Noteworthy November {2018}

Of course, I do think every month is noteworthy and worth remembering during these fleeting days while my children are young.  I know that many of these precious memories would be lost to the deepest recesses of my mind forever if not recorded.  I certainly am thankful we take way more pictures these days than in the past.  Yes, sometimes it is probably a bit excessive, but I would rather have too many than not enough.  I imagine my mind like the little girl's brain in the cartoon movie "Inside Out" where our memories become an endless storehouse of marbles that at first appear brightly colored but as time progresses, many of the marbles become dull and colorless until they eventually wisp away into dust.  I just want to preserve some of these "marbles" of life before they disappear from memory.  I already know many of those memories from my oldest children's early days have begun to disappear, but when I find a picture from this period, it brings the memory back to life.  I hope that it will do the same for them one day.  Here are the "marbles" from our days in November:

One marble memory I particularly love from each of my children is just how cute they look in diapers.  As Grayson nears the end of this stage, I treasure a few pictures of him hanging out in his diaper or pull-up at home.  He was resisting the urge to wake his big brother up from a nap.  Brody, Mattox and Grayson enjoyed playing outside during one of big brother's soccer games, and Brody enjoyed going to his cool school book fair.  

Just trying to capture some pictures of these two wearing some new matching shirts.  It was not easy. 

Silly Grayson

Mattox was being the less cooperative brother this time.  

I will really treasure these pictures of Grayson's little curls before his first hair cut. 

The boys enjoyed lunch with Daddy after church while Mommy attended a ladies' luncheon. 

I enjoyed some yummy homemade vegetable soup during the cooler fall days.  Brody showed off his new "muscles" from playing football.  Evan still enjoys playing with these blocks as he uses them to set up intricate battle formations. 

We attempted to eat at the local Cracker Barrel, but as usual, we were disappointed by the food and service.  Sigh.  I usually love Cracker Barrel.  The boys still enjoy the gift shop and playing the table games. 

But we always enjoy the yummy pizza from our favorite local pizza restaurant. 

I took the big boys to see the new Grinch movie to start the holiday season. 

We enjoy sitting in the comfy recliners and sharing some popcorn and drinks. 

These boys loved the photo opp at Target with the Target dog.  

Mattox wanted his picture solo. 

We saw our first Christmas tree of the season, and Mattox started his Christmas list when he found this little ukulele which he called a guitar.  He asked Santa for a guitar and a skate board this Christmas. 

Pecan Pie and apple cider were my favorite treats this Thanksgiving. 

I attempted to take pictures of our Thanksgiving feast we cooked at home this year.  Unfortunately, we had a little mishap when my husband accidently turned on the wrong burner on the stove where he left his homemade baked macaroni and cheese.  The glass pyrex dish became too hot and exploded ruining that dish completely.  Sigh.  His turkeys are always the best I have ever tasted as he makes sure they are really moist and basted with spices and apple cider.  I need to get him to share his secret recipe. 

Just a picture of my feast.  Brody is showing off his dessert. 

We got our tree and decorated for Christmas the weekend after Thanksgiving as tradition. I love all of our stockings on the mantle.  They really tell the story of our complete family.  I can't wait until Maggie's is hanging up there too.  I love a full mantle! 

Just moments of my boys being themselves.  Evan and Grayson were playing, Mattox was napping and then playing in his tent, and Brody was showing off a tooth he lost. 

Mr. Grayson is an aspiring chef. 

Mattox loves the Christmas tree, but he likes to play peek-a-boo from the camera. 

Brody's little brothers adore him.  I just love Mattox's sweet smiles. 

Brody brought me a Christmas bell from school.  

Mattox and Grayson do love playing with their Cocoa. 

We made it home to North Carolina for a late Thanksgiving/early Christmas family gathering. We went out to eat one night at a place that has kids' night special events like face painting and characters. It was a Frozen theme this night with Anna.  Brody wanted a snowman tattoo.  

Cousin Grady wanted a transformer so she did her best.  At the hotel, the boys enjoyed watching Frozen on TV. 

These boys love eating breakfast at the hotel. 

Baby Grayson fell asleep while eating his lunch, and Brody attempted to write everyone's names in his family.  I loved the spellings of Grady's and Aunt Naomi's names. 

We also enjoyed a little swim in the hotel's indoor pool.  The boys had forgotten to bring swim trunks, and it is surprising difficult to find swimsuits in stores in the winter so they swam in their boxer underwear.  Grayson just wore a sim diaper.  They were the only people in the pool anyway.  

Grayson just enjoyed playing with his ball. 

I did find a little joy in these two posts I saw this month.  The name one is the first time I have seen my name spelled correctly in one of these memes.  Hey, at least I am supposed to get some money in 2019.  We'll see if that happens. The picture of the little girl that showed up in some clothing ad just looked exactly like me as a little girl.  It was kind of weird and scary.  Haha! 

I just thought the post about Professor Dumbledore was hilarious.  They really did make him age quickly from Fantastic Beasts to the Harry Potter movies.  I mean, really, what happened to him?  Did he stop using the elixir from the philosopher's stone so his age caught up with him?  Another funny Christmas ad that came in a mail catalog showed these personalized stockings with mine and my brother's names on them.  Of course, mine is spelled wrong but that is normal for me.  Haha!