Hiding in the Leaves

This morning, we raked a bunch of leaves together . . .

. . . mainly so the kids could dive into them.

They encouraged me to jump in too, so I did!

When I stood up I heard a rustling sound,

 and discovered that Anna was hiding in the pile

just a few inches from where I landed.

I guess you never know what you'll find in giant mound of leaves. 

No Dumbbells Today

When I was shopping for Thanksgiving dinner this week . . .

. . . I actually found a turkey breast small enough

to fit in our slow cooker without dumbbells. 

As I orchestrated today's feast,

I was once again very grateful that Joy

was willing to make pumpkin cookies . . .

. . . and Anna prepped the sweet potato casserole. Thanks, girls!

And thanks to Daddy for always carving the turkey at dinnertime!

Speaking of turkey, while we waited for it to finish cooking,

we decided to explore a nearby trail.

Every November, people in our area decorate a dozen trees along the town trails,

and we discovered one on our walk today.

The skinny little sapling looked like it had more decorations than branches,

but it was still a treat to see it on our hike.

Time to go home, count our blessings,

and eat ALL the sweet potato casserole!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Revels and Elderflower

Joy requested fun experiences for her birthday instead of tangible gifts . . .

. . . so this afternoon I set my iPhone to speak with an English accent,

and it very politely navigated us to a store called British Delights.

They import all sorts of food and drinks from England.

Joy and I thought it was jolly good fun

to check out all of the unique flavors of soda

(what does elderflower taste like?) . . . .

. . . and candies with interesting names

like Lion, Mars, and Revels.

 I toyed with the idea of buying a figgy pudding for Christmastime,

until I noticed that rum was one of the main ingredients.

Lucky Us!

I feel like November is a month-long invitation to count my blessings.

I'm thankful that we live close enough to a temple

to do baptisms as a family every month or two.

I'm grateful that the leaning tower of peas . . .

. . . produced a handful of little purple pods before winter set in,

and that they taught me some helpful lessons about pea cultivation

that I'll be able to use in spring.

And I'm grateful that my kids enjoy the pictures and memories 

I post on this little blog.

"There is no one luckier than he who thinks himself so..."

Shelter for the Bucket Garden

The mums out by our mailbox were recently joined . . .

. . . by a cute little ornamental cabbage.

It doesn't mind a bit of frost, which is a good thing . . .

. . . because we got a little snow last night.

I hauled most of my bucket garden into our kitchen . . .

. . . until the snow melted this afternoon.

OK, everybody.

Back outside you go!

Cute Little Birdies

Our pediatric dentist decorates her office with her own artwork.

She also has a thing for owls.

We had an appointment this afternoon,

and it was fun to look at her paintings of whimsical birds . . .

. . . then go to the pet store and admire some real ones.

A Berry Thumbprint Sunday

We spent this rainy Sunday . . .

. . . reading a picture-book version of the Bible . . .

. . . playing a solitaire version of Qwirkle . . .

. . . sipping pumpkin bomb cocoa . . .

. . . and mashing some berries from our Burning Bush . . .

. . . to make thumbprint art.

The internet says those berries are toxic

so, uh, don't lick that dragon.

Tiny Crops

This evening at a local library . . .

. . . I attended a seminar about growing microgreens.

I learned lots of info and helpful tips . . .

. . . and even got to plant some seeds 

and start my own little microgreen garden.

It felt kind of ironic to learn about growing itsy bitsy sprouts,

then come home to a pea plant tower sheltering in our family room

because it's too tall to fit in the kitchen on a cold night.

Happy Landing

When is a leaf pile . . .

. . . more than a leaf pile?

When it's a big, crunchy, pile of awesomeness that you can jump into!

Over the weekend,

I lost count how many times Anna and Todd

went sprinting toward Compost Hill . . .

. . . to gleefully crash-land in the pile of leaves we had raked . . .

. . . then do it all over again!

Taking Our Pumpkin Toss to the Next Level

Some of our jack-o-lanterns were getting a little mushy . . .

. . . so we rounded them up this morning

and took them out back for our annual jack-o-lantern toss.

Usually we just throw them down "Compost Hill" . . .

. . . but this time, Joy pointed out that it would be a lot more epic

if we hurled them from the top of the tree house.

Time to chuck some punkuns!!!

Oh, and in case you're wondering,

Joy did not carve a big J in her pumpkin.

That's a chicken in a top hat.

Eight Plus One

It's Todd's birthday today!

Joy decorated the cake . . .

. . . Daniel has the presents ready,

Anna has her Birthday Face on . . .

 

. . . and Todd has some carrots to go with the delicious

Trader Joe's mac 'n cheese he requested for his birthday dinner.

Happy Birthday, Toddlet!

I love your cheerfulness, your passion for math,

and the earnestness with which you approach everything you do!

Daniel's Classical Mashup

Daniel performed his Suzuki Book 5 concert today.

In the past he did double concerts with Anna,

since they finished their books around the same time . . .

. . . but Anna is still polishing some of her book's final songs,

so Daniel performed on his own this afternoon.

Since he didn't need to leave time for a sibling to play after him,

he decided to add a bonus mashup of Koelling's "Rhapsody Mignonne"

and Soler's "Sonata 84."

I knew he was planning to do that,

but the transition caught Anna completely by surprise.

I imagine it was like hearing someone start to sing the national anthem,

then suddenly switch to "Jingle Bells."

Speaking of random surprises,

whoever requested this license plate

has a very dry sense of humor.

Hints of Winter and Fall

I looked out our back door this afternoon . . .

. . . and spotted a little junco on the deck.

That means winter is right around the corner . . .

. . . but for now it's still fall, my favorite season of the year!

This evening we decorated our traditional Day of the Dead gingerbread

and talked about memories of Phillip's dad.

I also scored a lovely bunch of decorative pumpkins at the farm stand

(they mark all their pumpkins down to $1 at the end of October).

The weather is still warm enough for a family bike ride

once or twice a week.

Maybe the pretty purple pea blossoms out in my bucket garden

will get a chance to form pea pods before Jack Frost

comes south for the winter.

Fingers crossed!