Thanksgiving

 



 

Thanksgiving preparations started on Wednesday.  

The girls each made a traditional pumpkin pie.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We had turkey.

Homemade stuffing.

Bacon cheddar mashed potatoes.

 

And I completely forgot to make a green vegetable.  I had every intention of making broccoli or something but just forgot.  We also had dinner rolls and cranberries.  Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of the pies - but they were very good! 

 

I did get some pictures of some of the kids though. 

 

 

Matthew

 

 

 

Jon

 

 

Peter

 

 

Andrew

 

 

Faith - yes, she likes water with her ice.

 

 

After dinner there was our annual Sequence tournament.  I won last year!! 

 

 

James and Brian playing - I think that's the pie there on the corner of the table.

 

The champion this year was ME!! 

 

Two years in a row baby! 

 

I'll be defending my title again next year.

 

In other news . . .

 

 

The kitty is still hanging around our patio. 

 

One of the kids took this picture I think.  It's pretty good. 

 

She showed up the other day with a collar with a little bell on it.  No tag with owner or anything, but someone obviously claims her to some degree. 

 

It's still kinda wierd though because even in the cold rain she is sitting on our patio -she must like us more than whoever put that collar on her. 

 

She also likes to rub herself on our patio door and Peter accidently let her in a couple of times already. 

 

One of the things we've caught her doing is sitting on the skylights in the schoolroom.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goofy cat! 

 

 

 

What The??

What the???  

 

Looks like pictures are working again.  I just had to sign in with an alternate email address.  How do I keep all of my aliases straight? 

 

We're in business again.  Stay tuned for an update on what we've been doing lately. 

 



Waaah!!



I've reached my photo limit again!!!  So, from now on all blogs will be text only and no pictures.

 

 

 

Complete bummer.

 

 

Stay tuned while I figure out a way around this problem . . .

 

 



Ninjas and Twinkies

So the kids were playing Ninjas yesterday.  They had a good time out in the backyard after dark trying to find eachother.

 

 



Here is how they looked when Brian got home.  They all jumped out from behind the walls.  Ninjas' eyes glow after dark I guess. 

 

 

In case you didn't hear, Hostess is going out of business.  Some bankruptcy or strike going on or something.  Google it if you're interested. 

 

I mention this because the kids have always asked me for Twinkies when we're at the grocery store.  I always told them 'no' figuring they get enough junk food and they could buy their own chemicals in the form of sponge cake when they moved out. 

 

But, when I heard that Twinkies may be no more, I broke down and decided to buy a box. 

 

We had to go to two stores to find them. 

 

 

Twinkies - secret training food for Ninjas everywhere.

 

 

Faith, contemplating her strategy.

 

 

Peter wasted no time.

 

 

Matthew tore his in half searching for the goodness within.

 

 

James dove in barely missing the plastic wrapper.

 

 

Alyssa took her time opening hers.

 

 

Andrew was impressed with his first bite.

 

 

Finally gets hers open and tries it.

 

 

Jon - trying to down it all in one bite!  This must be a staged shot as his is still wrapped in plastic.

 

 

Matthew thinks he found something yummy and white.

 

 

He's going in with his fingers.

 

 

He looks a little confused by the goodness.

 

 

There are still two Twinkies in the box.  Not sure how long they'll last.  May have to cut them into tiny pieces to share ;).

 

Goodbye Trusty Phone!

 

 

Brian recently upgraded his phone and I have taken over his phone.  My phone has been a good one - durable and only giving me some problems.  Since we switched over I had to take the last of the pictures off of it. 

 



Here we are Skyping with G&G Berg!

 

 

The girls and I did a little shopping at the mall last week one evening.  They have already set it up for Christmas.  We came across Santa's little village and I told the girls we could take some pictures.

 

 

Here they are being nice.

 

 

I tried to get a picture of them being naughty for the whole naughty or nice theme - but they couldn't get it together enough for me to get a good picture.  They may never work in film.  Oh well.

 

We found a teeny-bopper store and Faith liked everything there.

 

Fuzzy neon sweaters.

 

 

And eye gouging socks. 

 

 

Also last week Brian's car had to be taken to the dealer for a brake job. 

 

There is a class action lawsuit against Honda for premature wear on the front brake pads of their 2010 Honda Civics.  So, what can you do??  We're hoping that they will settle the case and we'll be able to get at least some of our money back for the repair. 

 

I dropped him off at work that day and then took James to school. 

 

When we went to pick him up Mike the Tiger was up and about.  I snagged a premier spot in the visitor's section of the parking lot and we got out to see Mike.

 

 

Matthew and Mike.

 

"Heeeey Puupppy!" he said!

 

 

Nice tiger.

 

 

The picture doesn't really do justice to how big he is.  Huge.

 

 

We got James and then we picked up Brian for lunch.

 

We stopped at McDonald's for cheeseburgers and apple pies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Matthew is like 'back off dude!'

 

 

Matthew reaching for a pie.

 

 

Brian had the right idea of an apple pie and a caramel sundae.  Yum!

 

 

Matthew eating pie.

 

 

A new thing this fall is the ESPN trucks showing up on campus two days before home games.  Last year it was one day before.  I'm not happy about it because they take up 1/3 of the commuter student parking lot that I have to pick James up in on Fridays. 

Grrr.  Slightly annoying.  It's already hard enough to find a parking space and/or hang around in the lot  - but after football season it will go back to normal.

 

 The girls and I spent a couple of hours together last Saturday WITHOUT THE BOYS!

 

It was nice to spend some time together.  First we went to Barnes and Noble at Perkins Rowe and grabbed hot chocolate from Starbucks.  Yum.  We shook some flavorings into it - vanilla etc.  Don't get nutmeg - 'twasn't that good. 

 

Then we went around the corner to Charming Charlies.  It's an accessory store where necklaces and everything is grouped by color.  The last time we went there one of the bracelets I bought broke within a few minutes of being home. 

 

I didn't think I'd return. 

 

But, it's fun to browse so we decided to go. 

 

Pink!!

 

We found a wall of clearance necklaces and earring pairs.  Everything was 50% off and then it was also buy one get one free!  The best kind of thing to get at Charming Charlies! 

 

I got two necklace/earring pairs and the girls also got some necklaces and bracelets. 

 

 

The girls in Blue! 

 

It was a fun time!