I'm So Thankful for Family

This is a long post, but we've had a full week of fun and celebrating and I couldn't leave out too much! Wednesday was Jackie's birthday (I'm the only one who calls him that)We had some yummy cake and icecream and got ready for Thanksgiving the next day.
Can you guess his age by reading his candles? Our kids keep getting older, but we don't...it's a miracle.
Here's a recipe for a great Thanksgiving...start out with the delish veggie tray:
Sprinkle liberally with a tastey turkey:
Add in a great crowd and let the fun begin!
Katie thinks dinner is all about the rolls...YUM
Taylor fills up his tummy!
Would someone please take out the trash? Oh, sorry ladies!
After dinner it's tradition to bring out the guns and bow and arrows to shoot pumpkins. We never got to the pumpkins and bows and arrows, but everyone enjoyed the guns. Are we small town hicks or what? Phil shows off his big GUNS:
Leisy channels Annie Oakley. Watch out Kent, she's packing heat!
Addy shows off her pearly whites!
Alexis has a smile for Turkey Day!
Hmm...prizes for surviving the day?
It's all about the PIE:
Card Sharks...look out!
Amy and cutie Sophie
Taylor, Laney and Hank

Oh boy, now here's trouble!

While Mom are Dad are away....

Craig and Amy are up in Michigan looking for a new house so Katie and Taylor stayed behind with YaYa and PawPaw for few days of fun, cousin visits, creepy woods exploring, park playing, campfire dinner and a few movies, food that I'm not sure Mom and Dad would approve..but isn't that what Grandparents are suppose to do?? Spoil just a bit? In the first pic Katie and Taylor saw a deer in the backyard and were very excited. We then had to go explore the creepy woods and sure enough we came upon Bambi again! Only Bambi was heading East as fast as she could to get away from us humans! We had a fun evening with Addy and Alexis and Phil and Amanda. I was having so much fun I forgot to take any pics! At the park we enjoyed a picnic lunch, playing the playground and feeding the ducks. Unfortunately my camera batteries died after the last pic of Katie swinging! We are ready to tackle Church tomorrow! I'm excited that we'll have all next week to enjoy the whole family. By then I should have new batteries!

Another room for ZZZZZZ's!

Project # I don't remember! We redid the former Jordan room into a guest room and here's just the start of it. The room looks out over the backyard, has a little alcove and big windows on the wall to the right. It's a sweet room and it was very fun to redo. The carpet is a funny shade of pale orange, and not wanting to spend the money to recarpet since it's in good shape, I went with a wall color that I think looks good. Not the color in the first 3 pics, but a soft shade of sage green. I still need to get curtains and wall decorations up ,but I like it so far and I think it will work out for people to hang out in. Whew, just a few more thousand projects to go! Sorry about the fuzzy shots at the end>

                  

Trick or Treat Night Polk Style

We headed to Polk to see the kiddos get dressed up for trick or treat in their neighborhood. Anthony was Darth Vader (minus the mask)...with both front teeth missing he should have gone as a jack-o-lantern!
I guess even Superman needs help sometimes getting his cape on. Let's face it, phone booths are so yesterday.
Oops! The caped crusader gets a to-be-sure before heading out the door.
Steph made a yummy dinner and this cute number was dessert...dirty dessert to be exact. Made into a grave yard, it's the perfect ending to a halloween trick or treat night.
Look at these scary characters waiting for the festivities to begin. PawPaw stayed behind to hand out candy while we hit the sidewalk for all the treats!
Summer and her friend Tiffany were eager to get going.
Cameron takes 5 to check out his haul. His little legs did great for the hour we were out.
Hey, didn't I see you guys last year???
Can you guess what this is? Did you know Amish trick or treat? Well, they don't but I caught this buggy heading for home during the all craziness and I have to laugh when I look at this pic. It looks like electric lights on the back! Just my weird camera I guess.
After a bath Superman checks out his treats....now you know what's really under his cape! It was a perfect night for trick or treat and I can't believe how time goes so fast. Wasn't I just doing this with my own kiddos? Well, Grandkiddos are the best. I get to go home and don't have to deal with the candy high tomorrow! Happy Halloween everyone!

Going, Going....

Almost gone: The colors of fall are fading fast and I wanted to capture some of the beautiful colors here at the Pines. Not everything here is "pine green"! We have some yummy reds :
Sweet orange on a pumpkin I grew in our own garden!
The browns and yellows down by the creek:
Eddy is one of the browns down by the creek....hey Ed, is that a "kitty" you're checking out???
Yellows against a pretty blue sky
Some of the trees here are bare as a baby's bottom, while others cling to their leaves for as long as possible.
These two dogwoods are side by side...one bare, the other still full of color. This has been a really good fall for leaf color and I hope you've enjoyed your yard and area as much as we've enjoyed it here. Sigh....can't fall just last a bit longer?

Frightful Weekend

This is Eddy...you all know him and either love or don't love him. We happen to love him, but that's beside the point.
This is squeak. She's a cat. Eddy thinks she's his play toy. He will bug her to no end. She puts up with him but she falls into the "don't love Eddy" column. That doesn't bother him. He will chase her anyway. But he will chase any cat. Even the neighbors cat. So Friday night Jordan took him out and Eddy took off when he saw the neighbors cat crossing our front yard. Only it wasn't the next door black and white kitty...Yes, you guessed it. It was Pepe LaPew. Eddy got skunked! Thankfully the quick action of Jordan and Jack and my looking up cleaning remedies online ASAP stopped what could have been a "frightfully smelly" situation. So he smells good now and the house was spared too. Hopefully he's learned a lesson. But I doubt it. Squeak on the other hand just walked by him with a smug look on her face. I swear she even smiled!





Now this is the only other frightful thing from the weekend. My pumpkin spice loafs. They are frightfully yummy!