Gingerbread

In the spirit of Christmas, this year I decided to try out a gingerbread house kit. I was afraid that it would be frustrating, if the icing didn't really hold up the house well; but it wasn't very expensive and I knew the boys would have fun.



The kit came with pre-made walls and roof, so we skipped the hardest part. It also came with bags of candy and 2 bags of special icing. I put up the structure and helped with the icing, since the bags were hard to squeeze and it mattered if we were accurate in order for the house to stay up. I let the boys put on all the candy.



It was starting to look pretty good, even before we were finished.



I'm not sure how I'll keep them from eating it too soon!





We are all very pleased with the result!

Thanksgiving

We had a great time down at my sister's house. We drove down in the morning and got there just after lunch. Instead of a full lunch, I brought along tons of snacks to munch while dinner was cooking. It was a great idea, the kids and the guys loved it. My sisters, busy with the turkey and the pies, didn't really get to eat much of it.




I put the snacks out on the screened porch, which was perfect because the weather was so warm. It was over 70! The kids even played outside for a while.

Even with all the snacks, we were still hungry enough for a big dinner, and it turned out great! I wish I had gotten better pictures, but I was too busy to take them, so these are the best I could do. Mostly I walked around thinking "Oh, this would be a great picture!" but by the time I got back with my camera, the moment was gone.




The kids sat at a table in the kitchen.



The only person missing was Jenny, who sat at the kids' table to help. I guess she was up helping, LOL




This is only half of the adult table, everyone sat down and started eating before I could get the other half. I was only missing Chris and Chuck (and Jacob). Troyer and Alex got to sit at the big table!

Here, since I managed to avoid having my picture taken, you can pretend:



After dinner we sat down and watched Ratatouille (I'm guessing on that spelling) before going back for dessert.




We ended up staying until past 9, even though I had planned to leave around 7:30. Part of the reason for that was that Levi had an accident and we had to wash his pants - Oops! It gave me more time to chat with my sisters, though. We even got the fifes out and jammed a little. We both need a lot of practice! Our lips and cheeks are not what they used to be LOL.

On Friday morning I met with a friend from church and we went out to lunch. I think it is the first time I have ever gone out with a girlfriend without any kids and had a few hours just chatting and eating. It was so nice. That afternoon we went over to MIL's for a left-over dinner. She had done the big dinner the day before for Chris' sisters and BILs, and FIL left to go up to his hunting camp at 5:30 am Friday morning, so it was just for us, but she really wanted to see us. The food was pretty good, but it was weird to be the only ones there eating. Chris' sister did drop in for a while to say hi, which was nice.

On Saturday my dad came up just after lunch and came to see the boys. I met him at his hotel in the evening with 3 of the boys (Troyer, Noah, and Micah) and we went out to eat. We had a nice time, even though it was COLD! And poor dad, he's too spoiled by the Florida weather, he was freezing! He left for home Sunday morning at 7 am when it was 23, and when he got home he made sure to let us know that it was 68 even at 11 pm LOL He was very glad to be home in the warmth. I admit to being very slightly jealous of that.



The boys wanted Grandpa to open his Christmas present while he was here so they could all see it.

All in all, though it was busier than I'd like, it turned out to be a very nice holiday. Now on to Christmas!

The Boys

Some more pictures, because nothing is really going on here, just getting ready for Thanksgiving. We'll be going down to my sister's for the day, then going to MIL's on Friday for her leftovers. On Saturday my dad will be up visiting for the day, and staying overnight at a hotel just the one night. The boys are really excited about seeing him, because they haven't seen him in over 2 years.

Jacob getting up from a nap:


Jacob playing at his toybox; he's learned how to lean against the side on his tummy so he can use both hands to play


Levi


Micah


Caleb has spent several days creating log cabin scenes. This is one of his earlier buildings:


Troyer and Noah ready to head off to a Pathfinder event:


I don't have any pictures of Samuel, because he always tries to hide when I get the camera out. He says he doesn't hate having his picture taken, and yet he always runs when I try ... I'll catch him sooner or later!

Another View of Fall

Woo hoo! Levi is using the bathroom consistently now. He loves these pants!

Fall Colors

It's cold out today, but the clear air means some beautiful colors. Here are some right out my front door:



These are some mums that, despite my black thumb, bloom alongside my front steps each fall.



This is a red maple, more of a bush than a tree, so I guess it is a dwarf or something. The contrast between the red leaves and the blue sky is even better in person. The sky is bluer and the leaves are redder. I guess I don't have a good enough camera to capture it well.

How Cool Is This????

This is a small clip of my fife and drum corps, The Morris County Militia, marching at a muster in my hometown in 1977. I was only in the Little Corps then, so I am not in this video, but my sister is! It made me cry to watch it; our corps was National Champs, definitely something to be proud of, and we were! I miss it a lot.

A note about the video, it was converted from a Super 8 film with no sound, the sound was added from the Corps' album. (yes, we had a record!) My sister and I are still trying to find out who posted this clip on YouTube.

Feeling Blah

Not much going on here, I don't really have anything new to post, so I thought I'd just share a picture of Jacob enjoying a banana :-)

Happy Halloween!

We don't usually do much for Halloween; I buy a few pumpkins and put them out on the front steps, uncarved. This year the boys convinced me to carve them. I think they came out pretty good for my first try at pumpkin carving! The boys had fun passing out candy to trick-or-treaters, too.