November Odds-and-Ends

By looking through my collection of pictures, I can tell we did a lot of stuff in November. I have already blogged some of it, but here's the remainder of the rundown (minus Chris' V.D.):

The beginning of November, before the snow and freezing temperatures hit, we enjoyed very mild weather and some beautiful leaves. Although we still can't say we like to rake them, this year was more fun 'cause we had some "help" from Ally and two little neighbor girls. They jumped in the piles, threw leaves at each other, ran screaming through the yard. . . and occasionally tossed some leaves into the bags, too. Cora enjoyed all the commotion from the comfort and safety of her carseat.


A week or two before Chris' birthday, Ally and I let him open this mysterious package. We had purchased it in early October, thinking it'd be a Christmas present, but we just couldn't wait any longer to give it to him. I was a little short on wrapping paper, so I pieced two kinds together and then told Ally she could decorate the blue part. Too bad I wasn't paying attention when she delved into our sticker collection and used all my mint-condition, out-of-production Dutch Wonderland stickers. So much for saving them for posterity. Watch the video to see all of Chris' wishes and dreams come true. . .


My brother Mark and his family moved from Florida to Seattle in November. They were welcomed to the Pacific Northwest with some major snowstorms that blanketed Washington and the surrounding states. Definitely not the best time to experience the Cascade Mountain passes, so our plans of getting together for Thanksgiving were thwarted. We went with plan B, as did everyone else around here. We hosted a Thanksgiving lunch/dinner and played games with our good neighbors the Barringtons (who couldn't make it to Montana) and the Merrills (who couldn't make it to Idaho). Sometimes friends can be family, too.

Chris and Ally started making cookies in November and stashed them in the freezer until Christmas came. Then we pulled them out and gave them away to some local friends and neighbors. (If you didn't get any, maybe you should think about moving a tad bit closer to us for next year.) In the tradition of Grandma and Grandpa Hoffman, they made all sorts of cookies. The unlikely favorite turned out to be the pfeffernusse, with the magic peanut butter middle cookies coming in a close second. Ally wants to make sure I mention that her favorite were the candy cane cookies.

For quite awhile, our smart Ally thought that molasses was made from bunnies. I wonder what would've ever given her such an idea?