A Busy November

It's finally the holiday season!

Are you excited?!

I've been finishing up on some decorating tonight, and thought I'd take a break to sit down and chat with you...

(Micah found this monster antler the morning after Thanksgiving on his nature walk. It's been sitting here on our table ever since, even though it may be a bit too much. Do you think it's too big?  Haha...)

How was your Thanksgiving, friends?

I sure hope it was warm and full of love!

Two of my kiddos have November birthdays! So, before I can even think about Thanksgiving, everything has to stop so that I can focus on giving them happy and successful birthdays!

Yes, November in our house is a busy month!

Roman's was first. 

He turned nine this year!

It's our tradition to begin birthday mornings with cinnamon rolls and presents from mom and dad...

Nola's birthday comes next. Just two weeks after Roman's.

She turned seven!

They both wanted home parties this year...

We kept the food simple, and enjoyed our family and friends.

(I can't believe my firstborn is NINE! *big fat sniff*)

Nola was a little more specific about her party, however.

She told me she wanted to dress up as Belle, (from Beauty and the Beast) and have a Belle cake!

I decorated the table...

And Micah and I made this cake for her...

One thing I've always loved about Nola is that she is very easy to please. 

I had never made a cake like this before and could really see all its imperfections. But when we presented it to her the night of her party, she was so appreciative and exclaimed that it was exactly what she wanted!

Oh, that was music to my ears!

She was happy, so I was happy!

(Nola dressed as Belle with her Belle cake...)

She had a great party with her friends...

The very next morning was Thanksgiving! 

We've finally reached a point in our family where we have our own special traditions and the kids are old enough to remember them from previous years.

This is a season of life that I couldn't wait to get to when Micah and I were first married and our family was really young.

Micah makes monkey bread with the kids on Thanksgiving morning... The kids talk about it all year! 

It is very sticky and messy, but the kids love it!

And, it's a very sweet thing for me to watch.

We're all in our pajamas and there's usually fun music in the background. I'm cutting up fruit or setting the breakfast table at this time...

Here it is, all set to sit and enjoy...

Oh, how I love our peaceful Thanksgiving mornings!

The kitchen is warm and smells like coffee, sausage and cinnamon sugar... Bing Crosby's on the stereo, and the children are bouncing around, laughing...

It's a wonderful life!!!

I have much to be thankful for!

"I will enter His gates with Thanksgiving in my heart. I will enter His courts with praise."

~ Psalm 100:4

"The Love in your heart wasn't put there to stay. Love isn't love till it's given away!"

~ Unknown 

"We accept and thank God for what is given, not allowing what is not given to spoil it."

~ Elizabeth Elliot

After breakfast I got to work on preparing the food for our thanksgiving feast. This year we spent the holiday at Micah's parents' with his family.

(Elsa with one of her cousins...)

One of my favorite traditions that I look forward to each year is waking up early the morning after Thanksgiving, bundling up the kids, and heading out to our favorite little tree farm to cut down our Christmas trees.

We need two full-size trees for this old farmhouse!

I was motivated to hunt down the perfect trees, but the kids were more interested in rolling down hills..

And exploring the land...

And once I did get them interested in looking at trees, they were trying to talk me into the baby ones! Haha...

We had a great time!

The family who runs this tree farm names all their trees! So it's a lot of fun to look at the names of the trees we like.

We found a Courtney tree...

But didn't get her because she was a little crooked and discolored.

(Of course she was. *eye roll*)

 I wasn't surprised, but Micah said, "Huh. I was expecting her to be tall, straight, and beautiful." 

(Just the thing for a husband to say. Haha...)

We ended up deciding on Fredrick...

And Walt...

They're brothers, from the Balsam family.

Walt is just a touch smaller and thinner than his brother, so I thought he'd be happiest up in our front room...

And Fredrick, being the sturdiest, will hopefully be able to handle the roughhousing that goes on in our family room...

And as you can see, I am not burdened with the decorating of two trees alone. I have everyone's help! 

It's a family affair!

I'd love to show you my home all dressed up for Christmas, but duty is calling me...

Dinner for tonight is in the oven and will be done in a few minutes, so I must start on the cornbread to go with it!

Blogging is sort of a luxury that I just try to squeeze in here and there, but my home responsibilities always come first! 

(Which is why you don't see daily posts from me. *sad face* As much I love writing and sharing pictures of my life with you, I make sure my home is tended to first! You all are so sweet, I know you understand! *smile*)

BUT! Check back with me soon! I'll post a Christmas tour of my home before the season gets away from us!

Cross my heart!

Enjoy this time of year, friends!

Love to you all...

xo,

~ Courtney ~