Turkey Day

Turkey day this year was spent with Robert's side of the family!  We piled lots of riding toys in the car and headed out!  It was so good to see everyone!  Some we haven't seen in a year!!!!

We played...

Climbed legs and trees.....

Took lots of pictures....

Lounged around....

Got all the cousins together for a picture!!  Most were looking... ;-)

I love this pic purely because of Rhodes and Olivia.  Priceless!

Then all the little cousins!!!  Great pic!

And that Thursday was just the beginning of our November Holiday!


Hope everyone had a GREAT THANKSGIVING!!!  I know we did!

My Heart Is Full

Hey Y'all!! I was on a roll there for a while, huh!!  All my posting and stuff!  It was fun while it lasted!! :-)

But, as you know, a stomach bug hit our family.  Well, it only hit Robert and I.  Which is worse than it hitting the kids.  Let's just say we don't make good patients!!  But it knocked us all off our horses for several days. 


BUT, we are now back in the grind - only to face the beginning of the most wonderful time of the year.

Other than the sausage balls we cooked, I haven't gotten too "seasonal" quite yet.

BUT, yesterday was a dreary day and the sun did not want to come out and play.  So what better to do on a cloudy fall day than BAKE (kinda) and CRAFT inside!

So I gathered the goods - OREOS, Whoppers, candy corn, icing, and red hots and we went to town making turkey cookies!!!

There was lots of licking in between constructing cookies.  But isn't that part of the fun! ;-)

I only made ONE turkey.  As the "model".  And they did the rest!

And they did such a great job!

There was one little man that couldn't stand NOT to be included with what was going on on TOP of the table.

But he was quickly appeased after a little whining...which lead to Olivia handing him an Oreo.  Then he was set! ;-) 

Little fingers went to work, perfectly placing the candy corn feathers and "red hot" heads of the turkeys!

I don't even think we broke any Oreos!  They all opened up just perfectly!

We iced and candy corn-coated Oreos until mom said ALL DONE and you better eat your dinner their little hearts were content!

Turkey cookies were a success!!!

And you all know what's coming next..........THE INFAMOUS CANDY HOUSE!!!! :-)



The night ended with everyone in a sugar coma nice and full on the couch with Dad!

WE HAVE SO MUCH TO BE THANKFUL FOR!!! I HOPE YOU HAVE A WONDERFUL THANKSGIVING!!!!

Momma Got Run Over By A.....

....stomach virus!  :-)

I can't complain too much...it's been over a year and half since I was sick last.  Basically, I took my one allowed sick day a year!

Robert was great and took over mommy AND daddy duties!  Don't know what I would have done without him or my mom - who took the other kids after school.


I feel great today!! SO great, in fact, that I get to use all this fun stuff all over my house today!!

I guess the one good thing that comes from the stomach bug is it kinda forces you to do a deep clean!  It's been a while since I mopped under my couches!  They're turned upside down waiting for me to get underneath them!!


I wish I could say no one else was claimed by this bug, but it seems that Robert was sick last night as well.  Which is ironically the exact same way it happened over 18 months ago!!

Praying his energy comes back FAST!!!!

Turn Off The Television

An amazing thing happens when you unplug the TV. Better yet, completely cut it off!!

Several months ago we (re)cutoff our cable.  Though it was not the first time to cut the television off, it's still hard to give something up once your used to it.  

But cool things happen when you do!!!

Your kids PLAY OUTSIDE!

And GET CREATIVE!

And PLAY TOGETHER!

Wow...what a crazy concept!

My kids have come up with the most creative games since it's not so easy to jump on the couch and push a button!

Today, they made a hotel outside by raking trails in the leaves.  Never mind that I just raked 2 big piles of leaves to bag up....but they were being creative and using their little heads!!

They made rooms for all their friends!  It was so fun listening to them  play...and get along.  Yes, there are many times my kids actually don't get along.  Shocker, huh.  ;-)

Then, they even had a sweet little moment that they let me capture on camera!!!!

They are all touching each other!!  lol  AND smiling! :-)

We have spent several hours outside the past couple of days since they've been out of school, and it's been GREAT!!!!  Though my house is suffering a bit, THE KIDS are having a blast!!!


*FYI   We do have over the air channels and netflix for rainy days.  So we're not completely cut off.  But most of the time, trying to get the antenna to lay just right is too much trouble for us, so we just skip it all together!  But I have seen a change in the kids since "unplugging" a bit.  :-)  Especially how creative they get with what they have to play with already!!!  And yes, we're blessed with a great driveway, backyard, and neighborhood that makes it easy to stay outside for long periods of time!!  And the weather hasn't been to shabby either!!!!

Just Him

Thank the Lord Lillian is all better.  It was a rough little "bug" on her 24lb frame.  She went 24 hours without a single bite of food and just about that without fluids.  Well, she sipped gatorade all day.  It just wouldn't stay down.  :-(  Finally at around 7:30 p.m. she fell asleep.  She slept on the couch with all her towels in her sleeping bag and seemed to get a nice full nights sleep.  I checked on her around 3:30 a.m. and she was so cute and peaceful sleeping away!

And she woke up asking for a toaster strudel.  Anything for you baby! :-)




But yesterday, while she managed to get a little shut eye, I sneaked outside with Rhodes and let him run around in the fresh air.  Yes, he still had his pjs on.  Why change when your comfy and not going anywhere?!?

We ran around and played with a golf club.  He was trying to swing it but it's kinda heavy for him and he couldn't quite get it over his shoulder.

We drove and drove.  Waved at nobody.

And got some of our energy out!

Then i had fun going through the pics and learning clipping masks and templates in photoshop! :-)

Hence all the side by side photos!

Do you like?!?  I think it's kinda fun to combine photos!  Just hoping I can get faster at it if I keep it up!!!

Sausage Balls and M&Ms

This Monday morning started out pretty early...4:30 a.m. with Lillian throwing up.  We're a little tired, but she is resting on the couch right now.  Bless her heart.  I hate it when my kiddos are sick!!



Last week we made sausage balls!  Yep...it's that time of year again!  And this year, I didn't have to roll one.single.ball!

Look how good they did!  Nice and neat....all about the same size!!

Then the flattened when I cooked them!  :-(

What's up with that?  I think I didn't put enough Bisquick on the mixture.  Oh well, I'm sure we'll make more soon!



Ok, so this little guy KNOWS what's in the orange pumpkins that are sitting on top of the fridge.  You know, the ones that hold all the Halloween candy that is rationed out each day?  And he's not going to let you pull it down without his hand going in for some too.

And he uses his five little front teeth to crack into them!

And then on this particular evening, it was m&ms AND a sucker.  He is one lucky little guy.  And we may just sign him up for an appointment the next time we go to the dentist! ;-)

He couldn't get them in his mouth fast enough!

He could use all those extra calories...right?

I'm playing nurse and laundromat today!  Praying Lillian gets better fast and that no one else gets this "bug"!

Tea Party

....and not the political kind. ;-)

A couple of weeks ago, the stars aligned and ALL 10 of the great grand kids (#11 on the way) on one side of the family were all in the same city!  Even my cousins from Germany and California!!  Well, that called for a celebration - which in our family, is a TEA PARTY!

The table was set...using only the nice china of course! (none broke btw...a miracle!)

Everyone found their seats and checked out the food.  Apparently by smelling!

We nibbled on tiny sandwiches and fruit salad!

Sipped on tea from singing tea pots!

And chatted away!!!

Then it was time for some fun!  Poppop had bird houses for the "men" to put together!  This was right up the boys' alley!  They LOVED it!

Rhodes even got in on the action!  And knew exactly what to do with the hammer!

The girls learned a little dance taught by my cousin's wife!  Who is a professionally New York trained dancer, btw!

Precious!

The boys and their finished products!  And a very proud Great Grandfather...passing on his woodworking skills!!!!

Then we rallied the troops to try and get a picture!

Not too bad, eh!?!?  And to think only 4 of 10 cousins have had children!  The great grandkids won't fit on this couch much longer!!!

Thank you Mimi and Poppop for a wonderful time!!!