Joy Dare::November

At the beginning of the month I loosely followed the prompts that started this so many years ago.

9615. Church bells in the morning
9616. S'more mix
9617. Chai tea latte
9618. Lunch salad
9619. Cardigans
9620. Tennis shoes for walking
9621. Hoodies and comfy pants
9622. New-to-Isaiah bike

9623. News source--SmartHer News
9624. Nap
9625. November afternoon in short sleeves
9626. Gathered: big piles of leaves

9627. Given: Psalm  94:19
9628. Good: moonlight, stars and a fire
9629. Heart shaped leaves
9630. Berries on the tree after the leaves have fallen
9631. A perfect afternoon for family and Pokemon
9632. Setting up for a baby shower
9633. Aliza willing to help with everything
9634. Isaiah's sweet words for his yet-to-be-born cousin
9635. The last of the fall colors
9636. Another warm, sunny day
9637. Glow in the dark frisbee
9638. Moonlight
9639. Afternoon tea
9640. Pumpkin muffin and the Great British Baking Show
9641. Isaiah "learning" something new

9642. An evening at home I wasn't expecting
9643. Morning sun
9644. Nahum 1:7 "The Lord is good."
9645. Job 37:5
9646. Copying Scripture
9647. Talking to my brother
9648. Isaiah said multiple times during the day that he was so happy
9649. Dan & Laurie at our house
9650. A table full of family and conversation
9651. Cousins playing outside long past dark
9652. More than enough food behind the refrigerator doors
9653. Choir singing
9654. Thanksgiving dinner at church
9655. All the Marco Polo video messages
9656. Praying
9657. Isaiah needed aunt attention and Janell was here to give it
9658. Candle burning on a rainy day
9659. Promoted to once a year endocrinology appointments
9660. All of us at home for an evening
9661. Watching these children of mine grow up
9662. Shopping with the boys (lol)
9663. A Christmas Bible study series
9664. Finishing ESL for the semester
9665. Surprising Aliza was the best
9666. Talking so much I had to bring home half of my drink
9667. School finished for a week off for Thanksgiving
9668. Josiah had a busy day--and enjoyed it
9669. Aliza took the time to play with Isaiah
9670. Aliza's choir singing with the Maryland Boy Choir
9671. Sleeping in and pajama morning
9672. Tradition--baptism Sunday
9673. Tradition--Sunday afternoon nap
9674. Tradition--Sunday supper: whatever you can find
9675. Vacation day
9676. A very brisk afternoon walk
9677. Anna felt mostly good enough to enjoy her day
9678. Sweet Frog

 9679. Mom and Dad with us for supper
9680. Thanksgiving baking day
9681. Our favorite supper and family evening
9682. Anna started feeling better
9683. We made it to Thanksgiving dinner (barely)
9684. Isaiah had the best time playing with Ezra
9685. Movie watching evening
9686. Got to see Linda
9687. We made it to WV without incident
9688. A reading evening for me
9689. Taking care of all my kiddos
9690. Some time with Karen
9691. Anna's shopping trip
9692. Playing outside with Isaiah
9693. Everyone seems to be feeling better
9694. Children who thank me for bringing them to WV and telling me all the reasons why they are thankful
9695. The first taste of Christmas--Peppermint Chip milkshake
9696. Janell took Anna to dance
9697. Everyone asleep early
9698. Taking school slow
9699. Josiah's commentary during Holiday Baking Championship
9700. Kindle book for when I can't fall asleep
9701. Hearing Aliza singing in the afternoon
9702. Being a friend
9703. The process of learning to love people well

Thanksgiving Baking

We took the whole week of Thanksgiving off of school. It was lovely...in spite of everyone getting sick by Friday. I set aside Wednesday to be a baking day for Thanksgiving. I was slated to take pumpkin whoopie pies and apple pie for dessert.

Josiah offered to help so he mixed up the pumpkin whoopie pies.

And then Isaiah really wanted to help cut the apples for the apple pie. That was a little sketchy, but there were no injuries.

While we were making the apple pie, Isaiah lamented that I wasn't baking anything he liked and he would really really like some peanut butter chocolate chip cookies.

And so I mixed up a batch of cookies too! 

The first round of holiday baking in a big kitchen was so fun! There was room for several things to be happening at the same time and space for dishes to stack up and cookies to come out of the oven.

Just another "first" that made me so grateful all over again.
 

Celebrating Anna

 Anna's birthday celebration is unique in that it gets spread out over a week or more. It started before her actual birthday with a gift from a lady at church--Baby Yoda personally made just for her and a Simply Southern t-shirt.

Jeremy had an early meeting so I had to wake Anna up to open her present before she left. (She wanted me to wake her up.)

The last $$ that she needed to buy a Nintendo Switch Lite and Animal Crossing. She was happy! She specifically wanted the coral color. Jeremy looked everywhere and there were none in Salisbury. Joel looked all over Martinsburg and there were none. A lot of shipping times were weeks out, but he found one that would (hopefully) ship in time to arrive at Joel's house over the weekend.

Anna wanted Subway for lunch and Sweet Frog for a snack. Anna LOVES frozen yogurt with toppings. She started not feeling very good as the day went on, but she felt up to going so we did.

And when we got home, she fell asleep with Baby Yoda close by.

Grandma and Grandad came for supper. Anna didn't even really feel like eating. We put her candles on HER piece of ice cream cake and she didn't even eat it.

The ordering worked out. The Switch arrived and Joel delivered it.

Anna and Aliza have waited a long time to play Animal Crossing together and last night they got to! 

And then Anna got to go to Michael's with Uncle Joel and Aunt Amanda and she declared it her new favorite store. She came back with a all kinds of canvases, brushes and paint. She was thrilled. And she is currently painting while I'm writing.
 

 

 Happy 12th Birthday Anna!

Reading Aloud

 Isaiah has discovered the joy of bedtime reading and I have rediscovered how much I enjoy reading aloud.

We started with Little Pilgrim's Big Journey--a children's version of Pilgrim's Progress. A map was included with the book and Isaiah LOVED having that to look at. He almost had it memorized by the end of the book.

Here's the thing about reading to Isaiah. He has A LOT to say even when he is listening to a story. He's constantly interrupting to tell me things or predict what is going to happen. Usually I have to tell him that "it's time to be quiet and listen."

Now we are reading a couple Minecraft books that we had on the bookshelf. I managed to read the 2nd book before the first one. Isaiah is still a little annoyed about that. Isaiah reads the first and last page of the chapter out loud. There aren't many words that he needs help with anymore. 

The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe is laying out for our next book. My kids have had mixed feelings about the Narnia series so it will be interesting to see what Isaiah thinks.

Oh Boy! Baby Shower

 Aliza made plan for us to arrive in Shepherdstown, WV on Saturday in time to meet Joel and Amanda for Pokemon Community Day. It was a warm, sunny afternoon which made walking around Shepherdstown very enjoyable. I thought I would be playing, but we were one device short so I was just the PokeMOM in real life. Isaiah did get tired by the end so I got to play for the last few minutes.

Amanda's mom and sister included Karen and I in planning for the baby shower. Anna especially loved helping with some of the projects we did. Anna painted mason jars white, helped spray paint dinosaurs gold and Aliza, Karen and I put the favors together.

Aliza, Karen and I went early to help set up. It was really fun to watch the room transform.

Aliza and Anna helped with the games--handing out the papers and things. Isaiah took it all in. He played the games and wrote the sweetest wishes for the baby. On the same paper he guessed that the baby will weight 16 pounds when he's born--hoping he is way off on that one!! Josiah, on the other hand, completely understands why baby showers are sometimes only for women and hopes that he never has to attend another one. He did add that he will attend a shower for his own baby.

 

Joy Dare::October

 9528. Celebrating Isaiah
9529. The cousins talked and played all afternoon
9530. My in laws are friends with my parents
9531. Making breakfast for the family
9532. Sunday afternoon talk with Mom that went way longer than I realized
9533. Josiah got Isaiah through handwriting
9534. Dad coming over to teach Bible
9535. Writing an ESL lesson plan
9536. Josiah solving the puzzle
9537. Isaiah sleeping on my shoulder

9538. A smooth school day
9539. Leftovers for supper
9540. Teaching ESL went well
9541. The feeling when something I've been thinking about a lot is finished
9542. A trip way down memory lane

9543. Some sun and warmth in October
9544. Adventure day with Mom and Aliza
9545. Another walk down college memory lane
9546. Showing Aliza around EMU
9547. Enjoyed the concert
9548. Lunch with Carlissa
9549. Aliza and Kaitlyn hit it off right away
9550. The car charger still worked in the back of the car
9551. Thrifting
9552. A cute lunch spot
9553. All the feelings on a college campus tour
9554. Watching Aliza reach out to the girls around her
9555. Enough gas to get over the bridge
9556. Home.
9557. Fresh fish for supper
9558. Soaking up one whole day at home
9559. Hanging out with the youth group
9560. Isaiah received a surprise gift
9561. Road trip with Jeremy
9562. Autumn spice milkshake
9563. Hugging Aliza
9564. Hearing all the stories from the week
9565. Safely home again
9566. Relaxing and regrouping
9567. Yum box event
9568. Family games around the table
9569. Successful end to a frustrating shopping trip
9570. Porch lights
9571. A mum covered in blooms
9572. (Silly) Pokemon motivated me to walk
9573. Afternoon Starbucks with a friend
9574. Talking fast and watching The Crown
9575. Walking through leaves
9576. Isaiah has an outside project
9577. Josiah's thanks after every meal
9578. A day of school that went remarkably well
9579. When the big kids and their friends include Isaiah
9580. It was a fun Southern Gospel concert
9581. Aliza's enthusiasm
9582. A yummy pumpkin recipe
9583. Starting the day catching up with a friend
9584. All the happy chatter of having friends over
9585. Friday evening relaxing
9586. Mowing = prayer time
9587. Watching the Dove Awards
9588. After dark fire and s'mores
9589. When we have a song to look up after church
9590. Perfectly colored leaf

9591. Hanging some pictures
9592. Windows with screens
9593. The drive home from dance with Anna
9594. Cookies baking
9595. Afternoon bike ride with Isaiah
9596. Is He Worth? by Chris Tomlin
9597. Talking to Maria
9598. Evening light on the colorful leaves
9599. Watching your child speak truth and life
9600. Scripture read in all the languages
9601. When the timing works out to take the phone call
9602. A few minutes to enjoy the fall colors and air
9603. Two finished with school before lunch
9604. Looking forward to a weekend with Jeremy
9605. A very quiet morning
9606. Some time with Joel and Amanda
9607. Ten of Jeremy's cousins around the table
9608. Laughing over a cranberry commercial
9609. Lunch with Jeremy
9610. Isaiah wanting to be close
9611. Gearing up for another week
9612. An evening around the fire with friends
9613. Isaiah's reading
9614. Halloween flower