November 2019

Happy 5th Birthday, Clara!

Clara's favorite game is currently Candy Land, so we had a Candy Land themed birthday party. We made candy necklaces, decorated our own cupcakes, had a fun bouncy house in the basement, and had a pinata. Clara was one happy girl!

We had Clara's friend birthday party a little early for scheduling reasons, but on her real birthday Clara requested home-made pizza, root beer, and a picnic in our living room. We broke out the blankets and everyone ate on the floor with our happy 5 yr old.

Clara's favorite present this year was a large vet clinic for her dolls. She loves all animals and has decided that when she grows up she is going to be a veterinarian.

 Clara in her new birthday dress from Grandma Beutler.

Clara brought this home from preschool after Halloween. It has got to be my very favorite pumpkin that any of  my children have ever made. I believe the veins in the eyes were intended to be eyelashes to make her pretty (everything Clara makes is a girl). :)

Cole's 3rd grade Play, "Character Matters"

Cole auditioned for the role of the "Pied Piper" in his 3rd grade play and got it! Thanks to Grandpa Blacker and his help, Cole had all the lines and songs memorized for the audition and blew the teacher away. She mentioned that she didn't think this would be his last lead roll. Cole had a chorus of rats that sang with him during his scene, and a few of them were really into it. It was so funny to watch!

Fireplace

I finally had enough of my old fireplace (it did not turn out how I had hoped it would initially), so I petitioned Dad for his help in refinishing it. Clara was a great little helper as well. 

I absolutely love my new fireplace! The mantel is fun for decorating and the tile is beautiful!

Snow!!!

We had a few good snow storms in November and some breathtaking views afterward. I will never get tired of this view out our living room windows.

We also discovered that Mom and Dad's new lot has the perfect sledding hill! It's steep enough to get going, but not so steep that it scares the kids. After Thanksgiving dinner we took a jaunt over there and made some fun memories.

There were some very warm days after the snow, so Macy had fun outside in 60 degree weather shoveling snow into her beach bucket. Gotta love Colorado Springs weather.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a family home evening lesson based off of Elder Bednar's talk, "Watchful Unto Prayer Continually" from the October, 2019 General Conference of our Church (https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2019/10/22bednar?lang=eng).

In it he discussed spiritual predators and how they can be likened to African wildlife predators. We acted out how cheetahs hunt antelope and had some fun discussing how we can protect ourselves from spiritual dangers. Thanks, Dad, for the great artwork!

I had the opportunity to spend some 1:1 time with Cole. We went to the symphony together to see a showing of "Coco" with the Orchestra accompanying it, and Cole loved it.

I also went with him on his 3rd grade field trip to Cave of the Winds. This kid knew more about rocks and their formations than the guide himself! It amazes me that he remembers all the details of everything he reads from his geology books (and that he's interested enough in it to not fall asleep!).

We hosted an adult party at our house (not candy land themed this time) as well. It was so nice to see friends we don't see very often!

Macy

Macy officially runs our house now, helping with everything and always getting Grandma's attention. Her favorite spots are in the kitchen windowsill helping make food and in the middle of whatever is going on. Her current favorite foods are quesadillas, smoothie yogurts and cookies.

Grandma is more often found at Macy's table than at her own desk, and has her own designated chair right next to Macy.

Grandma Beutler knitted Macy this beautiful blanket, and it is now inseparable from her. Don't you love the nap hair?!

Sisters having a quesadilla party on their stools.

Apparently the ducks stick around for the warm days of winter...

Lexi once again had her artwork displayed at the public library. It's a personified germ named "Diksy".

Dave and Dad finished up the solar panels and the wiring to our main electrical panel. There were a few loud pops and several hours of darkness, but they got it all figured out and hooked up!