Happy Thanksgiving

Thanks to God for all our Blessings. We have so much to be thankfull for. I have a short moment to send greetings here. I have to go to work night shift tonight and then go on my day shift home health care job tomorrow. We will be taking my lady out to her brother's for Thanksgiving dinner early in the day. Tonight I will be at the brother's house. Hopefully he will get some sleep, so I can rest. So then we can all be rested for the big Thanksgiving feast tomorrow. It is also my home health care's clients birthday. Lots of their family and friends will be there. Then when my shift ends at 4:00, I head over to mom and Archies for our dinner. John and his dad will meet us there. Yesterday I made my two pumpkin pies at one job, today I made two apple pies at the other job. Luckily I get to bake during my shift. I'm saving an apple and a pumpkin pie for dinner at the clients home and the other two for my mom's. I'm getting hungry thinking about my favorite meal--turkey, stuffing, cranberries!

Sweet memories of summer days...

Since my blog is rather new, I have many pictures to post from this past summer. And maybe even older pictures I'll be showing here. Brings back a longing for the warm summer days, now but a memory.

Ellie and I

Ellie, Chloe, Leah posing here!

I'm in the far background, a few doorways back. I just love this picture! It was such a fun day. My grandaughters were staying with us for a week, so we took them exploring.

Is this war torn Iraq?

Not really. This was taken last summer on a day of exploring our area. This is the ruins of the copper smelters in the Copper Country. It is an interesting place to see. A real piece of history from a long time ago. This is my daughter Leah standing amongst the ruins.

Busy time of year

Life is so busy right now. Its time to start Christmas shopping, baking, get ready for Thanksgiving, deer hunting for hubby, bazaar and craft sales to hit, sewing projects

for gifts, long work hours, anniversaries--Mom and Archies, my son Chad and Chelsea's,

two birthdays--grandson's Jeb and Will. Also got to clean my house, shampoo the carpet,

new dog takes up time, days are short, vet, doctor and dentist appointments, and on and on!

Wish things would slow down so I could take a breather and enjoy a lazy day with a book, or

a long walk with the dog. Oh how I'd love to take my camera and go out into the woods, or

take time to pick some stuff for fall and Christmas arrangements. Oooh yes, I still have to get

into the garden and pick more carrots, beets and I believe I have a couple of purple cabbages

that I hope are still good. I'd better get out there today. Where does time go?

Right now, at least the snow has melted. I think we are having a touch of an Indian Summer.

They say that after the first snow fall, it melts--then we have a couple of days of warm summery weather. Well, today is not exactly summer feeling, but its warm and very windy, and a little cloudy. It was hard to walk against the wind this morning with the dog. Charley gets a little nervous in the wind. It felt good though, to have a warm wind and not have to wear gloves

to keep warm. I love a warm wind. Soon the cold winds of November will be settling in and the snow will start flying.

Last year on Christmas Day.

In this shot we have another one in the picture. She is Jen, Vanessa's mother-in-law. What a gem she is! We all look a little tired after the big Christmas dinner and cleanup. So often we take the pictures at the end of the day when we are all frazzled and worn out after the long day of eating, visiting, and opening gifts. I think I'll work at getting some great shots taken again this year.

Here's a picture of us gal's taken last Christmas at my sister Janice's house. From the left: niece Holly, sis Jan, sis Kathi, me, and daughter Vanessa. We sure had a wonderful day and Janice and John's. We often drive down to the Detroit suberbs for a few days during the Christmas season. My John has close to two weeks off at that time, as Mich Tech closes campus. I'm looking forward to going again this year.

Comfort food for cold weather days!

I absolutely love coconut! So I made this pie with coconut milk instead of milk. It is an Impossible Pie with eggs, sugar (I used xylitol) flour, butter, coconut oil and coconut. Its
called an Impossible Pie because it forms its own crust on the bottom, after you mix it in
the blender and pour it in the pie pan and bake. Its neat how the flour settles to the bottom
of the pie pan. The top is browned and a little crunchy. The middle is custardy. Mmmm... good!

Wall displays

I've added a few pictures of my purse display shelf in our bedroom and my apron collection in my kitchen. The last one is looking out the window of Leah's bedroom, showing the last of the fall colored leaves last week. Wish we could hang onto the gorgeous color a little longer!

How can I fix my posts?

I don't like the way the words are running along the pictures. When I preview my post it shows up differently and looks nice. When I publish the post it comes up running along the picture all broken up. I've got to figure this out...

Charley

Here's Charley! We've had him now for about 4 weeks or so. He sure is a good dog. Today I took him to the vets for his shots and a check for worms. I found he had a problem with his anal glands. Poor thing was so miserable lately. They were drained and now he seems much happier. We took a long walk at my mom's house and I spoiled him with some dog treats and new high quality dog food. I've been so concerned about the dog food scare in the news. I got the vet to recommend a good brand for him. He sure is beautifull after a bath and a daily brushing. I love the fluffy look of his fur after he's been brushed. Now that we've got a cover of snow on the ground I think I'll make him a nice warm fleece coat to wear.

The kids bake sets that I made for the bazaar were a big hit for mom's with children in the 8-12 year olds. I had alot of fun making them. I found homeade mix recipes on the internet and mixed them up, printed the recipe card along with baking tips for kids and directions. I added a cookie cutter, spatula, wooden spoon, and the neat rolling pin my hubby made out of a wooden dowel. I can't wait to get creative and do brownies, cakes with frosting, along with the added bake pans and mixing bowls in kid size. I made some last year and they were a big seller.

These are some of my things that I made for the bazaar. Tote bags, kids purses, pin cushions, tooth fairy pillows, kids bake sets, decorated glass blocks, etc.

Show now, tell later...

I've got to hurry off to work. Another 10 hour night shift. Our craft bazaar was great! I can't wait to fill in the details here when I have a minute. I wish I could have taken pictures of the gal's house that we held the third annual Well Kept Home Bazaar at. It was set up just like a shop for one day. The house was loaded with talented ladies arts, crafts, and bakery. More later...

I just love this one! Can't you tell dad is just itching to get Landen on this bike!

Coming home!

This one is of Vanessa and Andy leaving the hospital with Landen and big sisters Chloe and Ellie back in May. What a happy day that was!!

My sweet grandson

My son-in-law sent me these pictures of our grandson Landen. Aren't they just beautiful? I'm so proud. He is only 8 months old and has been through alot in his short life. He was born at 2 lbs. 10 oz. He was in the hospital for many weeks in the neonatal intensive care unit. Thanks to God Landen had no major setbacks and is healthy now. I just wish I lived closer to see him often. We hope to make a trip downstate for Christmas to see him and his two sisters.