A Merry Manes Christmas

First, there is the cooking and prepping and general craziness that goes along with preparing for our Christmas Eve Open House. This would be ravioli day......the family makes cheese and spinach ravioli.

The grandchildren frost the sugar cookies. When they are finished.....the table, the cookies and the children are covered in frosting, sprinkles and candy. It's a little scary, but they make some very "interesting" cookies. Nick usually contributes his artistic talent and Tommy is good for frosting at least one.

The stockings are hung by the chimney with care, in hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.

The tree is ready.....and the train is set up to entertain adults and little ones. There is nothing like an antique train to bring out the little boy in grown men.

The dining room is offering such Italian delights such as, ravioli, eggplant parmigiana, lasagna (made by Nona), sausage and peppers, bacala', stuffed shells and meatballs. The house smells Divine!

The family is all dressed up in their Christmas finery.

And where does everybody always end up........the kitchen! It was a wonderful night, full of family and friends. Christmas is truly a time of amazing Blessings. Let us always praise his name!

One Act - 2008

The boys were in the One Act Play "The Devil and Daniel Webster". Tommy was Daniel Webster and Nick played the old man (left) and the judge in the devil's courtroom. They had a great season with some of the highest placement in competition that Bergan has seen in years. They had a great time and are sad that it's over. Next....we are on to speech.

Thanksgiving 2008

We love Thanksgiving. The kitchen is always crowded. There is lots of good food and good company.

This year we had to spill over into the sun room.

Taylor and Elizabeth cheering during the annual football game.

And.....Rock Band. Yes, the neighborhood dogs were howling!

The Food Csar has begun!!!

Pete has begun the feast preparations. Here is a small glimpse of the beginnings of the Saturday night feast. What do you suppose requires nine pounds of sour cream?

Today is Elizabeth's Birthday

Elizabeth's party is on Sunday....so this is my most recent pic of Miss Elizabeth. She did tell me that she was having a very good birthday. She had tacos for dinner and strawberry cake for dessert. She was going to open up a few presents this evening...she was pretty happy about that part. So now all of my November grandchildren have had their birthdays.....clearly the month of February is an amorous time in my daughter's lives. The magic of Valentine's Day.

Zach is 5!

Today is Zach's birthday. He is 5, ask him, he will tell you and everybody else within earshot about it! I am unable to upload is birthday pictures and my techie is out of town so the Halloween picture will have to do. Zach had a busy day...preschool, lunch with mommy, icecream with daddy (everybody at Dairy Queen knows it is Zach's birthday too), pizza and cake at home. He is a pretty happy camper. Nicole is just praying he will go to sleep soon.

Today is Taylor's Birthday

Taylor is seven today. There is a slumber party going on in our house right now. We had Pete's homemade pizza, then the gang (Nicole and her two friends, Natalie and Jane, Ashley, Taylor, Elizabeth, Katelyn (Tay's best friend from school) and Zach) went to see High School Musical 3. They just opened gifts and had cake. I believe there is an evening of finger nail painting, hair design and other such female pursuits ahead. I am a little concerned as they sleep (sleep?) directly over my head. Taylor received many arts and crafts supplies....she should be able to stay busy for a very long time. There is a lot of little girl excitement and energy flowing through the house right now and yes, Pete is handling it just fine. He has done a might fine job with the special orders he has received for pizza. He is making more as I type...for the late night appetites. He is just priming himself for our Thanksgiving feast weekend. We are truly blessed to be surrounded by such happiness.



The beautiful cake was made by Natalie and Jane.

Elizabeth, Taylor, Katelyn and Zach.

Halloween

Nick felt his costume (which he wore to school) was a reflection of the economy. I will have to admit, it feels that way sometimes.

Taylor as a lovely, sparkling witch and Zach as a muscle bound Power Ranger. Zach wanted to be a bat...but there were no bat costumes to be found.

Check out those abs!

Elizabeth as a happy pumpkin and John as a lion. Little John would roar upon request, completely adorable.

A Fall Walk

Pete and I went to the State Lakes this afternoon for a walk. We took little old Penny with us and she managed just fine on a 2 1/2 mile walk. Pretty impressive considering that she is fourteen. The day was beautiful, sunny and warm. The leaves are turning and it was very peaceful.

It's Pumpkin Carving Time

Yep, here are my guys again. This year they made me happy by cheerfully carving pumpkins for me with no complaints. I wonder if this will be Nick's last pumpkin for us, or will he come home from college and give us at least one more. Nicole and her kiddos carved pumpkins as well earlier this week (check her facebook) so we will have a porch full this year! It looks like we are going to have good weather this year for Halloween and I am looking forward to handing out candy to all of the little ones. It is exciting when one of my students shows up at the door, they are always so surprised to see you. I believe they think that we all live at the school. I have put off buying candy until the last minute, it's too much of a temptation.

Praise God!

Be exalted, O LORD, in your strength; we will sing and praise your might.Psalm 21:12-13

I need to share my thankfulness tonight. This morning Nick and Tom were in a bit of an accident. The weather was terrible this morning and while Nick was driving to school, a car braked suddenly in front of him. He took evasive action and ended up off the road and took out a road sign. The boys are fine.....again, my thankfulness for the hand of God. The car, not so much. Nick orginally thought he just had a cracked windshield, but it turns out he has a punctured gas tank as well. So he is without wheels for awhile....back to depending on Mommy.

Demo time.....

Pete decided it was time to work on the basement. We have been wanting to take out an awkward pull down that at one time was for a kids train set and a few of the shelving units that formed along the entire wall. We are not crazy...we do have enough storage elsewhere. Fear not nephews and nieces, the wine cupboard still exists! Although, it is very low...hint, hint. Here I am using a power drill to take off doors....I love power tools!

Pete working hard. I am so happy...I have been waiting a long time for these units to come down.

Nick put in some sledge hammer time.

Feeling sad about the economy

Are you thinking that you will never be able to buy anything ever again? Take a look around your home and repurpose. I had this shelf put away because I couldn't figure out what to do with it. It just didn't seem to fit this house. But a can of white spray paint covered the gold and a look in a cabinet found these treasures. My handy husband hung the shelf and I feel as though I have a new kitchen. I have been spending this weekend looking around and seeing if something might look better in a new location. Have faith that God will bring us out of this turmoil and appreciate what you do have.

I love these prayer lady salt and pepper shakers. I am not what era they are from..but they are sweet. The lady on the left says "We give You thanks for all Your gifts" and the lady on the right says "Give us this day our daily bread".

Fall Flowers

The weather has cooled, the humidity has faded and the garden is having a bit of rebirth before it goes to sleep for the winter.

And these are God's flowers. This beautiful picture was taken this summer in Colorado while the kids were visiting with their great grandparents.