They came from Virginia and Maryland for Thanksgiving

There are many many things we are thankful for. We began at the beginning of the month with a list taped to our doors and wrote down at least one thing we were thankful for each night. The list could go on and on, but it's always good at this season to remember all of the things we have been blessed with. One big thing we were thankful for this year was being able to celebrate the Thanksgiving Holiday with family, but not having to do the travel. (Our backsides are grateful too--until the trip to Utah at Christmas...) Here is our group minus me, because I'm taking the picture and Aunt Kari, who had to travel to Utah for her Uncle's funeral.

Back: Uncle Earl, G-ma Vernetta with Sidnie and James
Front: Kate, Zack, Jacob, Jordan, Peter, Spencer, and Kammie





Thanks for coming guys. It's always fun to see you and spend time with our family.

My big helper Sidnie

While I was making the pie crusts for our Thanksgiving desserts, Sidnie "helped" me. Here she is with a bit of flour all over, from her face down to her feet...

A big Tick (Yuck!)

Peppy the cat has brought in a couple if ticks before(only a couple in 5 years), but never one this big. I had just let him in and he jumped up on the counter. Spencer came and got me and said there was a tick. It was sure it wasn't a tick, even when I first saw it. I've seen them, but not when they are this big unless they are imbedded in someone. I took this picture near a penny, so the size of the tick could be seen. Gross, huh?
[James took it outside and smashed it and it made a lovely blood spot on the driveway. Mr. Tick was full of someone's blood.]

Cutting down a tree

James has enough vacation days that he took the whole week off for Thanksgiving. Of course he was hard at work the whole time. He even took time to cut down a tree that had lost some major branches in previous ice storms and was lopsided and "dying."

The close up before James played Paul Bunnion...
Farther back...
Now it's gone...
Farther back again...They do say that having trees in front of windows is bad landscaping. So, we are one step closer to doing it right. (You'll notice that all the other windows do have trees right in front of them... We didn't design it though.)

Marshall play center

On the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, I had two different friends that brought their kids over to play while they ran some errands. We were happy to have friends Halle, Claire and Joseph over to play with our Sidnie.

Sidnie, Joseph, and Halle. [Claire is content in the back with the Polly Pocket Dolls.]
You can hardly ever get that many little kids to all look at you (the camera) at the same time.

Getting ready...

Sidnie making her escape.

Three happy girls with suckers!

Spencer

Here are some pictures of Spencer...
He had fallen asleep while "reading" books. He's slightly smiling in the photo though, because we woke him up in the process of trying to get a picture.
Ready to sing with his Pre-K class after the Thanksgiving lunch at school...
He stood there with his hands in his pockets most of the time watching his Dad who was filming him...
Singing with actions...

More of "our" cat Peppy

Like I said in a previous post, the cat that lives four houses down is always at our house. Here are some pictures of his creative sleeping or settling in spots...

Out on the deck sleeping in the sun...
On top of the piles of stuff on my chest of drawers...
On Peter's lap on Thanksgiving...
In a shoe box that holds our magnetic toys that were scattered all over the floor...
Curled up with Zacky asleep on the couch.

Blocks Galore

I'm the counselor in the RS presidency (in our ward) over Additional RS Meetings each month. November was our "Super" Thursday craft night. One of the crafts was making some wooden blocks that said: "HOME," "LOVE," or "NOEL." We needed enough for 51 sets and each set has 4 blocks. My husband and I purchased the wood at Home Depot, even purchasing an extra board for good measure. The next day after the world wide church leadership training, my sweet hubby spent all afternoon cutting the 5 1/2" X 6" blocks at a friend's house who had a saw. He called me when he was done and said: "I'm done with all 195 blocks." I freaked out, because we needed 204blocks. We had calculated wrong, even with the extra board. So, my hubby ran to Lowes and bought an additional 2"X6" and cut that as well. [Thanks dear!] Then they needed to be painted, so the ladies would have enough time to finish the project that night. I recruited helpers in my children and we painted at least half of the blocks. Lots of fun. Craft night was a hit and most got their projects done that night. YEAH!


Zack, Jordan and Kammie busy at work.
Such Happy Helpers. Doesn't it look fun?
The finished product.
(To quote a friend of mine, "It makes me happy.")
On the flip side it has this...

My sweet Zacky

On Sunday Zack gave a talk in primary about how when we serve others, we serve God. He did a great job and used Mosiah 2:17 as a guide. That is also the Primary's scripture for the month, so he has been learning about service. On Sunday, I asked Jordan to unload the dishwasher, her job. She hates it and took her time getting in her PJ's. While she took her time, Zack excitedly unloaded the dishwasher, recruiting Kammie for help. He was so excited that they were able to get it done and really wanted her to notice his kind deed. As a Mom, I was touched by his willingness to serve. It's rare for my kids to notice times they can jump in and help. So I was happy. Especially, that he was so happy about his accomplishment.

More Hair coloring

Ever since I colored away James' gray hairs (and Jordan got in on the fun too), Kammie has wanted me to do her hair as well. I didn't want it to be a drastic color change, so I got a blond color and hoped it would lighten her hair a bit. And since we had some extra color, Zack got in on the fun as well. Kammie's hair is a brassy blond now, or some have said strawberry blond. Zack's is orange. I knew Zack's would grow out quickly, so it's fine. Hopefully friends at school won't give him a hard time. (And you may just need to see it in person, to see the real results we see...)

Kammie before...
Kam waiting while the color sets...
Still waiting...
The results...
The results the next morning from the back...
A front view this morning...

Zack with color spiked hair and a big smile...
Another Zacky shot...
The results on Zack last night at bedtime...It's lighter (orange) in places and splotchy. I was trying not to rub the color into his scalp, like the directions say, but since his hair is so short, he's all scalp.

Ouch!

As James and I were running this morning in the dark, a car approached, so I moved over into the curb, so that James could also move over. Unfortunately, someone had put tree limbs out on the curb for removal, and I could NOT see them in the dark. They tripped me and I went down, landing on my knee first and then my hands. It stung, but I finished my run.

My new "do" curled

Squinting a little because I was facing the sun.

Fun downtown

On Saturday it was a nice sunny day, and James had been gone all week long. So, we packed up the kids and some snacks and headed down town to the River Market Park. (The kids have been wanting to have a picnic there since our visit there this past summer.) Their secret place was not as cool as this past summer. The water in the stream was gone and the vegatation was not as thick. But we still had fun.

Sid on the ropes, with Spence in the background.
Sid climbing.


Woo Pig Sooooie!
Jordan on the pig with her new darker locks.
Kam on the Pig statue.
Jordan and Kam.


Jordan, Spence, and Kate with Eagle statue.
Kate, Jordan, Kammie, Zack, and Spencer.
Kate, Jordan, Kammie, Zack, and Spencer again.

Wash that Gray right out of your hair

James has had more and more gray hairs these days. As it gets longer, they show more. I'm always teasing him that he needs to wash that gray right out of his hair. Well, on Saturday, I gave he and the boys, haircuts. And I had some hair color, so we went to work on James' grays. And since we had extra color, Jordan got in on the fun.
James with the color on his hair. Waiting...
Jordan with color on her hair. (Easier to tell with her.)
The end result. No grays, for now...
And you'll have to see Jordan's end result on the next post.

Look Mom, I painted my toes all by myself

We went and say Toy Story III at the dollar theater on Friday when school was out. Sidnie fell asleep on the way home and I carried her into her room and layed her down on her bed. I thought she was out. Not long after that, I heard her crying. As soon as I walked in, my nose told me she had been into something she shouldn't. She had woken up and found Kammie's red finger nail polish. Then she went to work on her toes. And when I say toes, I mean TOES and not toenails. She also got it on her bedspread and carpet. Ho HUM!