Photos from Phones - November 2019 Round Up

November, November . . . a month that I feel is not super photogenic, at least until Thanksgiving dinner is on the table.  But, even still, I've loaded up this post with plenty o' photos, as I usually do.  I have a picture book by Cynthia Rylant that I love called 'In November' that talks about what all the animals and people do and what it looks like and how it smells during this month.  It's beautiful and one of my all-time faves.  It won't be as poetic as the picture book, but here's our version . . . In November:

11.1.19
(Cal counts and sorts her trick-or-treat haul)

11.1.19
(and Sam does, too - see all those huge candy bars/
bags? we only went to 6 houses and only 5 of
them were home!)

11.2.19
(trying out a new-to-us burger spot with Grandpa and Grandma
Blanchard)

11.2.19
(Burly Burger indeed!  This is "the Duke")

11.2.19
(Evy invited us to party with her for her 5th birthday at the
Bounce 'n' Slide in Logan, so we headed up there after our
burgers and hung out with these fun people . . .)

11.2.19
(. . . and this creepy guy who Cal was nervous about
walking past to get to one of the big slides)

11.2.19
(Maggie adores her big sister and will always
smile when she's around)

11.2.19
(awkward photo op)

11.2.19
(after pizza dinner at grandpa and grandma's the party continued
outside with a pinata!)

11.2.19
(Evy's up first!)

11.2.19

11.2.19
(now Bradley's turn)

11.2.19
(and Grace)

11.2.19
(and Sam)

11.2.19

11.2.19
(and finally Cal)

11.2.19

11.2.19
(but Shelly was the one who finally got it down!)

11.2.19
(birthday ice cream sandwich for the 5 year old!)

11.2.19

11.3.19
(yum!  dinner is goooood!)

11.3.19
(and so is dessert - we've been meaning to make caramel apples
all October but didn't get to it until November!)

11.3.19

11.3.19

11.3.19
(making caramel apples is really just an excuse
to see how many candy corn pumpkins you can
stick to the outside!)

11.3.19

11.3.19
(I loved that bright pink outline on the top
of the mountains!)

11.3.19
(ready to eat!)

11.3.19
(oh lookie . . . more fall and halloween books.  we read Leftover
Witch aloud over the course of a week or so and both Sam and Cal
liked it.  I think it's cute and sweet.  Only 74 pages or something, so
a quick read.  Ten, Pomegranate, and Bear and Dog were last minute
holds that came in on Halloween and they were worth the wait.  I
loved them!)

11.3.19
(and some non-seasonal goodies from this week's stash.  My friend
hand picked the fan brothers books for me and told me I had to
check them out, and they were fab!  My other friend recommended
Bruno and it was cute and silly.  Sam is into trains so that was an
obvious fave, but I liked the hands-on science experiements they had
inside (which we didn't do, but may try in the future).

11.4.19
(first time voter ;)

11.5.19
(raking day!)

11.5.19

11.5.19

11.5.19
(I've checked out so many thanksgiving books in the past that
now I know what I like and just go for my faves.  These are my
faves!  Firefighter was new to me this year, but I had had it on
hold for two years previous and never got it by Thanksgiving
before, so I made sure to snag it early this time)

11.5.19
(I loved everything by Sam Kean (I've read all of
his books!) and this was no exception!)

11.7.19
(isn't miss Magnolia just the cutest?)

11.7.19
(shopping at Winco and I spotted these and for
some reason immediately thought of my sister
Kylie, so I had to snap a pic to send her - I don't
know how she feels about pickle chips, but I know
she likes the flamin' hot cheetos and she loves
dill pickles, so I thought the combo might appeal to
her.  Or maybe not . . . )

11.7.19
(also spotted in wino - what is this world coming to?)

11.7.19
(spend $100 and get a free turkey - I cleared out
this shelf in my freezer before I went shopping
just for this purpose, but now what do I do with
the bird?! the butter I can figure out! ;)

11.7.19
(my friend Christine recommended this one to
me and I really enjoyed it.  Fun to reminisce
about Anne with an Anne lover, but also some
touching and humorous personal stories from
the author made for a nice mix and a fun book)

11.7.19
(the third in a series of sorts. I love her writing
and her characters but I feel like this one was the
weakest of the three (I loved Raymie and Louisiana
best of all).)

11.7.19
(this easel has been rather neglected as of late,
but one day Cal remembered that there was a
chalkboard on the side facing into the alcove
so we turned it around and she promptly set up
school for her animals and dolls (and brother).)

11.8.19
(oh what a beautiful afternoon!)

bonus video!

"reading time with teacher Cal"

11.8.19

(she's still at it, and Sam was a good student)

11.8.19
(the inaugural run of the new trains Grandpa inherited this week)

11.8.19
(this boy's in heaven)

11.9.19
(no real reason for this photo except I thought
the shadows looked cool)

11.9.19
(lunchtime at the soccer field - we went to a
Real Monarchs game and did a rare thing
and bought food at the stadium, which was really
pretty good and decently priced for the amount
we got)

11.9.19

11.9.19
(the Real rowdies (with the drums and the chants and the flags)
came marching in a little after the game started and it felt like
we were back in the RioT)

11.9.19
(Cal made sure we took advantage of the
free face paint and photo booth)

11.9.19
(it was kinda fun to be at a small stadium - but I think I mostly
took this pic because of the nasty brown smog in front of the
mountain, ew)

11.9.19

11.9.19
(from this view over the practice fields we could see three
temples!)

11.9.19
(the game went into extra time so we wandered
around to keep the kids from going too stir crazy
in the stands.  we ended up watching the winning
corner kick goal standing right next to the corner
where it was taken!)

bonus videos!

"zip line fun"

11.9.19

(after the Monarchs game we stopped at a nearby 

park for the kids to play and get some wiggles out

before we headed home for dinner - it was equipped with

THE coolest zip line toy I've ever seen.  The kids lapped

this thing over and over the whole time we were there!)

11.9.19
(my failed attempts to capture the color of the sky and the
brightness of the moon as we drove over trappers loop)

11.9.19

11.10.19
(Of course I'm going to pick this one up.  I am
feeling pretty good about myself after reading
their advice for various ages and stages as far
as instilling a love of reading in my kids.  And
it's chock full of suggestions, which is like candy
to me!  I love me a good book list!)

bonus video!

"it's a ballld eagle!"

11.11.19

(right as we walked up to the eagle cage it was squawking and singing

and making all kinds of a racket, but of course as soon as I turned on the camera

it was silent and still!  I love how Timmy described the eagle as being "dressed"

like it had little pants on or something - haha)

11.11.19
(my friend Christine and her little guy Timmy met up with
us at the Ogden Nature Center for a fun morning of walking
and talking and visiting the birds)

11.11.19

11.11.19
(the observation tower is a pretty fun destination)

11.11.19
(Christine shared some of these homemade granola bars
that taste exactly like the quaker granola bars so of course I had
to get the recipe)

11.11.19

11.11.19
(a beautiful day to ride bikes home from school!)

11.11.19
(I posted this on the 'Shed after our
FHE on Monday night, but I saved
this screen shot before I posted
because the autocorrections just
make me giggle (I fixed them
before I posted for my family, but that
doesn't always happen). I'm sharing
here, too, because it explains the next
two pics and I won't have to retype it all
out below.)

11.11.19
(here's the poem I mentioned above)

11.11.19
(and this is a painting of my great-something
grandmother Margaret McNeil)

11.12.19
(I found a list online (booklist? who me?!) of picture books
about bread.  I immediately put everything that our library
system had on hold. These are my faves of the bunch. So fun
and different! Also, listening to Gregg rereading Bread and Jam
for Frances with the kids cracked me up!  So funny from a parent's
perspective!)

11.13.19
("look mom, I made me!")

11.13.19
(Yes, I'm reading a cookbook for fun - this recipe sounded
especially appealing to me in November)

11.13.19
(the rest of the recipe. also, who makes a pot of chili to have
bubbling on the stove to snack on during the day before
Thanksgiving dinner?!)

11.14.19
(this one looks yummy, too!)

11.15.19
(oh hi, Grace!  Look at you writing your name!
(Heather sent this to me and it just made me
smile))

11.15.19
(walked home from the trailhead on "the triangle" so had to snap
a credit union update pic for my dad. landscaping in. moving along.)

11.15.19
(he fell asleep in the burley before noon!  turns
out he's coming down with a cold, poor guy)

11.15.19
(but look how cute he is!)

11.15.19
(I'm intrigued!)

11.15.19
(look how pretty that sky is!)

11.15.19

11.15.19

11.15.19

11.15.19
(what the?)

11.15.19
(plants are cool - and no, we didn't eat the tomato
since it tasted like nothing)

11.15.19
(finished the cookbook - the most beautifully
written and photographed and formatted
cookbook I've ever read.  I thought at first I'd just
read the interspersed stories and skim the recipes,
but I read every word of them, too!  So fun!  I'm
a new fan of Ruth Reichl and her writing and story
and this was a fun addition to what I've read before
this summer)

11.16.19
(as we were driving to Logan to go to an Aggie
football game, Callie mentioned that she was
writing a story in the back seat.  When we got
to my parents' house, this is what she produced
and read aloud to us.  I was blown away!!)

11.16.19
(and this was even more amazing to me - she
had created this word map before she started
writing - I didn't even know she knew what these
things were!)

11.16.19
(Grandma saved us a giant pile of leaves to jump
in before we helped her move them into the garden
(to decompose into the soil!))

11.16.19

11.16.19

11.16.19
(game time with these fun folks!)

11.16.19
(it got pretty chilly in the 4th quarter and for some reason
both kids wanted to sit on my lap - luckily they kept me cozy!)

11.16.19

11.16.19

11.17.19
(Callie wrote a cute note and drew this picture for her primary
teacher this morning, but then she forgot to bring it to church.
we'll mail it this week because I think it's a gem that he would
love!)

11.17.19
(she's obsessed with the card game Monopoly
Deal and this afternoon decided to sort and line
up all the different cards in the deck; she also
taught Sam how to play the game and we all played
as a family for the first time ever!)

11.18.19
(we finished the sequel to Roz and all
enjoyed it like we did the first.  if you
catch us speaking in a robot accent,
this is the reason why)

11.19.19
(I had some Kohl's cash to use up (I got two cute new shirts!
yay!) so I told Sam that we could go to the airplane museum
after we went shopping.  He was a great tour guide.)

11.19.19
("that's a big wheel, mom!")

11.19.19
(one last mallow roast of the season - by light of neighbor's
Christmas decor)

11.20.19
(the school is starting this monthly at-home
STEM project activity, which is right up my alley,
so Cal and I spent some mom and cal time on an
early out wednesday designing and floating apple
boats)

11.20.19
(gathering all our supplies)

11.20.19
(one of the requirements was that the boat had to
have a sail. check! check! check!)

Done and ready to test!

bonus video!

"spoiler alert: it floats!"

11.20.19
(another day, another essay from Callie)

11.21.19
(I really liked this poem from a collection Sam and I read one
morning)

11.21.19
(this was the book - check it out!  it's quality!)

11.21.19
(another cute poem from an otherwise sort of meh picture book
Sam and I also read that morning)

11.21.19
(I mean, read it if you want, but that poem at the
end was the best part)

11.21.19
(we had a friends play day at our friend Charlie's
clubhouse.  while we were there it started snowing
and the kids ran out to play in the big fat flakes)

11.21.19
(they ran down the hill in the snow with their mouths open tying
to catch snowflakes and yelling "flamingo!".  I don't get it
either, but they were having a blast.)

11.22.19
(we spent a cold, dreary Friday morning at the train museum
with friend Charlie)

11.22.19
(this is Sam's happy place!)

11.22.19
(Callie brought home this worksheet from school
and I just had to laugh at the edit she made -
see if you can spot it!)

11.23.19
(none of these are actual thanksgiving books, but they all have
that gratitude/sharing/saying thank you vibe that I love this time
of year)

11.23.19
(a must listen while we drive to get
our Christmas tree - I've always loved
the story, but the narrator really makes
it!)

11.23.19
(we've recently discovered there are
tons of picture books in audio form on
libby!  we've loved listening to them on
quick jaunts around town.  Search for
"weston woods" for an easy and extensive
list of options)

11.24.19
(Brother Shaum (our old bishop and
Callie's primary teacher) texted Gregg
and me after he got the picture (above
a few days) that she drew for him.)

11.24.19
(and his wife (who used to teach
Callie with him but is now our primary
president) texted me too to say thanks)

11.24.19
(I would have walked to church even though it was chilly
if we didn't have a Blanchard Thanksgiving dinner to look forward
to right after church)

11.24.19
(Sam drew this pic for Grandpa and Grandma B - note the fire
and the smoke ("I didn't have white marker, so I used black for
the smoke") and all the marshmallows on sticks in the hands of
him and Gma and Gpa.  I think the grass and the sky and the sun
are pretty darn good, too!)

11.25.19
(It snowed and blowed and then blowed and blowed all the snow
away on this day.  we ended up with less than an inch total
from this storm, but at least it was something?)

11.25.19
(we got a free car wash voucher in the mail to
drum up business and awareness for the newly
improved car wash in the valley, but the free
washes were only available on certain days for
certain times.  We finally got over there in the last
hour on the last day of the offer, in a snowstorm,
no less, but Sam and I had a fun time with the rainbow
soap and lights, even if the car didn't stay
clean as soon as we drove out of the bay)

11.25.19
(#worthit)

11.25.19
(bonus!  our car smelled like fruity soap for days afterward)

11.25.19
(we got enough snow to bury my photo
shipments on the front porch that I didn't know
had been delivered there.  Luckily all was well
inside - because some of these are gifts!)

11.26.19
(another round of fun quick listens
on libby)

11.27.19
(Cal wrote this animal essay on her way to Providence -
it must be her favorite place and time to write - as we
drove there for Thanksgiving)

11.29.19
(Grandma Elwood sent us updates on the snowman
the kids and Gregg made on Thanksgiving morning -
it is looking rather flexible!)

11.29.19
(pizza and a movie, Christmas decoration style.  we started watching
the new Grinch movie on netflix, but Sam got scared by a barking dog
and none of us were super invested in it, so we switched over to
cabin building halfway through.)

11.29.19
(another update from Gma - looks like he could
do the limbo!)

11.30.19
(some fun non-thanksgiving/fall reads that we
enjoyed this week)

11.30.19
(and the last of the thanksgiving/late fall faves
we've been enjoying this month)

11.30.19
(we had to get out of the house so we all walked to the park
after lunch for a little snow time - the sun's rays were especially
pretty, though not really captured here like I saw them)

11.30.19
(I spy Gregg and Cal who took a shortcut through the field
while Sam and I went around on the road)

11.30.19
(love to see those seven sisters snow-covered)

11.30.19
(snow biker)

Every other round up here (whew!):
2019: Oct | Sep | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2018: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan
2017: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2016: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2015: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2014: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June | May | Apr | Mar | Feb | Jan

2013: Dec | Nov | Oct | Sept | Aug | July | June