Happy Birthday to Me

we had our traditional turkey tacos
to celebrate my birthday!
yay!
grandma & mom celebrated with us.
mom cooked! thanks mom!!!


the kids were silly

loved having everyone home!

{Thanks}giving

we spent thanksgiving with my dad, janice and my sister's family in the desert this year.
i didn't take any pictures at dad's except the one of shawn's turkey.
YUM!
we had a nice, relaxing visit. suz & i did the cooking,
jan bought the pies {double yum} and the boys did boy stuff
all while dad relaxed in his chair {amazing}


we spent the evening at dad & janice's
and the next morning we headed to ocotillo to camp.
we met up with uncle chris and his family.

shawn took nolan's training wheels off his dirtbike and he did AWESOME!
he layed it down a couple times in the soft sand but picked it up and got right back on!
GOOD JOB buddy!!!

i just love taking pictures of gavin on his bike.
wheelies are his thing!

i grabbed a couple pics of brandon and evyn before we left
the boys to their camping.
us girls wanted to go home and take a nice hot shower!
happy camping boys!

the holiday was nice and trouble free
{with the exception of a minor miscommunication, that led to a lost auntie :( }

Comfort & Joy

saturday was the last class of a year long
block of the month class...
bittersweet

here's peggy's version. so cute


i made the cute acorns that have been floating around the internet
super easy.
spread nutella on the tips, dip in jimmies, and stick half of a pretzel in the top.
done!

not a good picture, by any means
but this was a pumpkin pie, of sorts, in a jar.
really good when topped with vanilla ice cream.
i'll find the original and share it.

and just because i think you'll love these,
this is from the talented mary calton
the pattern is from lori holt from bee in my bonnet
with changes original to mary.

another one of mary's project

and a cute sunflower quilt from nikki

have a great week!
i CAN NOT believe Thanksgiving is Thursday!!!
Take care,

I love this

 

and thought you would too!

A Make-up {ARTIST}

yep. nolan is doing evyn's makeup!!!
and the scary thing is...
he is using the correct brush in the correct place!


no she's not crying, but look at that concentration!!!

 

love this one!

BE-U- tiFUL!!!
well done No No!!!
{let's not tell dad ;)}

Thanksgiving Feast

nolan had his thanksgiving feast at preschool.
he was an indian


a happy, cute indian

happy feasting!

Today...

From Masyn {in a very serious, somewhat concerned voice} 

"Mom. If you don't have a plan for the things that go crazy, your life will be out of control. You have to have a plan for the things that go crazy and then it won't be so bad."

{she's referring to the kids craziness}

From Nolan...{running into the house hollering} 

"MOM, i need your help!" Me, "What's WRONGG?" Him, "There's a LIZARD in the playhouse, I need you to get it!" Me, "NO, you get it!" Him, "NO, I'm scared!"  -   

Evyn, "I get it por you No No"....

From Evyn to Mikaela... "My dad's name is sawn" Mikaela, "Really? Whats your mom's name?" Evyn, "Honey".

They crack me up!

p.s. as i write this, nolan and masyn are arguing, nolan's crying, evyn is trying to comfort him and masyn is TOTALLY irritated that i am sharing all this on my blog!

Thankful...

yes. thankful for all that the Lord has blessed me with, i am.
but tired...i'm that too!

with the ok from a close and very good friend and one who believes that christmas
should NOT come out until thanksgiving is over, i decided that the front porch is the extent of my thansgiving decorations and as soon as shawn returns, the christmas bins will be coming down.


i know. i don't want to hear any complaining.
but sometimes, you just have to do, what you have to do.
and this year, i just have to...

so with that said,
i will leave with you this wonderful quote i found here.
you can download the printable too, if you can't hand draw it.

next up...
CHRISTMAS!!!
{somebody shoot me!}

November's Midnight Madness

was early this month.
this is the quilt we made.
i LOVE this pattern. it is so versatile.



so here's the scoop...

the goods...

the gals...

and the quilts!

i am sooooo grateful to have these women in my life.
i love all of them and they make me laugh.
especially when two {and i won't name names} STEAL caramels!

i am really thankful for the opportunity to "teach" them every month.
i'm not sure how much i teach them, but we have a lot of fun!

happy quilting!!!
i love you all!

A very {HAPPY} Halloween!

and lots of great memories!

 

 

this year we started a new tradition with a great group of friends
and in the words of nolan...
"it was the GREATEST halloween!"

things to remember...
"they're RICH!"{ohhh...masyn...}
"i just wanted to tell you, i like your fish." {love aiden}
new friends, young friends and long time friendships
HUGE candybars
nolan. happy. always.
sara & masyn...hand in hand
wilson was a confused feline {for all of two seconds}
a bumble bee and a {not so} dressed up exterminator :/
"bittersweet" love u kaela
GREAT "haunted" houses!
good food and GREAT cornbread! hehehe
the AWE & enthusiasm of little kids!
and last and still lingering...
"my forehead hurts" poor rose...came down with something the minute she hit the bed.

it was a fantastic halloween.
looking forward to many more just like it!

Pumpkin Carving

 always seems to turn into a competion around here
grandma and i tried desperately to stop it, but to no avail...


nolan, as usual was his happy self.
showing his competitive side, he drew on a piece of paper
how he wanted his pumpkin to look.
so, with dad's help they carved the pumpkin.
he told me later that night, that dad didn't make it the way he wanted it.
hahaha. poor guy, next time i'll help him :)
shawn, of course, disagreed with nolan's statement. of course ;)

masyn...
well. let's see. first she HATES the pumpkin guts and refused to gut her pumpkin.
i almost let it stop there but didn't want the night to go south that fast.
so i cleaned out her pumpkin and started a very small pumpkin gut fight.
{she deserved it}
then...she wanted to carve a sophisticated pumpkin that was waayyy to hard for her.
she got mad and searched the internet for what seemed like forever unitl she found a casper pattern.
long story short.
it was still too hard. she refused help. shawn offered a dozen times. she coninued to decline his help. and in the end they worked together to keep it from falling apart.
can we say STUBBORN!

grandma & rose were by far the easiest going group!
thank goodness!!!
with smiling faces they grandma carved the pumpkin.

this was mikaela's first time EVER carving pumpkins!!!
LOVED that!
she was super focused and gavin was annoying concerned.
he just didn't want her to stab herself.
her's was a lady with eyelashes and his was spoooky!

pumpkin carving! it's all good...