thanks and giving.

I have no idea where November went.

But I wanted to write a few things about it before it is too far gone.

My life feels like a strange combination of out-of-control and perfectly settled. My kids are busy. John and Quinn are approaching three years old, and they are non-stop. There is a never ending stream of requests. I regularly find myself simultaneously playing trucks with John, ordering ice cream from Carly's ice cream shop, and reading Quinn book after book. I don't know how other mothers keeps up. I don't keep up. I'm always getting my trash-kicked in one facet or another. But we have a happy home and a happy life, so I'll accept the piles of laundry and unmade beds.

Carly is s superb school girl. She currently loves math activities. She finished the "hundred board" (a Montessori milestone), and is now moving on to counting chains, where they count by 4, 5, 6, and so on. It was so fun to see her finish the hundred board, as she had always talked about it in an intimidated way. She is also working on the early stages of reading. Her favorite thing is imaginative games. She could play pretend all day. At parent-teacher conferences her teacher even mentioned she occasionally has to reign in her imagination when it gets in the way of work. There could be worse problems. Carly leads J and Q on pirate ships, though jungles, and opening their own businesses and libraries. It is so fun to watch them play.

Quinn loves ballerinas. She loves wearing her "pink tutu and dance black shoes!" and twirling around the living room. True to prima ballerina form, she is also quite the little drama queen when she doesn't get her way. She loves books. She loves dressing up. She loves sweets. She loves her sister and she loves her brother. She is a chatter. She will tell you a big long stressed-out story and the only way you'll understand is if you speak Quinnish. She's still a mama's girl, and her little arms squeezing tight around my neck is a feeling I never want to stop.

John is becoming an increasingly good talker, too. I write this every time, I feel, but he is a sweet boy who also happens to be a total stinker. He is discovering how to bug his sisters. He'll take a favorite object and hold it high and squeal "wooohooo!" He thinks gross body sounds are funny (is that inborn in boys?!). Every time he passes a man hole he says "Ninja Turtles in there!" While the twins don't nap regularly anymore John has been wearing himself out lately. He falls asleep on the way to get Carly from school and now has quite the reputation among the other moms for sleeping anywhere. I take him in asleep and he sleeps on the bench while all the kids come out. We even went to the book fair the other day and he slept through the whole thing crumpled up on the tile floor. We're classy like that.

As J and Q approach their third birthday they are looking like they will follow in Carly's footsteps with being much harder three-year-olds than two-year-olds. They are constantly demanding attention and throwing fits if they don't get to do what they want, like chopping things with a sharp knife, for example. They team up to get into mischief, and its so hard not to laugh right in front of them. They are a hilarious duo.

Our November was so fast, I felt like I didn't get to grasp the feelings of gratitude I usually try to focus on. But through a coincidence that wasn't really a coincidence, I witnessed giving and the Lord's hand in the little things.

A while before Thanksgiving I went to a meeting for my calling. As the group divided into smaller groups, I realized there wasn't a group for my specific calling, which is a Humanitarian aid worker assigned as a liaison to local food banks. At this meeting, I ended up with food storage specialists. I had the urge to sneak out, but decided to stay for information for my own family. I sat next to a woman and casually chatted with her. In our conversation, she told me about a food pantry that needed turkeys. I know that God has His hand in the smallest details, and I couldn't help but think it wasn't a coincidence I was at a meeting I didn't need to be at sitting next to this woman. I contacted the food pantry and they said they needed a large number of turkeys to meet their needs.

The meeting was on a Thursday night. I emailed the sisters in my ward on Friday afternoon. Over the weekend the turkeys came flowing in. I had a trunk full of turkeys by the time I made the delivery on Tuesday morning. I was overwhelmed by the goodness of the women around me. They are examples of giving, and I felt such gratitude to witness it. My heart felt warm as each one was brought to my doorstep. "We have so many turkeys for the people who need them!" Carly squealed. In the ocean of need that exists, our turkeys meant very little. But it reminded me of Elder Holland quoting Mother Teresa when she said that her work was just a drop in the ocean, but without it the ocean would be one less drop. It was such a blessing for me to witness this drop.

We spent Thanksgiving week at my parents house in Idaho. It was so good to be there. We hung out with Mimi and grandpa, went to Target (yay!), saw family members, got suckers from grandpa's bank, and ate at Five Guys. The night before Thanksgiving we had a pizza party with family. I put prosciutto on my pizza that was old but "probably ok," It wasn't ok. That night I got so sick. The food poisoning lasted all night and through the next day, Thanksgiving. I spent the day sick on the couch, not even able to come upstairs. I missed Thanksgiving dinner with my family. It would have made me so sad if I was able to care too much. Mostly I wanted the pain to stop. My good husband kept me hydrated, my parents gave my kids a Thanksgiving dinner they barely ate and let them decorate their Christmas tree, and my kids brought me hugs and smiles. It wasn't the best way to spend Thanksgiving, but it was a sweet reminder of all I have to be thankful for.

The only photo of Thanksgiving 2014.

It was a good November.

xoxo.