A few more pictures for November ...

The last day of November … already?! The grandchildren were able to spend a few hours today over at my house and I took a few pictures … except the picture just below is from yesterday … little Kaity-girl and Jesse.

When I was visiting at my sister's house over Thanksgiving, my niece and her family came over several times. One of those times we played a game called "Apples to Apples" and had so much fun laughing together. I went out the very next day and bought the game to bring back home to The Beach House. 

The kiddos and I played this game for about an hour and a half today. We had so much fun and laughed so hard! 

We just hung out together for a little while this afternoon, since tomorrow is a school day. Emma made a few more potholders … she does such a beautiful job on these and is SO fast!

And Matthew made one too! He was so pleased! Good job, Matthew. 

I bought some more Origami paper, so we folded some hearts … and I am determined to learn HOW to make some Origami Christmas ornaments before next weekend so that I can teach the children how to do it.

We actually played "Apples to Apples" two different times this afternoon. Once before our Bible story time, and then also after we had finished reading our chapter in our Narnia series. We had such a happy afternoon together. 

Our Bible story today was about when Paul traveled to Troas with his friends. On his last night there, he began to preach in a third-story upper room. Many people had gathered to listen to Paul. One young man, Eutychus (who was sitting in the windowsill), listened to Paul for a very long time but they hadn't eaten yet and it was midnight and try as hard as he might he could NOT stay awake. He fell into a deep sleep and fell out of the window to his death!

Thankfully, God raised him back to life and Eutychus was able to go back upstairs, share in the Lord's Supper, and continue listening to Paul teach all night long until the sun came up! We talked about many things tonight because of this story: The Lord's Supper, the Kingdom of God, and the Good News of the Gospel! I am so thankful tonight for these times with the children. God is so good to us!

How could Christopher be eleven already?!!!

Today is Christopher's 11th birthday. He is having a party over at his house as well as a sleepover tonight with a few of his friends. I stopped over this afternoon to give him a birthday hug, but I didn't get any pictures of him at the time. 

I snapped the picture above last weekend, of Christopher wearing his LIONS shirt … which was one of the gifts I bought for him. He was very pleased with it. It sure seems like last week, however, that Chris was this little smiling kiddo ... 

Aren't those fun pictures of Chris? He is a beautiful boy, and I love him so much.

 Since Christopher LOVES football, I thought I should at least include a few of him in his football uniform for his birthday post ...

 Chris got to play rocket football for the first time this year, for 5th grade, Comstock Park. 

 Chris says he wants to play football all through school and hopefully even play college ball … and then … who knows? Maybe professional ball too!

Christopher loves the great outdoors … here he is hunting crayfish over at Townsend Park … one of our favorite places. 

 I love your smile, Christopher! We have so many nice memories together.

I did snap a picture of the birthday cake his mama ordered for him … nice job, Diana!

 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, CHRISTOPHER!

Thanksgiving in Detroit

Mom and I spent a few days in Detroit over Thanksgiving, staying at my sister's house and enjoying time with family. 

 This is my niece, Shelley, and her husband, Bob! I love them! We actually got to see quite a bit of them while we were in Detroit this time … so thankful for that!

My sister, busy getting the huge meal together in their beautiful kitchen ... 

Terry chatting with Shelley and Bob ... 

 My great nephews, Nolan (6) and Matthew (9) making a movie using my computer's PhotoBooth. They were showing me a bunch of neat stuff with this feature on my computer, most of which I didn't even know existed.

 Nolan (sweetie), fine-tuning his video … I had a lot of fun getting to know these two boys a little bit better. They are special in every way! We did so much laughing together!

 We got to play some games together. I had never played Apples-to-Apples before. It was such a scream! We had so much fun playing a few rounds of this game together downstairs in my sister's newly renovated and beautiful basement.

We tried to get a few good pictures of mom and Ruthanne and I … but since all THREE of us hate having our picture taken, this was the best we could do. Shelley was the photographer here, and we were the rather self-conscious subjects ... 

This one is half-way decent of Ruthanne and I, except it is at the end of the day and we are exhausted … and look it! 

We got to enjoy a nice fire Friday night ... 

 Friday morning, we did a little bit of shopping over at Barnes & Noble and Home Goods, just for fun. We were not participating in the Black Friday sales or anything. We were actually just moseying around a few of our favorite stores until it was time for lunch ...

 Because we had a lunch reservation over at Just Delicious Scones! What a lovely lunch we had too! Quiche and salads and scones galore … and hot tea …. yum! What a great place to eat!

I took a picture of a picture … isn't this a great picture of Terry and Ruthanne?

Our Sunday Thanksgiving celebration

This is our turkey, which browned up rather nicely … just fresh out of the oven! And look at the gravy … nearly perfect!

We had our family Thanksgiving over at Dylan and Kelly's yesterday afternoon (Sunday), because that's what worked for us! I cooked the turkey the day before, carved it up and transferred it to my crock pot for safe keeping, the gravy too, as well as the mashed potatoes and stuffing. Kelly made a beautiful and healthy garden salad and an amazingly yummy broccoli casserole, fruit, AND biscuits just like you get at Red Lobster! 

It had been nearly two weeks since I had seen my Little Fellow … he was very happy to see his Gramma Carol, but was quite sad that I hadn't brought along my "train movie." 

 Kaity-Jane was all dressed up in a pretty holiday dress ...

Oh my …. isn't she sweet?

Matthew was showing Kaity how to work this toy computer, but she wasn't really wanting his instruction! She's a tough little cookie. It was very sweet of Matthew to give it a try though.

Brendan, with his new best friend … OLAF. 

 Thankfully, I had made a double batch of those chocolate brownies. Brendan LOVES chocolate … look at his hysterical little faces while he eats them!

 Below is Brendan's "I LOVE chocolate" face ...

 Me too, sweetheart!

 We sat around the dinner table and chatted for awhile. The kiddo's table was in the other room, just around the corner ...

 Dylan and Jesse in a deep discussion ...

 This is me trying to get a good photo of Kaity-girl with her grandma … but Kaity wasn't really wanting to be in the picture!

 The kiddos played downstairs for awhile and everyone, even the big kids, took a turn on this rocking horse … goof balls!

 You guys crack me up! 

 Brendan showed me some of his favorite ornaments on their beautiful tree. Isn't he the most adorable chunky boy you have ever seen?!

Mmm … what a wonderful grandchildren and family weekend it was! So thankful to the Lord for his goodness to us.