Onto November and possibly getting my blog up to date before November of 2018 comes around… maybe? Summer gets so busy for us and I have let it snowball a bit. So enjoy the post and the look back at way cooler temperatures. A head’s up… December is already up and posted along with seasonal links HERE.

Ken spoiled me with a new tea mug!

Anyway, November… the month of chinchilla and workout pictures… wait that is much of my life the past year. I do love the Fluffy Overlord and working out has become second nature with me now.

Talking about chinchillas, November marks Neko-chan turning 1 year old!!! check out that post HERE

Emanuel went through a bit of an image change with a fancy new hair cut.

As did Echo. We have some rather spiffy looking kids!

The 3 younger kids went to Home Depot for the craft and even convinced Dad that PAINT should be involved.

I crocheted up a storm and we blocked this year’s special mom and grandma gifts… shawls! Plus matching hats for all 3 of us girls.

The kids dressed up in their finery for Santa. We went with the Schwartz family to their mall Santa of choice since our traditional one no longer exists after a store closing.  You can read all about that HERE.

I found winter boots in the children’s section of Target – something that made Ken laugh and entertained him and a few other people for days!

We had dinner with our wee niece Maevowyn… and her parents too, but we all know who the star of the show was!!!

I may be biased.. . but that face just makes me melt.

Echo LOVES her cousin

With Mom, and Dad photo bombing in the back

I also got in some quality kitty time, and pictures.

Silly Snoopy

We had school time.

Themed crafting continued.

A whole set of Halloween themed cupcakes that were out past the date.

Gavin made all of our cards this year.

Christmas Art

A Christmas mouse

Gavin the solemn crafter

Christmas mug cozy

Really all the babies babies were seen.

A poppy was worn, sent straight from Canada for Remembrance Day.

And I photographed my chinchilla from pretty well ALL possible angles…

All the junk in that glorious trunk!

Close up with lighting!

Yup that was November in a quick scan through images… hope you enjoyed!

We baked!

Whole family!

Yup, a quick overview of a month already well blogged… December…

Advent fun…

Chinchilla….

YMCA time…

R.I.P.P.E.D

Night out with Chris and Renee to see a play!!

Pre show Mystro time

A Christmas Carol

More Chinchilla…

So serious

Taught Gavin how to clean the cage.

Crafting with Gavin…

He made all of our cards!

Crafting period…

These are my final finish of the year and are an adorable set from the designer Knot Bad.

Neko-Chan is such a sweet model

Knot Bad rocks!

The arrival of a lovely fruit box from Grandma and Grandpa Reinsch…

Baking…

The twins made cookies as a present we mailed off!

Monster cookies

A somewhat surprise visit from Nana and Baba…

And just plain old fun!

Cousin Robbie visited and mentioned never having had a scarf… well that problem was quickly solved!

Opening presents with Aunty Holly and Cousin Jimmie

Don’t forget school time, we kept up a pretty good pace considering the amount of excitement. Lots of opportunity to learn as we researched some origins of our favorite carols.

We made crystals!

A handmade Christmas card

By Emanuel

Chinese for New Years…

If you want to see the already blogged activities.. here you are…

1. Anoka Lights
2. Santa Visits
3. Christmas Pageant

So now that I have posted this WAY out of order (what with the blog back log), here’s hoping I can catch myself up before mid 2018!!!! Wish me luck!!!

We braved the insanity of Mall of America right after Christmas… someone asked for a gift card from Santa this year.

She stood in line so long that some Christmas money made its way to the purchase.

Dungeon and Dragons with Dad!

Gavin asked for an item with sequins…

Doing Home Depot at home

So we have placed our feet firmly into 2017. January has come and gone (and at this point February is quickly going the same way). But what, exactly, did we do in January? Chinese New Year fell on January 28th this year. You can take a peek at our celebrating of the start of the Year of the Rooster HERE. We had a wee bit of snow, but nothing exciting…

The only snow structure we managed to make!

OH! We helped Darcy celebrate her birthday with dinner out and cake.

This meant we also got to see our godson Anthony play indoor soccer (they won, as usual).

I spent A LOT of time at the YMCA.

This in turn meant the kids spent A LOT of time at Cluby.

Slightly out of season but someone donated house kits for the kids at club.

Waiting for swimming lessons.

We took our Christmas money from Grandma and Grandpa Mike and spent it on some new clothes.

Even luckier than the clothing sale… a pretzel sale!

Did lots and lots of learning. Mostly in the sunshine on the floor.

Completion!

Cousin Robbie came for an overnight visit.

And I crocheted up a storm.

Yarn was purchased and a hat requested… not half bad!

Snuck some cross stitch in here too.

Ken, Renee, Chris and myself all went out to Matt’s Bar for Juicy Lucy’s.

We also visited a rather amazing display of quilts… I wish this one had photographed better. It was amazing.

Flat Stanley came to visit as well.

It was a rather social month, but it was also a very education heavy with as much time spent outside as possible. Even from simply looking back at the images I have collected, I feel we started the year off positively. Smiles, friendship, knowledge and fun. What more could I ask for?

Church down the road.

Emanuel is growing his hair out to donate!