The Turkey Weekend Update!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

We were truly blessed with good health this year 

(even though I have another cold) 

 as last year Mr. Tennis was in the 

hospital at Thanksgiving -- so this was a huge improvement!

Please excuse messy kitchen in the background!

My son and his family hosted us for Thanksgiving, so Maddy and

I made a couple things to take along - her fave - green bean casserole and 

my fave - pumpkin pie!

She helped a teensy bit when she wasn't

 busy making her list for Black Friday shopping!

After shopping on Friday like crazy girls (JoAnn's Fabrics!!),

we had a quieter Saturday morning

watching this little angel for a few hours!

Little Miss Dorothy - now 8 months old and

as cute and sweet as a button.

She's such an adorable and easy baby!

We let her watch Shrek with us -- she laughed her

little head off!  :)

Maddy and I spent more of the weekend shopping (she loves to shop)

and sewing - more on that to come!

Have a happy week!

Finally Friday!

TGIF - Finally Friday!  Yippee!

I don't know about you, but this has seemed like a long week!

Maybe the anticipation of a short week and Black Friday 

next week has me a little antsy!

How bout you?
I know this highschooler is very, very happy at the thought

of a short school week!

Has this happened to you?
Not sure if it is due to the upcoming holidays or what, but
lately it seems that the marketing geniuses have my number!

So far this week, I've ordered or wanted to order

a Simply Fit Board (yes, I will be svelte and fit by Christmas!),

a stocking cap with a light on it for morning or nighttime walks

AND . . . some crazy panties called

Skinny 360 panties that are supposed to make a gal feel great and look slim and trim!
What the what??!

The women wearing them on FB ads say they are 

AMAAAZING!
Plus, I just received an ad for botox from my local medical
provider -- a look in the mirror and I'm saying, sign me up!
While I try to avoid at least some of these temptations,
let's change the subject, shall we?

In other weekend news, Miss M and I are putting on

our crafting aprons and getting busy
with some holiday projects.

Photo from world wide web, but this is basically my machine! Isn't it so cute!

This most adorable vintage sewing machine was

passed down to me by my Great-Aunt Carrie!  It needed a little tune-up

but is now purring like a kitten.

Stay tuned!

We are also learning machine embroidery on this cool machine!
Perhaps we will have some items to show you next week, but
then again, we may begin our holiday shopping early!

We're just really happy that it is finally Friday!
Enjoy your weekend and do some shopping! :)

Changes on the Boulevard!

We live in an older neighborhood on a lovely 

tree-lined boulevard.  The homes here were mostly built in the 1920's

which means that they have a lot of character and charm which is
actually code for
they often need a lot of repairs!

Our house with trees still on the median.  Sign of things to come!

For the past year or more, there has been a boulevard committee of sorts

working with the City Parks and Rec Department to

spruce up the boulevard and put down some new asphalt 

on the streets!
Oy -- the potholes -- they were attempting to swallow people up and take over.
So, some repairs were definitely needed!

Look at all the trees on the median!

It took nearly a year of discussion, but there was finally
agreement with the City to remove all trees, bushes and grass 

from the median with and replace it with lower and more coordinated plantings. 

 It was a bit hard to believe that

some beautiful trees that we nurtured and watered diligently 

from day one would be removed.
But -- destruction is in full force!!

Look -- all the median trees and bushes gone!

The project has been going on since the beginning of November.
Luckily, we've been blessed with decent weather and
the sidewalks repairs have mostly been completed.
So nice to have a decent sidewalk where little kids won't fall get
hurt (always a worry of mine)!

Our house looked like a crime scene while the sideward was being repaired!
We had to park on a side street for a couple days or in the neighbor's driveway!
The sidewalk part of the project is completed now and we can once again park
in the driveway!  Yay!
Street and median repairs are continuing.
Next spring it should look really good -- fingers crossed!

A Little Funny for You

At last -- the election is over!

No matter how we feel about the results :0

 it's time to move forward with goodness

and kindness for all.

Here's something to smile about!

Mr. Tennis, in all of his Halloween glory, 

masquerading

as Christopher Columbus or Marco Polo 

(who really knows)!

Isn't he just a hoot and a half!

He loves this costume and I'm afraid he's 

calling for formal apparel for Thanksgiving, and 

this is his idea of formal apparel!

Heaven help us!

The Cat in the Hat!

Maddy's list of "what to be" for Halloween was mixed this year --

a cat, a dog, a dinosaur (really?).  She tossed aside my

suggestion of "cheerleader" rather quickly!  :)

But when she and I were on a little shopping venture for a costume,

she quickly found the perfect get-up . . .

The Cat in the Hat!

It seemed just right as it is usually freezing in Nebraska

on Halloween and wearing a coat over a costume

is a definite no-no, but a onesie would be 

toasty warm!

And it was!

This year it was 80 on Halloween and the days leading

up to Halloween -- like when we went to Boo at the Zoo!

A photos with the zoo wizard (director) is required!

We tagged along with Jodee and Kamree after they

won free VIP tickets through our mutual orthodontist office.

We love that office! 

VIP is the way to go!!

No waiting in a long line to get in,

easy to get on the train - which is normally packed,

and dinner from Raising Canes - yum!

Thanks Jodee for taking us with you!!

By the way, I also did dress up for Halloween

and went trick or treating with Maddy!

She picked out a onesie for me too - Minnie Mouse!

It was adorable, but SOOOO hot!

Sorry -- we neglected to get a photo of the two of us together -

that may or may not have been an oversight!

We had hundreds of kids at our door and all over neighborhood!

I'm talking lines to get to houses for candy!!!!

Just about everyone ran out of candy by 7:30 pm.

Guess who my favorite neighbor was?

If you guessed the friendly neighbor guy that had

candy for the kids and a keg for the adults -- 

you'd be right!

Genius idea! 

Carving Pumpkins!

Happy November!

How in the world did October zip by so fast???

I'm a wee bit behind in blogging, so please forgive

me for continuing to blog about

Halloween-related topics!

We generally don't carve our pumpkins --

there is no need -

the squirrels destroy them before

we even have a chance to get out

the carving knife!

Dads and daughters

This year, the cheerleaders (yes, more about the cheerleaders!)

had a Father/Daughter pumpkin carving get-together!

How sweet is that!

As is his usual MO, Mr. Tennis wore dress pants, 

a button-down shirt and Brooks Brothers vest!

He said the vest made it a casual ensemble!

The girls and their Dads had a great time.

Reports were that most Dads did the carving while some of the 

girls read and/or updated their social media accounts!

Maddy assisted Mr. Tennis and they

carved a two-sided pumpkin.

On one side was a normal pumpkin face with a 

Thunderbolt (Pius emblem) 

and on the other was the other

Pius emblem - Px

Mr. Tennis was the winner of the "first Dad finished

with carving" and the "two-sided" carving victor!

Truthfully, I think he named himself the winner in both categories!

What a hoot!

They had a blast

and we finally had a pumpkin we could put a 

candle in for Halloween!