Thanksgiving

We are all ready to eat the feast and Drew decides he needs Lucky Charms for dinner! Nothing on the table looked good to him. So while we ate turkey, ham and all the trimmings Drew was enjoying Lucky Charms.

Brian is waiting in line to dish up his food - and I don't see any Lucky Charms on his plate.

Reagan reminded me even before Thanksgiving that she liked sitting at the little table with the rest of the kids. Drew decided he wanted to sit with his Mom!

Rachel bought a gingerbread village kit which she thought would be fun for the kids to put together in the afternoon. It was a little frustrating to get the frosting to hold the heavy cookies together, and it was finally discovered that putting them in the freezer for awhile helped hold things together.

Reagan is ready to decorate and it looks like Drew has already started!

The picure does not show it but lets just say its a good thing Drew had on a green shirt. His hands matched his shirt in no time.

Brett is very busy putting decorations on his house. It looked a little like the Griswald's from Christmas Vacation when he got finished - but he had fun.

Dane had a pretty village house when he got finished. And if memory serves me, all those little village houses are still in my freezer. Any idea what I should do with them?

Reagan looks so grown up in this photo. She was pretty busy decorating her house as well.+

Dane is pretty intense with his work and I like the way the sunlight is shining on him.

Time to work off a little of that food. Drew got pinned every time - in fact he would fall to the ground before he got taken down!

Reagan is going to put up a little more of a fight. I missed the picture with Dane wrestling Rachel - but his parents made him quit because they were afraid Rachel would get hurt.

A quiet moment when Drew and Brett were building.

Tumbling Tree

Rachel spent a "Girls Weekend Away" in Minneapolis and Craig decided to take the tree in front of their house down. So I went to Waterloo and watched the kids while it was being cut down and hauled away. Brian helped most of the day as well. The kids wanted to be part of the action most of the time and they were really good about staying out of the way and helping at times.

Craig and Brian were both very content to stay on the ground and clean up the mess. Both commented that they would NOT want to be up in that tree.

Drew found a log which he carried to the trailer. Some of the wood was cut up into logs for firewood, but alot of it was hauled away.

Drew was always finding branches that he could drag to the trailer.

It is amazing the holes that were put in the lawn when these branches fell. Like Craig said, "That would hurt!" They fell with alot of force.


Drew is still busy carrying branches.

Reagan has quite a load for the wagon. They both kept pretty busy.

Drew thought he had a chain saw like the big guys. His chainsaw, however, got tangled in the hair of the little girl next door!

Where's Waldo? Can you see the guy clear up in the tree?

I can read Brian's mind - and he is VERY glad he does not have to go up that tree. He does not like heights at all!

This guy reminds me of a squirrel jumping from branch to branch.

All that is left is what you see and its going down!! It left quite a dent in the lawn.

And that is the end of the tree. Marv came over just as the project was beginning and he really hated to see the tree being cut down, but he could understand why Craig was tired of the acorns and squirrels.

The weather was beautiful for November and Reagan and Drew are sitting and posing on the trunk of the fallen tree. It took awhile to get Drew to look at me.

Now they are both ready for posing for the picture

And the truck is loaded with branches. They actually hauled away several wagon loads of branches.

Trick or Treat

Brett chose to be an M&M and Dane was a pirate. Dane looks bigger than he really is because he has winter clothes underneath the costume. He says he is uncomfortable!

Brett was being silly when I took this picture.

Ho, Ho, HO and a bottle of rum!!

Clay, Brett and Dane are playing outside before they venture off for trick or treating. The weather really cooperated. I did hear on the news that last year on this date it was 72 degrees - and we get excited if it hits fifty degrees this month!!

Tim brought in a haywagon so the big and little kids had a hayride around town as they went trick or treating.

Nancy, Debbie, Stacy and the three little boys ride on the wagon, while Mike, Curt and Tim are in the pickup.

It must not have been too cold because they stayed out the whole two hours.

Clever Halloween Costumes at Elementary School

The early learning teacher and associates always come up with the most clever costumes. Each of them made their own costumes. Emily Stelling (Elmer's glue) said that her husband wanted her to put the fluid ounces at the bottom of costume that would match the amount that would fit in the "Bottle." She opted to go with 842 ounces.

Trish is a red crayola this year - last year, if you remember, she was Big Bird!

The detail in this costume does not show up in the photo. It is made of felt and each letter is individually cut and glued into place.

Even the orange stocking cap looks like the lid on the glue.

A paint pallette makes up the threesome in the classroom. That paintbrush could be a wicked weapon! Great job girls - these are so cute.

New Group for Computer Class at Public Library

In October we started another computer class in which the primary goal is to make us comfortable in using a computer. We work on composing, replying to, forwarding, and adding attachments to an email. We will also spend a considerable amount of time with digital cameras and projects that can be accomplished using our precious pictures.

Amazingly, many of these concepts will seem so easy after we practice them a bit. Everyone is hard at work.

What would I do without Cathy? She volunteers her time to come in an assist with questions - of which there are many.

Double, Double, Toil and Trouble

Brett decided he wanted to be a "Mad Scientist" yesterday - and stayed pretty busy with his concoctions. He even has several "saved" dishes in the refrigerator which I can take to school and drink when I get thirsty.

By the time he got all his things gathered together there were enough dishes and utensils on the table to eventually fill the dishwasher!

Several trips to the bathroom were necessary to get a little more water - and wouldn't you know it, it always spilled "just a little bit" so we had towels and paper towels pretty handy to clean up any messes.

I think this dish contained oatmeal, flour, sugar, salt, pepper, sprinkles, and corn syrup. He thought it tasted a little spicy!

Our final product - lets DIG IN!!