Halloweekend!!!!!

Hello Friends!

 

What a fun Halloweekend we had!!

 

 

On Friday night, we visited a local

museum, Morrill Hall, for a "Fright Night!"

 

Yes, I dressed up too -
attempting to be a "fun" Mom! :)

Not to worry - it was geared towards kids, so not too frightening.

But . . .

the third floor had some scary stuff.

And it may or may not be true

that I screamed a couple times!

 

We met Jodee, Kamree and one

of their friends there.

The girls had so much fun!

Jodee and I did too!!

 

Penguin mask at the mall!

On Sunday, we went to a local

shopping center's Halloween festivities!

Some fun monsters and perfect weather!

 

 

Later, off to our local Children's Zoo

"Boo at the Zoo!"

There have been years where we froze

at this event, but not this year!

The temps were around 60! 

Perfecto!

 

Such a fun weekend

and more trick or treat festivities ahead!

It's going to be a fun week!

 

 

In a Puff-y State of Mind!

Do you think my reference to
puff-y in the title is about my hair?

Ha ha ha -- usually it would be . . .
but not this time!
Yarn pom-pom puffs is what I'm talking about!

So, are you crafty?

This is the time of year when I start thinking

of all the home-made and crafty things I should

do for the holidays!

 

Many years ago, I made almost

everyone's Christmas gift!

Some of those included:

 hand-embroidered Christmas stockings;

lovely placemats;

aprons; bath wraps,

coasters and

ornaments.
I was a craft demon!!
 

Well, I just saw this DIY yarn puff

wreath on another blog

and it inspired me to put my craft hat on again!

The first one I made (see above) is white and the  yarn may be too

 loosely woven as it seemed to turn out like poodle puffs and a little fuzzy --
 it's like my hair on a really humid day - think yarn puffs on steroids!
But, the first wreath is always a test one, right?
 

Now, I'm working on a red one and I think it

may be too Red!
Instead of all red, I might make it into a
peppermint wreath with red and white puffs -
what do you think of that idea?

Red/white yarn pom-pom puffs for the peppermint wreath -- stay tuned!

Maddy said I could probably sell

them for $2.50 each.

Guess she's not too impressed

with my handiwork!

 Tell the truth -- what do you think?
 

Wish me luck!

 



This and That on Friday

Greetings all!

Can I get a hip-hip-hooray

it's Friday!

My favorite day of the week!  :)

 

A bit of randomness this week for you!

 

 Look at my Safety Patrol Girl -

is she the most adorable ever?

Yes?
 I agree!

Although 6th grade has more homework (and it's harder too)
Maddy has volunteered for a few school activities

. . .

including

Safety Patrol

(delays her departure from school)
and

Choir

(requires once a week early arrival

and giving up an extra recess on Fridays)!
and

Daughters of Mary

(after-school prayer group once a month).

All of these are extras and not required,

but she is delighted to be able to

participate . . .

although she really hates

to miss that extra recess!

Sparky from Frankenweenie!

 

In her free-time, she is

doing drawings of

various Disney characters!

She just looks at a picture

and starts to draw!

Quite amazing to me

as I never evolved past stick-figures!

 

And, what do you think - do you like these shoes?

I have kind of avoided flats as I need a little bit

more in the height department.

But, I have finally accepted that I am probably not going to ever be

a tall drink of water (or whatever that weird saying is) 

and why hurt my feet in uncomfortable shoes???

 

Some ballet flats are not too comfy as there

is simply not enough shoe.

But these are Dr. Scholl's and have some support

and style, at least I think so, don't you agree?!

And it's been chilly --

 time to find some fake Uggs*!

I'm sure the real things are fabulous - but the Fuggs

are quite comfy too and I definitely like the price! :)

 Shopping is on the schedule!

 

A much-needed hair appointment is also

on the schedule -

what to do with my sometimes

frizzy mop poodle-head??? 

 

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

See  you on Monday! :)

Birthday!

Last month . . .

actually 6 weeks ago . . .

it was Cboo's birthday!

We had gifts and surprises all

ready for him and

then our celebration

was delayed,

again

and again!

Finally,

last weekend

we were able to celebrate

Connor's 26th birthday!

I have no idea how he got so

old.

He certainly did not have

my permission!

Happy Birthday Cboo!



Pumpkin, Pumpkin, Where's The Pumpkin?

 

 

We were lucky enough to have absolutely

beautiful weather this past weekend!

Perfect time for us and, about 500+ of

our closest friends (!!) to go to

the local pumpkin patch!

 

 

Maddy and I actually arrived fairly early,

 around noon,

and it was not too crowded yet.

In fact, we went through the spook house

at least four times!

Going into the SPOOOOOOKY house!

 

It was not too scary!

We also visited the scary spooky castle -

where a wrong turn

put us behind the scenes!

Yay for the Apple flashlight

that helped us find our way outta there!

 

 

Jodee and Kamree were also at the pumpkin patch!

What a fun coincidence! :)

The girls loved the bouncing pillows!

And . . .

They would have bounced all

day, but there was a time limit!

 

 

We've been going to the same pumpkin

patch since the boys were young -

It's such a fun tradition! 

It's really expanded over the years and has loads of fun stuff

for kids -- Candyland, barrel slides, a goofy magician

and, of course the usual haunted hayrack ride!

 

 

One year, the boys planted pumpkins in our backyard,

hoping to turn it into a pumpkin patch too!

We did get quite a few pumpkins and the vines just

about spread over the entire backyard! 

So, we opted to visit -- not have our own

after that experiment!

 

Dancing to the "Werewolves of London!"

 



Friday Update!

Hello Friends!

 

Wow -- it's been a long time since I've

let the old blog languish for a

whole week without a post!

Did you miss me?

What am I saying . . .  

Of course  you did!

 

We left off last week with the

relatives heading to town!

Yay -- the out-laws in-laws came to visit!!

 

Maddy was not feeling her best,

so we skipped the freezing cold game

(high temp of 50 with 50 mph winds)
Brrrrr!

Cousins Clare, Maddy and Philip and Catherine. 
Connor was working -- we missed him!

Instead we made a yummy Apple Bundt Cake.

I'd show you a photo

but it was gobbled up in record time.

 

Maddy started to feel better and

guess who started to feel worse?

Yep -- moi!



Mr. Tennis and his brothers-
James, Robin and Mr. T

 It was so fun to see some of Mr. Tennis's family -

and spend a little time with them.

Maddy and I just wished we had felt better

and could have joined in all the fun!

 

I'm still feeling a little punky, but

I think I will feel well enough

to hit a pumpkin patch this weekend.

 

So . . .

what's on your weekend agenda?
Hope you all have a fabulous weekend!



The Weekend!

Hello Friends!

 

Yay-- it's finally Friday and the weekend is upon us!

 

We are looking forward to some resting time

this weekend as Miss M has come down with a

nasty sore throat and cough!

Poor girl!

 

And we have some Fighting Illini here

with us this weekend for a little bit of this:

 

 

 

The relatives from Illinois are here visiting!

And the fam from Omaha will be here too!

Love these family times!

 

Go Big Red!

Am not sure how the red is going to look

with the Illini orange, but we love to mix colors!

 

Our neighborhood block party will

also be happening.

 

 

It is this time of

 year after all!

 

 

Have a fun weekend!

 

Happy Fall Y'all!

 



We Went to the Zoo . . . Again!

Oh my -- do you think we go to the zoo

every weekend?

 

Well, yes we usually do!

 

The sweet Red Panda -- from China!

 

It's not far from our house,

we have a membership and it is loads of fun!

 

 

Maddy and one of her fave AG dolls --Little Maddy!

 

This past weekend it was the train's 50th anniversary

so, it was a must that we attend

the celebration.

Train rides were 50% off!

Someone very close to me

(my Dad)

spent his working days working

on the real railroad and then

after he retired, he worked on a zoo

railroad - not ours though.

A really big zoo's train!

 

Anyhoo, it was a lovely weekend, so

we headed to the zoo again!
The only downside was that a bumblebee buzzed into my hair
as we waited to get in!  Yikes!
I was afraid it would get stuck in my big hair, but luckily
it flew out before it stung me!

 

 

Maddy rode one of the ponies! 

 When she was 

a little bitty thing, she rode a pony

every single visit!

She hasn't ridden one lately, but we saw the dapple gray and

decided she must ride it! :)

 

 

She also visited her most favorite

animal at the zoo!

The pretty llamas -- aren't they so sweet!

 

Open wide Llama llama!

 

The zoo closes in only a couple weeks -

we will miss our weekly visits.

But, there is Boo at the Zoo

later this month!

We. Love. Our. Zoo!