Our Happy Family Thanksgiving

This year we happened to do something different ----

Our son and his wife always spend Thanksgiving with her family, and Easter with ours.  That is a good trade-off and a nice way to share the holidays.  They make time for both families on Christmas so we are very happy with that too. We will see them soon for Christmas and that will be good for all.

Our daughters Erin and Heather both have young babies this year to consider. They decided between the two of them that one would do Thanksgiving (Heather) and one would do Christmas (Erin).  That sounds good too!  They only live five miles apart and do not need to travel so far with little babies. Especially if the roads get bad this time of year. I do not want to force them to trek 75 miles to my house with small children to make it a holiday at my home.  I would rather go to their homes and let them be in comfort with the small ones in their own environment.

It is a bit of a change-up for us because we usually try to attend the Pfundtner Thanksgiving Gathering every year with Steve's family. But we are feeling the pull to the faraway homes with the newest little granddaughters---- especially after both of their difficult entries to this world. Both babies were preemies, and have some health concerns as they grow.  We need to be close.....


Heather and Jesse, along with our oldest grandson Jameson and baby Whitney, graciously opened their wonderful home to the family to attend this year. Jesse's brother Tyler and his wife (also a Heather!) and little girl Scarlett came for the day too... along with our daughter Erin, Waylen and their family of little Chelsea, Clayton and new baby Claire. What a wonderful houseful of family love.

We arrived early to visit and share and see if we could help with the cooking. Nope, not needed... our wonderful soninlaw Jesse had the turkey all under control.  His first bird!!!  And daughter Heather was busy with her delicious sides and desserts.  She had the house all set up for company and we felt welcomed and included.

We all brought dishes to pass and it was going to be one fine feast!  The turkey came out like a picture from a magazine-----

We had everything ready for a feast:

Cranberry stuffing, cheezy red potatoes, corn

 and who can forget the Green Bean Casserole with 

crunchy onions on top! 

I brought my famous calico beans, the traditional Grandma Van's fruit salad and my two homemade pumpkin pies.  OH, and a bowl of Cool Whip.  Can't forget the Cool Whip! LOL  Heather did up a pistachio torte and we brought some cookies for the kiddos too. (Thanks Hillary for the recipe!)

My girls have always loved cranberry sauce right from the can, the jellied kind. No other will do.  Heather showed her supreme skill in removing the delightful dish from the cans... haha

The kids shared a toast with the grownups. Heather was sure to buy non-alcoholic sparkling grape juice for them. It is a tradition when they were little girls to join in on the toasts. I am so glad to see them continuing the tradition with our grandchildren.

They have learned table manners, graceful dining, and 

how to have a dinner conversation. 

They are a pleasure to be around for meals.

Our children are raising their children well.

I parked myself at the Children's Table---- to help supervise a bit, of course.  But also to talk with the kids.  We retold the story of the Pilgrims and Indians... and oh the things that they came up with on sharing and being nice neighbors to each other as the Pilgrims came to the New World.  It was a good ''kid version'' without the harsh realities of some of the details that we adults are aware of.  The kids talked about what they were thankful for.  I loved all their spontaneous answers and enthusiastic input.   They sure are a creative bunch!

With the new babies, I got in some snuggles and play...

Heather was sure to have out some creative crafts and games to

keep the kids busy while the grownups had a chance to visit.

We got to bring along our dogs so they were not left at home alone for so long. It is 75 miles up and 75 miles back to their home, plus a long day of family fun.  Our dogs are very quiet and stay in their crate and out of the way. They were welcome guests in the home too.

The sugar high set in after dessert.  

The grandtots did some silly dancing

and then dive-bombing onto the cool beanbag loveseat they have.

After full bellies, lots of laughter and lots of grandtot noise, we needed to toddle on home. I helped with some of the cleanup and Heather doled out leftovers to everyone.  We are really most thankful for our wonderful families... and for each other.

HAPPY 

THANKSGIVING! 

Mothers Day - Gushy Grandchildren Post

Yes, this is a Gushy Grandchildren Post! 

I get to post it because it was Mother's Day and I earned it. 

LOL   

Sorry to all my RVer blog readers looking for a gem or nugget of RV stuff.
Sorry to my Fiber Fanatical Friends looking for weaving or knitting or spinning.  
Sorry, it's Grandmuddah Pfun Post Time!

I woke up on Sunday morning by getting a nice Mother's Day back rub, then my coffee delivered to my bedside.  Perfectly cooled with exactly three ice cubes and big dollop of French Vanilla creamer.  What luxury!   After some lay-around time, opening cards I had gotten in the mail, my sneaky guy un-hid the hidden planters he had gotten me!

The one on the left is a begonia and some pretty purple flowers a bit like pansies mixed in the basket.  The one on the right is hanging roses!  I have never seen a hanging rose plant before!   Mixed in on top are some tiny blue flowers too.   Steve said the nursery lady told him the roses can be planted later to make a climbing trellis type bush!   So I think I will pass the roses on to Erin to plant in their yard once I am done with it here on the deck .  Soooo pretty and just a riot of color for the gazebo overlooking the river.

We got ready and headed on over to our son Dan and daughter-in-law Heather's house for a Mother's Day cookout!  I had my crockpot of calico beans along and they smelled so good all the way there.  Heather's family was there too.  They made up grilled brats and chicken and lots of nice salads and desserts.   We got in some fun time with grandchildren Mason and Allegra!  My goodness he is already 6 weeks old---

ALLEGRA                                        MASON

Grandfaddah got in some playtime in Allegra's new sandbox.  

She helped her daddy build it, and she even helped to paint it!

After our meal was done, we helped set up Allegra's swimming pool.  I hauled some buckets of hot water from the sink, to help offset the cold water from the hose.  She didn't care if it was ALL cold.  She was having fun and entertained us with her antics. Silly Tiger kept digging in the water, I think he was looking for a way to China.

Our daughter-in-law Heather posed under the tree by the fence for some Mother's Day photos.  The shadows were covering little Mason, and I tried to lighten them up as much as I could.  Heather said we know now for his baptism pics in a few weeks to NOT pose there.

It was a delightful day, and I got in my hugs! 

On Monday morning, daughter Erin picked me up and we drove down to Green Bay.  The grandchildren Chelsea and Clayton were in the back seat, and Chelsea said she was very happy to have her Grandmuddah riding in her car!  We met up with daughter Heather and grandson Jameson.  We all headed over to Colburn Park in Green Bay.   I used to take the girls here when they were small, and the girls nicknamed it "Squirrel Park" back then.  They have a great hill for sledding in the winter.  Sometimes I would drive over to the park with the motorhome in the evenings and let them play with their sleds on the hill.  I would heat up hot cocoa and make a pizza for the kids.  It was wonderful to have the motorhome there for bathroom breaks, drying out mittens, or changing wet boots and socks for something dry to go back out on the hill again.  We would stay well after dark, until the park closed at 9pm.  Then I would drive back the 2 miles or so to our house in Green Bay.  What fun!  So this park holds fond memories for our family.

Back to our picnic:

CHELSEA                               CLAYTON                         JAMESON       

Erin had picked up a picnic lunch from Erberts & Gerberts, my most favorite sub shop! We spread out the picnic blanket and had a great time.  That old red plaid stadium blanket was used for picnics way back before the girls were even born, and it's over 30 years old now, still going strong. The weather was perfect, a slight breeze, temps in the 70's and low humidity.  

The kids had a blast on the slides and teeter-totter.  Up and down and around they went on all the playground toys.  I can not think of a more pleasant way to spend a day. Ahhhhh

We took turns taking care of little Clayton, so everyone got a chance to hold him, feed him, burp him and even change him.  What fun.  We were all on Mommy Duty, and enjoyed the giggles, laughter and shouts of joy from the two pre-schoolers--- and the coooos from the baby!

The kids shared yogurt raisins with each other as a snack, 

and then shared hugs and kisses with little Clayton.  

And, of course, I got in my hugs and kisses too! 

.

Dreary Winter Week ahead of us

Now that we are home from our vacation, we are trying to catch up on things around the house.  How depressing is that?  So I didn't have much to write about all week for a blog.  Once the excitement of the vacation is over, it's not too interesting to read about coming back home and feeling like drudge drudge drudge!

For any of you new readers, here is the first post about our vacation as we took off 2 months ago:

http://kareninthewoods-kareninthewoods.blogspot.com/2011/02/vacation-heading-south-from-wisconsin.html

The bright spots about coming home are the grandchildren!   We were able to go see Chelsea right away, as they live close by and we went to town to get the rest of our mail (Erin had been picking it up for us every few weeks)   We brought her some souvenirs, and enjoyed seeing her again.

At first, she stood far away and stared at us! Almost broke my heart, thinking we had been gone too long and she forgot us!  But soon she was flying into my arms, and cuddling in my lap.   I got lots of hugs and kisses too.  She was her silly girl self in no time.

We brought them a Mexican woven blanket to be used for picnics... 

which little Chelsea sat herself down in the center of the big star to try it out. 

She put on her dainty little Mexican Senorita dress, and was twirling and spinning with the pretty lace around her ankles. It was hard to get her to stand still for a few shots.

We came home just in time... because this week Chelsea's little day care had some festivities planned.  On Wednesday, they had a little parade through the downtown of our city, with the older kids marching and singing, waving pompoms. The younger ones got to ride along.  Here is Chelsea, up front with little Finn on the 6 seater kiddie stroller!   Wave those pompoms, kiddies!

They even went though the local City Hall, in the front door, down the long hall, and stopping at the big banquet room in the back where the Senior Citizens were having their Meal Site day...  they sure enjoyed seeing all the little ones on their parade!  Then out the back door and down the sidewalk back to the day care.

I was invited to a special Pancake Breakfast at the daycare.  And yes, Chelsea even fed me pancakes! 

 And what can be more fun than a box?  They crawl in and out and let the flap come down to hide out... the older kids at the day care center "decorated" it for the little kid room.  How cute is that?

Steve went back to work on Wednesday as planned, but he was coming down with the same horrible flu/cold I had during the last few days of vacation in Missouri. I guess I "shared"  huh?   He felt so awful Thursday morning, that he tried to get ready to go into work, but was so ill he had to get undressed and crawl back into bed. I know JUST how he felt!  You know he has to be REALLY sick to miss a day of work, and especially having tons to catch up on there, it's going to be a long haul for him to start getting back into the swing of things.  Two more people in his department abruptly retired quick while he was gone, in the wake of our new Gubbner Walker Budget Cuts.  Of course replacement staff will probably not be hired.  That makes even more work for Steve's department.    More work, less guys. 

The weather here has been very depressing too.. this is what we woke up on Saturday morning:

Rain, sleet and then finally ...snow... 

Next up on the souvenir list was little Allegra... we drove down to Green Bay on Saturday to see her.  Again, she too gave us the Ole StinkEye when we came in, as if to say: "Who are you Crazy People?"   But soon she was doing high fives and knucks with us,  Daddy put on her little Mexican Senorita Dress to dance around in.

and Mommy showed her how to play her maracas.  

  

What a little nut, she was soon all over the place, enjoying the attention of having her Granmuddah and Granfaddah Pfun come to visit.

We didn't get to visit Jameson as he was gone to a birthday party while we were in Green Bay.
So we will be seeing him on Easter and will give him his souvenirs then.  

We did a pile of grocery shopping at Aldis in Green Bay, and drove back home.

We holed up for the rest of the weekend in our easy chairs, Steveio with his laptop going,
and I, with the sock machine a-cranking.  

I had to finish up 5 pairs for friend Lisa, and 8 pairs for friends Jeanie & Ray and then 4 more pairs for some friends of theirs!  Whew... so it was a crank-a-thon during the depressing dreary icky weather.  

(these are all spoken for--- but I can knit new ones for anyone who wants them) 

We did get a bit of sun poking through the trees for sunset on Sunday, 

so I snapped a few shots from the back deck, through the bare woods towards the river. 

  The water level is way up, about 6 inches below "flood stage" right now, 

and will be much higher before the end of the week. 

Why????  Just look what our forecast says for tomorrow night????

Here is a current Winter Storm Watch for Home (Oconto, WI) until 1:00pm, Wed Apr 20 2011, from your local National Weather Service office. URGENT - WINTER WEATHER MESSAGE NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE GREEN BAY WI 628 AM CDT MON APR 18 2011 ...LATE SEASON WINTER STORM EXPECTED TO BRING A BAND OF HEAVY SNOW TO THE REGION TUESDAY AFTERNOON INTO WEDNESDAY... .LOW PRESSURE WILL DEVELOP ACROSS THE CENTRAL PLAINS TUESDAY MORNING...THIS TRACK WILL LIKELY RESULT IN A BAND OF HEAVY SNOW SOMEWHERE ACROSS PORTIONS OF CENTRAL...NORTH CENTRAL AND NORTHEAST WISCONSIN. THERE IS STILL SOME UNCERTAINTY IN THE TRACK OF THE STORM AND HOW MUCH WARM AIR WILL WORK INTO THE SYSTEM...SO THE EXACT LOCATION OF THE HEAVY SNOW BAND IS STILL IN DOUBT. BUT REGARDLESS OF WHERE THE HEAVIEST SNOW FALLS...THE STORM IS LIKELY TO HAVE A SIGNIFICANT IMPACT ON TRAVEL ACROSS ALL OF CENTRAL AND NORTHERN WISCONSIN. * THE STORM IS EXPECTED TO PRODUCE A BAND OF 6 TO 10 INCHES OF  WET PACKING-TYPE SNOW. ALTHOUGH STILL SOMEWHAT UNCERTAIN...THE  MOST LIKELY SCENARIO IS FOR THE HEAVY SNOW BAND TO SET UP TO  THE NORTH AND WEST OF GREEN BAY AND THE FOX CITIES.