November 2011

And now for the rest of November.  Many of these are random pictures and videos from my phone.

These two are best buddies.  11/9/2011

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Alice learned a new skill.  If you listen, you can hear Henry Max clicking away in the background.  I have never heard anyone click their tongue as loud as he can!

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I have always wanted those fun outdoor pictures I see everyone get in the fall.  We attempted to get some as part of a fundraiser for Henry's preschool.  The day we went was cold and windy.  We did get a few good pictures, but I already have a few locations I want to have pictures taken at next fall.  I just have to find the photographer...

11/14/2011

This is the best family picture we got.  Darn wind!

We had the lady take some of just Nora for her 6 year old pictures.  She is so photogenic.  Beautiful!

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Maggie's story.  11/15/2011

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Henry's preschool had Grandparents Day on Thursday, November 17th.  Since his grandparents were unable to make it, he called his Aunt Katy and asked if she would be able to come.  Of course, how could she say no?  He loved having her there and showing her his classroom.  Thanks Aunt Katy!

This is the last verse of one of the songs they sang.  I didn't get very good pictures or video because the sun was SO bright in the window behind him.  But I love his little wink at the very end.  :)

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It seem like with the 4th baby, bath time became just that, bath time.  No play time really anymore for my kids.  With 4, it's in and out as fast as we can.  So this is actually the first time Alice had toys and really played in the bath.  11/19/2011

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Sneaking in a little play time before bed.  11/21/2011

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Every once in a while, Henry will take one of the kids with him to work.  Henry Max got to go for the first time on Wednesday, November 23rd since it was the day before Thanksgiving.  He had his lunch packed, and his cars all ready to go.  Henry said he just played cars all over the office all day.  :)

All ready to go.  11/23/2011

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Thanksgiving Day we drove to Auburn to spend the day with Mom, Dad, Sara, Steve, Ellie, Jake, and Kenda.  It was gorgeous weather so we spent most of the afternoon outside.  It was a fun, relaxing day.

11/24/2011

We took the kids' wiggle scooter with us and everyone had fun taking turns riding it.  Here's Jake trying it out...and crashing into the curb at the end!

Friday, everyone came up to our house to eat, watch the Huskers (WIN, yea!), and play games.  It is so fun to have family come visit!

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Playing guitar with Daddy.  11/27/2011

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With such beautiful weather and anticipating cold, Henry worked hard to decorate our house for our first Christmas here.  It turned out so beautiful!  I love having lights on the house!

11/28/2011

Our helper.  :)

Nora Turns 6

Ready to party!

Nora turned 6 on Friday, November 11th.  We had the balloon and flowers delivered to her at school on her special day.  (That balloon stayed in the air for 2 whole months!)  She had a friend come play after school for a while and then Nana and Papa Dea were able to join us for dinner (meatballs), presents, and cake and ice cream.

Nora is such a beautiful girl!  She loves playing with her brother and sisters.  She loves kindergarten, is doing very well, and has made lots of new friends.  She is very smart and is reading quit well already.  I rarely see her without a book in her hand.  She is a great storyteller and loves to look at the pictures while making up her own story.  She loves singing, drawing, and playing outside.  She is very girly and loves all things princess.  She still does great at trying new foods and will eat just about anything I make whether she really likes it or not.  One of her favorite foods is broccoli.  :)

Nora is a very sweet girl, but is also very strong-willed.  I know it will serve her well in the future, but it sure is hard for me to figure out just how to be the mom she needs.  :)  She definitely keeps us on our toes and we love her SO much!

Daddy and the birthday girl.

Bracelet from Daddy and lady bug umbrella

Her cake...zebras and horses are her favorite animals right now.

 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY NORI!

TOFW

I was able to go to Time Out for Women with Mom, Sara, and Penny on Friday and Saturday, November 4-5.  Katy was also there with a group of friends so I got to see her, too.  :)  Mom, Penny and I went down Friday morning.  We stopped in St. Joe to have lunch with Penny's daughter, Shelly.  I also got to see a friend from college and her little boy.  It was fun to catch up.  Then we went down to Kansas City.  We checked into our hotel and then went to Sara's place.  We relaxed for a while and played with Ellie and then went to Red Lobster for dinner.  Friday night and Saturday was filled with amazing and uplifting speakers and awesome music.  It was a great girls weekend.  We ended by going shopping on the way home Saturday night.  Henry and the kids had another fun weekend at Nana and Papa Wiedrich's house.  :)

 

Surgery

Henry Max had surgery on his thumb on Thursday, November 3rd.  He had what is called trigger finger.  

The cause of trigger finger is a narrowing of the sheath that surrounds the tendon in the affected finger. Tendons are fibrous cords that attach muscle to bone. Each tendon is surrounded by a protective sheath — which, in turn, is lined with a substance called tenosynovium. The tenosynovium releases lubricating fluid that allows the tendon to glide smoothly within its protective sheath as you bend and straighten your finger — like a cord through a lubricated pipe.

But if the tenosynovium becomes inflamed frequently or for long periods, the space within the tendon sheath can become narrow and constricting. The tendon can't glide through the sheath easily, at times catching the finger in a bent position before popping straight. With each catch, the tendon itself becomes more irritated and inflamed, worsening the problem. With prolonged inflammation, scarring and thickening (fibrosis) can occur and bumps (nodules) can form.
Source

Three times in about 4 months, his thumb got stuck in the bent position and he couldn't straighten it out.  It got worse and lasted longer each time.  The first two times, he was playing with his cars and the third he was riding a bike all afternoon.  He plays with cars most of the day every day and the repeated gripping made it worse.  Since it was hurting him, and he is so young, we thought it was best to get it fixed.  It was a very minor procedure and was done in about 15 minutes.  He was so brave about it and was back to normal within a couple of days.  We talked to him before hand and told him exactly what the doctor would do.  The night before, Maggie was telling him how she was so nervous for him and he just told her, "Don't worry, Maggie.  I'll be alright."  Henry took him since he had to be there at 6am.  I had to stay home to get the girls to school.  They were home by 9.  Buddy enjoyed watching movies in our room the rest of the day.  And Alice took a 4 hour nap, allowing me to snuggle my boy.  He has had no problems since!

Halloween 2011

This is my 400th post!!  My very first post on this blog was 9/16/2007.  While I somehow managed to get 6 months behind, I can not give it up.  There are times I think about it, when it just seems like one more thing I can't keep up with and can't do well.  But I look back at the books I have made so far from previous years of blogging and I have to keep going.  I don't scrapbook and I don't keep up on the kids' baby books.  This blog is all my kids will really have to remember growing up.  So I must keep going!  I'm halfway to being caught up.  :)  And that is one of my goals for this year, to stay caught up.

Henry Max had his Halloween party at preschool on Thursday, October 27th.  He was very excited to wear his costume to show his friends and teachers.

Explorer

The girls had their parties and costume parade on Friday, October 28th.  I did get some pictures at the parade, but there were so many people crammed into the gym at their school, it was impossible to get a decent picture.

I didn't spend any money on costumes this year.  Yea!  Maggie and Nora used their costumes from last year.  They loved them and only got to wear them once last year, so I was thrilled they wanted to use them again.  Henry Max got his stuff for his birthday in February and again, made Momma happy when he thought it was a great idea to be an explorer.  Alice wore the mouse costume that Maggie and Nora both wore for the Halloween near their first birthdays.

Maggie

Nora

Alice

Those are the 3 cutest mice ever!

Witch, Explorer, Mouse, and Little Bo Peep

 

We all went out for a while, then Alice and I headed home so she could go to bed while Henry took the other kids around the neighborhood.  I tried to get some cute pictures of Alice, but they pretty much all looked like this.  She wouldn't stop running around.  :)

She finally stopped for a minute after we had to hand out some candy.  

Very tired.

Looking for the good stuff.

The Trick-or-Treaters, home with their loot.

Vala's Pumpkin Patch

Windmill at Vala's

We went to Vala's Pumpkin Patch for the first (and only) time way back in 2007.  Now we live just 10 minutes away and we got 4 free tickets this year, so there was no excuse not to go.  We were able to go on Friday, October 21st.  The kids were out of school that day, but we didn't go until about 2.  It ended up being the perfect time to go.  All the field trips were leaving and every one else was still at work/school, so it wasn't too terribly busy.  We stayed until about 8pm.  Everyone had so much fun!  Here are some pictures from the day.

This girl was so good to ride in her stroller most of the afternoon.

 

 

Mining for gold.

 

Everyone's favorite...giant jumping pillows.

 

 

 

 

She finally gave up.

We are excited to live so close and hopefully be able to go every year.  It was a great day spent as a family.  :)