Moving on Towards Christmas

Thanksgiving has come and gone and it was very nice!  We had 11 people and plenty of food to eat! Lots of leftovers too and I just threw the last of the turkey away today! 

I didn't take a single picture but that's ok. I was enjoying being in the moment! 

 Anyway, Friday I never left the house and finished all my Christmas decorating. I finished my Santa hat and hung it up. 

I had to cut a piece of cardboard to fit inside the hat and glue the branches to it otherwise it was too floppy. I think it came out really cute! 

I put out all of my snowmen/women (or maybe I should just say snow people!) in their usual spot on my built-ins in the family room. 

I've got 22 snowpeople now! I barely have room for them on the shelves but I like the way they look all clustered together like that!

And of course my miniature tree. 

The cardinal is new this year from Hobby Lobby. They always have all their Christmas decor on sale for 50% off and I can't resist getting at least one new something! 

I always get one new miniature ornament every year. This year it's a blue starfish. It wasn't my favorite but the pickings were slim this year! 

I love these little deer I got last year...

And this little deer ornament I got this year. I really need to not fall in love with small fuzzy deer because I don't need to collect anything else! 

We got about 3 inches of snow yesterday. 

I took this picture when I was leaving work. It's pretty but ugh, I am not ready for snow yet! 

Finally, of course I have to include the boys first school pictures. 

My best friend, Marie and her family left yesterday for a Disney cruise and I am watching her daughter's house and her cat all this week. She only lives about 6 miles from me. Her house is fabulous and I'll show some pictures the next time. 

Until then stay safe and well my friends! 

One More Before Thanksgiving

I just thought I would sneak in another post before I get busy with Thanksgiving stuff! 

My tree is completely decorated. Maxwell and Levi helped a little but they were only interested for a short time. 

They hung all the ornaments on the bottom 3 feet of the tree, with a little direction from Nonnie.  Otherwise, all the ornaments would have been hung on one branch!

I think the sun reflecting on the wall from this glass candle holder looks pretty. Kind of like Christmas tree lights! 

I bought myself an early Christmas present. I was going to wait and let Rich get it for me but my coffee brewer was biting the dust fast and also, K0hl's had it on sale for a fantastic price! I like having the option of brewing a pot or a single cup. I like a pot in the morning and sometimes I like a cup of decaf in the evening after dinner. 

I got this little reusable filter too because those pods are expensive! 

One of the customers at the CBD store gave me this waxed Amaryllis on Thursday. I have never had one before. Apparently, it blooms in 3-4 weeks, the blooms last 2-3 weeks and then it's done. I don't have a picture but between then and today it's definitely bigger! 

Lastly, this was Maxwell's school craft project from yesterday when the teacher asked him what he was thankful for. My heart......

We are having 9 people for Thanksgiving this year. I love a small gathering so it should be a lot of fun. 

Until the next time have a safe and blessed Thanksgiving. my friends.

More Random Stuff

 Look at me! Two posts in one week! 

I figured I would do another photo dump from my phone for your viewing pleasure! 

This is two of the pots I planted this summer. I always put a spike in the middle and flowers around them. Normally when I pull the dead flowers I pull the spikes too. 

This year I left them because they were still green and very much alive. Since then they have literally doubled in size! I'm going to leave them until they are totally dead. 

My little azalea is such a pretty shade of red right now! Reminds me of the burning bushes we had at our other house! 

I woke up this morning to snow on the ground and snow coming down! This was my view driving on my way to Shauna's today.  Ugh!  I am not ready for this yet! 

I put my Christmas tree up today also. I bought a gold bow yesterday for a tree topper and I really like it. 

It will match the gold garland I have. I'll post a picture of the completed tree when it's done some time later this week. Putting on ornaments is not my favorite thing to so it will be going slow! 

 

I made this little decoration from a child-sized Santa hat I bought last year for a tree topper that didn't work out! It came out cute, I think. Now I have to figure out how and where to hang it! 

OK that's it for my photo dump! I'm going to have dinner and chill in front of the TV for the rest of the night! 

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends! 

Random Stuff

Have you ever had one of those days where you can think of a million things to do and don't want to do any of them? That's me today! I did manage to work out this morning and ran to the grocery store. That's about it though. I have no ambition to do anything other than be on this computer and watch shows on TV! 

So I thought I would dump a couple of random pictures on you guys! 

 

I took this picture a few days ago. It just struck me as funny because I first read it as pizza and chicken flavored smoothies! 

 

Shauna and Brad took the boys bumper bowling yesterday. They really liked it and did pretty well! 

I've been seeing this picture around social media lately. I just love it! I can just hear the mama lion saying "Don't even think of messing with my baby!"

This mama used to say the same thing only I don't look quite as fierce! 

Chris is coming into town on Wednesday and Rich and him will be going up north to deer camp for a few days. 

I have to take my car into the dealer next Monday to have them check on a clunking noise that it's making and also to fix something that GM recalled a few months ago. 

When my lease is up in March and if I am forced to buy it because there are no affordable options I want to make sure it's in tip top shape while it's still covered under the bumper to bumper warranty. 

That's it for now. I'll be back when I have something more exciting to talk about! 

Until then stay safe and well my friends!

Hiking in the Dark and Halloween

Happy November! I can't believe how this year is flying by! I have a urge to decorate for Christmas now. I plan on putting my tree up while Rich and Chris are hunting around the 15th. 

Saturday night we went on the Lantern Lit Hike at Island Lake State Park. I have been wanting to go for a few years. Two years ago the night we planned to go it was cancelled because there was ice on the trail. 

Last year it was cancelled because of Covid, because you know, it was dangerous to hike outside or whatever! 

This year we finally went. All I can say is "lantern lit hike" is kind of pushing it. There were lanterns lit for sure but they were spaced very far apart so you literally walked in pitch black until you got to this

Then you were in complete darkness again for a while until you came upon another lantern. 

Luckily we had our cell phones with us and Rich turned on the flashlight app between lanterns! 

Granted, the hike was from 6-9 and we didn't get there until about 8:00. Some of the lanterns were burning out already, plus it was cloudy so there was no moonlight. 

Rich says maybe we should go if they schedule one after it snows.  The snow  would light up the surroundings and probably make it easier to see! 

There was a sign at the beginning of the trail asking for donations to buy more lanterns! In my opinion, the state should supply them! I'm not complaining though. They do take good care of their state parks! 

In spite of all that we did enjoy it and I would go again for sure! 

Halloween was fun. I love going trick or treating with the boys!

They got a lot of candy considering they only went to approximately 10 houses total. People were giving away candy by the handful! Plus it was raining off and on! 

Finally, here is a picture of my little goblins from 1984. 

I have wonderful memories of Halloween when my kids were small. We lived in a great neighborhood with lots of kids! Walking through dried leaves on the sidewalk always brings back those memories to this day! 

Until the next time stay safe and well my friends!