Picture of the Week

Okay, dear readers, I know you think I've really gone looney this week but bear with me!   So you are thinking what is the big deal, everyone has a microwave.  But wait, not everybody.  For the last seven plus years I have not had a microwave.  Yes, that is right and no, this was not little house on the prairie.  When I bought my house it did not come with a microwave.  I had intended to have one installed over the cooktop but after measuring I realized the microwave wouldn't work there as it would be too close to the cooktop.  I was reluctant to give up some of my nice countertop space and as time went by I adapted to cooking the old way, without microwaves.  So I never bought a microwave oven.  Honestly, I never really missed it but I did get funny looks from people when I mentioned that I didn't have one!

Last week I got to thinking about reheating all those wonderful Thanksgiving leftovers and how nice it would be to pop those plates into a microwave oven and have a quick re-heat.  So I broke down and bought this one.  I've quickly remembered how handy they are and have been popping everything in there to heat.  I'm having to adjust to having food hot faster, though.  I've grown used to putting food on the cooktop or in the toaster oven and then making a salad or whatever while the food warmed.  With the microwave there is far less time to prep other items so I've re-learned to coordinate meal prep on a faster scale.

A Little Jam Session

The boys had a little jam session tonight!  Sounded mighty good, too!

And I got this little guy to stand still long enough to get this picture.  Love the shirt, although I think he is 100% nice!

Picture of the Week

The berries on my nandina bushes are just starting to turn red, a sure sign that Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner.  This year the bushes were loaded with buds and with small berries during the summer but, as in most years, the birds ate a few and (ahem) little fingers pulled a few so the crop isn't as plentious as I had expected.  But that is ok.  When Jaydon walked outside on Saturday the first words out of his mouth were, "look, the berries are turning red"!

I've always liked nandinas.  I think my grandmother had nandina bushes somewhere around her house, can't remember where but I'm sure they were there.  And I've enjoyed these bushes around the deck.  Whether it is a bright fall afternoon or a gloomy day in January the cheerful berries are a welcome sight.

Things I Like About Fall

1.  Pumpkins on a porch or grouped by steps, generally pumpkins on display
2.  Trips to the pumpkin patch to select the pumpkins for the grouping
3.  Cool crisp mornings that turn into pleasant, big blue sky days that melt into chilly nights
4.  Pulling out a favorite jacket or sweater for the first time and remembering how much I like to wear it
5.  Football, any kind, any team
6.  Thanksgiving, planning for it, preparing for it, enjoying it

Creativity-overload

I just returned from several days at the International Quilt Festival.  And I came home with creativity overload. But tonight Jaydon out did anything I saw at Festival.

Jaydon created this Lego football player using a picture from his Lego magazine.  Then he posed for the picture just like the Lego player.  Very creative I thought!

Pumpkin Carving

Here's how you carve a pumpkin for a Halloween Jack-O-Lantern





.  First you go to a pumpkin patch and pose for pictures (to keep your Gammy happy, of course).

Then you look and look and look until you find the PERFECT pumpkin.


You take your pumpkin home, cut it open and scrape out the insides (yucky, yucky).

Carve it just right...

And put it on your porch just before dark.  Light the candle and wait for the fun to begin!

Harvest Festival 2010

Today was our church's Harvest Festival.  This is something that Jaydon looks forward to every year.  On the way to Sunday School (I meet him and his Mommy half way to church and he goes to Sunday School with me and then she joins us for worship) he was chattering away about our plans for the afternoon.  He wasn't disappointed, he had a great time!  And Cameron stopped by for a while, too. 



I'm not sure about the expression on Jaydon's face, but it made me laugh.  He had had his face painted but in the heat it smeared so it adds to the comic look.  And Cameron, what can I say except that he is cute, cute, cute and I got a big hug from him!
 

Sawyer made his first appearance at the Harvest Festival.  He is so easy going and laid back but at the same time he is always eager for affection.  All the children wanted to pet him and his tail almost never stopped wagging.

Dog Tired

I haven't posted about the dogs lately so tonight I caught them napping and got this shot.  They spent the weekend at their vet's office, getting spoiled so they are exhausted tonight.  Jaydon and I went to Houston, had a great time watching Cousin Joey's band compete in a competition and going to a band-less football game.  Both bands were in finals at the competition, so it was a different kind of football game.  I also had a memory flashback as I searched through my memory to remember how to make a Homecoming Mum.  We made this one for Joey's upcoming Homecoming week:

Pumpkin Patch

One of our favorite fall things to do is visit the pumpkin patch.  Last Sunday we headed out to our favorite patch (with lots of room and a very scenic back drop for pictures) but alas, their pumpkins had not arrived.  So we drove over to another one that we knew was stocked.  They did have pumpkins but not a lot of photo spots, and it was in the bright, hot, sun.  So my pictures didn't turn out too great.  I did get a good one of Stephanie & Jaydon that I'm putting here.  If time permits we may try to visit the other patch, if they get their pumpkins!  But Jaydon had fun and we did bring home a trunk load of calabazos for our porches.





Stephanie & Jaydon



Cameron





The little guy and his family visited another patch.  They had a good photo session!  I scanned in this one, he just looked so sweet!  I can tell he had fun. 

And he did something really cute Sunday evening.  He and his family were walking out to their car, having already said their goodbyes,  when he broke away and ran back to my front door.  James and I followed him but as we reached the door he just laid down right in front of the door.  If I had not had to go to work the next day I would have insisted that they let him stay.  He did not want to leave!



Walking

Sunday afternoon Jaydon, Sawyer, and I headed out into the beautiful afternoon.  He rode his bike (with one training wheel attached, I'm sad to say) and I walked Sawyer.  As we walked along I found myself reminiscing about my walking habit.  I'm not sure when I really started the habit of walking.  I remember when we lived in a small town north of here that after the children went to bed I would head out for a walk (no, they were not home alone, their father was with them!).  I know I fell out of the habit for a while but I really don't remember when I started going for a walk early every evening.  I remember taking occassional family walks in our neighborhood, and then I remember it being just Stephanie and me.  Then we added Sniffles, our lab mix who had not endeared herself to me as a puppy.  I think she knew the walking was a way to bond with me and redeem herself, and she did just that.  I also remember the addition of a good friend and neighbor and her daughters to our walking habit.  We had some very enjoyable evenings together.

Then for a while I walked alone with no dogs and in a new neighborhood, faithfully every evening.  Then came another new neighborhood and a house to take care of and grandchildren to love.  My walks were every now and then and I really fell out of the habit of walking daily.  But now I have dogs and, like on Sunday, another little one to walk with me.  So I've started the nightly walk routine again.  Tonight I took all 3 dogs with me and they did great, so I have no excuse not to walk. 

Why do I like to walk?  It is good exercise, I get to be out of doors, and it empties my mind.  I can walk for 30 minutes and think about a lot of things or just nothing.  I see many people in my neighborhood walking or running so I'm not the only one that has caught on to this idea.  Not sure how I got started with it, but I'm definitely going to continue!

Sweet Guy!

Two posts in one night, wow!  But I had to post this sweet picture of Cameron.  I think it got lost on the camera card and when I found it I had an "aaaawwww" moment.  Just had to share this one!

Simple Toys

Jaydon has a nice selection of toys, but this is what he played with this weekend at Gammy house...

All he needs is a box and the styrofoam packing insert!  If you are wondering, the styrofoam was turned into a time machine!