A Doll at a Local Antique Mall

And the stuff nightmares are made of!

Bubbles!

I bought a bubble-maker that makes amazing bubbles! The babies always ask to go outside and play in the bubbles ... and how can I say no?! That bubble machine has given us countless hours of giggles!

I downloaded a bubble-popping game on my ipad for them, for cold and/or rainy days. I'm hoping the ipad bubbles will satiate their bubble addiction when the weather keeps us inside!

Santa Came Early

And look what he left!!!

 

It was no easy feat getting a picture of him that wasn't blurry. This little boy wiggles and kicks constantly! Once this little guy is mobile, my poor daughter and her husband will never sit down again!

My Thanksgiving Ham

For years, I always made the traditional turkey for Thanksgiving. The kids complained every single year ... "Why can't we have ham? We hate turkey!"

I don't know why, but I kept making turkey, then last year I asked myself "Why AM I making a turkey?!!" So ... I made a ham. It turned out wonderfully and everyone was a lot happier, so ham is our new Thanksgiving tradition. My son and his two little ones weren't there, which was sad, but we had a nice time anyway. I only have a few pics, but they good ... and packed with memories.

Thing 2 and my newest grandbaby.

My youngest sister and I.

Thing 2, Thing 1 (and my grandson under the blanket, eating his dinner), myself, and my sister.

Thing 2 and Thing 1 (and my grandson under the blanket).

Things 1 and 2 ... my girlies :)

Like every year, we had more than one Thanksgiving dinner to attend. I'll share the pics from our second Thanksgiving dinner some other time.

Today, I'm watching two grandbabies while their mom shops Black Friday deals. I'll get more time with them today than I would have if I'd have had them yesterday. Today, I don't have to cook. I won't be preoccupied in the kitchen. Today is all about the babies, not the food!

Today is going to be a good day :)

What Are You Thankful For?

I have this sign hanging near my front door. I love how true it is ... even during the worst of times, there really is always something to be thankful for. Always.

My life isn't perfect, but I'm very happy and content ... and I know I have a lot to be thankful for.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!

In the shower ... I Always Feel Like ...

Somebody's watching me ...

It's Finally Here!!

 

John's debut album, TWENTY MINE ROAD, is out! It's streaming free now until 9pm Sunday. You can listen to it at one of two places:

https://www.reverbnation.com/johnlawrencecraddock

and on his website ... 

https://www.johnlawrencecraddock.com/music.

Right now it's only for sale on his website as a digital download or a CD, but it will be available soon at all the sites where music is sold.

I know I'm biased, but it's really, really, REALLY good!!!!

Texting with my Daughter

I work in the technology sector. As a woman in this field, I'm greatly outnumbered by males. A good many of the men I work with are younger and spend much of their free time playing video games. When I talk to Thing 2 about them, I call them "the nerds at work", and she always says, "I think it's funny that you don't know you're one of them!"

For the record, I'm not like them. The only video game I have ever played is Wii Sports ... bowling, shooting, and archery.

I kick butt at Wii bowling!

Fires

I've had several fires in the fireplace this year. It hasn't gotten very cold yet, but after the time change, when it gets dark so early, there's just something about having a fire that makes everything seem brighter. I love how arm and cozy a fire feels :)

Cookie Dough for Breakfast

Dreams do come true :)

A Better Comparrison

These two pictures make it much easier to see how dramatic the transformation of my backyard was. Most of the work was done during the summer. It was hot, sweat literally dripped off of me, bugs pestered the crap out of me, I was covered in scrapes and bruises (the women at Zumba had to think I was abused!), I was absolutely filthy at the end of the day, and yet ... I enjoyed it!

Lumberjack(ie)!

When I bought this house, the woods had nearly overtaken the backyard. I spent countless hours this spring, summer, and fall working to clear out the woods so that I can put in a swing set for my grandbabies and have more yard for them to play in. This is what it looked like when I moved in (click on any photo to enlarge). You can barely see it, but there is a fireplace buried under ivy to the right of the tree ...

I was able to clear the ivy away with some snippers and a little (okay, a lot) of elbow grease, but there was no way to clear out the woods without a chainsaw, so I bought one and started cutting down trees. I had never used a chainsaw before, and discovered it's not as easy as it looked when I watched my man use one!! But, I persevered, and my hard work paid off.

 

Once able to navigate the woods, I discovered a variety of items, mostly buried and hidden by ivy. I was able to dig them out and stuff them in the dumpster to be picked up on trash day. That trash can was heavy! My driveway has a significant slope, so it was tricky dragging it to the street without getting crushed ... because it easily weighed twice what I do. I'm sure the men who work at the trash company were happy to see my overflowing dumpster.

There's still work to do, but I'm pleased with the progress. You can see, and burn in, the upper fireplace now. Digging that out was back-breaking! It's been too wet or too windy to burn lately, but the wood is stacked and ready for whenever I get a chance to light the fire ... and that sounds like the perfect excuse to invite the kids and some friends over for a bonfire and cookout!

 

There's another fireplace and patio at the bottom of the hill that needs to be dug out, but I haven't even started to tackle that project yet. Below is the "before" for the lower fireplace. If we get some mild, dry weekends, I'll start working on it. Otherwise, it will be next spring before I begin.

  

Even though I could barely drag myself into the house to shower some days, I enjoyed working in the yard. Next spring I'll have to figure out exactly where I want to make a play area for the swingset and where I want grass. Until then, I can admire the progress ... and map paths to carve out!

And, finally ... the rusting, leaning yellow tether ball pole is gone!! Removing that was no small task (not that I actually helped) ... it was anchored in with enough concrete to withstand a nuclear blast! I can't imagine how heavy it was or how he got it in the back of his truck without any help.

I'm really going to miss working in my yard this winter.

Xylophone

My grandbabies love books (yea!). I was reading one to my oldest grandson, and it showed a picture of a little boy playing a xylophone.

He immediately got up, dug his xylophone out of the toy basket, and played for me. I thought that was very clever!

Drool

No one believes me (because I'm afraid of heights), but I would do this in a heartbeat!

SQUIRELL!!!

They aren't my dogs, I just happened to notice them all looking up at the tree ... and I knew why!

If I Saw This at My Back Door ...

There would be a mess on the floor!

And yet, a brave neighbor in the mountains down south calmly took this photo. I realize the bear isn't very big, but it's mother is. I'd be worried the mama bear might wander by and get angry that I'm that close to her cub ... because I'm sure the mama bear would be angry with me ... even though it's clearly the cubs fault.

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

A chicken in Shediac, New Brunswick (Canada) crosses a busy road everyday. She waits for a break in traffic before crossing, regardless of how long the wait is, then looks for food in the grass of a local doughnut shop. A regular customer at the doughnut shop said the chicken visits up to three times a day.

So the answer to "Why did the chicken cross the road?" is, apparently, to get to the doughnut shop!