November! Already!!

Is it me, or is the calendar just flying by way too fast? It could be just a little slower for my liking. I'm just saying. :)

Halloween was fun for all. Glenn went out with the girls while I stayed home passing out candy. I thought I would get some knitting in. Yeah, right! What was I thinking? Obviously I wasn't! :) The trick or treating report was that Brenna didn't slow down one bit and skipped the entire time she was out. She was out cold with a half hour of getting changed into pj's. She was one tired punkin'. And it was wonderful to see the kids of the neighborhood getting bigger and to see what they dressed up as this year. Always fun!

I do have one gripe about the candy situation though. I can't believe how much old candy I found in the girls bags!! Left overs from Valentines & Easter for pete sake!!! Really people! Can we not be so freakin' cheap! Unbelievable!!! Okay, I'm done.

I started my sweater last Thursday and have made some great progress on it. I just started my 3rd skein on it last night. I'm so liking how it is turning out! I can't not say enough about the Knitting Pure & Simple patterns. So easy! And no information is left out! If anyone is interested, you can get them here online. You won't be disappointed. I'll show more pics of how things are going next time.

I'm really liking they yarn I picked out for Glenn's sweaters. Too bad it took so long to get here. Oh well, it's here now and all wound up and waiting for me to finish my sweater. I've never knit with bulky yarn before, so I'm anxious to get to it. Both are wonderful to the touch but I must say that the rusty colored one is the fav right now. It's Knit Picks Swish Bulky and it is soft! So far Glenn is liking the colors. He keeps asking how my sweater is coming along. I assume he would like me to hurry along with mine. LOL!!!!

I finally got my tail outside on Monday to take the Halloween decorations out of the front yard. Afterwards I realized that there was some major leaf raking to be done. So being that dinner was in the crock pot, the girls and I went on to tackle that. The girls are still amazed at the amount of leaves we get in our yard being we only have one pine tree on our property. They forget that we are surrounded by trees thanks to the neighbors and the wind helps with the sharing. I don't mind raking. Kind of peaceful in a weird sort of way. Try not to understand that one!

After the raking was done, I spied the tree most despised by this family. We call it the "pea pod" tree. Don't know the official name, don't care. We just can't stand it. The pods are just annoying to no end, and let's not even start with the eensy weensy leaves it drops. Takes forever to get those things raked so they don't kill the grass. Every year we try to put a hex on the thing in hopes that it will go away one day. I think old age is getting to it first though. Our neighbors have this weird thing about getting "different trees". They have done a mighty fine job with that goal.

At one point I had to stop and just watch the girls play with one of the spider webs that wasn't worth keeping for next year. After a bit of running through the leaves and dragging the thing across the yard, it looked like a nasty ole' rat's tail. It is amazing at how much fun one has with the simplest of things. You really have to shake your head around here when seeing things such as this. Cracks me up!! I don't even ask anymore. Just sit along the sidelines and snicker.

Sunday found us wondering around the bookstore where everyone got something new to enjoy. Glenn picked out a photo mag, Brenna has a new My Little Pony book, and Em decided on 1001 Unbelievable Facts. Some things you have to wonder about in that book. I was shaking my head a few times.

I for one could not resist this little gem. You know that my "soon to arrive" niece will have a few of these little beauties made for her the next few years. We must keep her looking FAB! Just go to the link and click on view more images to see what I'm talking about. Those images are just a teensy little sample of what is waiting patiently to be made! I love Susan's patterns! They are so easy, fun, cute and no info left out of the pattern! (you know that is a big thing for me lately.) I'm hoping for her other books for Christmas. You have to go check out all her free patterns. AWESOME!!! My project list just never works itself down. Oh well, things could be worse! Like not knowing how to make these wonderful things! Oh the horror!!!

Before I forget, the recipe for Taco Soup. It's from a Mr. Food cookbook I've had for a long time. Easy, fast recipes. And they taste FAB! But I've changed it around a wee bit for our liking.

Taco Soup

1 lb. hamb

1 large onion, chopped

2 cans, chili beans, undrained

1 cup frozen corn

1 can tomato soup

1 can diced tomatoes

1 small can of green chiles (I drain and rinse them for the girls)

1 pkg. of taco seasoning mix

1 pkg. of Ranch dressing powder mix

2 cans chicken broth

*brown the hamburger and onion in a big pot until the meat is done, on medium heat. Drain. Then add all the other ingredients and simmer together until it's all hot and bubbly. Stir often so things don't stick to the bottom of the pot.

*when finished, serve with tortilla chips, sharp cheddar, sour cream, etc. And enjoy!

Well, I must get going for the day. I've got a birthday boy to call. Can't believe Brendon is 22 today. I miss my little cuddle bug. Even Glenn has his moments were he wishes Brendon would be small again. We would never hear the end of it if we "forgot" him, being his birthday is the day after our anniversary. I always tell him that he was the best gift I could have ever got for my 1st anniversary.

So, yes. Yesterday was 23 years for Glenn and I. Very good years I must say. Some easy, some tough. But at least I had Glenn by my side for all of them. I wouldn't have had it any other way.

I wouldn't let him get anything "big" for a gift. I'm not a jewelry girl, so none of that. Usually we don't worry about gifts because we get things throughout the year. But he wanted to get something we could both use and enjoy. So I finally agreed on a Wii Fit plus. It doesn't cost anything compared to what he was originally thinking of buying (I nearly had a coronary!). So today I will see how this contraption works. Hopefully it won't tell me I'm so out of shape that I should just start digging a hole. :) I just have to get the girls off of it now. Can you believe they work up early to try the thing out! At least they are moving and not sitting on their tails all day.

Anyhoo, I hope you all have a FAB day! It's shaping up to be pretty good in these parts.

Toodles!!!!