No tricks...just treats!

A warm comforting smell wafted through our home today...homemade applesauce!

And another warm comfort...my mother's voice...all the way from Canada!  I've been wondering how their trip has been going sans her suitcase...and now cancelled flights.  What a bummer...having to stay longer in a place that has wonderful memories...and her sister!  After spending all Monday with my sister...I just had to giggle!

Sweets to usher in the new month...some to share and some to...not share!

Our small impact from Hurricane Sandy

Wind...wind gusts that made us wonder if our house would blow away.  Rain off and on.  Snow...snow on the steps and on the van Tuesday morning.  More wind and cold temps...and then quiet.  We have so much to be thankful for!

I spent the day with my sister...watching the storm unfold while we folded laundry.  It struck me how much I take for granted every day!

A fun weekend with Papa and Grandma

The kiddos were surprised after school on Friday!  Papa and Grandma got in much earlier than we let the kiddos know.  Lots of hugs and smiles...and of course...treats.

This pretty much sums up how the kiddos feel every day after school!  It was just a little more fun with two dogs to roll around with.

It is always fun to sit around and talk.  Ted shared his adventures of his trip...and had us all laughing...again! 

Supper had to have a dessert!  "We have company!"  Pumpkin face brownies by our little artists.

We went to the Henry Ford Museum on Saturday.  What a neat place!  It was perfect for our car-loving guys!   Trains, planes, fast cars, history, inventions....so much to see!

Remembering and telling about a car Dad had when he was younger.

There was something for everyone to enjoy!  The girls liked the doll-houses.  "Oh, wouldn't it be fun to live in there...just for a day?"

Playing with the interactive computer screens...listening to the music through the various car eras.

"This was a fun day!  But let's eat!  I'm starving!"  Kiddos...all they seem to want to do some days...is eat!  We shared our new favorite place...Backyard Coney. 

It was fun to share another page in our new chapter with Papa and Grandma. 

For Alisa

The tree the kiddos stood under on Monday...almost empty!  I took this pic for Alisa.  She is going to do a colored pencil drawing for the junior convention and we are talking about doing a fall tree.  She wasn't so sure she knew how to draw a tree.  The neat thing...with our new phone...my pictures are readily available to post to the blog!  Thanks to my husband for pointing out yet another feature...photo stream.  I have too many pictures of colorful trees from the last few days...I don't know why I take them...trying to remember how pretty they were...before we are left with just the brown, bare branches.

The winds of change...

are blowing away all the leaves!  The clouds are beginning to dot the sky in preparation for "the cold front".

I got my "change" back in the form of a ticket after doing the first can/bottle return since our move.  It was a good thing I went early this morning...I had two bags...worth $12.20.  I think the kiddos will like to do this next time!

It has changed a lot since we lived in Michgan!  They once had people counting and throwing cans in totes.  Now...feed the can or bottle in and push the green button when you are done.  Then...wash off the sticky hands with the complimentary hand sanitizer.  How nice of them to provide that!  It still smells just as rank as I remember! 

I picked up a treat.  It was BOGO...and Papa and Grandma are coming tomorrow!  I just know one will taste good with our coffee, right, Mom!?!  I had one...with my coffee...just to make sure they were ok to serve our guests.  Oh yum!  Too bad they are just for a limited time!

A symphonic band blessing

Wednesday night service was filled with many beautiful notes from forty plus instruments.  It was a blessing!  This group from BJU played for the school in the afternoon and then again in the service.  My favorite...Like A River Glorious!

Another favorite...an encore presentation of 76 Trombones!  The kiddos raved about it on the way home, "Mom, it was just like in The Music Man!"

A boy after his Daddy and Momma's heart

He wanted to tape a reminder note to his mirror.  I gave him a dry erase marker to "use on your mirror only".  My heart melted when I saw what he wanted to remember!  Dad uses his phone, Mom uses her chalkboard wall, and Teddy...now uses his mirror.

Moments from Monday

Every store I visit...there are seagulls in the parking lots!  It is funny to me!

Today...a new taste of Michigan!  The kiddos liked it...even though it made them cough!  "Don't breathe when you drink it!"

I stamped with a friend today.  We made some cute fall cards!  Here was the aftermath of creativity.  Ted asked me if I had enough stuff here to do what we wanted to do.  I believe I have found most of "my stuff" to create cards.  I imagine this picture may have him shaking his head! 

The tree in our backyard is pretty right now!  I believe by the end of the week...the leaves will be gone...due to the rain, wind, and cooler temps moving in.

I am drinking in all the beautiful colors.  So many trees are all of a sudden...bare!

Just focusing on the beauty that surrounds us at each season's change...

Great is His faithfulness!

 

A wonderful way to spend a Saturday evening!

The perfect fall day!

We gathered at a neat pumpkin farm with our new church friends.

Did a corn maze...and didn't get lost!

Had a bonfire for roasting hot dogs.

Drank cider and ate fresh apple cider donuts.

Roasted gigantic marshmallows.

Viewed hundreds of pumpkins and beautiful countryside.

Rode on a hay wagon.

It was a neat place!  It was a fun way to spend a evening and the weather was perfect.  We saw the girls off and on...and saw a blurr of red as Teddy played catch and wrestled with the gang of boys. 

It was a quiet ride to our house at the end of the night!

Fresh air...and a campfire...works every time!

Thankful for a Friday delivery!

The new stove/oven works great!  And I have kept it busy...Friday supper, treats, Sunday dinner, comfort food, Monday supper, and afterschool treats. 

Industrious kiddos

When the boys get together...they put their heads together!

A soggy Saturday (when Daddy was gone), four kiddos, saucer sleds, and a hill.

They zipped down the hill!  "It works great, Mom!"

After they were chilled...hot chocolate was the next great idea!

Thursday night turned into a date night!

The kiddos crashed after being outside all day at the zoo.  Ted and I had to go out shopping for a new stove/oven.  I guess, I baked too much the other day and it was more than the old oven could take!  It is very interesting to provide meals without a stove/oven...we used the microwave and crockpot!  We found a shiny, white stove and it is being delivered this morning.  I am thankful for a husband who works so hard and is always prepared...to the best of his ability...for those "unexpected moments".  We had a nice time together walking around the store and then sharing a meal together at Applebees.  These potato twisters are a favorite of ours!

I'm going to try and make them at home...on our new stove! 

Thanking the Lord for His constant provision for our family...in the little things and the big!

A soggy start at the Detroit Zoo

We went on the 3-6th grade field trip to the Detroit Zoo today!  It was raining...hard...off and on.

I had three girls in my group to start...and then added a fourth.

The favorite place was where the chimpanzees lived.  This one cracked me up how he (or she?) was laying and looking out the window at the rain.

The girls were hysterical to listen to!  "Oooo, look...what is he doing?  What is he looking at?  Oooo, yuck!  He is smelling...poo!"  Yes, that is what it was.  Oh, so many other comments and questions about the habitat and ways of the chimps!

This toad seemed as big as the one the Friese boys chased me with one time.  He was huge...and looks so small here!

At the seal/polar bear exhibit...a wall of solid ice.  Mom wisdom..."Nobody lick the wall...please!"

Peacocks roamed all over...but never spread their feathers.  I guess they were having "a bad feather day" like we all were having "a bad hair day"!  Hoods were up and down with the rain.

The rain moved through and the temps dropped!  The giraffe house was warm and toasty.

Hey...the zebras are here!

And then the sun broke through about 1:25pm...with an hour left of our day.

It was so pretty with all the beautiful leaves...the sky...the clouds...

Oh, look, as if we hadn't had enough rain and water for today...the kiddos found the button on the misting fountain!  Oh yeah!

We had a nice day...and walked at least ten miles...I'm sure!  This zoo is much bigger than the Madison zoo!