November ...

November came and went ... 

here are a few pictures.

Hate that I am not writing down more of our everyday adventures or milestones.

Rebekah and Margaret came through for a quick visit.

So good to see them, can't wait until they are living close again!

Went to the square in downtown McKinney.

Jackson and Cooper had their last soccer games sometime at the beginning of the month. 

 They had fun!

We're glad to have our Saturdays back, though..

Got a new lens for my camera -

Enjoying learning a little more with it.

But then I dropped it last week, 

so no fun now.

Silly Cooper and his green blanket.

He loves that thing. And leaves it all over the house.

He went to a birthday party for his classmate, Brooke, at the Frontiers of Flight Museum.

He had a GREAT time.

 

Jackson had the opportunity to participate in school mass!

He read part of the Prayers of the Faithful.

He nailed it!

And was so cute how he popped his hand in the air when it was time for the response.

He's doing great in first grade.

He loves school, and he also loves being home :)

I know its a long week, and he has a decent amount of homework.

We keep the "extracurricular" activities to a minimum.

Going to school all day every day is exhausting enough.

One afternoon we were sitting around - and the boys were eating tortilla chips out of the bag.

Colin had said to them, "hey- those are my chips!"

After some laughter, the boys took more.

Colin said, "Hey! that one was mine ... it had my name on it!"

They ran off to do something, and Colin went into the pantry and grabbed one of my markers I use for cookies - edible food markers.

Anyway, he wrote his name on some of the chips, and put them back in the bag.

Oh, their faces were so priceless when they reached for those chips!

 Then he spent the next ten minutes writing their names on chips so they could eat them : )

I love this man.

Yesterday was our ten year anniversary.  

It's hard to believe that is has been that long.

But it's also impossible to remember my life before him.

We went out to dinner, and then to a choir performance at a Catholic Cathedral down in Dallas. 

It was beautiful - but they also sung us to sleep : )

Our original plan was to  get a hotel room and sleep for like 15 hours or so - ha!

But Maggie got sick on Wednesday, and then Cooper and Charlie had fever Thursday/Friday.

So we just came home.

We took a rain check on the hotel and will hopefully make it happen soon. 

I gave him a watch - which is a little too big -

but we will exchange it for another one.

He said he debated whether to give me jewelry or not.

Instead, he wrapped up a toilet bowl brush.

And with a gift certificate to housecleaning - once a month for the next three months.

YES!

Possibly the best present ever.

The daily up-keep of the house with laundry, dishes, kitchen, toys, crafts, and messes ...

driving the kids back and forth to school, volunteering ...

it's a challenge to stay on top of that while also being a mom to the kids.

I also want to be there with them.  Not scattered and crazy and in a hurry all the time.

It's a balancing act, and I often feel like I've let too much fall.  

But getting to the bigger cleaning, like showers, mopping, windows ...

it just doesn't seem to happen.

So, better than any sparkly jewelry, 

Colin gave me time.

Time with him, and time with the kids.

I love him.