A Day To Be Thankful For

We had our family Thanksgiving at my dad’s as I have for 39 Thanksgivings now. This year the merry band included: my oldest brother Jim, my sister in law Jene, my nephew Chris, his wife Betsy, their three boys David, Andrew, and Ethan, my niece Deanna and her son Ben, my long time friend/sister Dawn, my parents Bob, and Del, and of course my little band of Clint, Caelun and myself. Abbi had Thanksgiving with her mom this year. This brought the grand total to 10 adults and 5, yes count them 5, little boys. Three of these little boys were 2. Throw in a turkey, a dozen toy cars, and a laundry basket of duplo blocks and you have yourself quite the party. Most of the pictures are not very good- it was like trying to take pictures of bullets going through apples- but I hope they give you a taste of the day.

My brother Jim awaits the the big dinner with his grandson Ethan.

         

Every Thanksgiving table needs a tonka truck next to the turkey. Ethan and Caelun are in the frame- David ducked under the table when I took the picture.

Caelun is out but Ben is in and David is still under the table.

So many cars …so little time.

We attempt to settle around the table.

After dinner Chris gives Cae-Cae a red velvet cup cake.

Andrew gets a cup cake as well.

  Clint and Deanna relax amid the toys.

Ben is on the move.

Who knew the basket the duplo blocks were in would be the most fun?

 

A four generation picture- Bob, Jim, Deanna, and Ben – there is one of Chris and his boys as well but I was shooting it on someone else’s camera.

Look at all those blocks!

Time for pie and ice cream

Ice-cream is finger food- right? 

“Feed Me” I swear we are.

Leaves Glorious Leaves

We have 2 very old – probably close to 200 year old- maple trees in our yard. Every autumn they they put on a spectacular show and then drop a small mountain of leaves. Our lovely little burg has city provided leaf clean up if the leaves are raked to the curb. This is where the fun begins. Caelun and I had a wonderful time on a 70 degree afternoon raking all the leaves. Well we had to do some jumping in them first.

 

He has his own rake  and he loves to help.

   

Okay – enough raking- lets jump!

           

Okay more raking.

November 2009 book- Blink

    This is an awesome book. The power of thinking with out thinking or “gut instinct”- when it works, and why. Also what happens when we get it wrong. We gave it four and a half stars. It is one of those books that makes you think.

October 2009 book- Twilight

 

Every year for book club we try to choose something to fit the holiday of Halloween for our October selection. Twilight by Stephenie Meyer wrote a new version of the vampire story. What could be more fitting than vampires. I have to be honest that I haven’t finished this book even at this late posting. It just isn’t working for me. I guess I am not much of a romance reader and as much as this book is about vampires it is a love story. The folks in our club either loved or hated this book the ratings were 4 stars or 1 star. The average is two and three quarter stars.  It might be a nice book if you are trying to encourage younger folks to join your club others wise it wasn’t much of a hit.

September 2009 book- Queen Of The Road

  Queen of the Road: The True Tale of 47 States, 22,000 Miles, 200 Shoes, 2 Cats, 1 Poodle, a Husband, and a Bus with a Will of It’s Own by Doreen Orion. This is a great book for something light hearted. Our club gave it 4 stars. A couple of psychiatrists  DINKS decide to hit the road in a tricked out RV for one full year. What they learn about the country, each other, and themselves is worth the journey. It is worth the quick read for a bit of smile.

Treats and Tricks- Bovines and Boys

This year for Halloween Abbi went to a party in Traverse City. Since it was just Clint, myself, and Caelun we decide to take up an offer of a party we were invited to at the home of our friends the Franks. We hit a couple of the neighbors- mainly Grandma Nead across the street and Grandma Amy Hall next door- with trick-or treating before we headed out. My friend Stacey and I took lots of the big kids out for trick or treating at the party and then we hung out, ate, and played cards. I think everybody- especially our Cow-Caelun got a full Halloween experience. We hope yours was equally spooktacular.

 

(With a bit of help from the Dr. named Seuss)

All Hallows Eve arrived and I was walking at night. I saw nothing scary.

For I have never been afraid of anything. Well, not very.

I was deep in our neighborhood when suddenly I spied him.

I saw a small bovine with a Caelun inside him!

 

And then he moved! That Cow-Caelun! He-it kind of started jumping.

And then my heart, I must admit, it kind of started thumping.

   

So I got out. I got out fast as fast as I could go, sir.

I wasn’t scared but Cow-Caelun’s like that I did not care for. No, sir.

 

I never heard such wimpering and I began to see,

That I, the mummy, was just as strange to the boy-bovine as he-it was to me.

I handed the Cow-Caelun a monster cupcake and sat right down beside them.

The green frosting calmed them down the bovine with the Caelun inside him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And now when we meet quite often, that Cow-Caelun and I,

we never shake or tremble, we both smile and we say “Hi!”