Feeling Oh So Thankful

Hello friends --

Are you ready for a Thanksgiving break
and Black Friday sales?

Sneak peak of a family photo including our Scottie Muffy!

It's been a bit of a rough week.
Mr. Tennis has been ill and had major
abdominal surgery on Monday to deal with his Crohn's disease.
Boo hoo - it turned out to be more complicated and
difficult then anticipated.
But, 

we are very thankful
. . .
That our prayers were heard,
for the skilled surgeon who took care of him and
predicts a good recovery and for the many
nurses and caregivers who are taking such good care of  him.

Very thankful for family and friends and their support, kindness
and especially prayers during this hard time.
Love you all!

Thankful for the wonderful weather
we've been enjoying.  I'm a bit of a nervous driver so not
having to deal with ice and snow yet makes me so happy.
I know, now I've jinxed it, haven't I!

Thankful for Maddy's choir performance Monday night that provided
beautiful noise!
The joy in young voices warmed me up and lifted my spirit on Monday
after a long day at the hospital.

And . . .
Thankful for the smile my fitbit provided me
the other day when it said "ilikeu" (I like you) after I charged it up!
Yes, I like you too fitbit! :)

So many blessings!
Happy Thanksgiving all!

Who Wants to Go to a Movie?

Miss Maddy and I LOVE

going to the movies!

We especially love to go when the weather is nasty

outside and we can escape for a while!

Besides Black Friday shopping,

a movie at Thanksgiving time

is one of our traditions!

Truth be told, I may have taken a little snooze in

years past at some of the kiddie movies.

Big Thanksgiving meal + wine = napping in the theatre! :)

She has quite the list lately on movies she wants to see 

including:

Meet the Coopers

The Good Dinosaur

The New Bond Movie
Mockingjay Part 2
the new Star Wars

and

of course,

The Peanuts Movie!

Bring on the buttered popcorn!  

Just Thinking Some Thoughts - A Bit of Randomness

Today I have some rather scattered and random thoughts to put out there -
while I wonder if we will get our first snow tonight!

Last winter -- hope this is a long ways off!

But first, Miss M doing cartwheels in the yard full of leaves!

Gotcha - Mid-cartwheel!

We've had delightful fall weather for weeks now,
but I know a change is coming soon!
I even managed to get all of the 3,455,222+ weeds and vines in the
backyard pulled and cleaned up this fall!
And I raked a ton of leaves though you can't really tell!
 Oh yes, I patted myself on the back many times
and pointed out the cleaned up landscape many times to anyone
who would listen!
Yep -- Go Me!

Next on the big long list of projects -- the garage
(where scary mice might be hiding) and the
basement (SO. MUCH. STUFF).
But let's leave all that for another day,
I feel like baking cookies, don't you?

In other news,
Miss Maddy has a junior achievement project we've been working on.
It's fun -- but really, didn't we wait to have junior achievement until junior year in high school?
Truthfully, I was an overachiever and participated sophomore year,
but 8th grade!?!
Methinks it is a bit early for JA!

Anywho, her team is making and selling sugar scrubs -- wonderful and
sweet smelling
ways to exfoliate, brighten up and energize your skin
(a tad bit messy to produce).
 So far, they've come up with Pumpkin and Lemon Sugar Scrubs.
 I thought I'd love the Pumpkin -- but not so much.
Coming Soon -- Candy Cane and Peppermint -- I'll be sure to post a photo!
Keep them in mind for your holiday gift list! :)

And in a not-so-great deja vu from last year's holiday season,
Mr. Miata's Crohn's disease has taken an ugly turn and
requires surgery.  He is really feeling rotten. It seemed like the meds were working
and they were, until they didn't work anymore.
Super disappointing.
So, we are hopeful that the surgery will be just the ticket
to get him feeling better, playing tennis again, riding that smelly old horse and
driving that his vintage (sounds better than old) Miata convertible --
when the weather warms up, that is.
We love that guy and hope he feels lots better soon!

Christmas photo, 2013 (2015 version coming soon)

There's a New Chick In Town!

Chick-fil-a!

Oh my word -- Chick-fil-a opened in Lincoln last week!

Miss M had been watching the progress of the 

restaurant for months and

counting down until opening day.

If she had known about it and not been in school,

she would have camped out in the parking lot overnight

to be one of the "Winner Winner Chicken Dinner" winners 

(free meal once a week for a year).

We were one of the crazies who attempted to

get in on opening day.  The drive-thru lines were so long, 

yet orderly with police directing traffic, but we detoured left and

hit Taco Bell instead!

Not to be deterred,  we visited the next day

earlier and went inside!

Let me say . . . it did not disappoint!

Miss M - a connoisseur of chicken strips, nuggets, et al.,

proclaimed Chick-fil-a to be "the best ever!"

She's not the biggest fan of their waffle fries -fries should look like fries,

 not waffles!

I had some yummy chicken soup - yes, I am one of those dorks

 who always orders soup!

The workers are all so sweet and friendly and at one point one of the managers 

called out -- "How do we feel?"  

And they all yelled back "H A P P Y"!

If you haven't tried Chick-fil-a yet -- we give it a big Thumbs Up!.

Hey There Little Red Riding Hood

Just a little bit more about Halloween 

since I interrupted my regular programming 

with the weather alert Monday.

By the way, the gorgeous warm and sunny weather continues!

Maddy decided to be Little Red Riding Hood months ago

and we attempted to locate a costume in

stores, on the internet, etsy, etc.

Most were rather sleazy looking versions of the cute Red Riding Hood girl, 

so we came up with our very own rendition!

Maddy knew she wanted to wear a tutu -- 

she is a tutu-type girl and has worn tutus 

in a number of costumes over the years.

We found a cape at Walmart, the tutu on etsy and
she already had a peasant blouse.
She added a black vest for warmth (it wasn't cold after all)
and wore her uniform black leggings and black riding boots!

Added the eye mask too -- but it only lasted for the photos!
Mr. Miata is sporting a shark mask here and wanted to
watch Jaws all night long!
Figure that one out if you can.  :)

Our neighborhood was crazy with ghosts and goblins
 and had over 250 visitors!
I ran out of candy --
even my hidden supply that was supposed to be for me
was given up for the little monsters.

Miss M is already thinking about next year's costume --
surprise surprise . . . it involves a tutu!  :)

Hello November!

Before I get back to all things 

Trick or Treating-related,

I wanted to chat a bit about the weather --

Holy cow -- November -- I Love you!

 We are having incredibly

warm and sunny weather -- 

not at all typical for Nebraska in November!

Last week - there were frost warnings out and

some serious frost on the ground Thursday morning!

Yesterday, November 1st -- it was 80 degrees here!

Today at lunch time -- 75 degrees!

I walked 2 miles over my lunch hour in the sweet sunshine

to celebrate the fabulous start to the month!

You know how much I talk whine about the cold and snow 

all winter long, so only fair that I tell you about

the lovely and warm temps!

This is not to say it will last as a cold 

front is heading our way, but

seriously . . . 75 in November!

Photo from World Wide Web -- no beaches in Nebraska!

Mr. Tennis, aka Mr. Miata, jumped back

into his little Miata convertible 

that he figured was put away until spring!

3 extra days of shorts!!!!

Even better, Mr. E. the principal at Maddy's school

declared that the winter dress code (skirts and leggings - NO shorts)

would not go into effect until Thursday, November 5th.

I had one happy 8th grader this morning!

Welcome November!!