Moving Day!!!

HSOY's Dog House


Bob At The Hilton


Bob Covered In Dust...the last several months


The Back Of The Gingerbread House


The Treehouse Kids' Club


One Part Of Three For Santa's Workshop....Those are not candles. They get bulbs on top once it's in place.


Bob is moving the village tonight. He and several drivers will be pulling out of Tom Lemmon Drywall around 11:00, and I will be on the curb cheering them on. Here are some of his creations loaded up and ready to go. I am so excited for Yuma! Opening night is December 10th at The Quartermaster Depot. I'm sorry the pictures are so dark. I tried to get there before the sun went down. No such luck.

Two Thanksgivings!

We went to Grandma's for First Thanksgiving. We had to go without Bob. I lost Bob to the Christmas Village he's building for the Visitor's Bureau long ago. Then we headed in town and had Second Thanksgiving at Tom and Patty's. It was a busy day, and I was feeling very under the weather, but we ate well and laughed much.

I sure appreciate all the trouble our hostesses went through this year. Thanksgiving is typically my favorite holiday. We make time for family, we eat, and we give thanks. It doesn't get too much better than that.

My favorite part: Games with my brothers in law.

Boys...

I won't post too many pictures as examples, but I jumped on to blog Thanksgiving and was loading my photos on the computer. I was feeling bad about how few I had taken (blame it on sickness), and I see there are 66 pictures!!! I'm watching them load, and I'm seeing a lot of child nudity. Lots and lots of butts is all I'm sayin'. Looks like two boys and a cousin got a hold of my camera. Too much funny.

Typical.

My new prized possession is now crushed. Any guesses?

The Obligatory Halloween Post.

We all know how I feel about Halloween. It's just one big stressful, wasteful, idiotful (my own word) day.

As far as Halloweens go this one was a little less painful than usual.

There was one funny thing. Tiny wanted to be a gorilla, and he saw this costume at WalMart and insisted it was a gorilla. What Tiny wants...Tiny gets.

Quick To ASSume!

I don't know that I specifically said it was the boys who spilled the paint. I was quick to assume it was them. A day later I spoke to the boys about the incident, and they informed me it was a sister that caused the paint to spill.

Said sister wanted them to get down from the scaffolding. They would not listen, so she shook it to scare them into coming down (my boys don't scare easily). They didn't come down, but the paint sure did.

Pictured is our carpet forever ruined, the paint can, some handy artwork found in the gameroom, and today's mess in our storage pantry.

"You May Not Want To Rush Home."

I was just about to leave work today, and I'm chatting with some of my favorite ladies when I get a text from Bob that reads, "You may not want to rush home."

I opened the attached image to find this:



Now, I'm posting this for a couple of reasons. The first reason is because these types of "incidents" are what started this blogging craze of mine. If you are new to my blog please read posts past. If you are a veteran of the blog then you might need a good laugh or a reality check, so please feel free to review. The second reason is I want to remember this forever. My husband took care of everything, as always. "No complaints" (past post, as well). Third and most important reason for blogging this is to document my mother's reaction...

Let me begin by saying this is not the same woman who raised me. It just can't be. I call to tell her the boys knocked a gallon of black paint off the top of some scaffolding in our game room, and it's everywhere. Her response? "Well, you're lucky it was just paint. It could have been a lot worse, Babe. It could have been one of the boys."

Who is this lady?! Friends, do you have any idea what would have happened to me if I were to spill a gallon of anything on her carpet when I was a kid...much less black paint? One time I snuck nail polish into the bedroom (huge no no), and my sisters and I were doing our nails. We were taking a rest, and the bottle spilled on the headboard (nickel size). Of course, Mom smelled trouble and came looking for the open bottle of polish. I have never seen her more mad than that moment.

It's official. The evolution has occurred. Pat Downing is a grandma.

I did fail to mention, I tried to get the polish off by scraping it with a metal cuticle tool.

Special thanks to Jesse's Carpet Cleaning for coming to the rescue. Beautiful work with a smile.

Kibbee Is Progressing...At Least I Think She Is...

This is Mallory's third year in gymnastics. I'm so impressed with her and her accomplishments. Some of her moves come naturally, but she has really had to work at others. Some of the kids on the teams seem to do it all with ease and grace while others struggle. Before each practice I tell Mallory, "You don't have to be the best. You just have to work the hardest."

After practice I will ask her how she did, and I will ask if she was the hardest worker. This includes no whining. I hear absolutely zero feedback from any of her coaches, but from what I can tell it seems she is holding her own. Mind you, I am no expert, but I'm so proud of her and her constant efforts.

The teams from Gymnastics World had their first performance this weekend.

This Is A Joke, Right?

My sister, Katie Kat, and her awesome friend, Robert, were perusing a new bookstore today and found this little treasure.

She of course, texted me a photo of it right away.

Unbelievable on so many levels was my response.

1. Who needs Cliffs Notes for a Nicholas Sparks' book?

2. This little, yellow book means professors and teachers out there are requiring a Nicholas Sparks' book to be read for their classes.

3. There is actually a teacher's guide to go along with this gem. Unreal.

4. I am floored that someone has the audacity to shelf this yellow book along side truly great Cliffs such as Jane Eyre, The Good Earth, Moby Dick, Pride and Prejudice, To Kill a Mockingbird.

5. I especially love the photo featured of Slick Nicky right on the front cover. That is sure to sell some copies.

Thanks for the smiles Kat and Robert!