November started off right where we left off from Halloween - with one more day of costumes. Since the kids attend a Catholic preschool, they don't have a Halloween party. Instead, they have one on All Saints Day, which is November 1st. Instead of traditional Halloween costumes, they're supposed to dress up as a Saint. Lucky for us, lots of Saints were physicians so their doctor costumes still worked. Thomas's class party was in the morning and I was happy to get to go and have breakfast with him.

And apparently I'm a sucker because he totally convinced me to bring him home with me after the party, so I had a little helper at the Mint Tulip headquarters all day.

I didn't get a picture with Katie Wynn at her party that afternoon. Since Matt and I were their "patients" for Halloween, I had ordered an ace bandage. Suddenly, we had lots of "injuries" at our house that required a bandage. Exhibit A:

Matt's parents' kept the kids one night while we went out and gave them fun new pjs. Katie Wynn received some fairy pjs complete with a flower head band and tutu skirt while Thomas's green ones came with dragon wings and ears.

When you have new wings, you gotta do some flying.

Last year for Christmas, I received a gift card to Von Jet Silhouettes and I finally got around to spending it this fall. In November, I finally received my silhouettes and I LOVE them! Here are the pictures that I submitted:

And here are the wooden sihouettes I received!

I carried them all around the house for about a week before settling on the entry hall. I love that I can see them through the dining room when I'm in the kitchen. Can't believe I took so long to get them ordered!

One weekday, we had a really BIG agenda - doctor and dentist appointments for both kids! For most parents, this probably isn't a big deal. And the doctor part wasn't really for us either. But the dentist. OH, the dentist. This was Thomas's first time to go so I didn't know how he would do, but his sister? She is absolutely TERRIFIED of the dentist. I have taken her 4-5 times already and every time ends in tears. For both of us. And her teeth have never actually been cleaned. So this time, I had a plan. Mimi was coming with us and we had promised them they would get to go to Build-A-Bear if they had their teeth cleaned.

I just can't really put into words how the visit went. Thomas let the dentist look in his mouth but that's it. Katie Wynn melted down again before even making it to the chair. We have tried EVERYTHING. After lots of coaxing and begging and tear-wiping, I finally was able to make her open her mouth enough for the dentist to barely peek inside. No cleaning or polishing or flossing.

And again, I'm a sucker because I still let them go to Build-A-Bear. Truthfully, Mom and I were kinda excited to go to Build-A-Bear ourselves! I had only been once years and years ago and she had never been. And I didn't realize until that day that the kids had never been to a mall before. "You mean there's a whole bunch of stores we can go to without getting back in the car?" Yup.

After such a hard morning (these trips to the dentist really are so exhausting and gut-wrenching and frustrating and wear us all out) that it was nice to have an afternoon of just saying YES. We said yes to unnecessary Build-A-Bear accessories...

We said yes to the little mall ride...

And we said yes to the big carousel.

Do you know what a scary morning followed by a super fun afternoon does to two kids? This:

It was a quiet car ride home, to say the least.

The weekend before Thanksgiving, we took our annual long weekend trip down to the beach with my parents. The kids are getting to be champs at the long car ride.

I didn't take many pictures - these are from an afternoon we spent in Seaside after painting pottery.

Here are some from one evening at the Hub.

Since this is Matt's parents' first year to live here, we had our first (hopefully annual) Thanksgiving brunch at their house. It was delicious!

I bought the game Guess Who for the little kids. Matt and Wyatt couldn't put it down one night, even after the little kids went to bed...

Here are more random pictures from throughout the month.

Wouldn't nap in his bed...fell asleep on the floor in our room instead.

Since November was kinda early in the month this year, our first Christmas event fell in November. This was our first year to actually get to attend Christmas on the Square and we loved it! The kids both loved getting to ride the train, and Thomas talked to Santa!

Check back soon; I can't wait to tell you about our trip to Branson where we got to ride on the Polar Express!