Kansas City Thanksgiving

Last Saturday we drove to Kansas City for Thanksgiving at Blake's grandparents' house. As you can see, it was a big meal with lots of family there. I appreciate this picture of my back, because it is about the only one Larry took of me where you can't see me with a mouth full of food! It was all delicious!
While we were there, Blake's Aunt Mary Jo brought horses by. Landon, who will be 3 at the end of December was SO excited, because he really likes to ride horses. This was James' first time on a horse and he really seemed to have fun!
He also had fun running around and playing in the leaves. It was a really nice day and we enjoyed the chance to relax and visit.

Nutmeg had surgery on Monday, as she had a big growth in her mouth that was moving her teeth. The surgery went well, and they didn't have to cut into the bone like they thought. Just gums, and she lost a couple of teeth. But, she is eating fine now and is enjoying all the cheese she gets when I am sneaking medicine into her. And Joey enjoys the cheese he gets because if Nutmeg gets cheese . . . Although, Monday was a rough day for Joey. When we went to KC, we took Amos, the loaner cat, back to Danielle's family, because he kept running out the garage. So, on Saturday, Joey sees us put Amos in the car, and we come home without the cat. Then, 2 days later, I put Nutmeg in the car and come home without her. Joey seemed to be laying low and keeping his distance from me that day, until Nutmeg came home.

James is finally getting over his runny nose, but I don't like the sound of his cough. Grrr. But, we go to get his flu vaccine tomorrow. I've been feeling off and on yucky, but am good now.

James and I met with his Parents as Teachers educator yesterday. That is always nice and helpful. She was pleased with how well he's doing, and now that he's over 2 we don't have to adjust for prematurity anymore. He's where he should be, with the possible exception of the fact that he really drools a lot. The runny nose isn't helping.

Well, that's the news!

I am thankful for . . .

DIERBERGS! Since the family Thanksgiving isn't being held until Saturday, we still wanted the festive food without all of the leftovers. So, I ordered a meal from the store: 1 1/2 lbs. of turkey with gravy, an extra pound of gravy, 8 rolls, and 3 sides (I chose stuffing, artichoke and spinach casserole, and sweet potatoes) for $34.99. They said it served 4. They are so wrong. Or they are serving 4 NBA players. Blake made green bean casserole, and I made pumpkin pie and mashed potatoes. We had so much food left over. It's not even all shown here. I love Thanksgiving.

Of course, I am thankful for much more than Dierberg's. That's just the least corny, mushy and sentimental thing to write about. (And it was seriously a lot of good food!)

The Birthday Weekend

Blake and his brother-in-law, Shawn, have birthdays that are one day apart. So, this year, they celebrated together at the Mizzou-Kansas State football game. Danielle works at Kansas State now, but everyone still cheered for Mizzou. But, to get there, we had to drive from St. Louis to Manhattan, KS. It took much longer than mapquest said, but mostly because we gave James some play breaks.First, we stopped in Columbia to let him play at Cosmo Park. It was so much fun there! I can't believe how many times I used the trail on this park when I lived here and didn't realize that the playground was so great. But, I didn't have a child then . . . so why would I know that? And wasn't this tree beautiful?
James climbed these stairs all by himself more than once. I was nervously watching at the bottom, and Blake was standing right by him. James loved these long slides. I wish it hadn't been a weekday and that I'd known we'd be there so I could have met up with a friend or two.
We haven't taken a car trip with James since last Christmas. There is a reason for that -- he screamed all the way from St. Louis to Kansas City and back. So, we were extremely relieved when he fell asleep on this trip. It wasn't a long nap, but he did sleep, and he was never fussy on the trip. Yeah!!!
We enjoyed getting to see where Danielle works. It was such a nice campus! We also got to meet several of the people she works with. They understood that we were cheering for Mizzou.
No birthday candles, so Blake and Shawn blew out votives. Still festive, and the cake was good. And all of the other food. I wasn't exactly on my wellness plan during the trip . . .

We had fun visiting with everyone: Danielle, Shawn, Cameron, Landon, Larry, Debbie, and I got to meet their friend Gustavo, from Brazil. He was in the states for a few weeks and joined us for the weekend. He rode with us back to Kansas City and tried to teach James a little Portuguese. On the way home, we stopped by Les Bourgeois Bistro to look around (it was closed). This was the site of our first date, and is a prime contender for wedding location. If the weather is good, the wedding would be outside here on this path overlooking the river. The biggest down side is that they really don't have a good place for the wedding party to get ready. And I like space! But, everything else is just about perfect for us. What do you think?

29 Years Ago Today . . .

Blake was born!!! Happy Birthday, Sweetie!

Why has it been so busy?

This week has been long, and busy. Not quite sure why it has been so busy, but I know part of it was because I spent 2 1/2 hours at Lowe's STILL trying to get a couple of doors put in our house. Blake has been working on this with them for months now. I am really developing a fondness for Home Depot. Because Lowe's has REALLY worn down my patients. The week was also partly busy because we had to get our heater fixed. But now we know what not to do to break it next time! And I found a good company to come out, unlike the plumbers I called before who made me nervous to be in the house with, and the handyman who drilled through our cabinets. And the week was busy partly because my workouts have become longer since I've started my wellness class. I'm really liking it. In addition to wellness assignments, there are also scrapbook layout assignments. For the first week, it was about fitness and fitness goals. Here are mine.



Now just follows a few random things about the past week.



Among the cheap post-Halloween bargains I found was this wig. So, here is what James would look like if he were a girl. And a devil.

We took the dogs to the dog park. They had fun, but it was a lot of work to get them to run around. Nutmeg, being part greyhound, looks so pretty when she runs. But she is old, so mostly she just huddled near us. Joey enjoyed going around sniffing and peeing on everything.

At the same park is a paved trail that I really like. It's only about 3 miles long, but it is quite hilly, and I get a really good workout there, even when I don't go very far. So, as Blake, James and the dogs loaded up in the car to go to the other side of the park for a playground, I took the trail over to meet them.

Here they are, coming down the slide. We all had so much fun there.

It was such a nice day, and the previous weekend had been affected by our colds, that we took the dogs home and then went to Augusta to Balducci Vineyards. The drive and the trees were pretty, and Blake got another opportunity to fly his kite.


I enjoyed the wine and cheese. And, of course, both photos of me during the day show me with a mouth full of cheese and crackers. Thanks, Blake.

Those are all of the adventures I will share for now. Things seem relatively calm at the moment, so I think I will take a break, watch a movie, and work on Christmas presents!

Elmo Begs for Candy

James had so much fun trick-or-treating, and so did we! He quickly learned what to do, although he had to make some adjustments -- He learned to go knock on the door to get candy, but when a family was sitting on their porch handing out the candy, he took it, then tried to knock on the door for more!

He was a WILD child later that night, though. Running around at full speed for at least an hour. He hadn't had much candy, so we think it was just a lot of excitement. I tried to take a video of it, but as soon as I was distracted with the camera, he grabbed a pen and started stabbing poor Nutmeg. I had to intervene.

I went shopping today to buy cheap Halloween decorations for next year. Tried to buy costumes, too, so James could play dress-up, but they were gone.