that's a longgggg...

table! :-)

For Thanksgiving, this year there were 16 people + Tahu. During dinner we found out that for next year, there will be one more place to set! So much to be thankful for! :-)

lost in the land of...

...digital images! Remember the "old photo project"? Well, it has motivated me to stretch myself a bit beyond just the photos that I love to take. My new header for thanksgiving involves this wonderful family heirloom vintage turkey centerpiece, my camera, adobe photoshop, and a little imagination.

I can't have fun all day with this...can I? No...I'm off to feed the kiddos and then chores, and, then packing for our overnight trip to Grandma and Grandpa's. And while I'm doing all that, you bet I'll be thinking about more new ideas for that "old photo project"!

powered by the rainbow...

Hope your Saturday is too!

happy birthday...

...to my little sister!

Hope you had an awesome day! :-)

I won a trophy...

...not really. This is what one of Sofia's teachers handed me when I walked through the classroom door during Parent/Teacher conferences this afternoon. It is an amphora. An amphora (plural: amphorae or amphoras) is a type of ceramic vase with two handles and a long neck narrower than the body. The word amphora is Latin, derived from the Greek amphoreus (αμφορεύς), an abbreviation of amphiphoreus (αμφιφορεύς), a compound word combining amphi- ("on both sides", "twain") plus phoreus ("carrier"), from pherein ("to carry"), referring to the vessel's two carrying handles on opposite sides.

So now that you know all that -- can you answer a question for me? Where should I put this unique item? Cookie (the cat) investigated it -- and from the look on her face, she does not want it in her area. Feel free to post any suggestions you might have! :-)

determination pays off...

Even though the weather wasn't the best on Saturday, Rick went out there and played with the pavers. He was determined to finish the walkway from the patio to the inside of the fence before the wintry weather sets in.



His determination paid off! This is my FAVORITE part of the paver project (well...at least for now!)

I think he's learnin'! :-)

would'ja look at that...

A preeeety awesome ending for a preeeety awesome day! Hope yours was the same!

moss grows on the north side...

of our house!





Looks like I need to consult Martha on what to do about this!

a blustery day...

It's definitely a November kind of day. We are experiencing the tail end of the nor'easter -- we have mostly the wind and not alot of the rain. It's definitely a good day to stay indoors -- which I did not do. I (finally) went for a haircut. I don't know why I take so long to do these "maintenance" things -- I always feel good afterwards. Then I went food shopping -- which makes me feel good too. And now, I am sipping some tea (in my antique cup) while typing. I picked up the ingredients for the fajitas that I've been thinking about since the beginning of the week -- so that is tonight's dinner.

So glad it's Friday!

old photo project...

Okay, these are almost organized...

...I'm ready for the rest! :-)

hey, mom I'm bored...

I finished painting the nutcracker -- what should I do now?

~~

Why don't you draw a picture of the nutcracker on the chalkboard?



Okay I'm done with that -- what should I draw now?

~~

Why don't you draw a picture of Ma and Pa Farmer?



Okay I'm done with that -- what should I draw now?
~~

Why don't you draw a picture of what makes you happy?



Hope you're having a sunny day! :-)

I forgot to mention why...

...we went to the stone yard.

To get more of these...

and, after doing this

we ended up with this!

This is the last part of the patio project until next spring. We have a whole list of winter indoor projects to do -- and we had better get moving on them -- spring will be here before you know it!

technology not included...

Yesterday morning we had our first frost. I went outside early and took some pictures -- including the roses in my new header. Sad, sad, sad. The begonias looked like droopy spinach. Rick pulled them all out by late afternoon. After this, we needed a pick me up -- so off to the stoneyard we went -- whattt???? The amazing thing is -- I couldn't capture the empty void that comes to mind when you think of a stoneyard.



Probably because the kids were so amazed by this rusty old scale,



and, the rocks,



and, they smiled,



in every picture I took!

stop, and take a breath...

I am racing all over the place. The kids are off from school, today and tomorrow, and next Wednesday, and too many other days this month as far as I am concerned. I am out of breath and getting nothing done -- probably the same as everyone else. Oh well, it is "the most wonderful time of year..." after all! Wink, wink...

In the meantime, here is a cute little project that Sofia is doing to share with her friends. They found pretty leaves on the playground and decided that they would have a "best friends club". Oh, to be eight years old...

Okay, I am not wishing to be eight years old -- I am only remembering when I was eight years old. Enough said (while jogging in place) -- I'm running again... :-)

be careful what you wish for...

I wished for leaves on my lawn during the fall season, now I have them and I need to go outside and rake them up.



I wished for nice weather, but I made myself busy so I wouldn't mind the dreary weather that this October brought us -- and I missed the changing landscape.





I wished for a different tree on the side of my driveway, and the existing tree died. We planted a new one and now I need to wait for it to grow.



I wished for the dog to be calm enough to stay in the yard by himself -- now he does -- but that only means he is getting old.



Is this what I really wanted?

so, what happened to the real halloween...

Here it is!

The 1950's roller skating waitress costume (minus roller skates).



The annual carved pumpkin, and the artist, in his finest attire...



The candy we gave away (we had almost 120 trick or treaters this year!)



and, the candy we got back...



Sofia's final booty tally was 160 pieces! Way to go Sofia! :-)