2013 Catch-Up: This n' That from November

I had a bunch of random, awesome pictures from November, so I decided to put them all into one post.

The month started off with a visit from my cousin and his girlfriend, both of whom the kids just adore.  We had a lovely day for their visit so we took the opportunity to try out the rocket they had given Baylor for Christmas last year.  The kids, though, just wanted to ham it up for the camera.

Most of the tries this time were unsuccessful ... and messy!

But there was just so much excitement!

The kids are still in swim lessons.  They really enjoy them and seem to be progressing steadily.

Baylor, boy after my own heart, is getting into crossword puzzles and created one of his own.  Then I decided to make one for him.

After saving up their birthday money (for quite a while), the kids finally decided to spend it on some Legos.  Baylor went all out and got a huge Lego set, 1012 pieces huge.  Then he proceeded to put it together largely on his own.  Awesome job, little man!

Mollie only spent part of her money, but she bought a set she'd been eyeing for months.  She needed help putting it together, but she had no problem playing with it!

My dad's birthday falls in the middle of November, and the kids did their best to help him open his gifts.  My mom bought him a hilarious card that just happened to have a character with his name on it, and he laughed so hard!  I love watching my dad laugh.

After all the gifts were open, Baylor and Dad fought as superheroes. It was epic.

Meanwhile, Mom and Mollie read ... and Mollie played with her nose.

In an attempt to get the kids to help me out a little and to give them more responsibility, I bought two smaller laundry baskets, prettied them up with washi tape, and told the kids that whatever clothes were in these baskets were theirs to put away.  One day, Mollie took it a step further and helped me out by sorting the clothes!  It was awesome.

Then, when her pile got too big, she sat on it to squish it down.

Another day Baylor came home with this ...

... and I have no doubt that he is.

I get really excited when I have the opportunity to teach the kids life skills, and when a friend had trouble using a socket wrench they became very interested in learning how to use one.  So after dinner one night, I took some time out and showed them how it all works.  Mollie got the hang of it right away.

But Baylor got a little hung up looking at the different measurements and figuring out how to use the socket extender.

Later on in the month, Mollie got to put her new skill to good use when she and I reinstalled our mailbox.  I hit it last winter with the trash can/my car, and after sustaining injuries from pesky teenagers throwing pumpkins and intense wind storms it could no longer be propped up.  So I dug a new hole and cemented a new post in place one evening, and the next day Mollie helped me hook the mailbox to the new post.  Unfortunately, about three-quarters of the way through the process she had an accident, so we took some time out to get her changed.  She chose what she wanted to wear and, for reasons unknown to me, selected a pair of shorts.  I told her she was going to be too cold outside in those, but she assured me that she wouldn't be and that she would cover herself up with leaves should she find the air too brisk.  However, earlier in our task I lost a sharp screw in the leaves around the mailbox, so she was unable to make a blanket of leaves for herself safely.  Seeing my point, she took it upon herself to run back inside while I had my back turned, dash into the living room, grab her favorite blanket, and bring it back out to cover herself up.  *sigh*  Ah, my girl!

November went by really quickly, but looking back I can see just how much we filled the month up!