November wrap-up!

We played Risk for the first time. (Yes, it's true I have never played ... and my life was really, truly wonderfully fine and fulfilling without ever having played. lol) In this picture we are getting our instructions. Please note Justus's carefully-organized pieces.... ;)



I went out first. As Justus was taking over all my territories he said, "Wow, I'm devouishing Mom!"

Not surprisingly Jeremy won. [At the beginning I told him the children and I might as well just take all our dudes back off the board and go do something else 'cause there was no way we could win. He said, "That sorta defeats the purpose, doesn't it?" Well, so does us actually trying to PLAY.... But it's that way with every game so I guess it goes back to the 'journey' being the point, not the 'result' ... with this kind of thing *sigh*] I took a picture as he was taking over the board.



Then I took a picture of him laughing evilly as though he were "Dominating the World", as the game's motto reads. lol Riiiiiiiight....



Two more funnies!!!!!!! Yay!!!! :) I like funnies, and our children are so-quickly growing out of them!

Justus was getting ready to do his math page for the day. He said, "I wonder if this page will have subtraction and obtraction."

We limit Natasha to about 30 minutes of piano practice a day. One day as she was wrapping up she said, "My hands got all tied up in knots again." I said, "Yep, that happens when it's time to stop 'cause our bodies get tired of doing the same activity constantly." She said, "I think it's awful that you can't just play forever, I like music so much."

I hosted what I hope to be my last Pampered Chef Cooking Show. I invited 62 people plus offered loved ones far away an opportunity to order online. I had been strategically planning this event in my mind for a long time, and was very, very pleased with the results. Including online orders [Thanks Sy & Jen! :) ] 35 people ordered. Sheesh! I beat my $1,000 goal for Show Sales, and was able to receive many, many wonderful tools for our kitchen, items which have been on my wish list for literally y-e-a-r-s. I am ssssso happy and blessed and thankful, even though it was a *ton* of work.... -argh- I set up the the show in the garage 'cause there's NO WAY everyone would fit in the house. (25 people were here for the actual show; it's been a llllong time since anyone in this Pampered-Chef-enamored church has hosted a show.)



The orders came in record time, and as always were delivered to the host's house (ours) for sorting and delivery. I took a picture of all our friends' products once I got them unpacked.



I also took a picture of all the products I earned once I got them unpacked! -wow-



A 20yo church friend of ours is in college for an art degree, maybe graphic design, maybe photography. :) He agreed to practice by taking some family portraits of us! It ended up being a fun time ... although prepping for it wasn't so fun. Natasha had a 'tween'-ish melt-down (hair, clothes, et. al. wasn't coming together as she had hoped....) and the weather outlook forced it earlier than we were really ready for which caused some irritation, etc. -argh- At any rate, here are the pictures!



























Same picture, cropped, b&w...



Only three weeks 'til, Lord willing, Scott & Amanda's family will arrive here to spend the Christmas week with us!!!!!!!!!!! Yes, we're counting down, if you can't tell. :)