Snowy Day!

This is what we woke up to... Over a foot of snow.

It's amazing how it drifted -- this is also first thing, before we went out... you can see the clear strip in the middle of the driveway!

Last night, about 7pm, Bob went out and used the snow blower, to get the first 6" or so off the driveway. He got the upper part of the driveway done, and was working on the part closer to the road when the snow blower stalled. He couldn't get it started again, he thought it might be a clogged fuel filter. So he came in, we went to bed, and figured we'd have to shovel in the morning.

So this morning, Bob went out to shovel. I went out to join him - and figured, I'd try to start the snowblower. It started to stall, but when it did, I pressed the primer bulb again and gave it more juice. After the second or third time, it gave up on being stubborn, and just ran. (Bob says he tried that last night. Maybe it was just too cold last night.) So I did the lower half of the driveway with the snowblower, Bob did the upper half with the shovel. The kids came out, Teresa actually got Phillip to get dressed and bundled up, and they worked on the deck and the doghouse.

The kids didn't stay out that long. Bob finished the top part of the driveway and came down and worked on the snowplow snowbank out front with the shovel. He was making progress, but when I got too close to him, he took a break. I finished up, and cleared off the snowblower. He asked if that meant that I was through. I said at the very least I was going inside now, so I cleaned it off. And that the snowblower wouldn't help with that snowbank, that the shovel was probably the only way to get it cleared. Other than having some nice neighbor come push it off.

And VOILA - God sent us a neighbor! :)

Mike not only scooped the snowbank from the road, he also pushed back the bank where my snowblower had ended. That will be AWESOME, considering that when we get MORE snow, (and we will....) we would have had trouble finding places to put it.

We have great neighbors. We snowblowed the last storm, but that first one where it rained after, Steve came down and pushed the slush off for us.

And now that the driveway is clear, (or mostly clear...) we can go back to Snowy Day activities... decorating the tree and baking cookies!

Phillip makes Chex Mix!

Today Phillip made chex mix. He was pretty proud of himself! He did a great job, measuring and stirring, and being safe working around the oven. And it came out great - tastes WONDERFUL - the only problem is, it will be gone soon! I guess we will just have to have him make more!

Thanksgiving Feast!

We had a great Thanksgiving Feast! Teresa made the pumpkin pie on Wednesday, and she helped me with some other prep work. So on Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, we had this wonderful HUGE feast - quite a bit for the four of us!!! :) Luckily, Anne & Alan and Abigail are coming on Friday to help eat the leftovers... so we get to have a SECOND Thanksgiving feast with the same stuff...

Happy Birthday, Teresa

Happy Birthday to Teresa! She turns 12 this month, we had her party last weekend. She had a Labyrinth theme, we made her a Labyrinth cake. We made a chocolate (devil's food, actually!) cake, and frosted it. Her father made the labyrinth on top of the cake using the fudge-covered graham crackers. It did turn out pretty well!

They had spaghetti for supper (and veggies), had birthday cake, and then Teresa opened presents... They also played several games, including Oodles and Pictionary, both before and after supper. Then we put on the movie Labyrinth.

I think everyone had a good time. I know Teresa did!

Friends!

What a fun day! We had Maggie's Baby Shower today. In the picture is Anne, with Abigail on her lap, Liz, Maggie, and me. Standing is Anne McClure (Annie), and Teresa.

Lots of other guests came... lots of food... FUN!

Trick or Treat

Trick or Treat!

This year Teresa is a Vampire, and Phillip is Doc Ock!

We went trick or treating to a few neighbors, to Grandma's house, and to a few friends houses. It was fun. The Doc Ock costume came out pretty good... and Teresa's costume was simple and effective, she put it together herself.

Ahh, memories...

Ok, so this is not a recent picture. This was Halloween back in 2003, when they were 3 and 6. Phillip wanted to be a dragon, and Teresa was a witch. I think that both of the costumes came out pretty good, considering that I put them together fairly quickly that year! Teresa STILL uses that witch cape, it's a little shorter on her now, though!

I wonder what they want to be this year...

First Day of School

Today was the first day of school for Teresa (now grade 6!), and Phillip (now grade 3!). They both had a good day. I got a call at 9:30 to come in to work, so I did that - and took lunch from 2:45-3:45 so I'd be here when the bus brought the kids home.

Take me out to the Ball Game!

We went to the Sea Dogs game today.

It was cool, except that the visitors won.

Before and After!

Aren't these pretty good Before & After shots?? The garage "before" actually after the pressure wash, so it look particularly bad... but it looks SO NICE in the after! The side of the house with the pantry and the back door certainly looks a lot better, too! I will post pics of the whole hosue from the street next - it's just so nice to see! Now it's making us more motivated to tackle those little projects, since the whole house itself looks so much better!

Campfire Time

It's time to have a campfire... The only problem is -- the fireplace/woodpile is really wet from two inches of rain overnight. Never fear, though, Grampie has a way to dry the woodpile and light the fire!!!

We made s'mores, and tried to make JiffyPop... with pretty impressive flames, not exactly edible, but fun!

Fun at Camp

Teresa wants one... don't you think she should have a little white rabbit, to use in her magic shows???


Phillip had a great time steering the boat. He did a good job, too!

Phillip, Teresa and Grammie swimming.


All 6 of the grandkids - Teresa, Zachary, and Michael behind the table, Phillip, Kristen, and Gabe in front.

Boat Ride

We went for a ride on the party boat on Friday evening. It was a little misty out, but not too bad... We did take jackets and warm blankets with us, it was a good thing! It was a fun ride, we did get rained on a little, but enjoyed it anyway!

Happy 4th of July

Is this nutty or what?? Teresa wanted red, white, and blue nails for the 4th of July... so I helped. We did a layer of white. Then we did blue at the base, then the narrow red stripes. They came out pretty good, if I do say so! We almost forgot to take a picture, though, so this is it - you just have to imagine all 10 fingernails this way!