Yesterday was our first Thanksgiving here in our house and our first Thanksgiving with JQ. What a memorable time! He really enjoyed the holiday, even though I don't think he totally got the concept. I tried to explain to him a little bit about it, but most of it was very new.

We have been busy preparing for Thanksgiving as well as doing many other things on this homestead. There was also an ice storm yesterday, so we were getting our house ready as well. Even last week, we still had temperatures in the 60s, which is rare for us this late in November. Ice is difficult to navigate, but at least it feels more like the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons now.

We did some small projects related to Thanksgiving, which were a lot of fun. Our thankful tree was made of hand cut outs and my poor attempt to fashion a trunk out of construction paper. It still worked, what does it matter? The kids each traced their hands, cut them out, and then wrote something they are thankful for on each hand.

We also made Rice Krispies turkeys, which we have made in the past. For some reason, this year, they were more difficult and they wouldn't stay together. Does it really matter? No. Gather four kids around cookies, Rice Krispies treats, candy corn, and chocolate, and that is all you need. They would eat globs of the stuff just stuck together. Actually, so would I. They sort of looked like turkeys when we were done. What mattered was the time together.

Last weekend, we went to a Lego display at a nearby hobby store. Have I mentioned that my kids love Legos? I should mention that. It's not really uncommon anymore--Lego's have grown to be a huge industry again with their themes, the movie, and their wonderlands in various parts of the world. A nearby Lego user group (of grown ups--apparently, you don't really outgrow the love) built a bunch of magnificent displays that were free for the public to view. We weren't the only ones ogling these huge and intricate designs made entirely out of Lego's. A downtown street. Several large models of R2-D2. A U-boat. Our state capitol (!). There was a lot. And there were tons of people there--a lot of kids--because my kids are not the only Lego lovers in town. It was really neat.

So now, it is the Christmas season and today is black Friday for some. We don't participate. I don't believe in it. That is all. I could probably get some good deals and save some money now that I have four kids to buy presents for, but it isn't worth it to me. And today in particular, I am sitting by my living room window and it is covered in ice, which has been there since sometime yesterday afternoon. Combine that with trying to drive into the nearby city to battle the crowds....nah. I am just going to get a cup of coffee and sit here. Because I can, and it's good. I'm thankful for that.

We certainly have been enjoying this fall. It is our first fall season in our house as well as the first with Jia Qing! It's all kinds of busy, but we love it.

Our house, despite us living in it for the past 9 months, still has some areas that are not finished. For instance, we do not have a garage. We decided to do the painting to save some money while building and while the inside is painted, there are areas of trim work that have not been done. We have also not painted the outside and the siding is still primer. We were actually going to do that this fall...we went to China instead. So now, it will have to wait until spring, as will some of the grass that we want to plant, extending the garden, and planting more trees. Yes, some of it has been done. But it always takes a while to get it all done.

The kids have been busy in school, although it is a challenge to try and teach 4 different grades at once. I will be honest in saying that I haven't been loving it. It has been so difficult that we switched programs and started using a new curriculum about 3 weeks ago and that is a little bit better. The kids are still learning how to be more independent with school work and since Jia Qing does not know much English, he is starting at the basic levels of vocabulary. However, he is as smart as a whip! Have I said that before? He catches on so easily and he has this drive to keep trying. Russ and I were trying to test some of his math knowledge because we noticed that he is excellent with numbers. He is the age of 2nd grade, but he knew all of his single-digit multiplication tables and was adding and subtracting three-digit numbers. He was so proud when we checked his answers and said, "you're right!" Big smile. Such a kid.

Today, the boys are working diligently with some homemade pumpkin play dough. It's actually salt dough colored orange that has pumpkin pie spice in it. It smells so good! But I had to remind them not to eat it. There is a half cup of salt in the recipe. Still, I'm sure if they did, they would quickly learn not to eat it again.

This weekend, we visited with family that we have not seen in a while, some of whom have not met JQ. My aunt and uncle each had their 70th birthdays so we celebrated them together with a gathering at my mom's house. There was good food but mostly it was nice to catch up with people and see how they are doing. We had the chance to talk about some family history and genealogy (I love that stuff). My aunt was remarking about how young people (us? young?) often have little interest in history but we seem to love it. I have always loved learning history; my dad was a history teacher for a while, too. I think he instilled a love of that into us, as well as a love of reading because we always had books around. I'm trying to teach that to my own kids, too. So far, it could be working! I know they love history; the reading part is coming along. Asher is getting to be a better reader all the time and it's so great to see him sit down with a book and read it out loud to his sister or his dad, all of his own accord.

That's part of our goal here: teaching these kids and instilling in them a sense of the importance of things. Hopefully, it will stick.

November has arrived! I always like this month because there is a lot going on. Russ has a birthday in November, Thanksgiving is coming up, and we are winding down to the end of 2015. This year, the weather has still remained warm, and despite some cooler days in October, we have spent the first few days of November with temperatures in the 70s and 80s. I’m not a huge fan of this, as anyone knows…I like cool weather and I’m waiting for my time to bring out the sweaters and hot chocolate!

Yesterday was Russ’ birthday. I think of how many birthdays we have celebrated together and how many years I’ve known this wonderful man! We are blessed again to be celebrating and to be thankful for another year together. Since it was Tuesday, it was a normal work/school day. In the evening, we went to Chik-Fil-A for supper. A new branch just opened nearby and we decided to check it out.

When JQ lived in the U.S. while he was in the hosting program, the family he stayed with took him to Chik-Fil-A and said that he loved it. We have pictures and videos of him eating there and his excitement over being able to go. I admit that I have been to Chik-Fil-A less than a handful of times. When we were adopting JQ, we knew that he liked the place, but we thought he would just have to learn to like something else around here. It’s possible, right?

Then, this summer we learned that a branch of Chik-Fil-A was opening near us! It had some delays but then finally opened last week, just before Halloween. While we did not make it there on opening night, it was still incredibly busy for being open a week, with lines stretching out the front door and no place to sit inside. We still really enjoyed it and will go back and Jia Qing was so very excited!

Last year on Russ’ birthday, we were still living in our apartment and had hopes of moving into our house soon. Things have changed so much in the last year. It’s funny how every year when a birthday rolls around, we are amazed at how much life changes—as if it is supposed to stay the same! It’s also exciting to think about what we might be doing a year from now…when we celebrate yet another year of life and living.