Reflections on November

For the past five years, I've spent the month of November in blissful sunshine. (Hey, that's how I choose to remember it!) Living in Florida was a dream come true for me, literally. From the time I was in second grade, I dreamed about living in exotic places such as Altamonte Springs. Now, I never lived in Altamonte Springs (Oviedo, Maitland, Ormond Beach, and Orlando-College Park), but visited often...mostly because of Crane's Roost and the Altamonte Mall - gosh, I miss Barnie's! Anyway, my time in Florida came to a close this past spring and I'm back in Michigan with my family. November in Michigan is NOT in any way remotely like November in Central Florida.

November in Michigan is about death. Besides THE state holiday of November 15 (otherwise known as Opening Day), November is the month that makes us realize that there aren't going to be any more patches of flowers, piles of colorful produce at Farmers Markets, and no more flip-flop days until spring. The leaves have completed their showy display of gorgeous color and, shriveled and brown, have been whipped from the trees by the frigid winds and rain that herald the coming of winter. The harvest is complete and the fields are plowed under to rest under piles of snow awaiting the next growing season. All the migratory birds have flown the coop and the few that remain flutter about in search of feeders and nesting materials. As we were driving today, I remarked to my mom that it just hit me why I hate neutrals as decor. As I gazed upon leafless trees, barren fields, and stumps of dried out corn stalks set against a flat gray sky, I realized that, for the first time in years, I really was going to have to go months without color outside.

I could never quite put my finger on why I dislike the color brown. My couch is a bright lipstick red (Leaby Red Ektorp Sofabed from IKEA) that I purchased, along with a tan and red striped Ektorp armchair, to counteract the white ceilings, brown cupboards, eggshell walls, and tan carpet in my apartment in Ormond Beach. My bedroom set is a vivid shade of lavender with deep purple accents (Glam by Daisy Fuentes from Kohls). My kitchen linens are bright cheery yellows and greens (classic Williams Sonoma oven mitt and pot holder in what I am assuming is a discontinued color because I can't find it online). Needless to say, I love color. November is not full of color in Michigan. If you're lucky, you will find some oranges and yellows in pumpkins and the last few ears of corn. Incidentally, I dislike the color orange as well. I think I have found the root of my intense dislike of the whole monochrome neutral house...it reminds me of November.

Now that I have established the fact that I really don't care much for November, let's move on to more pleasant topics of conversation: namely anything not involving cold weather! We hosted Thanksgiving dinner this year. One of my uncles made the trip from Tennessee, while the rest of our guests were fairly local. Our family has become a delightful melting pot of nationalities and personalities. One uncle married an Argentinian woman with two boys from a previous relationship. Another uncle married a Chinese woman and they are expecting their first child next month. There were other new additions, and half of our family was missing due to previous plans. Now that the matriarch of the family has passed, the rest of us are far more understanding of the plain and simple fact that in-laws are important too!

Thanksgiving was interesting this year because I've figured out that I'm wheat-intolerant and Miss A is a celiac. Since our oven is on the fritz right now, Dad asked two of his siblings to make the turkeys. We had to remind them NOT to stuff the turkeys because then they would be inedible for those of us with food sensitivities. We also had to prepare separate biscuits which were amazingly delicious! Mom used Arrowhead Mills All-Purpose Gluten-Free Mix and the directions on the back subbing Daisy sour cream for yogurt and Mooville Creamline Milk for soy milk. They looked and smelled SO good that Miss A questioned whether or not she could eat them, even though I am the one who made up her plate.

Mom also made her famous Dutch-Apple pie using Bob's Red Mill White Rice Flour and some leftover pastry flour mix from Coco Charlotte Bakery here in Grand Rapids. The results were amazing and if you didn't know it was gluten-free, you never would have guessed. The pumpkin was equally amazing. The trick was to make sure people didn't cross-contaminate with serving utensils, as there were non-gluten-free desserts as well. The final dessert in our gluten-free trifecta was a no-bake cheesecake using ground pecans for the crust. We purchased them specifically to use as pie crusts while in Georgia, road-tripping back from Florida during my move. I'm glad we got two packages, because that was scrumptious as well!

It was fun to introduce my soon-to-be new sister-in-law along with the kiddos to the rest of our extended family. Some had already met the two older kids at a wedding, but only one had met the littlest nephew. Sarah fits in so well with our family and we are extremely excited to announce that she and my brother are getting married on December 17! I finally will have a sister I can truly be friends with instead of trying desperately to like the woman my brother married (as was the case with his first wife). Sarah has adapted slowly to our family that is so unlike her own. We're way better, in case you were wondering! Even with all the craziness that is our family...when we stop and look around us, we realize that we are not "normal" in this day and age. We're better than normal, and that is a good thing. We have our tiffs and our faults and our drama, but so much less than everyone else I know.

Now on to my niece and nephews. Miss A has had her first few tastes of crafting with Aunt Nessa and the verdict is in...she loves it! I still will never forget the way her eyes got huge as she said in awe "There's a lot of cool stuff in here!" the first time she saw my craft room. Now, it's one of her favorite rooms in the house. Part of this is due to the fact that when we're in there, it's usually just the two of us. Even when her brother joins us, he's only allowed to use crayons, colored pencils, and the foamie stickers. He's too little for anything else. Well, that's my rule anyway. The first time she was allowed to play in the craft room, we practiced stringing pony and plastic alphabet beads and also colored and played with foamie stickers my dad bought at the dollar store. The second time we played in the craft room, it was just the two of us. I pulled out some of my inexpensive stamp pads, a plastic shoebox full of stamps, a party-favor watercolor set, a glue stick, and some bead glitter. Miss A happily painted, glued, and finger-stamped her way through a half dozen sheets of copy paper in 45 minutes. Instead of her usual "more is more" approach to artwork (and actually, life!), she asked for a new sheet of paper without completely covering the first in color and stickers. I was impressed. I can't wait for her to get a little older and gain some more fine motor skills so we can really do some great projects. We're going to start with coloring inside the lines and starting to draw stick people. Most almost 4 year olds are doing that, right?

Mr. E1 is really starting to communicate using words and thoughts and sentences instead of just gesturing. This is becoming fun as he's saying stuff such as "back soon be" while waving as he heads down the stairs following after Grandpa. He's also turning into quite the little imp and becoming an instigator. The Terrible Twos are really finally hitting with temper tantrums and frequent displays of will. He got moved to a Big Boy bed and is NOT happy about that, especially since he shares a room with his little brother who is now sleeping in his crib in their bedroom. We think he's mad that he's not the baby any longer. He wants to do EVERYTHING big sister is allowed to do (and Mom usually lets him; sigh...poor Miss A) and yet he doesn't really want to grow up when he sees the attention that Mr. E2 gets. When I think about the shy, clingy, feminized little boy he was just one short year ago...I'm amazed by the transformation that a year of loving family and male role models can make in the life of a child so young. He loves my dad, calls my brother "Daddy" more than by his given name, and also has his beloved "uncle" who is my brother's best friend in his life. No matter what anyone says, kids need two loving parents in their life along with a great, supportive family. It makes ALL the difference.

Now on to Mr. E2...he's simply adorable. Now that there is no longer a dog in the house, he's put down on the floor to play more. He also seems to have outgrown some of the problems he had at birth so he is far less fussy and a lot more smiley. He loves to be talked to and will coo, gurgle, and giggle. He's ticklish and will break out into smiles and chuckles when you tickle him. He finally figured out how to make his legs work, so he will actually stand straight when you hold him up. No more shoulders around his ears like a little rag doll! He's beginning to show preferences as to who holds him and who captures his attention. Just today, I was snuggling him and tried to hand him back to his mom when it was time to go. He deliberately turned his face away from her and snuggled deeper. He's going to be a tease. I can see it!

Those three little ones are the reds and blues and greens and yellows in my bleak November. What color, what noise, what LIFE they brought to us. We love them dearly.

One last topic of conversation before I save, post, and attempt to sleep: Christmas. I love Christmas. I seem to love it more and more each year. I don't care for the gift-getting, although it's nice to get stuff I want/need. I love the cheery music, I love the colors (see a pattern here?), I love the smells and tastes and sights. I love the lights and sparkles. We haven't yet started our Christmas celebrations here, although I have been playing Christmas music off and on for the past month or so. We're a little behind the times. We can't decide on what we're going to do for a tree and for some reason, I can't manage to make Mom get into the Christmas spirit to decorate this year. I'm itching to decorate this house for the season. I may have to do it on my own. Hm...I think I have my agenda for tomorrow!

I love the cheesy movies on TV. I don't know what it is about them. I don't much care for cheesy movies the rest of the year, but I will watch one right after the other at Christmastime. I love the peppermint and gingerbread flavors that come out in everything from cookies to candles to tea to coffee.

I'm excited to go to Horrocks this weekend, as is our Saturday morning routine. This week is going to be earlier than usual because we're babysitting but just this once, I'm going to be not annoyed to get up at 6:30 am on a Saturday! Horrocks is my happy place and last week, they had just gotten their first shipment of trees into the nursery. I'm fully expecting completely decked halls for Christmas and you're pretty much going to have to use the jaws of life to pry me out of the store!

So, even though outside has been bleak, windy, rainy, and tonight...snowy; November truly was a colorful month in experience. Now, let's hope I don't wake up to snow glow tomorrow and that we get the lesser of the 1-4 inches forecast for our area.