We Celebrate The Season!

Last night was the Civic Music Band and Choir's performance at their annual YuleFest. Cher, Jill and I went for appetizers and a drink at T.G.I.Friday's beforehand. I had a really good glass of Sangria. But I didn't realize how good it actually was until we got the bill. $7.39!!! I wish I could get it through my head that if the price isn't on the menu I probably can't afford it.

At the concert my middle nephew, Jon, played in the percussion section.

(He's the one on the cymbals.)

There was a special appearance by a very popular guy right now.

The band is always my favorite, and not just because of Jon, but the choir and band together put on quite a show.

After this grand finale I'd better be in the mood to decorate my tree and do all the holiday things that only come 'round once a year!

Sugar And Spice...

We traveled to Austin today for a Christmas party and cookie exchange with Jill's work buddies and their daughters. It's really hard to get so many kids looking the same way at the same time.

The moms were much more cooperative. Thank you, Moms!

Another Victim

I watched Ella today while her mom went with Jill to an afternoon Transport meeting. We got along fine but, as usual, I had to have a picture taken of me and my charge.

Second Job

I've been doing everything I can to avoid making the 10 dozen cookies I have to bake yet today....changing calendars, feeding the birds, blowing snow.....blogging! While I was out blowing snow my neighbor stopped on his way by to ask if I hired out and he was serious! I thought I probably could do it and was just deciding if $15 a time was too much to charge when he stopped back with a $30 payment. So....now I'm the snow removing babysitter!

By the way, I'm picking Minnesota to beat Chicago tonight 23-20.

An Anniversary Of Sort

Brian reminded us that it was two years ago when he decided on a change of hairstyle. He went from this....

...to this, quite literally, overnight.

It was a surprise to me for sure. The boys had gone out hunting early and stopped by the kitchen window at G and g's on the way home. Brian's hunting report was that "it was so boring all his hair fell out" and he popped off his cap just to prove it was true! My jaw nearly hit the table.

Piano Lessons With Uncle Tody!

First, a little explanation of the post title....Natalie's aunt and uncles (Kate, Brian and Tony) are Tate, Button and Tody to her. So Uncle Tody was helping her with a little serenade after our Thanksgiving pie.H

He'd be a great teacher. See what she can aspire to.

Thanksgiving Aftermath

We had a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house in PI. And in keeping with tradition the guys went out hunting after the meal. The deer seem to be staying safe this year!Cher and I fought off the effects of the wine and the tryptophan and took a fifty minute walk down the Douglas trail to burn off some of those calories. Oliver led the way and if you weren't watching when he was coming to the end of his leash he'd yank you right out of your shoes!I spent the night at Mom and Dad's and this morning we went out to do a little chainsawing after which we had a leftover's lunch with Jill who'd spent the day yesterday on a fifteen hour shift at work. Her call week can be pretty erratic sometimes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Gratitude

In the week before Thanksgiving a teacher asked her class of 9 year-olds to write a paragraph entitled: 'What I am most thankful for on Thanksgiving Day'.
All Joey could write was: 'I am thankful that I'm not a turkey at Thanksgiving.'

I'm thankful to be spending the day with most of my family in PI!

The Season Has Begun

As usual on the night before Thanksgiving we went to the Festival of Trees that benefits Hiawatha Homes. It's a huge display of themed Christmas trees...

...that Jill says really starts to get her in the mood of the season.

Santa was busy in his workshop and soon we will be in ours too!

Tats

Claire likes to have "tattoos" on her arms and the backs of her hands. Today she decided on her toes would be nice too. Does that make it a "tat-toe"?!

Scrappin' At The Cabin

We had a couple days of productive relaxation at Jill's sister's cabin this past weekend. It's billed as a scrapbooking weekend even though only two of the five of us actually did that. Jill's grand plans were dashed when she woke up Friday morning and realized the main project she wanted to work on was still on the sunroom floor at home!But we got some other things done too...there were pictures filed, Christmas crafts started, recipes copied and even some Christmas "baking" got done. A little reading filled in some of the rest of the time.

It was C-O-L-D when we got up there Thursday night. There was even a skin of ice on the lake but we weren't about to try any skating!

The weather and this billboard serve to remind me the Holidays are coming up fast!

And at the latest price of gas we may even be able to afford them!

What's For Dessert?

Looks like it's gonna be pie!!!

Another Party!

We made it to our lunch at Daniel's with Bev and Fay. Though they have great desserts there we came back to our house for some traditional birthday cake and ice cream. But first I made them look at some blog postings (not all mine!) and sit through a slide show of pictures. So they earned their dessert!

A "Line"up And A Birthday Party

For quite a few of the past years we've gone down to NIACC in Mason City for the kickoff weekend of Lorie Line's Holiday Extravaganza. We go to this performance because we can celebrate Jill's mom's birthday by going to the show. The theme this year was Christmas Around The World and as usual there were quite a few costume changes.

The concert was Saturday night and today we had birthday cake for Marty's 85th birthday. Happy birthday, Marty!!

Life On The Farm

My niece and nephew needed alternate daycare today so Natalie spent the day on the farm with Grandpa and Grandma K.

We happened to be out there splitting a little wood when it was time for Grandma to take Miss N back home.

But before she left she did a little inspection of the popcorn Grandpa and Uncle Tony just got done shelling.

Is This Weird?

Most mornings or when I take a nap I wake up with some part of a song going through my head. It happens so often I started keeping track. It can be anything from "Unforgettable" by Nat King Cole to "Lady Marmalade" by Christina Aguilera to "All Summer Long" by Kid Rock. Don't ask me where they come from. One day it was even "Supercalifagilisticexpialidocious" from Mary Poppins. Does this happen to anyone else?

Much Belated

If Aunt Bev had a computer she could read my public apology! I am so sorry for missing this very important blog post. Bevie celebrated her 80th birthday last Friday and now we'd like to send her these belated good wishes. Actually, we're going to have a lunch at Daniel's on Monday to celebrate both her and Fay's October birthday. So the party's not over yet!

Raking In The Rain

Just because I finished the front yard yesterday didn't mean I was all done with the raking. So seeing there's not much better weather in the near future I went out and raked in the rain and sleet. It was warm enough as long as I kept moving but now I think I'm in for a load of laundry because everything's soaked. A week ago today we were on a northern Minnesota golf course wishing for a cooling breeze. Today I'm throwing down the End-Ice since it took me two tries to get up the drive after a trip into town this morning!

Mowing By Moonlight

Since I played hookey last week I'm paying for it this! One of the big Fall chores left was to rake the front yard. The maples finally dropped all their leaves while we were away. It turned out to be a bigger job than I thought. Except for a lunch break I was at it from about 10:30 until 4:45...at which time I thought I had just enough time to get the final mowing done. Thank goodness it was clear and the moon was pretty bright because that was the best light I had to see where I was going and where I'd been!

What A Difference A Day Makes

November is known for heavy skies.

But did we think such a pretty Fall scene...

...would turn into a Winter one by the next morning?!
Whaddya say we put the patio furniture away?