I Am Thankful For...

If it weren't for "Cheesy Noo Noo's" I don't know what my five year old would eat.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We are having most of my husband's family up from Indiana and our next door neighbors over for dinner. I hope to take pics of the preparation (and mayhem) and will post them later!

I am truly thankful for all that we have and for the good health of our family and friends. I am thankful that America elected Barack Obama for President, he WILL turn things around for all Americans.

From our my family to yours, may you all have a wonderful day with your families and friends. God Bless.

Doohickey

Pronunciation: doo-hik-ee; –noun, plural -eys. Informal. a gadget; dingus; thingumbob.
a way to describe an object when your mind is in such a clutter you can't remember its' name because you are pressed for time. similar in meaning to thing-a-ma-jig.

I was working here in the family room while Michael watched "Word Girl" on PBS Kids when one of the words that Captain Huggy Pants said popped out and made me chuckle, "doohickey". I'm so glad that our young children are hearing words like this so they will live on for generations to come. Seriously. My Gramma B was a darling little Irish Lass and she had a seriously quirky vocabulary and a great sense of humor. She also made the best peanut butter cookies (with the fork tine crosses in the middle). I miss you Gramma.

Check this out

If you want to start or end your day with a smile and a few tears, please look at this video. It has been out there for a few months but I just saw it for the first time this morning. It just made me smile and pray that hopefully, we can all get along with each other. You might want to scroll to the bottom and turn off the Christmas Tunes. Enjoy!


Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) from Matthew Harding on Vimeo it's amazing!

Aloha Kakahiaka

Good morning! As we start our day here in Illinois with the first snow of the season, I wanted to share with you some photos from our honeymoon to the beautiful island of Maui.

We signed up to Bicycle down Haleakala - the bad part was getting up at 2:00 a.m. - the nice part was the incredible views and watching the sunrise at 10,000 feet!


Here we are ready to bike down -wish us luck! It was actually a little frightening for me and I was happier on the second leg of the ride. When I was little, I had a major wipe-out on my bike on an oiled dirt road - I had dirt, rocks and oil embedded in my shins, elbows and palms.



I'm on top of the world!



We made it! Here we are 28 miles later at sea level, Baldwin Beach in Paia.


We had a wonderful honeymoon. We took our car on "the road to Hana" - what a blast we had! We went with another couple that we met at our hotel and stopped off at waterfalls and beaches along the way.







It was a nice day, watching the sunrise from 10,000 feet and watching the sunset on the beach in Lahaina!



Have a great day, Mahalo!

Shades of Autumn

Last weekend we went to Stades Pumpkin Farm in Spring Grove and had a wonderful time! Stades has it down pat - there is a corn maze, wagon rides, pony rides, hay mountain, pedal cars and lots of stuff to keep the little kids busy. You have to get tickets for most of the rides, but they don't gouge you on the price. For us "older kids", they also have a Pumpkin Cannon - it is a riot to see the Pumpkins get launched into outer space!



If you didn't want to trudge through the pumpkin patch to get your pumpkins, there were plenty to choose from near the entrance.



Our little corn angel!



You could also ride on a combine -


They had a fine collection of antique and modern farm equipment.






All in all, it was a lovely day and we'll be back again next year.

The Franklin Cider Mill

On our way back to Illinois from our weekend in Michigan, we stopped at The Franklin Cider Mill for the world's best Apple Cider and Cider Donuts - yummmmmm! The place was really busy and has changed some but the cider and donuts are still as delicious as ever.





Long lines of folks hungry for the wonderful apple delicacies that await them inside.



A sign that is posted and explains the history of the mill.



The water wheel that powers the mill. This is a new one, painted Candy Apple Red.



This the original governor that controlled the speed of the water wheel when the Franklin River would rise.



A shot of the Franklin River, an off-shoot of the River Rouge that runs behind and thus, powers the water wheel. The bouncy things are new - I guess they needed something to entertain the kids. When I was little, we used to just run up the sandy hill behind or play on the banks of the river.



Delicious, fresh apple cider made from Honey Crisp apples - the nectar of the gods! *Cheers*

A "Spooky" Show and Tell

I had a special delivery yesterday - oh goodie!! Would you like to see what is in the box?


Yeah, it's my order from D. Blumchen & Co.!



Look at the adorable party favor baskets!



Retro Halloween Cutouts -






Some decorative festooning and garland - oh, I can't wait to decorate - do you think it's too early for Halloween???



I also got an adorable book of Halloween Stickers.



I wonder what Ron has up his sleeve for our outdoor decorations this year. Here's a post from last Halloween. 2007 Halloween


I can't wait to visit Visit Kelli's Kelli's Place for more wonderful SNT posts! Have a wonderful day and weekend, everyone!

Show & Tell Friday - Still Life

Happy Friday! This week's post is a short & sweet one. We have guests coming this weekend so I'm getting ready for their arrival. This is a painting that my Mother painted about a year before she became ill. She took beginning art classes and created some very lovely oil paintings. I recently had this one re-framed and it now hangs proudly in our family room.

Visit Kelli's Kelli's Place for more wonderful SNT posts! I have really enjoyed contributing and reading other's, its a lot of fun!

Tuesday's With Michael - Photographs and Memories

I was down in the basement this morning doing a little cleaning while waiting for Michael to get home from Kindergarten and I ran across a storage bin of Michael's old clothes. In this bin was this cute onesie that he wore during his first Christmas. Also in there was the adorable Santa suit that I dressed him in to take his first Christmas photo. I can't bear the thought of donating them so they will go into my cedar chest for safe keeping.

Also this morning, I had an email that the photography studio we went to a couple of times, Sadies, is closing. :( The photos they took were outstanding and I have uploaded a few from his "first professional shoot". I hope you enjoy looking at our little one. The past five years have just flown by. Now, he's a big Kindergartener, can you believe it?

Here he is in a big pile of Bears! He loved it!



I had this one made into a black and white photo, it looks like it could have been taken in the 50's or 60's.



This is a close up - these photos have not been retouched - don't you love those cheeks?



Here we are, one happy and blessed family. What fun we had that!

Show and Tell Friday - Crocks and Stuff

Happy Friday to everyone!

I wanted to show you some crocks that I have gathered on my travels. A friend of mine gave me this before she moved to Arizona. It's in my guest bedroom and has a basket of flowers on it usually, but I'm in the middle of putting in the fall flowers.



This one is in my foyer and I change the flowers with the seasons. I love this bunch of "faux" hydrangeas!


One of my dearest friends had this crock made of our house. We were married in 2000 and bought this house that same year. It sits on a cute table in my foyer.





Here is a photo of that table in the little nook. The clock was made for my Mom from the Bradford Exchange some time in the 70's. I love it! The little photo of Michael is one my most favorites.


I hope you enjoyed my little post. Wishing you all a wonderful weekend. Visit Kelli's Place Kelli's Place for more wonderful SNT posts!

Old Friends

A few weeks ago, a friend and I decided to go visit some old friends - of the Equine variety. We used to go to a local stable and groom and take a few school horses out on the trails in the forest preserves. The stable we went to was sold and the land re-developed. The farm/stable relocated about 20 miles from the original place and we wondered if any of our friends made the journey.

We were happy to find out that many of them did! Here is my friend with a cute Appy named Ticker. He's in his 20's now but still in good shape. His owner just uses him for walk/trot lessons.





This is C.G. He used to be a barrel racer. What a nice horse, fun to ride.



It was nice to see them again and smell the barn smells - I miss it. In fact, this has spurred me on to find a local stable so I can start lessons again this fall!

Show and Tell Friday - My Kinda Town

Chicago Is! For this week's Show and Tell, I have decided to show you around the great town of Chicago! I moved here in 1986 and have loved every minute of it! Though we now live about 60 miles northwest of the city, it's an easy commute by train.

This past Sunday we decided to take the Metra train to the city. It was a beautiful, no humidity day. Michael got a kick out of the train ride.


We stopped for a photo op at the river near Monroe Street.



Look up, waaaay up....(gulp)



After 9/11, I can't say that I've been too keen on going to the top of the Sears Tower, but I'm sure glad that I did...what a view!

I'm on the top of the world, looking down on creation...



Michael had a blast!



This photo is from a side of the building where you can look straight down to the river.


We took a water taxi to Navy Pier. This is a great way to see the wonderful architectural buildings here.



I worked in this building for 8 years, boy, those were the days! I worked for two awesome companies and am very grateful for the opportunity to learn from the best and to explore this wonderful city on a daily basis.


Love the name of this boat! Remember the Seinfeld episode?? Makes me laugh to this day!






This is the new Trump Tower that is going up. Some people have already moved into it. It's across from the Tribune Tower.



When we got to Navy Pier, we took a ride on the Ferris Wheel, it takes 7 minutes to go around once, nice and slow so you can enjoy the sites from on top.








Beautiful skyline. I hope you have enjoyed my little tour of Chicago.



Visit Kelli's Place Kelli's Place for more wonderful SNT posts and have a great long Labor Day weekend!