Our November

Well November was still busy with football.  Samuel's team continued to win and progress through the playoff bracket.  It was super exciting and stressful in a good way.  Again, that will be its own post!  Stay tuned for that next!!

Jonah had a busy and unexpected month of gymnastics.  This season Jonah will compete level 6 again which I think is perfect for him.  There was a trial meet the first weekend of November at his gym.  It was a shaky start for Jonah, but he got over competition nerves and learned what he needed to work on before the meets begin in January.  That was the busy part of gymnastics.  The unexpected part of gymnastics was his gym closed two weeks later.  That created some tough moments of "what to do" and "what is best for Jonah".  So stinking stressful!  We ultimately decided to follow his coaches to a new gym in Tomball.  Being with some of the same guys and coaches is what is best for Jonah.  The huge bummer is the new drive.  WGA was 8 minutes from the house and Texas Star is 30 minutes from the house.  Huge sigh for that great change to our schedule and lives!  So far Jonah is happy and has adapted well to the change.

Samuel and Elena lose lots of freedom because of the time spent in the car.  The benefit for them is parks.  There are two parks next to Texas Star and they like both of them.  So, we now spend lots of time at a park during the week.

Elena continued to do really well in her swim class.  Mid November she moved up to the next level and was so very excited!  Swimming seems to be her thing at the moment and it makes her very happy!

A very exciting part of our month was my sister Kristin and her family visiting.  It was a short, jam packed, but fun visit!  They were able to see the kids participate in the Veteran's Day ceremony at school.  They saw Samuel play a football game.  The weather was perfect so we could play outdoors and visit some of our favorite parks.  And, since it was so close to Christmas we did some fun Christmas activities like baking sugar cookies and attending the Family Advent Celebration at our church.  Santa was there too!

Emma and I continued to volunteer little bits here and there.  The best NCL thing we did in November was deliver all the those wreaths we made in October.   They were donated to a memory care center so we couldn't deliver them until the Christmas season began.  35 wreaths were made with love and the residents were so thankful to receive them.

Finally, to end our month we got a real Christmas tree.  We didn't have a real tree last year so the kids were beyond excited to visit the tree farm.  Riding on the tractor and using a saw were definite highlights for the kids....especially Samuel!

Our October

Our fall was so crazy busy.  Samuel played tackle football and fall baseball which meant he had to stop piano.  That was sad for all of us, but we are planning to begin lessons again in January.  Elena began taking a swim class.  Thankfully that was only one time a week.  Emma and Jonah did not have competitions this fall, but they continued to practice four days a week.  They also had cello and guitar lessons.  Busy!

Samuel playing tackle football was a big deal for us and that will be its own post.  It was a fun month of learning to lose and how to be a better player and team.  He practiced three nights a week and had games Saturday morning.

This was the first season Samuel played for the Dillers.  With football being his main priority he attended as many baseball practices as possible.  Most Mondays and Thursdays Samuel would go directly from one practice to the other.  His dedication to both sports was pretty amazing.  Playing baseball this fall was a good experience since it was the first time for kid pitch.  Whew!  What a difference from coach pitch!  There were ten games this fall with five double-headers on Sundays.  Samuel is learning to pitch, but it's not his favorite thing yet.  He played centerfield for every game.  Baseball will resume again in January. 

In between managing all the kids sports and their schedules, I managed to run a half marathon.  My friend and I went to College Station for a quick overnight.  We had fun. The race could have gone better for sure, but I can say I finished a race inside Kyle Field (the Texas A&M football stadium).  That was pretty cool!

 I went to the Luke Bryan concert with my friend Christina.  It was a super fun night!

Jonah learned to played a Chris Young song in October which made him actually like to practice.

Emma and I did some volunteering.  We organized a wreath craft at the annual NCL craft day.  That was a crazy task for me since I am not crafty at all!  It is a challenge to volunteer lots because of her gymnastics schedule, but we enjoy our time together when we have it!

Of course October means Halloween and it was a big event as usual.  We don't carve pumpkins because the heat and humidity cause the pumpkins to rot within a day or two.  So, we paint them and the kids love creating a masterpiece of a different kind.

Jonah decided he wanted to be Darth Vader.  Emma was Holy Guacamole...so creative!  Elena was Rey and Samuel was a camo ninja.  Elena decided to be Rey when she learned two of her best friends were going to be BB8.  She wanted to go with the Star Wars theme and I guess Jonah did too.  We trick or treated with friends and had a fun Monday night. 

The other big event in October was Field Day.  This was Jonah's last field day at Haude.  It was a crazy hot day, but the kids had lots of fun.