Mama's Memories for M: Fall Foliage, Elections, Turkey Day, and Tacky Christmas Sweaters

Hi M ~

It's November! Even though your school pictures were all the way back in September, we finally got them back this month and boy, are they adorable! You did make a comment about preferring your hair a bit shorter, but regardless of your hair length, just look at that smile! I love those dimples!

We had to start the beginning of the month off on our own since Daddy was in Hawaii, but we did send him this picture on one of the mornings that I took you to school. A little love drawn in the dew of his car.

"I love you dad"

We also officially had our general election this month. Finally, after 18 brutal months of our presidential candidates campaigning. I think we were all very, very ready for it to be over.

On the nights leading up to the election, I noticed that you had Googled the screenshot below on my phone...

And then I noticed that you put this picture up on your bedroom door. I love this so much. You have taken such an interest in our politics and the disturbing events in our country as of late. You have been such a fan of Hillary Clinton, learned about her, and supported our first female presidential candidate of a major party in this country. I am so proud of the wisdom you possess beyond your years.

Taking a break from the pre-election insanity, we got to take our lao lao out for a yummy birthday dinner. With her allergies recently, it took us a bit to choose a place but ended up at California Pizza Kitchen and she found at least a little something she could eat.

happy birthday, Lao Lao!

Later that same weekend, we headed to Rising Park for a walk in the beautiful fall foliage. This particular year the leaves have hung on a lot longer than usual. It's been fantastic! The four of us (Suzy came too) had a great time together!

look how tiny you are compared to that tree!

at the summit of Rising Park, overlooking Lancaster ~ pretty!

crazy dog playing in the leaves with Lao Lao

While we were enjoying the gorgeous autumn colors of Ohio, Daddy was enjoying the pristine sand beaches of Hawaii. So cool, right?

When he finally came home, he felt rejuvenated and at peace. Exactly what we had hoped for him to find on this well-deserved and much needed trip.

This month, Darion spent some nights at our house as well. You two are like peas in a pod.

silly kids

The day before the actual election, you received a Hillary for President 2016 hat in the mail. You were so stoked to put it on as soon as you got it.

You even came home with this book from your school library and were so stoked about it.

The morning of the election, I donned my pantsuit in honor of Mrs. Clinton. I was so, so excited to see if we would welcome in our first ever female president in this country. An honor that so many other countries have already ushered in and what makes me realize how far behind America is in so many ways, especially in regard to gender roles. As you can see, Daddy was just as excited as I was as well!

Sadly, ever so sadly, we realized that Mrs. Clinton would not become our first female president. To say that I was devastated would be an understatement. More than half of the entire country had voted for her (we would later discover that over 2.6 million more people voted for her!) but because of the electoral college, Donald Trump had won. It was ridiculous and very upsetting that someone so vulgar, selfish, hateful, narcissistic and unqualified to lead would be elected to the highest country in our land. Uggh. A huge disappointment in our democratic process for sure.

We all decided that we needed to do something with our despair so you and Darion sat down and hand-wrote thank you cards to send to Mrs. Clinton after the election. In some small way, we hoped that our messages could help lift her spirits. It was all we could think to do in that moment. You wrote a lot of cards (probably about 12 in all), but I only chose a few to picture below. You both had fun writing each one. I loved them.

Along with writing thank you cards, I also decided to turn to my special place for healing in difficult times...the woods. And I took Suzy with me and as you can tell, she wasn't complaining.

When I came home from the woods, this is what I found. It looks like Obi Wan Kenobi is waiting for his coffee, but in actuality it is just you, on a stool, under a blanket, watching your IPad. You crack me up.

Later that week, we were still feeling down and wondering what we could do in our local communities to help ease the sadness and fear that so many of us have of a Trump presidency. We attended a march for peace, the "No Room For Hate in Clintonville" rally and march. It was your first and I loved watching your reactions to the speakers, the music, the chanting, and the marching. Hearing your little voice chanting "Hey Hey, Ho Ho! Bigotry has got to go!" while watching you carry your tiny candle was priceless. You are really learning about some heavy topics at an early age and I couldn't be prouder of how thoughtful you are about them.

On a lighter note, you had some cool experiments at school this month too, one of which was making your own butter. You used salt and heavy whipping cream. That was it! You begged me to buy the ingredients and made our own little batch to eat. I have to say, it was delicious!!! Here you are showing it off below...yum!

Easton lit its gigantic tree too. They did it before Thanksgiving and while it was beautiful, it just felt weird. Maybe it had something to do with how warm it was that night. If you can see in the picture below, you are wearing shorts! In November! In Ohio! Can you believe it?

A few days later, it was time for Thanksgiving. We started our celebration on Thanksgiving day with Joe and Tina and their family. It was a great and relaxing Friendsgiving. Just what we all needed.

our gracious hosts

thankful for your daddy

The next day, we met our friends (EB, Patrick, and their family and friends) and went bowling for Patrick's birthday. EB and PTM were in town from DC so it was incredibly awesome to spend time with them again.

this particular picture is what happens every weekend morning,
just as I am trying to sneak out of bed to go for an early walk
(you have a crazy sixth sense about when I'm slipping out)

Since Easton's tree was lit and Thanksgiving was behind us, we decided to try to do a little decorating at our house too. Suzy ~~hated~~ had a blast finding the costume that we bought for her in years past. Lucky dog, yeah?

The Sunday after Turkey Day, we headed to our annual gathering at Uncle Pat and Aunt Connie's house. It was an enjoyable time with the Wilkinson crew.

the obligatory family picture on Thanksgiving...
one "normal" and one silly

cousin snuggles

At our Thanksgiving celebration, I think Memaw had asked you to make a list for Santa when you got home and so you wasted no time at all. Along with a list for Santa (which, I have to mention that all your lists for Santa spend an incredible amount of time listing things for everyone else in your family, not just yourself ~ pretty amazing, huh?), you also drew the picture and wrote the letter below to leave for Santa on Christmas Eve. You are such a sweet and thoughtful kid.

his shirt says, "Santa Claus is Awesome"

After such a nice, long holiday weekend, Monday felt especially rough for us all to go back to work and/or school. It was even cold and rainy too, adding to our "harumph" moods. Tell me, given the picture you see below from Target, do you think I pushed for just one too many errands after work that night?? Ha!

you were beyond done

However, the mood wasn't diminished for long at our house. That same week, it was time for our annual family Christmas portraits again! This year I had chosen tacky Christmas sweaters, beanies, and lots of props for us all. We had a lot of fun in our session and hopefully our silliness perked up the photographers too!