Superhero Tuesday

We made superhero's this morning.  Great Scott! (Superman) They turned out cute.  Nothing moves the blob (blob), like a really good craft.

The Diva, Chuckles, Me, and Big E

The details can be found here at The Brooding Hen.

Mammoth Plant Relocation

With the help of the Giant Man Child and Nonna, we repotted the prehistoric ruffled leaf philodendorn (at least that is what I think it might be). 

Plant in original container

It has needed to be re-potted since I received it.  The challenge was finding something that it would fit in.  Then I had an idea why not re-potted it in a shiny metal garbage can.  It works but the sad part is it is barely bigger than the pot it was in.


New shiny garbage can planter



Bookfair Coloring Contest

The school had a coloring contest for their book fair.  Chuckles was one of the winners.  He got a free book.  He was over the moon. LOL

Black Friday Geocaching

Some people shop on Black Friday but we geocache.  It was especially nice in the morning when the sun was out. We headed to Lynden and picked up a few more caches including one at this cute wayside Chapel.

Nonna, Chuckles, and #1 Son

` Another cache was found in this caterpillar. Those were just a few we found today.

#1 Son with Caterpillar

Happiness Within

I finally completed my Alcan Highway book.  I had done one for Pappy and a mini for Chuckles.  It had been on my to do since July 2010 (YIKES)

It arrived in this box with this on the inside.

It made me pause for a moment. Maybe it was a little bit of a squirrel moment or just deep thought. If it was only as easy as opening a box to find happiness  All happiness has to come within ourselves, at least, that is what I think. It can't be based on things or people. If we seek in those things, we will be truly unhappy. So as I head into the Holiday season, I am going to seek happiness within.

Cinnamon Roll Turkey's

Picture of the Turkey's coming out of the oven

It is tradition.  It is requested by the morning kids.  So we made Cinnamon Roll and Biscuit Turkey's. The Diva's of course is beautiful.  What I love about her is all the thought she puts into her creations.

Diva's Turkey

The boys were intent on putting as much chocolate chips as possible.  I love how they just go for it. Oh well, it is all good fun.



Chuck's Turkey





Big E's Turkey

 Here are our verisions from 2009 and 2010

Happy Birthday BONES!

Happy Birthday BONES!

Welcome to the Double Digits

the Big 1-0!



cold caching

When it gets cold and clear, the tough go geocaching.  Well, maybe not so tough.  We headed out yesterday morning.  Despite the zipper dying on my jacket.  My hubby wore mine and gave me his to wear - sweet isn't it.  We found 10 caches and 1 was a puzzle cache.  A puzzle cache is a geocache were you must complete a clue to find  the final coordinates for the cache.  Needless to say we have only a couple of those we have completed. Our first stop after eating breakfast was Monfort Park in Blaine.  The view was awesome.

We drove around Drayton Harbor and did a roadside cache.  That is Kevin in cache retrieval mode.  It was literally a drop off . He is our guy for those kind of caches.

We made it to Semiahmoo and realized it was the middle of high tide and we needed two caches on the beach so we went to plan "B".  There were also quite a few people out and about - bird watchers and walkers. WE ended up driving up down the spit a couple of times. I can only imagine what people were thinking. The wind was a little brutal. We did a puzzle cache that ended in this piece of driftwood that looks like a dragon.

Chuckles on Dragon

We left Semiahmoo and headed to the heavily wooded Halverson Park in Birch Bay.  None of us had ever been here before.  #1 Son ended up making the grab for us.  It was a bloody hand, nice.

We headed back to Skallman Park in Blaine to find a cache that we missed before. It ended up being in a fake rock. It is the first rock one we have ever found.

Giant Man Child in my jacket

Our last stop of the day was Lincoln Park in Blaine.  We found 2 caches here.  One was called "Forgotten Giant"

Me and #1 Son

The boys found this other "Forgotten Giant'. 


#1 Son, Giant Man Child, Chuckles

 All in all a great day to spend as a family caching.

Home for Wayward Mothers

It is a little sad when you wondered out loud if there is a  Home for Wayward  Mothers and your child suggests you google that.  AND behold something actually comes up.  Of course, it is an imaginary place. 

In my imaginary place there would be no school conferences or if there were it would to be to congratulate you on the brilliant job you are doing. 

There would be no appointments with "SPECIALIST"  believe me they're not that special

Only Happy Phone Calls similar to Happy Meals

People are actually excited to see you and want to know what you think

You can eat donuts every day without guilt

Welcome to my

"Home for Wayward Mothers"

pinterest quote of the day

Source: etsy.com via Lynette on Pinterest

I am in the midst of Thanksgiving planning and pre Christmas Planning.  I am hosting both this year.  Somehow this quote from pinterest seems to fit my current mental state.

Fabric Embellished Owls

On Tuesday, we made these Fabric Embellished Owls.  The pattern is from here featured on Design Sponge  . I wish I had enlarged the pattern.  This was no problem for the Diva to cut out as she is older but the 2 little guys not so easy.  You can't go wrong with a project that includes brads.

Marker Crayon Resist Turkey's

Pink and Green Mama had these lovely slightly cartoony turkey's on her blog.  We gave it our best shot.  This was a lot of coloring.  The boys were a little overwhelmed by the project .

Big E's Turkey photo by the DIVA

Chuck's Turkey photo by DIVA

I probably should of broke this project into 2 parts.  All in all I was impressed by their efforts.  Of course the Diva was all over this.  She was less than thrilled that we were going to color over her turkey with marker so we didn't.

The Diva's Turkey photo by The Diva

Even my fine motor challenged #1 Son did a really good job with this project though it took him twice as long as everyone else.  He really stuck with it.

#1 Son

It's MY Birthday

Today is the BIG 40 for me.  I don't have any fancy plans. I have simply have arrived here. "Make your story worth telling." Oh, I have so lived that motto sometimes to my benefit and sometime to my detriment.

Morning Sunrise

I was really enjoying the sunrise this morning.  I seem to take a lot of these pictures and never share. The colors never come out as bright as I want. There is probably some photography trick to fix this. This will probably be the only bright spot in a rather dreary day.

Book It November 2011

I skipped last months booking it but I am back in the saddle. I am still on that Biography/autobiography kick. I am linking to Life as Mom for her Book It 2011.  Please check out what the other ladies have been reading.

I read Dirty Life: A Memoir of Farming, Food, and and Love by Kristin Kimball .
This book is the story of the two love affairs that interrupted the trajectory of my life: one with farming—that dirty, concupiscent art—and the other with a complicated and exasperating farmer."



Single, thirty something, working as a writer in New York City, Kristin Kimball was living life as an adventure. But she was beginning to feel a sense of longing for a family and for home. When she interviewed a dynamic young farmer, her world changed. Kristin knew nothing about growing vegetables, let alone raising pigs and cattle and driving horses. But on an impulse, smitten, if not yet in love, she shed her city self and moved to five hundred acres near Lake Champlain to start a new farm with him. The Dirty Life is the captivating chronicle of their first year on Essex Farm, from the cold North Country winter through the following harvest season—complete with their wedding in the loft of the barn.  - excerpt from Amazon.com

It is about a CSA farm.  CSA is community supported agriculture.  It was about experience about the farm life going back to the basics.  At this farm, they provide not only produce but protein as well. It was refreshing. 

I also read My Year with Eleanor by Noelle Hancock. Noelle spends a year conquering her fears using experiences Eleanor Roosevelt had for inspiration and motivation.  Some of her adventures included Trapeze, Diving with Sharks, Going to the Morgue, Volunteering, and Climbing Kilimanjaro

"Do one thing every day that scares you." - Eleanor Roosevelt.
Noelle tried to conquer a fear everyday. I am also a big Eleanor Roosevelt fan.  I remember writing a paper in 6th grade about her.  I also have some fears or limitations I put on myself.  I found this book enjoyable and moving. 

"We are constantly advancing, like explorers, into the unknown, which makes life an adventure all the way. How interminable and dull that journey would be if it were on a straight road over a flat plain, if we could see ahead the whole distance, without surprises, without the salt of the unexpected, without challenge."
Eleanor Roosevelt.

Last, I read the novel, Lincoln Lawyer by Micheal Connelly.  I thought it was excellent and a real page turner.  I happen to like lawyer novels so I really enjoyed this.  No, I haven't watched the movie but I just got it from Redbox.  So that is what I will be watching tonight.

Happy Veteran's Day

Pappy WW2 Alcan Highway Canada

To those who have served and all those who are serving.  Thank you for your service!

Birthday Thrift

Mrs Epi took me on a Birthday Thrift trip in on honor of my upcoming Birthday. We hit the road and visited a lot Goodwill, Value Villages, and few others too.  I of course had on my lucky squirrel socks and necklace courtesy of Mrs Epi. I seem to have a lot of squirrel moments defined here.

Below is the pictures of my loot.  The purse however is new birthday gift from Mrs Epi.  I ended up with a pair of jeans for Chuckles, Plant Stand, and Glass Vase. It was great to get away from our responsibilities and just hit the road.  Thanks again, Mrs Epi.

100th Find

We reached a milestone in our geocaching.  We found our 100th geocache last night.  We had several bolos before we found the 100th.  That seems to be our norm.  In a neighborhood in our town,  there are two LARGE JUMBO boulders.  This is where we found our 100th.

Fall Geo Caching

We have the geocaching fever.  Just had to get a few more caches before the weather goes south last Saturday. I was feeling under the weather on Saturday but just couldn't bear to waste a decent day to get out and enjoy the fall scenery. Our travels took us to Sandy Point, Cherry Beach and Point Whitehorn.



Chuckles, Giant Man Child, and #1 Son

 

some of us can't resist



There were lots and lots of leaves on the trail at Point Whitehorn Marine Reserve.  They were huge maple leaves. In some parts, the trail was completely covered. It was a gorgeous fall day. We now have 99 caches found.  Here are some of our previous adventures at Point Whitehorn (2009, 2011)

Halloween Costumes

This year Chuckles decided to be a devil, again. I did replace his light up horns.

Completely out the blue, #1 Son decided to be a monkey trainer.  He came up with the whole ensemble by himself.