friend Raquel at the Farm Grill. Then that night Enoch and I went to dinner at Joe's BBQ and then had dessert at Liberty Market. $10 to spend on anything I wanted at all three places makes doing the rounds worth it. Plus, the food is good. That's why we have made it our tradition. :) As a birthday treat, Enoch made an Oreo crust version of some peanut butter bars I found in my new Savoring the Seasons cookbook that Megan gifted me. Yum! and we won't count calories.

Asher's preschool teacher organized a trip to a little farm/pumpkin patch. Not many people came, and ti wasn't that great, but we tried it out, and Asher found a game that he could have played all day and into the night. Good times!

Halloween made for some super cute kid in costumes around here. This was the first Halloween where Asher got in the spirit and enjoyed the festivities. He even said "trick or treat" at people's doors which I wasn't exactly sure that he would do since he is more of a quiet and shy type.But he loved getting the candy even if he didn't so much care about eating it. True story. He's never been much of a sweet tooth. And Julia, well, she was just cute and did enjoy the candy. I had to keep it hidden from her or that is all would eat every day.

I went to Time Out for Women here in Phoenix at the beginning of November. It was uplifting and good to get away with a friend for a day. I was in need of some spiritual rejuvenation, and this was helpful for sure.

We spent Thanksgiving in Hyder with Enoch's family. Asher loved getting to play with his cousin Casey for a couple of days, Enoch loved shooting and playing Airsoft with his brothers. I read and did UOP work in my spare time. It was a super slow internet connection which was frustrating, but I got done what I needed to.

December was busy with Christmas preparations, finishing Julia's stocking (thanks for the last help. Megan!), UOP work, hosting a cookie exchange/potluck lunch at my house, and then having a bunch of family over to my place for Christmas Eve.

We went to Zoolights with the Marks, Jill's family, and Megan. I think that may have been a once in a long time experience. It was way too crowded and hard to navigate with the larger group we had. Just staying together was a chore.

Christmas Eve was nice with everyone, the Christmas program with Mark at the piano, playing the rice pudding game which Jill won again, and having Santa come that night.

Christmas mo0rning was pretty lazy around here. Asher still doesn't quite get the excitement of Santa so he slept in and then didn't even realize he could finally open all the presents. So we ate breakfast (eggnog baked French toast) and then opened gifts. The kids had fun playing with all the new things and wanted to play with each before opening the next. We went up to Jill's later in the day for more dinner and family time. It was a good Christmas.

We did make a quick day trip out to Hyder before the new year to see a sister who was down from Oregon with her family. It was quick, but the kids enjoyed seeing their cousins and grandparents and got more gifts.

So there you have it, three months in a nutshell.

Julia ripping into Asher's stocking on Christmas morning. This girl loves chocolate so of course, her stocking would not be enough.

Our little elf the morning of his little preschool sing.

There was a period of time when Julia was wearing the monkey a lot. She doesn't anymore, but it sure was cute.

I continue to coordinate a neighborhood babysitting co-op, and this was one of our days to have friends over. It works well, and I appreciate having it even if it takes time to coordinate and meet everyone's demands. Asher likes the playdates and is much more interested in his "friends" these days.

Asher with his friend Grant who moved back to AZ this last summer. Seeing this reminds me that I need to get in touch with his mom and have him over again.

Raquel and I at Time Out for Women. Such fun and great to spend time with her and my sister-in-law from Yuma who I ran into there. I had no idea she was coming for this.

Julia as lion.

Asher as Elmo

Happy Halloween! If you look closely, you can see by Asher's eyes that he had been crying just a moment before the shot was taken. The reason escapes me now as it usually does. ;)

 

I will finish this post with a video from Asher's preschool Christmas program. It was low key and short, which I loved. I knew Asher likely wouldn't sing with all the people, but I was pleasantly surprised to see him doing actions and participating much similarly to many of his classmates.  My favorite part of the video is how hard he is working to manipulate his fingers. He can't really do it, but he so wants to. :)