Wednesday, November 30, 2016

{November 2016}

As the year winds down and the season changes from summer to winter (in Las Vegas) we were able to enjoy a lot of fun together as a family. 

Hannah: November means Parent/Teacher conference time, and it's something I've always looked forward to, because I can always count on Hannah to have a good report. Hannah's teacher, Mrs. Kramar sure loves her, and thinks she's awesome. Apparently all her classmates do too, because she is a very popular girl. Everyone wants to be her friend, and they'll fight over who gets to sit by her. Hannah is reading at a fourth grade reading level, a full two years (plus) ahead of where she needs to be. She loves playing games on the computer, like prodigy, and she loves writing creative stories. Hannah was especially disappointed that Donald Trump won the election after being so incredibly invested in Hilary Clinton, but she; took it in stride, and she was happy that she won in Nevada. 

Paige: It was a delight to attend Paige's Parent/Teacher conference. I'm so grateful for her loving, hard working teacher Mrs. Evarts. Paige is doing excellent in kindergarten, and is exactly where she needs to be. She's a very smart girl, and is doing excellent with reading. Mrs. Evarts said that Paige is an excellent friend to her peers, and a great big help to her teacher. She loves being social and she loves learning. Paige remains my tender heart. Paige came to me crying today because Hannah and Sam were playing together without her. She said "It hurts my feelings because Sam used to be my best friend but I guess he broke up with me." Now he's telling her, "I Hannah AND Taige's boy, right?"

Sam: November was pretty similar to October for Sam. Lots of Star Wars and Hot Wheels. He is such a funny kid. We discovered that if you want him to take a nap you just need to go on a fifteen minute drive around the neighborhood and he conks right out. One thing about Sam is he LOVES holidays more than anyone I've ever met. He was a sucker for Halloween, and now that Christmas is around the corner he gasps and points and shouts at every decoration he sees. It's adorable. Sam got sick TWICE in November and had to use the nebulizer. I sure can't wait for him to grow out of this! 

Jonathan: Jonathan turned SEVEN months. It kills me how quickly time is passing. Jonathan is standing and scooting around furniture. He's crawling all over the place, and even started climbing up the stairs. I can't handle it! He loves being a Turney, and thinks our family is pretty great, but he loves his mommy best of all. He's doing great at eating, and he's working on getting another tooth, which is probably why he's so needy and cranky all of a sudden (and getting into the WORST sleeping habits--he's still not sleeping through the night)! He enjoyed munching on rolls for his first Thanksgiving. 

We had a blast in Utah for Thanksgiving. The kids loved being with Grandma and Grandpa as always, who spoiled them rotten, and took the best care of them. They went to the Treehouse museum, took a bunch of trips to Lees, went on walks to see the llamas, and even got to the zoo. The kids were excited to meet Randy Whiting, Adam's biological father, and get to know him a bit. We had dinner with him, and we hope to see him again sometime. 

Thanksgiving break was the start of track break, and in order to prevent chaos and bloodshed I've been ultra organized. My kids have certain tasks they must complete in order to get one hour of screen time, which is all they get total per day. Today their tasks kept them busy until about one. Hannah picked writing stories on Google docs for her screen time (perfect, way better than TV) and Paige picked working on Lexia, a school program, for her screen time. Even better, its educational. Paige asked me to lay in bed next to her while I read and I ended up falling asleep accidentally. Not only did the kids follow instructions while the boys and I napped, Paige even put away all the girls laundry after Hannah sorted it! I woke up covered in blankets, thanks to Paige, with a glass of water next to me and the iPad playing peaceful piano music.