Thanksgiving

Grandma Bonnie came to visit for Thanksgiving weekend.  We had 2 delicious turkeys that Eric prepared, one in the deep fryer and another on the grill.  Our friends the Basile's came to feast with us.  After dinner the boys all played football on the front lawn.  It was a really enjoyable day!

Grandma also had the pleasure of a private baritone concert from Ben.  Ben really likes playing the baritone with his 5th grade band.  

Teenager in the House

 Nick is 13!  

We celebrated Nick's lucky #13 birthday with a dinner out to Red Lobster.  Nick had crab legs, his favorite!  

Then on Saturday we took 2 car loads of boys to Top Golf for golfing, food, football on the TV, and fun.  

Nick had a smile on his face the entire time.  

Nick always asks me to make his cake, which I love.  This year he asked for a golf course cake. I had a good time decorating it.

The boys all played football ball after eating cake.

At age 13 Nick loves all things sports.  He is playing and watching whatever sport is in season. He has dreams of becoming a sports broadcaster some day.
He is kind to others and is admired by his brothers.

November

November happenings.....

Holy cow, we've had our first measurable snow fall already.  It accumulated to about 3".  The neighborhood boys gathered in our front yard for snow football!

The boys and I went to Illinois to visit family, Daniel was in town!  He is in the Air Force, stationed in Florida.  It was so good to see him and hear about his adventures.

Last Saturday I went to a class to learn how to make a winter greenery arrangement and look what I made!  I surprised my self with my talents.

Eric and I had a fancy night out for a benefit last Saturday night.  

The Cub Scouts toured the Boone County jail recently.
They were released from jail, just in time for supper!

Ben and his Baritone

Ben is playing the baritone in the 5th grade band, just like his brothers did!  He had his first concert, an Informance.  The band performed their songs while explaining the ins and outs of being in a school band.  The parents had a chance to learn to play, and then perform a song, on their child's instrument.  It's a whole lot harder than it looks!

  

Playing in the leaves

Nick and Ben were raking leaves to play in and Ruby and Louise joined in the fun!

Celebrating Grama

We celebrated Grama on November 2nd.  She has been battling cancer for almost a year.  We all got together at the nursing home and took over the cafeteria!  We all pitched in to proved a delicious meal of fried chicken and all of the delicious sides to go along!

Later that night we left all of the under 21 crowd at John and Chrislynn's home and we headed out for the night to listen to a band and enjoy just being together.  

It was a beautiful day.

Before we left Illinois to head home we visited with Grama one more time in the nursing home.

The boys shared with Grama their latest happenings at school and all of their activities and projects, Halloween costumes, latest soccer season, and the fun times they've had.   It was a sweet, quieter visit than the day before.  

Halloween 2019

Halloween festivities:

Piano concerts in costumes.

Carving pumpkins.

 And finally, trick or treating!

It was a snowy, cool night which didn't phase these 3 a bit!

Nick and Sam went with friends in the village and Ben joined his buddies in the larger neighborhood next to ours.

But first we trick or treated in our neighborhood!

Eric and I went to a party as Dairy Queen and Burger King.  

The kids shouldn't have all of the fun!