November was an interesting month for me. I think there was just a lot of introspection going on. Because we all got sick in October, I decided to start taking more care of myself again. I was in a huge funk and wanted to make myself feel like.. well, myself.

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I just changed basic things that most of you probably do anyway: I started washing my face and doing my skincare before bed. I started taking vitamins and not just giving them out to the kids and Sanj. I started getting the house cleaned professionally again so that I could use more time on the blog and with my family. When I’m not worried about cleaning the fridge or stove every week, it makes messes more manageable during the week.

We started the month celebrating Sanj’s birthday. And by celebrating I mean keeping it like any other day. I don’t know if this makes sense, but as we get older, we realize that we already have all the material things we want so buying presents isn’t the only way to celebrate. We don’t go clubbing or have a huge celebration. (I’m going to take a minute here to say that if that’s how you celebrate, by all means, rock on.) We tend to be low key people and go HAM on the food. We have dinner with the family and spend quality time with the kids.

Serena and I worked on some great learning activities with numbers and the free printables for Thanksgiving. We have a lot of free printables coming up for Christmas so be sure to subscribe so you can work alongside us.

Oh, and right before Thanksgiving, I shared a few of my favorite recipes for Christmas and a really festive and delicious appetizer. I really do love cooking during this time of year!

Reading: I’ve been reading Put More Time on Your Side by Jan Yager this month. I am so behind on book of the month but slowly making an effort to catch up. It’s also something I’m doing in an effort to work on self care. I am making more time to read some PMA books, teaching strategy and parenting books, and some old school literature. It’s nice because it helps you control your thoughts while getting lost in your own thoughts at the same time. Do I even make sense?!

Listening: Christmas music, y’all! Obviously Michael Bublé to get into the spirit, but we’re also listening to a lot of kid’s Christmas songs. Serena is at that age where she can kind of sing along and understand the whole concept of Santa. It’s definitely been helping me get out of the funk and into the holiday spirit!

Watching: I would totally say that we’re watching Christmas movies like Home Alone 1 and Home Alone 2, but that would be a lie because we don’t have regular cable TV like everyone else. I know, how do we manage, right? Honestly, it’s not that big of a deal, We have a few DVDs that the kids watch in the van or at home and we just kind of watch Hulu or Netflix on the iPad if we really want. Honestly, since I’ve been reading so much more lately, I haven’t been watching any TV. Whoop!

Working on: Sanj and I started working on a puzzle together. That sounds so…boring, I know. But it’s actually not. We can listen to standing order, or music, or just talk about things. And there is such an uplifting feeling that comes with finding puzzle pieces that go together. It’s a really great way to build relationships with your partner.

Anywhooooo, that was our November in a Nutshell! What have you guys been up to?