November: hiking, teeth, and leaves

November recap:

Jude and Cole got their school pictures taken! I almost never buy them, but I they turned out so cute, I snapped a couple pictures on my phone to keep.

Lance continues to be involved in scouts and Scott is amazing to drive down to Charlottesville as often as he does to participate with him. This time, they hiked Old Rag with the Cville troop and camped overnight.

George snapped this picture one night while trying to put the kiddos to bed. I guess Lexi gave up the fight.

Cole lost his first tooth!! It has been wiggling for weeks and finally he decided to just go ahead and pull it out (he wouldn't let me do it). Brave boy. He was very proud!

That tooth ended up being a major pain. Cole didn't want to put it under his pillow to give to the tooth fairy and insisted on taking it to school with him. His teacher was sweet and sent him to the nurse to get a little tooth treasure chest to keep it in and it (surprisingly) made it all the way to school and back again. However, he lost it TWICE in our long, off-white shag carpet. How do you find a tiny tooth in a shag carpet? Well, it involved a vacuum and lots of sorting through dust and debris. But I found it. Twice.

And of course the tooth disappeared the next day somewhere, never to be found again. (eye roll) Oh well. 

Cole is my little buddy. He loves to be anywhere I am and tries so hard to be helpful. He has the sweetest spirit. 

I love his happy smile! (He's going through that awkward forced smile stage, so getting his real smile is a treasure.)

Such a helpful boy!