Hello November + Monthly Goals

November.
A brand new, fresh month.
The beginning of cold weather and the Holiday season.
The days are shorter, much shorter, and the time changes.
November, I do not know how in the hell you are here already, but you are.
{SO, I will attempt to embrace you, although you are not really my most favorite at all.}

Last month(and September) I made a Fall List of sorts, full of things I wanted to do/see/accomplish
during the month.
I am making another list this month, but more of a list of Goals for the month of November.

My goals for the month  

Make that dang pie already(pumpkin with homemade crust) !

Write every single day- on paper. Something... anything.

Write in my gratitude journal.

Develop pictures and frame them.

Make three new crock pot meals.

Keep working on that early morning routine- it's non-existent lately.

That's all I've got for now, I am sure I will add to my list as the month goes on.

I plan to try hard to work on the morning thang, starting tomorrow. 

Although I am not a big fan of the colder months I am looking forward to all that November will bring.

Are you excited about November... Are you ready for  it?
Do you have any goals for the month?
Things you hope to do or places you hope to go?

Hope you have a great week! 

Goodbye, November.

Dear November,

Oh, why must you go?
I wish you lasted longer, thirty days just isn't quite long enough for me... it never is.
I know that everyone else is ready for December(except me!) and rushing you right along, but to me, you are the calm before the storm,
the serene + peaceful month.
I'm hanging onto your ankles, begging you to stay just a bit longer.
Because I kinda like serene and peaceful.

You brought with you much cooler weather, shorter days and a whole lot less sunlight.
You also brought with you some of my very favorite family traditions and some of the BEST Midwestern comfort food you ever did eat.
You were full of Birthdays, far-away friends, too much sickness, lots of laughs, the usual struggles and lots of beautiful moments in-between.
During your month we took a train trip to Chicago, spent a wonderful Thanksgiving together and I really, finally started working.
November brought me my first actual paycheck in a long, long time!

You were a good month November... full of good things, hard things, 

new things and big, exciting things.

See ya next year.

:::::::::::::::::::::

Come back tomorrow when I welcome December, albeit a bit reluctantly, 

as it will  already be December 3. Wow. 

How does that happen so quickly, anyway?

quiet morning.

this morning.....

coffee outside. little chilly...that's me in my pj's.
the kids slept over at grandma & grandpa's last night so we had a little quiet time to
ourselves this morning--but not much, i met my mom and the kids at church at 8:30-
but i'm not complaining.
the rest of the day?
not quiet.
we tried to stay gone most of the day, eric is working on something at home he needed lots of uninterrupted quiet time for.
as i type this, the kids are having supper in their bedrooms and there will be no movie
watching tonight.
yeah, not a quiet rest of the day at all, but a rather stressful one for me.
i will just leave it at that, if you have children, i'm sure you know the kind of day i am
talking about...no need for the ugly details.
so tonight , i am extremely thankful for the little bit of peace and quiet i did have this morning.


The Thankful Project :: Day 5
Quiet mornings

{The Thankful Project}

Day 1::

So I am definitely not the first to be doing this, but the beginning of November starts a whole
month of taking stock of all we have to be thankful for, a month of thankfulness, if you will.
I think I am grateful and thankful and appreciative for all I have, really, the little things and
the big things and for the people in my life...I try to be.
But do I live my life thankful for all of these things, every single day?
Sometimes...usually...not every day...but most of the time, yes.
Could I do better and be a better example for my kids?
Most definitely.

Besides keeping a list and taking photos, I want to do a few projects with my kids this month as well.
Helping out, volunteering, donating, random acts of kindness...that sort of thing.
If any of you out there have any great ideas or come across any, please let me know.
Volunteering and community service was something we never did as a family growing up but
it is really important to me that I do these things together with my family.
I want it to be a normal part of my kid's lives, for them to know that there is a whole big world
out there, that it's not just about us and our little family.

{sweet little baby toes in the leaves. does it get any better than that?}

So today I am thankful for beautiful weather.
Looking at these pictures I could have gone with cousins or family or spending the day together,
all of them fit, but today at the very top of my list is this gorgeous weather.
It allows us to take walks, play outside, run and discover little treasures along the way.
Talk to neighbors, get exercise and to feel the sun on our faces.
Draw with chalk, race down the alley and open up the kitchen windows.
Yep, today I am most definitely thankful for this beautiful weather.

If you're like me, you might notice everyone talking about being thankful this time of year and
you might wonder; why now, why not all year long? and I have to say I agree.
But I think it's a start.
And hopefully we can all carry it with us all year long.

******
Hope everyone has a great day today.
Happy middle-of-the-week, y'all!

Ten On Ten:: November

Tuesday was Ten On Ten.

I was out on the town last night so I am a little slow getting these on here...
Hope everyone had a great one, I can't wait to check out everyone else's day in pictures.

 

 

 

 

Leaves, Leaves, Leaves.....

We spent the morning raking up leaves...and leaves and more leaves. They look so pretty on the trees and they are so much fun for the kids to play in but MAN, that's a lot of leaves. Which means a lot of raking. And bagging. But remember how much fun it was to jump in the leaves after your parents raked them up in big piles? And just walk through them, kick them, throw them...and have leaf fights? Our leaves are still a little wet because we have had so much rain lately but it didn't seem to bother the kids. Too bad we can't still burn leaves because I LOVE that smell and it definitely brings back many childhood memories.

 

After a relaxing Sunday I am headed out on a date--dinner AND a movie while the kids are with their grandparents. hOoraY!!! We are finally seeing The Informant, which was filmed here where we live and although it has got mixed reviews I must admit I am super excited to see it because of the food--

my brother prepared the food for one of the scenes. Exciting!