our busy week....

 grandma likkel just bought an Erector set for the boys at a garage sale. i LOVED what my baby came up with. a true masterpiece!

 ~J and M~

maxwell's science project. we could have used ANYTHING to build a 'cell' but my dear boy choose cake. if you know max, this doesn't surprise you. :) great job buddy....i think it's a SURE A+!

while i don't particularly ADORE our cat, i have to say, whenever she kills (and disassembles) mice, i always give her an extra pat on the head. one time i even went and got her a fresh piece of ham out of the fridge. just so she knows that dead mice are ALWAYS better than alive ones. (notice the head on the right hand side?) good job, Joe. you've done well.  now go do some more killing instead of sleeping your life away!

my hub LOVES a clean, shiny vehicle!

 carving the gourds.

 really now, could they BE any cuter? i think not.

 heading out to begin the 'teeth rooting process'.

 my buddy, alex dale.

 hailey sue, i love you.

 the gang heading out. we spent the first part of Saturday night in my friend, kathy's subdivision. since they live in town, my kids always hit the 'motherload' of candy.

 sambo and his buddy, cameron insisted on breaking away from the crowd. (i let him) could it be that my baby doesn't actually NEED me to supervise him ALL. THE. TIME?? awww. say it isn't so.

 TEAM LIKKEL

we were invited, for the second half of our night out to attend another party at the Turners. it was a wonderful time of getting to hang out with old friends and even make a few new ones. the boys had such a GREAT time. oh, we did too!

max is bobbin'.

 J & daddy watching the Seahawks get spanked on Sunday afternoon.

 please get down from the tree.

 no, really, GET DOWN.

 the boys have come up with a new game. they huck (yes, ed, it's a real word!) the football toward the peak of the house and then attempt to catch it.

this is a FULL-contact game. someone usually gets hurt. but hey, they're outside running off steam. better outside, than in.

 election day. interesting picture, huh? didn't even realize what it said when i took the picture. but i have to say, i agree.

i'm 100% Republican and i'm NOT afraid to admit it. :)

 my other limb.

 one of my favorite times of the day. what i'll hear, 15 seconds after  taking this picture is:

"i'm starving!! what's to eat!"

it's the same thing....every. single. day.

 love u babe.

 my mom just found this little gem in her storage. this will mean NOTHING unless you grew up in my home OR spent a lot of time there. when i sent my sis a picture of it this week, she cried. isnt' that funny how just a little thing can bring back such incredible memories!?  thanks mom for letting it grace my counter. sister, i'll share it will you....next year, it can grace yours.

 since jack & sam were playing at the Veenings for the afternoon, maxwell got to go pick apples with my dad and i. we didn't really NEED anymore apples but the dutch in my dad & i could NOT let them just hang there at .33 a pound! really, i'd rather have them rot in my garage than know i let a good deal go. oh, wait, that isn't really a good deal then, is it?

 isn't this precious??!

 yes, this was my hubs doing. he actually ORGANIZED the kid's candy. i'm not really sure what to make of this.

i ended up giving them permission to eat every last piece on Sunday. "what the heck? you'll probably get sick (they didn't!) but go ahead and eat it ALL in one day. be done. be done asking me ALL day if you can have just ONE more LITTLE piece." you would've thought they won the lottery.

all the candy was gone within minutes of my giving permission to do so.

(i should have hid some of those snickers bars cuz now i have NOTHING!)

boo.

 this is my latest wall word. my friend, mel came and helped me put it on canvas since we all know, i'll change my paint color long before i get sick of the saying. you must read the words. it's a sweet, sweet saying! a great eBay find!

 jack and Beppe helping me peel all those CHEAP apples. the ones that they're peeling here are the ones that my mom got for  free this past weekend! (my mom is really dutch too!) you'll all appreciate it when you're eating FRESH applesauce and apple crisp at my house in the middle of January!

a bountiful harvest! 

graditute

so, i've been blog surfing.
i do that A.LOT.
since i have done So much blog-stalking over the past week, i forgot where i saw this but i thought this was a GREAT idea. and a GREAT challenge! i know i'm a few days late but jump on in with me, would you?

here's what you do.
get yourself a little notepad.
grab your camera. 
write down and snap pictures of ALL the things that you are grateful for.
it's Thanksgiving month and what better time of the year than this to remember and JOURNAL what you are most thankful for!
come on, i dare you. just try it for 30 days. i'm not promising, but i can almost bet that you'll end this month with a whole new perspective.
for me personally, days can go by without me even thinking of blessings in my life. sure, i know i'm blessed but how often do i look, REALLY look at the world around and THANK God for my blessings. SPECIFIC blessings.
i'm up for the challenge.
hoping you'll join me.
i've even got a grand idea to have a 'guest' on my blog. at the end of  November, email me your list and i'll post it here!
DO it....you'll be GRATEFUL that you did!

birthday idea for jack...

i found this taped to our bathroom mirror.

just in case, you were stumped on what to get Jackson for his birthday, he spelled it out for you.

there, now you know. :)

leftover pie?????

just for the record..this has NEVER, in the history of the world, since pie making has begun, has THIS ever happened.

i. dumped. a. piece. of. pie.

you MUST know that this is NO ordinary pie. it's Carmel Apple Dutch pie from the Lynden Dutch Bakery. it's a bit of heaven on earth. if you have never tried this pie, get your bootie down there and treat yourself.

you deserve it.

anywho....a few weeks ago, we had bible study here. if you know me, you know that i don't 'do' pies. i don't bake them. i don't particularly love them. i eat them only on very special occasions OR if i happen to have bought a LDB Carmel dutch apple pie. THEN i eat pie. a. lot of pie. since my hub and the wubbens hub LOVE this, i bought one.

AND i didn't have to worry about screwing up desert.

now here's the part that is worth blogging about.

this piece sat there so long, after the fact that i ended up dumping it.

it's a crime.

i should be jailed for it.

but...would YOU eat pie, no matter how heavenly it is, with flies mating on it?

i think not.

but don't think for one minute, it didn't cross my mind.

cuz it did.