Sweet November

It's finally November, time for the holidays! I have always loved this time of year, when it cools off just a tad and the trees turn those amazing colors. I love taking the time to stop and look at all of the trees and taking time to see the beauty that God has blessed us with daily. So often we get in a hurry and the little things that are so wonderful get overlooked.

This coming Friday, November 6, the elementary schools will not have classes. Abbi is going to have school, but not my Emma. I am so excited, because we are going to have a mother daughter day. I never really get the chance to just be me and her, so I am really looking forward to it. I told her that we would go to lunch and then do all that girly stuff she loves to do. It has been more difficult to make time to do things with the kiddos on an individual basis. It seems like the weeks go by so much faster when the kids time is split between my house and Chase's. It seems like just yesterday was the first day of school, but we are almost ready for Thanksgiving break. I know that my girls are only young for such a short time in life, and so I want to make sure that we have all the quality time that we can together. I do spend more time it seems with Abbi Grace, I guess because she stayed with me the end of last year 3 days a week.

The past few weeks Emma has been doing really well in school. She was accepted in to the gifted and talented program, which she loves being in. She is so bright, and I am just so very proud of her. She had a rough start to the year, but I think she is starting to see that we all mean business, and that she is not going to get away with anything. I think that second grade is going to be a good year for her.

Abbi is really loving her school this year too. Last year it was like pulling teeth to get her to want to go to school, but this year the first question every morning is "momma is it a school day?" When I tell her that it is she has the same response every time "wooohooooo" She is sooo funny! I hate the weekends for her because she gets so upset that she does not get to see her friends at school! I love seeing her blossom this year. She has really done well at the ABC preschool, and bonus they have added speech to her therapy. I think that she will be more than ready for Kindergarten next year after this year. I am very proud of her and her accomplishments over the past few months in school.

We have had so much going on over the past few months, and I hope that we will have the chance over the holidays to slow down and focus on our little family. I never knew the struggles that I would face this past year would be so trying and difficult. It's funny how I kinda grew up thinking that life was fair, and everyone always got along as adults. Ha ha this is so not true. I am so glad that I have had this year to grow emotionally and really get to know who I was. I think that I am able to be a better momma to the girls now. I have the confidence finally and I know that I can take care of the girls on my own. Well of course I do have help from time to time.....but I am still raising these girls as a single mom, and for me that is huge. My mother never thought I would be able to do it on my own, so I know that there were many doubts on my abilities to care for them. I guess having not been able to make any decisions about anything for 10 1/2 years, I was unsure for myself if I could do it.

I am looking forward to the holidays this year too, because this is my year with the girls. Last year they spent all of Thanksgiving and the majority of Christmas with their daddy. I know they had fun, but I missed my girls. It is hard when they are your whole life, to go without them for 2 weeks straight. Emma asked me yesterday about putting the christmas tree up! I am very excited, last year I did it while they were gone and had it done, but this year we are going to put the tree up together! We are huge christmas decorators, so it will be fun to do it all together.

And this year we will also try to get Christmas cards out.....no promises of course, but we will make an effort!! Emma has asked if she and Abbi can help make food for Thanksgiving this year, so that will be a first time thing for me and them. Cross your fingers that it will go well!