Monday, November 24, 2014

November?!

I seriously can't believe it's November, and with the holidays starting this week!  Wow!  This year has flown by.  Here are some pictures of this and that for you to enjoy.

My kids love going to ACE Hardware with me. 
Nov 1 2014

I love seeing these low gas prices!  They are at $2.49 now!  Maybe even lower...
Nov 2 2014

Lee and I went and voted on election day.  We had the opportunity to vote for a new mayor.  (Maybe that happens every election day and I am just clueless?)  It was crazy, sad really, how many votes there were for the mayor.  There are a few thousand people in this town--not much more--but only about 700 or so people voted!  So sad. We are so blessed to live in this county.  Voting is a great way to show that we care!
Nov 4 2014 (2)

There is a hitching post at Sharp Shopper.  I think this is only the second time I've seen a horse and buggy there.  It's always fun seeing this.  Especially after reading so many Beverly Lewis' books.  I love her books....
Nov 4 2014

Shanna and I went on a date one night.  She used her own money for part of it and bought a kids' meal.  Later I bought her an ice cream cone.
Nov 5 2014 (2)

We have a great little community center here, and just this month we bought a one-month family pass.  The kids love going there, though logistically we only take them one or two at a time.  Shanna and I went there for our date too.  We played air hockey and then pool.
Nov 5 2014 (3)

Something you may not know about me, but I love mailing packages!  I had fun putting together a little package for my niece.  I knew it was here birthday, but I didn't know till the actual day of that it was her 16th birthday!  Great time on my part, I must say.
Nov 5 2014

I am hosting Thanksgiving this year.  Though it won't be at my house...not sure how to sit 41 people here...it will be at my church building.  I have been getting ready for it for a few weeks now. And I am SO glad I did!  I've prerolled and frozen pie crusts before, and I did it again this year.  These I did on November 6th. I did 13 of them, I think. I actually wasn't very happy with the dough.  There was a lot of patching going on.  Oh well.
Nov 6 2014

Nov 6 2014 (2)

All wrapped up and ready to freeze! 
Nov 6 2014 (3)

The first Friday of almost every month, the local children's museum has a free evening.  The kids and I went over. Some of them have been asking for awhile to go.
Nov 7 2014 (2)

Clark and Cal had fun with the Keva planks. Yes, they built the whole thing!
Nov 7 2014 (3)

Nov 7 2014

As soon as we walked into the museum I saw my friend Jenny.  After finding out that her husband was out of town I invited them to join us for pizza.  We planned to go to the church and eat pizza and play kick ball, and it was fun that they joined us!  We also saw our friend Brittany there.  She and her family were helping to clean the church that night. 

On a Saturday morning Lee made German Pancakes....a huge favorite around here.  It was fun using the blueberry syrup that Lois bought for me in Maine!
Nov 8 2014

It seems like the kids would rather sleep anywhere, just not their bed! She looks comfortable enough, but she is crammed into one of those plastic bins.  Lee put her in bed later.
Nov 9 2014

And surprise, surprise, I went on yet another field trip! Cal and I (and the 4th grade class) went to a discovery/children's museum in Roanoke, Virginia.  Cal was able to participate in a variety of things, which was fun.
Nov 11 2014 Roanoke Field Trip

Nov 11 2014 Roanoke Field Trip (2)

Nov 11 2014 Roanoke Field Trip (3)

Nov 11 2014 Roanoke Field Trip (4)

Nov 11 2014 Roanoke Field Trip (5)

I've doomed my children.  They love carrots...as long as there is ranch to go with them!
Nov 11 2014 Roanoke Field Trip (6)

The 4th graders made a bouncy ball too.
Nov 11 2014 Roanoke Field Trip (7)

Nov 11 2014 Roanoke Field Trip (8)

Nov 11 2014 Roanoke Field Trip (9)

And some more Thanksgiving prep....twice baked potatoes!
Nov 11 2014

Nov 11 2014

On a Wednesday night a friend from church showed the young women in our ward (congregation) how to decorate cupcakes.  It was so fun!
Nov 12 2014 (2)

Nov 12 2014 (3)

Nov 12 2014 (4)

Thanks to Lee's donation to the Race for Education, Cal went on a fun limo ride to lunch with the principal and some other students.  He really enjoyed it.  Who wouldn't?!
Nov 13 2014 Cal Limo Ride and lunch

Nov 13 2014 Cal Limo Ride and lunch (2)

Nov 13 2014 Cal Limo Ride and lunch (3)

As I was delivering copies one afternoon at the elementary school I spotted these grateful signs.  I love the "I am thankful for God."
Nov 13 2014

One Saturday we "helped" our friend Janet rake some leaves. She has a gorgeous backyard with lots of tree.  We have a tiny yard with one tree.  I asked her if we could come and help rake.  I think it's a great thing for kids to do.  She of course willing obliged.  We had a great time!
Nov 15 2014 Raking at Janet Puffenbarger

The big pile waiting to be jumped in!
Nov 15 2014 Raking at Janet Puffenbarger (2)

It was funny seeing them dive into the leaves.
Nov 15 2014 Raking at Janet Puffenbarger (3)

Nov 15 2014 Raking at Janet Puffenbarger (4)

Janet made us some delicious chocolate oatmeal cookies and homemade hot chocolate.  YUM!  We should go rake leaves more often!  She is so sweet and the kids were commenting on the way home how nice she is.  She made it a very fun afternoon!
Nov 15 2014 Raking at Janet Puffenbarger (5)

A little while after raking leaves we went to the play "Oliver Twist".  It was only 45 minutes long, had two actors and was written for children.  I really liked it and the two young ladies did a fabulous job. (And it was free!)  I hope this company decides to come back again next year to perform another play!
Nov 15 2014 (3)

So several weeks ago I made some strawberry smoothies.  The blender sounded really weird.  I didn't know why and just kept on blending.  Well, I also couldn't find the funnel that goes in the lid to keep the liquid from spraying all over.  As we started drinking the smoothies we found these shards of glass. What?!  But on further inspection, they weren't glass.  They were plastic.  Then in dawned on me that I blended up the funnel!  Well, I have a good blender!  I ordered a new funnel and it arrived.  Hopefully I don't blend this one up!
Nov 15 2014

Another prep item I did was make gingerbread houses.  Well, bake the dough and cut out the houses.
Nov 14 2014 (2)

I made 40 houses this year.  I initially made a septuple (x7) batch, but I didn't roll some of the dough thin enough.  And right at the end ending up making the 8th and final batch of gingerbread.  I made sure and rolled this stuff thinner.
Nov 14 2014 (3)

And at the end, I figured out a good pattern for cutting the gingerbread!  I have 4 complete, small houses here.
Nov 14 2014

Something else you most likely don't know, is that I've had our Christmas card all printed by about October 17th.  I had a coupon I wanted to use, so jumped on it and did the Chirstmas cards in October. Last week I addressed them and stamped them.  The girls had fun helping with the stamps.
Nov 16 2014

Here is our front porch in a desperate need of a makeover.  We have the guy to do the work all lined up, but we don't have any materials. We've been having some road blocks to getting new siding.  I was really hoping for the porch renovation to be done by for Thanksgiving.  Maybe we'll get it done before Christmas?Nov 17 2014 (2)

1 comment:

Emilee said...

My family has to have Thanksgiving dinner at the church building too!