Between having a segmented calendar from school due to parent teacher conferences, the week off for thanksgiving as well as Veteran's Day thrown in there and all fo the excitement for the upcoming holidays, November always seems to go by in a flash. This November was no different as it flew by but it was such a special month. The month kicked off with a very special surprise from the Ozecks!! Laura had to come out for an event and she brought Syd and Cole with her! Our kids had no idea so after soccer games on Saturday we headed up to Nani and Poppa's with them thinking we were just going for dinner but then Syd and Cole answered the door!! Yay!! It was so much fun to watch and so much excitement!!! Feels great to be reunited!
We kicked off the reunion with some fun games and a great afternoon/evening at Nani and Poppa's catching up.
On Sunday we all met up at the ice rink in Escondido which was something new for my kids. They loved it and did really well for their first time (we did leave Charlotte at home to nap with Daddy!)
We saw the cousins a few days after school during the week and then finished their visit with sleepovers on Friday night. The girls all went to Nani's and we had a boy cousin sleepover at our house which was lots of fun! It was sad to say goodbye to them the following day but we were busy with the soccer tournament and then knowing that we were going to see them again next month made it a bit easier. It was such a fun surprise to have them back for the week though!!!
Poway Unified hosted a cross country race for all kids in grades 3-5 on Friday, November 8th. Westwood had a team that Joseph was excited to be a part of. He ran a 1 mile race and finished 12th overall for the 3rd grade boys. It was hot but such a cool experience-fun cheering on other runners from their school along with other friends that we saw from the community. It was also extra special since Nani, Poppa, Finn and the Ozecks were there cheering him on.
We had the final soccer games on November 2nd and then the tournament on November 9th. This was such a great season with all 4 kids playing. Our Saturdays were packed but we wouldn't want it any other way.
Ella's team made it into the final game for the tournament which was awesome! they played so hard and were so close. The team really came together and Ella had fun celebrating that night at Coach Nick's house.
Love the smile on Ella's face here!
The weather was beautiful on the 10th so we headed to Del Mar to meet up with Linz and Finn for a few hours. Perfect November beach day!!
Rich had to work on Veteran's Day but the kids and I ventured to Escondido for a Veteran's Day parade. I didn't really want to go downtown for the parade so this was perfect.
The kids even made it to the news that night!!
We had the Monday after Veterans' Day off as well for teacher conferences for the kids (as well as half days for the rest of the week) so we took advantage of the day and headed to the zoo. The forecast called for rain all day but it looked like that it was going to stay away in the morning downtown so we went early and stayed until a little after lunch and it worked out perfect-it poured on the way home and for the rest of the day once we got home.
Made it home just in time and then they wanted to go play in the rain!
Charlotte came home from church school with this adorable craft!
Lots of school playing happening recently.
Our old sweet neighbor, Ava, was in the play, Annie, this month so Ella, Juila and I went to see her perform. These are such fun outings and we all just adore Ava and her family so it was a perfect afternoon.
Char is still hanging with Nani and Poppa every Thursday and has gotten into the hot chocolate routine in the morning and the Starbucks tea routine in the afternoon. She's got a good thing going!
Oh Charlotte! Giving me one of her looks on our way to pick Joseph up from wrestling one night...
and then a smile!
All sorts of notes from Julia this month. And most of them contained "Boo!" as she was still in the Halloween spirit!
Another one from Julia, and as you can see in this one she has transitioned to November with the turkey drawing and the month written. So sweet!
Love these natural curls on Charlotte, even when she doesn't brush her hair for days at a time!
Joseph and Rich went to the USS Midway one night for a college wrestling match. Army wrestled which made it even more awesome. According to Rich, Joseph spent the majority of his time running around the ship and eating snacks with a buddy and a little bit of his time watching the match but htey both had a great time.
Joseph really got into origami for a few days (ha!) He had a friend from school who was making them so he was all about it and we had a ton of origami animals around the house and then he was over it..
Bagel bigger than his face
The girls have mastered the towel wrap after baths/showers!
Sweet baby Charlotte isn't much of a baby anymore but still looks so sweet when sleeping. She was cuddling baby Liam extra tight this night.
She is such a good trooper/helper when running errands and most days in her pjs...we normally leave in the mornings when we take the kids for school at 7:30 and she in in her pjs and then we go straight from there to workout and do whatever we are going to do for the day but I always bring a change of clothes for her but it is very rare that she wants to change into them.
Selfies with Jules before bed.
The Reppas girls passed on some clothes so she was so excited about her new pajamas!
Julia received a belated birthday gift in the mail and was so excited for it!
Such a ham!
Julia wanted to take pictures of us one night.
And then Charlotte snuck in!
I was doing something on my laptop in the office one night and all of a sudden I turned around and Julia was sitting on the bed looking like this. Made me laugh!
All of this brings us to Thanksgiving break-yay!!!
We kicked off Thanksgiving week with meeting the Laugesens at Phils one night for dinner and then they came to our house for dessert and games. We played a few rounds of Guesstures and had a blast.
We were invited to the Quinn's house on Monday morning of break for a Thanksgiving tea party. It was too cute and the girls had the best time and Joseph had a blast playing soccer with the boys.
Joseph has wrestling on Mondays and Wednesdays from 6:00-8:00 this season and Rich has class which means that the girls and I do the drop off and pick ups (we haven't had any luck in finding a car pool yet). They make for long nights but we are making the most of them. Normally we drop him off and then go home and get ready for bed and then go back in jammies to pick him up but since we were on break this week we decided to do some shopping during practice. The girls entertained one another!
They do love cheering him on and participating from the sidelines!
On Tuesday over break we met up with the Laugesens at a trampoline park which was a great way to spend a few hours. Although, Julia decided about halfway through that she didn't want to jump anymore but thankfully I was able to talk her into trying the rock wall so she was happy there-Charlotte was too short but she cheered Julia on.
Ella got up there, too.
Poppa took Joseph to a USD basketball game one night which he loved!
Loved having some time to ride bikes at the park and just not feel rushed to do homework or be somewhere.
Practiced some soccer, too
Thanksgiving break=forts!!
Uncle Brent and Chelsea arrived to San Diego on Wednesday so there will be a separate post on Thanksgiving and their wonderful visit!
