Thanksgiving Service Project

 Each month Sydney and I meet with a group of several of homeschool families called Maidens of Virtue. The focus of our group is to build stronger bonds and learn with some of our like minded friends and to train our daughters to be strong and virtuous young ladies. We learn scripture and have Bible stories that pertain young women.  This month was a lesson and service project for Thanksgiving and giving back.  The girls (and some of the brothers) made cards for a sick child who has been in the hospital for a while and for our respective fire departments.  The girls baked pumpkin bread, made muddy buddies and white chocolate popcorn. There was enough for each girl to take a loaf of pumpkin bread and several bags of sweets plus a card to give our neighborhood fire department.

  The girls are so sweet to help with the littles. The little one that Sarah is holding is not her sibling. And see all of the family photos in the dining room? They were taken by our hostess who happens to be the same photographer who took Sydney's pictures last spring. She and I have the exact same camera but she knows how to use it better!

 Sydney and her friend in the kitchen...

Older girls filling bags...

 Yum!

 One of the little girls gets in on the action...

 Littles in the kitchen making Muddy Buddies...

 Some of the families have brothers so were outside making cards...

Misty teaching a Thanksgiving lesson. 

After we finished the lessons and treats many of us went to a nearby park where a craft fair was being held...there were tables set up in the pavilion with samples of salsa, cupcakes, hair bows, Pampered Chef, Christmas wreaths and everything else you can think of.

Saturday afternoon Sydney and I went to the fire department to drop off her care package and it turns out the fire fighter who greeted us was her swim team coach's brother! Sydney enjoyed it so much that she wants to do this again for Christmas! Maybe cookies next time.  She loved the Muddy Buddies so much that we came home and made a batch for ourselves. They are the perfect holiday treat because they are quick, super easy and oh so yummy! You can find the recipe on the back of rice Chex cereal.

Thank you Misty for opening your home to all of us for this fun project!

Linking to Savvy Southern Style Wow Us Wednesdays

Well it's about time!

Rick and I have been remodeling our house for EVER!  Now that we are done with the hard stuff, we turn to the very much needed replacement of our old sofa and chair. We bought the ones we have 16 years ago when we bought our home. They held up very well for about the first 10 years before the fabric began to disintegrate right before our eyes. Held together with duct tape and a quilt thrown over it to make sure that it lasted until all of the work was done. Anyway...we originally wanted leather, then we got scared, then I found one I loved and got scared again. We have 2 cats (de-clawed) and 1 dog. I went back to the furniture store and found some fabric sofas I really loved and last Monday took Rick to look at them. I showed him the original sofa and isn't it lovely? Well, guess what..he fell in love with it too. So here are the pieces that we chose from the Bernhardt line so it's good quality and should last a long time. Aren't they pretty?  They aren't in stock so it will be after Thanksgiving before they arrive but I am sooooo excited! We will have to get a light colored rug because we have a lot of dark...dark wood floors, dark entertainment center, dark kitchen table...you get the picture?  Oh and they are so soft and comfy! Here are a few pictures of the Haverty's website...

Fall Decorations!

There many bloggers out there who change their decor with every seasonal change.  I'm not one of them! Here is the extent of my fall decor. Corn, gords, pumpkins and candy corn.  It's just dumb luck that the lamp matches! When I first moved into this house I made a gorgeous wreath for the front door and a friend painted a ghost cut out for my front yard and it was really cute! Both of those items were stolen on Halloween night in 1996 and my front door was egged!  Sorry but I'm a Halloween Scrooge. Not really intentionally but for the last 17 years I have had other things to do. 

 Light on...

Light off...

I think the pictures turned out well and they were both taken without my camera flash.

Mainstay Farms...Field Trip!

Last Monday was homeschool day at Mainstay Farms also known as the pumpkin patch...you might notice that I failed to take any pictures of pumpkins which were gorgeous! An interesting view of an old car...show the rest of it later. We are in front of a really nice

Sydney on a fun bench made from tractor seats. We had perfect weather...it is usually a little warm when we have been before!

Another old car was set up for the kids to sign with chalk...I remember those old cars with the dried up finis. Sydney said it had poop in it...I am assuming cats are the culprit.

In addition to being a pumpkin patch (farm), Mainstay also grows Christmas trees and I think bees.

We also took a bumpy hayride but fun as always. The driver does silly things like telling the kids to look out for the bats when we came upon a tree with baseball bats hanging from it and beware of the bees when we saw a tree with wooden letter "B"s hanging from it. 

A three story tree house with several slides. This is at the top of a huge hill at the end of the hay ride. There are picnic tables and a little playground. There is also a 100 foot slide that goes down the other side of the hill.  Sydney took the slide but I walked!

 Sydney was very good for posing for pictures which is unusual...

The other end of that car!

My little ham taking her picture on the ride home.

After we left the farm we high tailed it to Jill's house for a few minutes before she had to run off and pic up her boys at school! Oh well, 20 minutes is better than none! We got together for lunch on Wednesday for lunch with Charlie and Sydney...twice in one week...score!

Happy Columbus Day!

We don't usually do anything for Columbus Day and I don't remember taking the day off from school other that in 2008 when we went to Six Flags which may or may not have landed this roller coaster loving mama in the hospital for repair surgery! I'm not sure if that did it or not but now my husband has banned me from them. Six Flags is not the same with out them. I slightly pushed the limits this summer when I went with Sherilyn.

Anyway, today we slept in a little and then got dressed and met my friend Tracey and her kids Emma and Christopher at Central Market for lunch and some shenanigans! We always have fun with them. When we first met it was Sydney and Christopher's kindergarten and Emma's Pre-K orientation in 2006. Tracey was the first mom I met at Sydney's school. We became friends and Sydney and Christopher because of their last names and they had to sit together in Miss Smith's class also became friends. Over the years, Sydney and Emma have become closer and boys are at the age where they don't much want to be bothered by girly-ness! Well he's a good sport about it all.

Sydney amongst the pumpkins...that is actually a "neck pumpkin" around her neck!

 Here she is with a larger "neck pumpkin" around her waist...they called it a floaty pumpkin.

Christopher and Emma clowning around with their "neck pumpkin"

All three posing together! Emma Christopher and Sydney.

We had perfect weather today cool but not cold, warm but not hot.  A perfect day for eating outside and playing on the playground. Hard to believe how much these 3 have changed over the years. Tracey is from England and a lot like Mary Poppins...and she used to be a Nanny too!

Fun Valley Part II

 Sydney taking off to find a friend to play with. She was so excited to finally have the courage to take her training wheels! With a little encouragement from Gracie!

Stopping long enough for us to get a picture. You can tell by the pictures what time of day it is based on whether or not Sydney has her jacket on.

Visiting her friends on our day trip to Creede, CO.  Creede is an old mining now tourist village about 30 minutes from Fun Valley. Lots of good shops, good food and very tame furry friends!

Line dancing lessons at the square dance hall for young and old...

I'm sure there is a story to this yellow painted rock outside of the square dance hall but I don't know what it is. Kids climb, slide and have pictures on it all day long. 

It was outside the square dance hall that a lady asked Rick if he was having fun with his granddaughter:)

Colorado Horseback Riding and other fun stuff!

In August we went to Fun Valley near South Fork and Pagosa Springs for a week and Sydney got to 

go horseback riding on Thursday. Her horse was named  "Milk Shake".

 The go for 2 hours up the mountain and back down. As you can see it was warmer on the way back.

 Sydney on the iPad one cool and rainy day. There is a game room that has wi-fi...some of the time! Sydney can't wait to wear this cool hoodie again...it's so cute! I'm ready for cool weather too.

You can rent bicycles rather than dragging your own which is great if you have limited 

space like we do. They have quite an assortment...I love this picture!

We had a great time and more pictures to share later!