Our Thanksgiving Week

We had a wonderful week.
We put up our tree. Bash has been promoted to family tree assembler! As the youngest, Z puts the angel on the top of the tree.
Thanksgiving day we went to my brothers house for a very relaxing and pleasant dinner with his family. After dinner we laid around and watched "Up."
When we came back home we made Grandma Browns Chocolate Torte, watched movies, played video games, laid around, talked, ate, and enjoyed one another.
I have been missing Ron and Shayna a lot this year.
Friday I did a little CHRISTmas shopping with my friend Gayle. I still have more to buy but we had fun.
Saturday we cleaned and played. I fell asleep when I sat down to take a quick break. I hadn't realized I was tired until I woke up. I was a little blue/grouchy so I sent the boyz to play in Bashs room in the evening and rested on the sofa while a movie played.
Tomorrow we will go to church. I missed not going on Wednesday because they canceled services so people could cook or whatever.

Pie Auction Fun

We had a blast at the pie auction. Sadly the boyz were too old to participate in the kids auction.
We had $20 to spend on a pie, but I let them go up to $22.50. We were outbid every time.
A boy at the table next to us asked if we wanted to share a pie if he contributed his money. We had $5 more to bid. We continued to be outbid.
A third kid decided to add his money too. We were finally able to get a pie for $52! I think they felt sorry for us because the pastor pointed out that they were bidding against children. LOL
The kids got forks, a knife, and a few plates and shared the pie. Many people shared their pies with everyone and we were able to sample different pies, including some unusual ones. We tried a Ritz cracker pie and a friend gave us the rest of a mystery pie that reminded me of a pecan pie with no nuts. It had coconut and pinto beans in it. I could not tell there were beans in it either. That sounds awful but it was quite yummy.
We had lots of fun!

Dandylions In November?

I don't remember seeing fluffy dandylions in Michigan during the last week of November before.

Annual Pie Action

Tomorrow is the annual pie auction at church. The auction raises money to pay for scholarships for kids and teens to go to summer and winter camp. It is a crazy-fun event. Some of the pies go for hundreds of dollars! There is a special part of the auction for the kids so they can bid on pies at kid prices. The boyz are very excited to participate.
Sebastian and I made a pumpkin pie. Z and I made an apple pie. We had fun but we really wanted to eat the pies. LOL

Boyz At The Beach

The boyz spent last week with their father. They are sweet to send me great photos of their adventures while they are away visiting with him. They went to the U.P. for a night or two. Z found a live clam and they had a blazing bonfire on the beach.

Pretty Pink Clouds

Tree House Beginnings

Boyz are in the tree preparing the branch for a floor/foundation.

Yummy Chili Bowls

We found these neat little loaves of bread 3 for $1 at our local grocery store. They inspired me to make chili bowls. The boyz suggested that we get chili from Betty Lou's restaurant because it is "the best." This meal was delicious, filling, fun to eat, and pretty to look at.

Mobile blogger was not working again. I am not sure what posts came through and what didn't. Please forgive me if I post things more than once. I will delete duplicate posts when I have time to go over them at the library.

Turkey Shoot

Z did great in the turkey shoot at church. We find out Sunday evening at the pie auction if he was one of the top four shooters to get the prize of a (frozen) turkey. We are all crossing our fingers. Yum!

Origami

We had plans for a sleepover on Friday. We did not know that the boyz father would be in town and they would be visiting him when we made these plans. We were all very dissapointed.
K decided that she would like to spend the night with me even though the boyz would not be here.
Her mom and another girl friend hung out for a while. The four of us had a fun girls night. We went out for Chinese and came back to my house and talked for several hours. K and I made yummy chocolate chip cookies.
After the grownups left we watched movies and did origami. She is better and faster at making things than I am. We made a box, a cup, a crane whose wings flap, and a cootie-catcher. It was fun taking turns playing the cootie-catcher game. I haven't done that since junior high.

Something Odd In A Bush - Part 4

We thought kids must have thrown it out the window of a moving vehicle and it broke on the pavement then this half bounced its way into the arms of the bush.
A friend shared that she recently watched an episode of Myth Buster and they used various methods to break bowling balls. This episode revealed that bowling balls do not break in half when thrown from a vehicle. It also showed that the only way to get a break like the one we have on our ball is with explosives...or precision work with a sledgehammer, which is quite difficult.
This found and broken bowling ball is a real treasure!
LOL

Something Odd In A Bush - Part 3

After a bit of a struggle (not really but it makes the story more interesting) the bush finally gave up its treasure. We are now the proud owners of a broken bowling ball!!!

Something Odd In A Bush - Part 2

We couldn't tell what it was. We headed down into the ditch to get a better look and were quite surprised when we learned what it was. Z dug around a bit and finally set it free.

Something Odd In A Bush - Part 1

Z and I were walking along the road across the street when I spotted something odd in the crook of a bush. Can you see what it is?

Floating Frog Comes Back To Life

Z found this lovely black frog floating upsidedown in the icy creek water. He thought it was dead until the warmth of his hands got its blood (?) moving again. Now he has a better understanding of cold blooded creatures in cold weather. His previous experiences were limited to insects.

GIANT Seedless Grapes

We found these monsters at the local grocery store. They are bigger than globe grapes, and are really seedless. They are quite firm and feel almost like a plum when bitten but with the flavor of a grape. Yum!

Z's Lunch

One of Z's favorite lunches is a turkey sandwich and a dill pickle. He will probably enjoy a handful of crunchy Cheetos, and then some Oreos and milk for dessert.

Bash is spending the day working on the farm. It is a beautiful day and perfect weather for working oudoors!

Z and I will wash laundry at the laundromat then dry it at home. I can't wait to be able to wash laundry at home again. :)

Bandit loves warming himself in front of the fire. He looks so cute laying there.

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Butterfly Face Facepainting

This butterfly face looked amazing with her purple princess dress and purple wig!

Baby Leopard Facepainting

Baby leopard facepainting at Halloween party.

Tiger Facepainting

Tiger facepainting at Halloween party.

Clown-Kitty Facepainting

Clown-Kitty facepaint at Halloween party.

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Facepainting On Girls Forehead

Butterflies and ladybug facepainting on a girls forehead at Halloween party.

Z's Candy Stash

Z's Candy Stash

Bash's Candy Stash

Bash's Candy Stash

Z In His Skeleton Pirate Costume

Z In His Skeleton Pirate Costume

Bash Wheaties Box Costume

Bash Wheaties Box Costume

Shayna

Sissy Bash and Z

Sissy, Bash, and Z
We had a great time visiting with Shayna. She was able to come up from Texas for a day. We miss her.

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