Our November in Photos

November was filled with… lots of work on the yard, creative time, family time, end of soccer season, and Thanksgiving. Sometimes I am amazed when I look back at a month of photos, to see just how much we did in one month!

Still plenty warm to enjoy time on the play structure. I love when the kids set up out here. They’ll bring out toys, artwork, caught bugs/lizards or snacks and just hang out at the top of the slide for hours sometimes. I also love that I can watchthem from the family room so easily!

The kids enjoy crafts from Kiwicrate.com

For Christmas season, I offered the kids could have hot chocolate or hot cider every morning before school.

Working on new girl’s bedroom photos/art –

It turned out great

You can see the final product at thischerishedlife.etsy.com

Long days at soccer games can make the sweetest little girl sleepy.

My girls continue to take over my art station whenever they get the inkling.

Aubrey has been really enjoying working with acrylics!

Rylan brought home two amazing pieces of art this month!

I especially love this one from Rylan because it is original and creative. He says the drop monster absorbs anything that falls down to it, and grows whenever it absorbs an item “dropped.” So neat to see this kind of creativity coming from him. And look at that unique drawing and capability!

Another creation for my Etsy shop – see at thischerishedlife.etsy.com

One of the biggest projects of the month: we had over 300 plants delivered for our backyard.

We spent the days leading up to and after Thanksgiving getting the final drainage, sprinklers and leveling done, then several days of planting with help from my parents, Dennis & DeeDee and even our neighbors Ron & Anita.

Darcy from Darcy’s Garden was a huge help as well, coming the days before & after the holiday to coordinate the delivery and direct where the plants should go. Here, a new tree is brought in to go next to the play structure. We were lucky to have a crew and tractors on site when the plants were delivered.

Tim coordinated large deliveries of bark, rock and base rock to put in the backyard before the contractors broke up the concrete on the side of the yard.

Little did we know we were embarking on one of the driest winters in California history, so in November we made it out to Armstrong Redwoods to take what we thought was one last change to enjoy the outdoors before it turned rainy.

It was a really nice day for a hike in the Redwoods!

We took a nice family break bowling for Aubrey’s special day one Saturday evening.

Sierra gets a dental checkup. She (and all 3 kids) are so good for their dental checkups!

Exciting for Tim & Rylan! The boys U10 team won the end of season tournament! First Place!

Taking time to stop and smell the roses. Or vineyards. Our views in the neighborhood are incredible in the fall with all the colors and beautiful sunsets.

Trampoline fun!

Aubrey entered a Halloween coloring contest put on by the local fire department – and won! I loved that I wasn’t the one to push her, she chose to do it after the fire department visited the school and handed out the contest drawing handout to all the kids. We went down to the fire department to collect her prize. First of many, right?

The kids had a day off of school, so I took them to the Chabot Space center in the Oakland hills. While the center was a bit sparse, we all really enjoed our day.

Also, its been very neat to hear Aubrey talk about the planets, global warming, and other things she learned while there. It made me realize how ready she is to start learning about the world, its no longer just Rylan who can get a lot out of these types of trips.