A Fun Hand Made Gift

A friend at work is expecting twins (a boy and a girl) in March. Her baby shower was on Saturday. I was going to just purchase something from her registry, but Tom inspired me to make something, so I decided to make bibs (and burp cloths, but I haven't gotten around to those yet). These were fairly simple and fun to make. The pattern called for velcro, but the snaps were MUCH easier. Here is a link to the pattern if anyone is interested.

Catching Up

Here are a few posts to catch everybody up on what we have been up to the last few weeks:

• Thanksgiving


• Mom and Dad's Visit


• CSI: The Mystery of the Scattered Trash


• The Sutton's Visit

Thanksgiving

Tom and I had a quiet Thanksgiving, just the two of us. I spent most of the day in the kitchen. Tom played games and did some much needed yard work.

I decided to try and make everything from scratch this year, it turned out really well. My favorite was the pumpkin pie (made from a fresh pumpkin). The only thing that came from cans was the green bean casserole. We were stuffed by the end of dinner, and had lots of leftovers.

I also picked up another turkey from the store (on sale) so that we could freeze some turkey for sandwiches. The turkey I made for Thanksgiving was 9.3 lbs. The one in my fridge waiting to be cooked weighs almost 20 lbs. We will be eating turkey until next Thanksgiving.

You can see the pictures here.

We have also been enjoying the four day weekend that comes along with Thanksgiving. Lots of resting, quiet time, and of course some gaming and crafts.

Hope everyone enjoyed the holiday as much as we did. We certainly missed our family, and look forward to seeing everyone for Christmas.

Mom and Dad's Visit

We had a great time with Mom and Dad. Woody especially loved their visit. We spent a lot of time hanging out playing pool and ping pong. Tom won the ping pong championship, but Mom sure gave him a run for his money (must be all that tennis training she had as a kid). Of course we went bowling. Tom and I ran away with the couples championship. Mom bowled a great game (147?) to take the women's high game. And Dad... Dad is a mean left handed bowler ;-).

We ate way too much food at several great restaurants. I think the highlight of their trip was our visit to Brattonsville, a historic plantation, where one of the revolutionary war battles took place. See all the pictures here (Brattonsville + a few extras).

The last night they were here we played an all time favorite, minigolf mania. As always, there was lots of laughing (mostly at Mom and Dad). Then the following moring we met up with Tom for a late breakfast at Cracker Barrel before dropping them off at the airport. The weather was quite chilly why they were here. Especially the day they left (hence the freezing faces in the pic).

There time here was way too short, and we miss them already. Having family visit is so wonderful, but at the same time serves as a stinging reminder how much we miss them. Without a doubt leaving family has been the most difficult part of the move to South Carolina.

You are welcome back any time. Oh yah, thanks for all the help with dishes ;-) And, Woody and Vlad say hi.

CSI: The Mystery of the Scattered Trash

The crime scene:


















The evidence: (The only escape route from the kennel)



















Suspect #1:


















Suspect #2:



















After reviewing the evidence it was determined that suspect #1 was too big to fit through the only escape route. Suspect #2 was tried and convicted of disturbing the trash.

"It wasn't me"

The Sutton's Visit

The weekend before Mom and Dad arrived, my Aunt, Uncle, and cousins came for a quick visit. They had been in North Carolina for a wedding and decided to make a quick two hour drive down to see us. They arrived in time for a late Saturday dinner, and left a little before lunch on Sunday.

Although their visit was short, we had a great time just hanging out. For those of you that don't know, my Aunt and Uncle have 11 kids. Only 7 came to visit (3 are married and have kids of their own). That meant I needed to feed 11 people dinner and breakfast. I made two pans of lasagna, two loaves of garlic bread, and a large ceasar salad for dinner. For breakfast I made three quiches (bacon, sausage, and ham).

Chris stayed around an extra day and we went bowling and watched a movie he had brought. He left early the next morning to meet up with his dad to go hunting.

See pics here.

November Already!

I can't believe it is already November. The fall here in South Carolina is absolutely beautiful. I will take some pictures and post them here very soon. The weather is nice as well. We have enjoyed several days in the high 60s low 70s, with clear blue skies.

As always we start November off by celebrating Tom's birthday (Mom's too). Tom requested eggs benedict for his b-day breakfast, and I happily obliged. He then opened his gifts from family.

Jose Manuel came around 12 for a few more games (darts, pool, and 3-par golf). After golf we were planning to go to dinner, but decided to wait until Sunday since we were pretty tired.

When we got home the power was out. I frosted Tom's cake (luckily, I baked the cake earlier that day) by flashlight. Then sang happy birthday to him with just the light from the fireplace and his birthday candles. We spent the rest of the evening hanging out on the couch with the fire glowing. It ended up making for a really nice evening.

On Sunday, we relaxed around the house, did a few chores, hit the gym, and went to dinner at Ruby Tuesday's. Overall, I think he enjoyed his birthday. I will post pictures of the birthday boy as soon as I steal them off his camera.