Late October -- Ahhhhhh...

I'm going to let this batch of pictures show you what we've been up to during this last part of fall.

N prepped her own pear, and, naturally, turned it into art.



In keeping with the kitchen theme, this picture is proof of N's accomplishment of cooking her first supper for our family!! Mac & Cheese w ham squares, and a green salad with 9-year-old chopped tomatoes. Mm!



Here's little Jabba parked in the leafy back yard!



The children have worked and played a lot in the yard with the ABUNDANCE of sticks and leaves that have fallen off the huge trees around us! These are in no particular order....



Here is J acting like a king on --under?-- his throne. He picked a stick out of the pile and held it up as a scepter; it's hard to see in this pic.




I was ssssso proud of the boy this day!! He picked up probably 50+sticks from our yard and our back neighbors' yard, first moving them all into a pile in our yard, and then hauling them to the stick pile at the side of our yard. He did all this work by himself, with no complaining, and taking only one break.














Many pictures have been taken of our house these past few weeks. The ones of the inside, and some of those taken outside, are by Dad during their visit.







The family room serves well as a guest room.





This is our fall view from our front door.


I took some pictures around our neighborhood. These pictures were all taken within four blocks of our house.















Of course, fall means the flowers have to die. One morning when it froze the night before, our Nasturtiums had -poof- died, literally overnight.



Jeremy shot this with his phone. My boys. :))



Justus was super-happy when he got the bedside lamp he requested so he can read in bed.



Two Sundas ago N made peanut butter cookies in the afternoon while Jeremy & J napped and I made a trip to Wal-Mart. We didn't get the cookie mess completely cleaned up until, actually, the next day; she made it through only half the dough and we were set to finish it on Monday. Well, late that night I noticed Jabba had 'gone missing'; I'd been at the computer, where he usually sleeps at my feet. When I called he didn't come. Strrrrange. I searched for him, and was very, very surprised to have found this!! (I'd bought the Bounty at W-M and hadn't put it away yet.... argh!)



I guess, then, it's not really all *thaaaaat* surprising that Jabba was rrrreally sick that following week. He never threw up, just stopped eating, became lethargic, and bony. :*( (sniff, sniff) He is on the mend now, thankfully. eek!

While the carpet dried after being shampooed, we killed some time at a mall where there's a large sporting goods store. N & I shopped the mall; Jeremy & J tried on coonskin caps, evidently!



I slipped and fell on ice last night. Ooo-eee, it hurts worse every time.... I'll still hurt tomorrow, but it seems I'm just bruised. And then, Saturday before last, our garage-door-needing-repair fell on me; I was stupidly standing under it while Jeremy was working on it. (duh!) It broke my ear! Seriously!! lol It came down hard on my ear/shoulder, and it seems a piece of cartilage snapped off. It's been 10days now and the spot still hurts, and I have an ear bump where there didn't used to be one. hmph (eye roll)