Sisters!

Having a sister is like having a best friend you can't get rid of.

You know whatever you do, they'll still be there.

~Amy Li

Picture of our nieces taken last Saturday.

Is It Worth It???

Not to open the hunting season on the pretext that there is no game would be as if one gave up celebrating Christmas because there was not enough snow to go by sleigh to midnight Mass.

-Maurice Grimaud

The things I go through to go hunting! First off, my poor wife is always awake with me at 5:00 in the morning.

The first thing I do to get ready is take my shower and use this special soap.

Then it is downstairs. I use special deodorant before I get dressed. Getting dressed usually consists of 4-5 layers of clothes.

Then I start to fill up all 9 of my pockets.

I make sure I have my wallet with me. It has my ID and my hunting tags in it.

I always bring my walkie talkie and headphone so I can chat with my brother in law or anyone else that comes out.

I take my knife just in case I actually get something to use it on.

A little scent to attract the "big one".

Shotgun shells - usually 14. (4 in each coat pocket holder and 6 to load in the gun)

A dragging rope and harness.

A compass just in case we track one for 4 hours and end up somewhere we have never been before. (sorry Kim)

Scent killer to spray on my boots so they can't smell where I have walked. (does this stuff really work???)

My cellphone to let my wife know that I am OK or to let her know when I get one.

This doesn't include my hat, my gloves, my hot seat, a little snack and um oh yeah my gun. And I wonder why I am worn out after walking for a couple miles in the woods.

Our Thanksgiving!

My Thanksgiving started out at 4:30 Thursday morning. I was up and getting ready for hunting. My brother in law picked me up at 6:00. We spent the morning in the woods, but made it home in time to get ready for dinner.

We had dinner at 3:00pm at Laurie's dads house. Sharon made almost everything for our dinner. Laurie made Green Bean Casserole and a homemade Dutch Apple Pie. Jerzie kept us entertained while we were waiting for dinner.

Mommy fixed Jerzie a small plate. Her favorite was the black olives. (we don't know where she gets that from.)

After dinner we sat around and talked. Jerzie made her way from lap to lap. She has a doggy sticker on her face just in case you were wondering.

She got all of her books out and mommy read them to her. She really enjoys her books. We all had a piece of pie and could hardly move from our chairs. We all had a nice time and enjoyed the day.

Happy Thanksgiving!

We just wanted to wish everyone a

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope you all have a great day.

Mini Road Trip!

Laurie and I had to go on a short trip today.

Our first stop was Peterson's Candies. It is a family owned candy shop that has been around for as long as we can remember.

They make all different kinds of homemade chocolates, hard candy, salt water taffy and much more. They are really popular at Easter time. They make all of the usual goodies like filled eggs, chocolate bunnies and all kinds of other yummy stuff.

The outside of the store is very cute and when you walk inside you could gain weight just by breathing. LOL

Then we went to drop off my deer for processing. We have been taking my deer to 'Deer Works' for years. Laurie used to work with the owner at Quality. They always do a great job. I usually get the normal cuts and then get Italian sausage made.

They have a pretty big place for processing. There are 2 walk in freezers, a room for skinning and a room where all of the meat cutting is done.

There were a few small racks hanging on the wall waiting for customer pick up. There were 15-20 skinned deer hanging in the freezer and quite a few more to be skinned. There were also a couple of huge racks waiting to go to the taxidermist. We took pictures of all of the rooms but didn't want to gross anybody out by posting them.

When Did This Happen?

Don't you just love how bright and cheery this tree is?

This tree was here when we bought our house. We love the flowers and the fact that it has no fruit that we have to clean up.

Early this spring we had an unpleasant surprise.

The city did work in our yard (I'm sure you all read about it). While doing the work, they cut into too many roots and killed the tree.

The other morning when Laurie got up, she looked out the window to see how much snow we got overnight and noticed that the tree was gone.

All that is left is a mound of grass...

and the stump.

The city is going to replace the tree. We had 9 choices on what they were going to replace it with. 3 of the choices grow to over 25 feet tall, 5 are fruit bearing trees so the one we chose is a Spring Snow Crabapple. It says that it will grow to 18' tall and 15' wide. It will have single white flowers and no fruit. We will see how long it takes for them to plant it.

P.S. I got a deer today but won't be putting any pictures of it on the blog.

Back 2 Back Champion!!!

Jimmie Johnson is the first driver to win consecutive championships since Jeff Gordon in 1997 and 1998.

Congratulations Jimmie Johnson

and the Lowe's #48 Team!!!

Green Thumb Sunday!

Since the guys are out in the woods hunting. I thought I would show you pictures of the woods they hunt in.

That is a five gallon bucket next to the tree.

Hope you have a great GTS!

Thanks for stopping by!

Finally!

We got a chance to start Christmas shopping today. We made a list a couple nights ago and figured out what we wanted to buy everyone. We made a pretty big dent in our list tonight. Chris hates to shop so to get him out before the crowd is the best idea.

Have you started your shopping yet?

Tonight is a big night for all the men in our family. It is the night before opening day of shot gun season. Early to bed tonight. They are leaving at 5:30 AM to get in the woods before the sun comes up. No one ever knows when they will be home, but they will come home with at least one story good or bad!

Camera Crazy!

We thought that it would be fun to accessorize the computer/scrapbook room with old camera equipment. Mom has been on a camera hunt for us. Look at all the great stuff she has found for us so far.

The 2nd camera from the left with the big flash unit is like one that we used to play with at Super Lou's (grandma) house when we were kids. It is really neat to see how much cameras have changed over the years and how much smaller they are now compared to some of these.

These are some old flashbulbs that mom found. It would seem very weird to have to change the flashbulb after each picture. I guess we are all just spoiled with how easy photography is now. We haven't done any research yet to find out how old this stuff is. It will be interesting to find out.

Did you or your kids have a....

Fisher-Price Puffalump?

I was at work one day and saw that they were making Puffalumps again and remembered that I had one when I was growing up.

I went home, found mine and washed it. I thought that Jerzie might like playing with it.

My Puffalump is a puppy that is made of extra soft parachute-type fabric. Puppy has white yarn "hair" sprouts on top of his head. He has long droopy ears, brown stitched eyes, a large rounded pink velvety nose, and a large pink stitched smile. He has peach arms with stitched "paws", and peach legs with white pads on the bottom of his feet. He has the Puffalump trademark symbol on the bottom of his left foot.

Well, I was right. Jerzie loves to play with it. She likes the feel of the material and how soft it is.

It is just one more thing for her to grab when she is feeling tired.

Veterans Day!

This nation will remain the land of the free only so long as it is the home of the brave.

~Elmer Davis

Green Thumb Sunday!

click on pictures to enlarge
Here are some pictures of what our garden looks like this morning.

I love snowy days, frosty nights and warm hearts.