{November}

November 1:
To help out with the up-coming church Talent Show, I worked with Ramona Hinckley and Katherine McClure to make "clouds" for the stage.  It was great getting the time to chat with both of these ladies.

November 2:
Rehearsal for the church Talent Show...

November 3:
What an unexpectedly COLD day!  I had a photo session scheduled at a nearby farm and within 20 min. we decided to make it a mini-session since the kids couldn't warm up enough to loosen up. :)

The rest of the day was spent in rehearsal for the talent show.

I sang Sara Groves' "He's Always Been Faithful".

November 4:
We did our normal Sunday routine:  church, lunch, Dynamic Marriage, and THEN we did the Talent Show.

November 5:
We had our first Parent-Teacher conference.  Miss Kennard loves Gideon.  And he is doing well, but is behind grade level on reading and needs a little help with math.  But as far as being a good "citizen", G is all over that. :)

I snapped this photo at Target when we were goofing off.

Since most schools were having Teacher Days, we ate dinner with the Gulicks.  The kids were so excited that they all got to stay up later playing with friends. :)

November 6:
The second Teacher Day... so we slept in and played around the house while the US voted Barak Obama into the presidency once again.

November 7:

I love the way my kids play together.  Most days they can't wait to play together when they are reunited.

Most Wednesdays we head into the building for services, but for some reason (I'm not sure I had the car at home), the kids and I had an evening at home.  It was a wonderful, peaceful time.

"Peaceful" often includes a dance party. :)

November 8:
I posted a link to the Jesus Storybook Bible deluxe edition (with all the DVDs) and mentioned that it was on my wish list.  Little did I know, Jr had ordered it weeks ago, and as I typed it on facebook, it was already sitting on the doorstep. ;)

November 9:
We met Phil and Aarolyn Hayes, before they were married, in Tallahassee.  Before we moved away from Tally, they moved up to Fairfax for work.  We were excited to be reunited with them when we moved back to Fairfax, but low and behold, Phil got a new job back in Florida.  Before they made their final move, Aarolyn had our family over for dinner.  It was a great evening.  (We missed ya', Phil.)

November 10:
I have no record of this date.  This probably means that it was a great, relaxing Saturday.

November 11:
Since JR was teaching the class on Deuteronomy, I went solo to share with the youth group a little about Peterhead.

Then we did lunch and Dynamic Marriage, followed up by another presentation on Scotland.

November 12:

Naomi's class had a field trip to Bagel Buddies.  They got to see how the bagels are made, and eat some.

 This is Naomi's friend, Rachel.  For a while, Naomi always referred to her as "a different kind of Rachel" so that we would know that she wasn't talking about her cousin. ;)

November 13:
Naomi's Picture Day
(Here are the results)...

Her teacher, said that she refused to smile.  Mrs. Jones finally told the photographer that I"M a photographer, and to just go ahead and take the photo. :)

I snapped this next photo while waiting at G's bus-stop at the end of his school day.

November 14:
I designed our Christmas Cards:

November 15:

(a capture from my fb wall)

I knew that Naomi would not sing in her performance the next day, so I recorded her singing while we ate lunch.

When I get a chance, I will upload that video to YouTube.  It will be on our "channel":  jranddaisha

November 16:
Naomi's Thanksgiving performance...

 I was right.  She didn't sing a single word the entire performance.  AT. ALL.  But she sure did love the treats back in her classroom.

We picked up G at lunchtime and started our journey to Searcy for Thanksgiving.

November 17:
After an evening in a hotel in TN, we arrived in Searcy for our Thankgiving break!!!

November 18:

 Naomi really enjoyed putting the ornaments on the tree with me.  She said, "You're letting me do this because I'm four and three quarters."  She also thought that the ornament that she is holding in the photo was "beautiful... just like an onion!"

 After the kids went to bed, Hannah came and picked me up and we spent about 2 hours goofing off at Walmart and Sonic.  Good Times... good times.

November 19:
We had "Christmas".

Can you see all the fun family time we had? :)

November 20:
(Our "Kissaversary"... 11.20.2004 was the date of our first kiss.)

The women all went shopping in Little Rock, while the men did train things.

Afterward, we all met back up at Mike and Vicki Taylor's home for an incredible meal.

November 21:

I set up the tripod and my remote trigger and we took some family photos.  I haven't edited a serious one of all of us yet.  But somehow, this seems more like us.

I love this photo!

November 22:
The next day, while we were preparing the FEAST, I took a moment to get some closer shots of the grandkids with Gigi and Papa Dan.

It was VERY bright despite the fact that they were all sitting in the shade under a roof.  So, enjoy the funny faces that they are making. ;)

 I LOVE this face!!!

 Check out my kids!  They are NOT happy about the sky being light.

 So I told them all to close their eyes while I counted to 3.
I think they look peaceful.

This was the most pleasant face that G made the entire time with his eyes "open".

November 23:
Friday morning, after everyone packed, we said good-bye to the Porches and my parents drove them to the airport and we headed for Nashville.

We stayed with our good friends, the Kings.  (Jared, Laura, Sydney, and Jade are in preparations for church-planting in London.)

The kids have missed being around each other SO much!!!

 Naomi and Sydney were instantly inseparable... again. :)

 Jade has grown SO much!

 We miss this face showing up at our back door.

November 24:
We woke up the next morning after talking late into the night about what the Lord is doing in our lives and preparing for our missions in the UK.  Great times!

It was hard for the girls to say good-bye again.

November 25:
"Recovery Sunday"

November 26:
Back to the "routine"...

November 27:
G woke up with HIVES.  Since we can't send him to school like that, we dosed him up and kept him with me until they cleared up around lunch time.

G's half-birthday deserved to be marked.  We celebrated at Starbucks. :)

He looks so much older than 6 1/2 to me!

November 28:

November 29:

My dad's mother, "Grandma Betty", has always been an amazing artist.  It is her genes that are responsible for the artistic streak in Naomi and me. :)  She mailed N a paperdoll with a pilgrim dress to color.  Naomi colored it and cut it out all by herself.  (Frankly, I didn't know her scissor-skills were as good as they are!)

November 30:
I had an ordering session in the afternoon and my kids played with the kids I had photographed.

Then we kicked off the Christmas Season with our family tradition:  "ELF"!!!!