Thanksgiving drive

I am thankful that we were able to visit with family over the Thanksgiving holiday.  We had a long drive to get there and got to see some beautiful country along the way.

It was a little scary though when the cars in front of us disappeared into the fog while driving on roads with 7% grades in the mountains.

But it all worked out and we had a lovely drive and a great visit with family.

birthday pics

All my kiddies have had their birthdays this year and I want to share a picture of them on their special days.  Maybe next year I will share their birthday pictures closer to the actual birthdays. 

Maybe is the key word though!

           

           

  

          

a warm autumn day

It is always a treat to have a beach worthy day in November.

It is an even sweeter treat to be able to share the day with friends

who moved out of state the week before and came back to visit.

peek-a-boo

I thought I would share a peek at what I have been up to lately.

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllantysiliogogogoch

I took my children to Barnes & Noble today to pick up The Complete Shorter Fiction of Virginia Woolf and the recent issue of The Knitter.   My awesome older sister sent me a gift card and I just had to use it. Have I told mentioned before I have a book obsession? I can never go into a book store and just grab something and leave. We spent a good hour and a half browsing and enjoying ourselves.

I found a book by Julie Andrews and her daughter Emma Walton Hamilton called, Julie Andrews' collection of Poems, Songs, and Lullabies. I love Julie Andrews and have read several books she and her daughter have written; so I had to browse this book.

In the book there is a poem called My Auntie by Colin West who is such a fun poet. The poem begins "My auntie who lives in Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwlllantysiliogogogoch has asked me to stay." This is actually a real city in Wales. I wouldn't know where to begin to pronounce the name but I am glad that there is a pronunciation for it at the bottom of the page.

It is roughly pronounced: "Clan-vire-pookh-guin-gekh-go-ger-okh-queen-drob-okh-clantus-silio-gogo-gokh." In Welsh is means "the church of St. Mary in the hollow of the white hazel near the fierce whirlpool and the church of Tysilio by the red cave."

What a name!

Pumpkinville

    

   

   

Pumpkins, big piles of rocks, hay rides, a tractor to play on, and friends; what could be more fun for a kid.

        Finding more friends in Pumpkinville who had the same idea for fun on a on a hot Saturday in October.

We did forget to get our pumpkins though. 

So we will be going back to Pumpkinville soon.

      

Meet our new neighbor

We found this guy in our garden a couple months ago

and he has been sticking around. So we figured that

we now have a new neighbor.  We are having fun seeking

him out and getting to know him.

He lives behind the shed and compost.

He eats the wild strawberries growing under the hot tub.

He loves blueberries!

He is known as Crackers.

Or is it she?

Camping they will go

My girls kept saying how unfair it was that the boys got to go camping all the time.  So the boys took the girls camping in the back yard.  They even made a fire in the little bbq grill  (sorry forgot to take a pic of that one) and ate marshmallows.

I soon hear:

"It smells like smoke and bug spray."

"The boys so need to take showers."

"Camping is so uncomfortable."

"I think I will try sleeping on the swing."

"There are too many bugs."

"What was that noise?"

"I can't take it any longer."

"I am soooo looking forward to real camping with the scouts this weekend."

"I want to sleep inside."

"Me too."

"THANK YOU!!!"

"At least we tried"

"Do you think they want to do this again?"

"I hope not."

"I get first shower."

"Me next."

"I get the other shower."

"I don't need a shower."

"Oh yes you do."

"Deal with it."

"Can we paint our nails when the boys are camping this weekend?"

And now silence!

Alliances have changed

All spring and summer my kids lived in the pool.

The last couple weeks it has been deemed too cold to swim in the pool so it has been left abandoned.

Alliances have changed... and their favorite place to hang out now?  

The hot tub.

One Size Fits All

I made a new hat and wrist warmers from a one size fits all pattern.  Though I think it fits some better than others.

   

   

   

The boys did help me out in seeing if one size

does fit all but requested no pictures.

Signs that.....

.......... autumn will soon be here

What do you do on a rainy day?

Today was a rainy day and the temperature didn't rise above 73. So what did we do? We put on our boots and jackets and headed to the park to play... of course.