Oden Adventures

November: a month in which the beauty of the fall colors helped me to remember the beauty left in the world.  I am a big fan of the change of seasons here, the bold hues on the trees, the blue skies but with a chill in the air.  I'm not so much into the pumpkin spice and other scents & flavors of fall, but there was always something so unnatural to me about the constant near-constant sunshine and high temps of southern California.  Even if I don't like having to remember socks and shoes and coats, and entering & leaving places getting wet, I'm happy to have a regular change of seasons back in my life.

"We have 963 toys but our favorite places to play are the kitchen cupboards and the walk-in closet!"

 Oliver in Overalls!

All that cuteness was happening while Vianne was having a horrible sick day.  You know when she doesn't get out of bed in the morning that something is really wrong, she who is always the first one up in the morning...and when she sleeps throughout the day, she who never ever ever naps!  Thankfully, it was only one day and she was back to herself the next morning.

 Two peas in a pod

 Some of those hues I was talking about...

 Good grief!

 Checked out "My Pet Book" from the library.  It is now Oliver's pet book!

 He also loves "Hooray for Fish"

 The kids helped me get the house ready for Thanksgiving!  It was kind of amazing how everything came together.  Oliver: "Let's eat already!"

 A rare moment of being able to see the carpet in V's room.  Vacuuming - I kid you not - was her idea!

 V vacuumed, O hung out in one of his favorite spots

 V & I made this three-year-old's thankfulness wreath.  She dictated what she was thankful, I wrote it on leaves and attached them to a paper plate ring, while O threw all the craft supplies from the table to the floor and then ran around with no pants (and, at one point, no diaper) on. 

 After Thanksgiving was all said & done, we gathered up the leaves into a pile (there were never enough in one place to do this in San Dimas) and I introduced the kids to the wonderful world of leaf pile jumping!

 Oliver would not let go of the rake for anything.

 Rounding out the month with some sibling sweetness :-)