November: Month of Thanks

I'm so glad I like to take pictures of our events because otherwise I would have forgotten all the fun!  November was really busy with school work.  The kids bring home packets every other week or so filled with words to define.  This hasn't been a problem for Eli, but with Amelia I felt like it was a little much.  Added on to that is spelling work, work they didn't get done in school, reading for 20 minutes, and math work.  Somehow I'm supposed to get all that done, fix dinner and get the kids to bed by 8pm.  Yeah, that doesn't happen!  I spend an hour with them on homework and call it a day.  They need fun time and exercise, too.  They aren't playing video games or sitting in front of the TV, so I'm fine if they get a few frowny faces from the teachers.  In reality, the teachers have been very supportive of the hour rule.  

Parent/teacher conferences were in November.  Amelia still needs a lot of work with behavior, ie sitting still in class, not hiding in the bathroom when things get tough, and being overly goofy.  She's come a long way, but has a long way to go.  Eli is a really smart kid, but his attitude has gotten the best of him.  He's such a know it all and bossy pants that it gets him in trouble with the other kids.  Because of his snotitude, as I call it, kids are starting to pick on him.  I feel bad, but he has to learn to simmer down and chill.  By the way, he gets it from me :(

He was so exhausted from the day, that he fell asleep mid play with a car on his chest.  

We went to Buffalo to visit family for Thanksgiving.  We had such a great time.  My husband's Aunt Darlene threw a great Thanksgiving feast, which happened to be my mother in law's birthday.

Here, the cousins are watching Cars.

Aunt Wendy being goofy!

The kids then went on a scavenger hunt around the yard and house (mostly the yard, though).  One clue was to find the birthday person, who then read them some silly jokes and handed out $1 each.  The kids loved it!

At the end the kids got all sorts of fun prizes in a bag - everyone the same thing.  What a great party!  The kids are still talking about it.

I'm not sure exactly when it was, but some time in October I think, I started taking medication for anxiety.  I think I may have been experiencing panic attacks because of all the stress I've been under.  Between Eli's physical needs, and Amelia's emotional needs, plus school and behavior issues, I was really drowning.  The good news is that it's helping with the anxiety.  The bad news is that my memory is being severely affected.  

On the job front, I still love my jobs working for the church.  My favorite part of my jobs is that I get to connect people together.  Love, love, love my church!