Thanksgiving (finally)

The Thursday before Thanksgiving we made these turkeys
Ellison Die hand print made it easy to cut up lots of hands...haha I painted the cups while I watched TV one night. The kids glued on the ice cream spoon (head and neck) and the eyes and "feathers" and Voila! A cute table decoration.


Turkey puppet on display
Thanksgiving day John and I flew out of Orlando...up to Huntsville AL. We left mid day...no crowds...no weather...smooth sailing (thank goodness!)When Brenna picked us up she did not give away the fact that Megan had in fact arrived earlier in the day! Megan was in the kitchen waiting when we got back to Brenna's. I had talked to her Wednesday...she and Marcus met up with Ellen and Erik and Anna and Rob and Shane in DC for dinner. None of them gave it away either! At Brenna's we ate the turkey and all the side dishes...yum! Especially enjoyed the sweet potatoes and the cheesecake Brenna made using my dad's favorite recipe. after we ate...here's what we did! haha
Friday when we ventured out to a few sales...Brenna told me I needed to wear her boots...so I would look like a local. (after she saw the shoes I intended to wear...haha) I liked those boots!
scenes in and around the house...it felt like Thanksgiving! Cold/cool...bare trees....nice.
Her neighborhood is in an older part of town...some of the streets/houses are on the Historic registry. Many built in the late 1800's early 1900's. Interesting. In certain areas...the older homes have been added on to...they look simple from the front...then you notice that they go all the way back...very nice. Lots of pretty decorated wrap around porches.
I would have to say it was not the prettiest town I've ever been to...but it was interesting...and I would have to see it again when the trees are full of leaves to get a real feel for the place.

I was determined to find some leaves still on the trees...and I did. as John and I walked
up to the local coffee shop...I gathered a variety of leaves....
John thought that was funny...




We had a nice long weekend. Now it's back to work...they gave me two days off...but scheduled me for 26 hrs now that I'm back...it's hard to get them to actually give me a day off...haha no wonder everyone is always scrambling around trying to use up their leave before the end of the year
they don't let me use it...they just work around the time I want off....which isn't completely bad...but sometimes....................................... Anyway............now I am working on getting ready for Bunco next Monday, putting up my tree...which I never put up this early...but since I'm hosting Bunco...I decided to go for it. I'm making sure I am ready for tomorrow's story time and figuring out how I am going to have time to do everything I need to get done tomorrow....so I better sign off and get ready for bed.

Some Halloween stories and more

It's almost Halloween and there's too many stories to read! I visited my friend's class today and read a couple of books. I'm saving some of these for Storytime. Nancy Shaw's- Sheep books are always simple and fun. Sheep Trick or Treat is about the sheep trick or treating around the barnyard. Each animal offers it's own type of treat...like dried up flies, hay, clover...it's cute.
The Halloween Kittens by Maggie Kneen is a sweet little book. The cute illustrations and flaps to lift make it perfect for story time.
Add the little gold sparkle on the pages and it's sure to be a hit.
Fun cats hanging on the back "porch"
Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler is a cute story about the skeleton who wakes up with hiccups. hic, hic, hic...and nothing he tried worked to get rid of them...so his friend Ghost finally decides to take matters into his own hands. It's fun! (I had never seen this one before...even though it's been out since 2002.)
The Foggy Foggy Forest is another good one for Story time. The first page is a silhouette...then you lift the page to reveal all sorts of fairy tale folk out and about in the woods. Little ones have fun guessing "who" is on the next page.
Room on the Broom is another book that's been out awhile (2001)..but I've never seen it before it was returned to our library last week. I was drawn to the illustrations and the rhyming story...but it's a little too long for my group
It could be a little too scary too...but it's a cute story about all the friends working together.
For the 1st graders I brought some other favorites. The Biggest Pumpkin Ever is a nice little story about Clayton (a town mouse) and Desmond (a farm mouse) who both find the same pumpkin and help it grow, Clayton wants to win the prize for the biggest pumpkin...Desmond wants the biggest Jack-o-Lantern ever...they have both been fertilizing and watering the pumpkin and helping it grow....and they make a deal so that they both can win.
I think I mentioned The Scarecrow's Hat last year...it's just a cute story. I used it last week when our theme was Scarecrows.
and I can't forget one of my favorites...Space Case by Edward and James Marshall. A "Thing" comes down from outer space on Halloween night and joins right in with the Trick or Treaters...haha I love how Buddy's father doesn't even notice thing when it comes home with Buddy. That and the fact that Buddy earns an A- for his project...which is the thing doing math rpoblems on the board...hahah...reminds me of some teachers I've known...haha.


We made some paperbag scarecrows...pretty easy and each one had it's own personality...the kids enjoyed them.

I love these fall themes!

The End of September

Well, it's finally fall and we got our first hint of cooler weather. we had lows in the upper 60's this morning! Finally!
Last night John had a plan for the us to take the boat over to Ichabod's Dockside in Melbourne Harbor for dinner. Reid, Amy, Jordan and Chandler were going to join us. Right about 4:00pm it started to POUR in Melbourne Beach. It let up a bit by 5:pm when I got off work...but the dark clouds were still hanging low. I wasn't sure the boat ride was going to happen.
Reid was sure it was going to clear up (and it turns out he was right) so he and Chandler came over in their truck and hitched up the boat. Amy and Jordan met up with the guys at the boat launch at the Eau Gallie Causeway. I opted to drive...I had been standing all day and didn't want to stand on the boat if the seats were all wet.
As I came down the Melbourne Causeway...I saw the boat turning into the harbor. I parked my car and walked up as the boat pulled in and parked by Ichabod's. The place was packed...but we managed to get a table outside,over looking the harbor. We had conch fritters, fried mahi fingers, and John and I split a Teryaki Mushroom Burger...Yum! I enjoyed a nice split of champagne and it was a pleasant evening!
It was a nice end to the week and the end of September. I love October!...Halloween decorations, cooler weather and everything. (at Storytime Thursday I read about apples and pumpkins and when I said the word Halloween...I had 12 little kids all telling me what they were going to be for Halloween...princess, fairy, fireman, Cinderella...I love it!)
I have come to the conclusion that being 54 is a lot like being 13-14...some days you just feel "out of sorts"...nothing is really wrong...but everything feels wrong. I had a day like that on Tuesday. I was frustrated and for seemingly no reason at all one minute I was fine and the next I felt like I was on the verge of tears. Earlier in the day we had talked about our plans for watching the big game on Sat...JOhn had come up with a plan...I wasn't so sure...and he said "It'll be fine...you'll be fine." (and it wasn't a bad plan...it just wasn't what I had in mind) And I think that's when I "lost it"...haha I was just tired of always going along with the plan...or whatever...because that's how I am.(at work...at home, etc) I said to myself...&*^% it! I took a bike ride to clear my head...and decided I was going to call a friend and make a plan for the weekend. David was supposed to be in the Maitland Art Festival this weekend. Linda and I went two years ago and enjoyed the venue...around a lake, at night...very nice...so I decided we needed to go. Linda was game...actually talked me into it...I wanted to go but wasn't sure...she convinced me we should just do it. John said "Go!" and so later today we are heading over...David or no David. There's a great restaurant right across the street from the art fest..."Antonio's" I am hoping they have the squash soup on the menu again this year!... Record lows are expected tonight (11 degrees below normal!) so it will be perfect! Low 60's...clear skies...I can't wait!...not to mention a chance to catch up with Linda...who I haven't seen in months...it's a good way to start October!And I feel much better!
This morning while Kiena and I were walking around the block...I spotted these leaves...proving that even in Indialantic Fl...there is a hint of fall in the air and on the trees!
I am listening to music (of course) as I type this and as a coincidence..Jimmy Eat World - In the Middle is playing as I type..."Everything everything will be just fine, everything everything will be all right!" hahaha

Sky Writers in flight.....

It's been really nice out the last few days....FINALLY!!!!!!!!! It's cooled off a bit and it's finally feeling a bit like fall is really here. It's so nice that even the clouds were smiling last week....
Hahhaha...as you can see there was a sky writer...haven't seen one of those in a long time...but it was fun to watch... after I parked so I wouldn't drive off the road
His(?) message...GOD = Love and what a beautiful blue sky for a background. Unfortunately...it wasn't long before some clouds moved in...and just like a gigantic Etch-a-Sketch...the message was wiped over and gone. It was fun while it lasted and a nice message to start the day.

Ahhhhh Fall!

It's a beautiful day and here's Kiena enjoying the fresh fall air!
We finally got our first touch of fall! A cold front made it through and we had temperatures in the high 60's! Woo Hoo!
I'm slowly putting out my decorations....including this wreath I bought many years ago...and forgot I even had it. Well, let me clarify, I to tend to buy things, put them away and forget I even have them...I KNEW I had this wreath somewhere, but couldn't seem to locate it.Periodically I'd look around for it and finally I began to think it was a casualty of the hurricanes in 2004...when we had to clean everything out and store it while we rebuilt the house. I had an idea where I thought this wreath was...but could never seem to find it. So ....imagine my surprise this past summer when we were looking for something else out in the garage (no attic) and while I was shifting boxes around I spotted the wreath-sized box that did indeed hold my Halloween wreath. What fun! so .....it's out on the front screen door for what it's worth. may have to round up a cute purple or green polka dot bow Next...I'll start getting out my cute little pumpkins..................