Ya Ya was at school.  The Banana was napping after lunch.  Dr. Peds was outside fixing things and getting the yard ready for winter, and he asked Mr. SP if he would like to come out and be a "worker guy."  Mr. SP loves being a worker guy.  They brought…

She's been making things like crazy for the people she loves.  Now, if I could only get organized enough to get it all into envelopes and off to the post office. We're adjusting to the darkness invading our early evening and late afternoon hours.  I do so hate it. And…

Since we've been cooped up inside because of the flu and the drizzle, I've been making a lot of bread:  artisan bread (an awesome no knead bread), flax bread in the bread machine, and this buttermilk bread, which is just a delicious treat.  We usually eat bread that more wheat…

The flu has found our house.  I knew it was only a matter of time, and really, things are going very well.  Ya Ya came home from school miserable Friday afternoon, and she was down and out all weekend.  She was home from school today, but doing great other than…

If you pay an extra one time fee for the summer months, our garbage collection company will give you a large bin to fill with yard waste, and pick it up for you each week.  Not having to find a place to haul leaves, grass, and half rotten crabapples is…

 Whenever we are out in the woods, Mr. Sneaky Pants is on the lookout for sticks.  Stick hunting and hiking just go together.  While tromping about the trail, the sticks become swords, axes, hammers, walking canes, rakes, and all sorts of things a knight or a pirate might need.  I…

She says to me today, "Mama, when you get to be my size, you can borrow this pink shirt of mine."  

If you ask the kidlets what their favorite part about the afternoon visit to Pattison State park, they will unanimously and loudly tell you that they loved the swings.  There are two especially tall swingsets at the park near the swimming pond, the kind of swings that have such a…

We were blessed with beautiful weather on the weekend, so on Saturday afternoon, we loaded up the kidlets (with their freshly painted faces from the Harvest Run festival)  and took a quick trip over to Wisconsin to Pattison State Park.  We had visited this park when we were living in…

The Banana and Dr. Peds were up and out of the house early this morning, in time to go downtown and catch the scenic train to see the start of the Harvest Fun Run.  No one was running the regular 5K race from our house, but those two snatched up…