Happy Thanksgiving

I hope this posts finds everyone having a wonderful Thanksgiving Day and that each of you have lots to be thankful for. I know I do.

 

1. A husband who gets me and likes me anyway.

2. Children who make the sunshine in my life.

3. The fact that even though my family is scattered, that technology is such that we can keep in touch.

4. Fairly good health and nothing life threatening.

5. Good friends.

6. A job I really enjoy.

 

Can't get any better than that.

Wandering thoughts

Since I won't be working tomorrow, I'll probably head into work shortly. I really don't want to have to come in on Friday either. Besides who knows where we might be. ddpuppies and bear's house come to mind. Speaking of them, we have their names for Christmas this year. I really need to start thinking of something to get them.

 

The windmill is mom's backyard. I just love the rustic look as it stands among the greenery.

A family that studies

together is fun to watch. Indy is suppose to be practicing the piano, but if you notice he is staring off (at the television), while the Princess and Daughter are hard at work trying to get their homework finished. I wish Indy would take note of the fact that they get their work done and then get to do fun things. Sometimes getting him to do his homework is worse than pulling teeth.

 

Still, it is great that Skype is available and that I can still participate in their daily lives even though they live several states away now. And it is most amusing when they call and we all end up watching television together (Indy turns the camera toward the tv). A way to be there without actually being there.

I wonder

Looks comfy, doesn't she? But I wonder just how she managed to get herself out of that chair. Guess ddpuppies or the bear must have helped out. Or maybe it is just that I don't think I could have gotten out of it without some help. My legs aren't as long as mom's. And I know that ddpuppies would have had a hard time. For goodness sakes, she got stuck in a tub when we went up to SC for Nuke and Milady's wedding. (She was dressed and was trying to make a point).

Things to remember

Was talking to Nuke and Milady last week. Milady had been commenting on the fact that Nuke doesn't really laugh. You know the kind. The ones that make your chest hurt and can be heard everywhere. I had spent some time explaining that unfortunately he takes after me. We can find a lot of things amusing and will even smile about a lot. But, it takes something extraordinary to shake a good laugh out of us. One should never open one's mouth when they have a story to tell.

 

After talking with Milady, Nuke got back on the phone and I suddenly remembered the conversation I had with mom just a few days before. It goes something like this (I'm paraphrasing):

 

"So mom, I hear you don't have cable, Internet or home phone right now."

 

"Yes. I remember when I enjoyed the silence. Not so much anymore. I don't want to sit around and read because I'll go to sleep too early."

 

"Why don't you watch one of your DVDs?"

 

"I can do that?"

 

"Well, yeah!"

 

Needless to say when I relayed this conversation to Nuke, I swear he must have bust a rib he was laughing so hard. And I guess it's really hard to be believed when this kind of thing happens. I'm in so much trouble.

In a Christmas long, long ago

Pan found Yoda hiding among the Christmas decorations in the Home Depot galaxy. There were Snoopys, snowmen and even several Santa's but only one Yoda. It must have been the force that brought the two of them together. So now he has a new home and I have to admit that if he is facing your direction, it is kind of creepy.

 

All things aside, the Bug is going to pay big time for this. As it was her that sent me the original photo from the HD in her neck of the woods, which predisposed Pan to got searching for one in our neck of the woods. BTW he is taller than the box and has to be put together. There were many an unsavory words dotting the living room the night Yoda came home.

The lone Marine

My sister has this lone Marine standing at attention in her garden next to the flag post. You can't miss him as you drive up to the house. I love this statue and what it represents. I look forward to many years of seeing him as I visit my sister and her husband.

Sunshine on my shoulders

The top photo is the other picture I had made into an 8x10 (I think I said 8x11 on the post about it, but they are really 8x10's). She looks so happy and relaxed and I love the bare feet while she is all dressed up. And Indy really got into the posing. I'm hoping that Daughter will be sending me his "James Bond" pictures soon.

A very special birthday wish

To my mom. Happy Birthday mom. I hope you enjoy your day. And I hope the boys won't drive you to distraction with all their singing and playing their instruments for you. Love you lots.

I am man, hear me roar

I just love the one of him on the top of the ridge. It is another that I will have to have blown up and framed. I'm going to run out of room on my walls before long. I may just have to invest in my own private gallery somewhere.

 

And aren't the two of them just so sweet together? Well, at least while mom was taking the pictures, huh? They aren't always this compatible. The colors on the trees look awesome against the blue of the sky. Daughter did a good job.

Picture perfect

I just love the photo of the two of them sitting on the rock. Next time I have enlargements made that one will definitely be on the list. I love the one of just the Princess but it was so dark and I am not sure I'm liking how it turned out when I tweaked it. At least you can really see her lovely smile.

It's all in the pose

And somehow she manages to make them do exactly what she wants. Good parenting skills or blackmail? Guess I will have to ask her. I recently got a coupon from Shutterfly for two free 8x11 prints. One of the ones I had printed out was the one on the bottom of Indy. They came out great so I guess I will now have to buy frames for them.

Up in the mountains

Daughter and the grands are lucky to have such a beautiful place to take pictures and daughter has a good eye for posing. She also can manage to get them to let her take the pictures with a smile or something resembling a smile on their face. So for the next few days, I'm going to share pictures that she has taken.

Halloween up north

The Princess

Indy and Daughter

Haven't they grown? The Princess isn't that tiny little girl anymore. She's turned into a full-blown beauty. And it won't be long before Indy is taller than his mother. He's already at her shoulder. Daughter makes a striking viking (oh look, I rhymed, hehehehe). I don't want to mess with her while she is toting that battle axe around.

Time and Space

It has been a week since Halloween and I can't figure out just where the time has gone. Sometimes I feel like it just slows down to a crawl, but before I know it a week passes. Like now. And it has been a crazy mixed up week. I am sure everyone had been watching the news to see who would end up being president. I know Pan and I did. At least until I started falling asleep on the couch, so I had to wait until yesterday morning to find out.

 

Pan spent last weekend on Skype with the Princess trying to go over algebra with her. (another brain moment, did I cover this already?). Then yesterday she texted me to help her out with another problem. Hope I told her the right thing. I just don't remember that much about algebra anymore. Pan swears he is going to drag out his college math books and start boning up algebra, trig and calculus. I haven't seen them though. Maybe this weekend, right?

Getting ready for Christmas

 

 

I'm so pleased with myself getting these done and ordered in time for the holidays. I originally just ordered the one on the right for the Princess because she said she needed a new phone case. But when I was telling the Daughter about it, she started laughing and said she needed on to and would take the case with the pictures (we had bought one at target the day before I got the email from shutterfly). Pan decided we really needed to get the Daughter her own with pictures of both the kids on it. I concurred, so the one on the left will go to the Daughter and the one on the right will go to the Princess. Thank goodness Indy doesn't have a phone yet.

The end is nigh

 

 

The foyer complete with jacob's ladder and it's very own crystal ball. Lights which spin skulls across the wall, a plasma light, fog machine and a cauldron full of candy.

 

A better picture showing the new light illuminating the giant spider. Again the little kids were just delighted with the spider and wanted to go over to check it out.

 

A spooky candle shines its light on the tombstone it guards.



Eying the sites & a lit up Pan

It is so funny that it is the little ones who are truly just mesmerized by the display. Not scared, just curious as to what everything is and how it works. Once they reach about 10, they are terrified and don't want to come up.

Pan really got into the act this year by "designing" his very own light up shirt. Unfortunately for him, he bought a shirt for cooler weather and it was in the 70's. He couldn't wait to get it off. Next year he had better make two. One for warmer weather and this one in case it is cooler.

Pics from the tripod

 

 

The only way to take pictures of the lights is with a tripod. Finally got it set up and was not disappointed at all with the results. Just with the fact that I forgot to charge up the batteries.

Decorate and they will come

 

 

It was a slow start this year. I believe it had something to do with the big Halloween to-do at one of the churches in town. I was starting to get concerned that this  might be the last year that we go all out, but by 7 o'clock the crowds began to show up . Several hundred dollars of candy and several hundred children later, we were all pooped. 

More Halloween

 

This year Pan's best friend was able to join in with the celebration. Hiding behind the web wrapped skeleton, he helped out by pulling the line to make one of the guests of the graveyard sit up, as well as keeping the bubble machine filled. 

A new month and some pictures

Setting up

 

Pan took the week off, but he didn't set up until the afternoon of Halloween. But it gave him more time to go through all of he decorations and electronics to make sure everything was in working order. This year the new toy was a light which shone an eerie green light on the graveyard. I think I'm going to have to suggest that next year we get a small fog machine to put in the graveyard as well. We already have one in the foyer. but I really think the light would be even creepier with the addition of fog.