Thanksgiving

 

Grampa paints his last closet.  He's been eyeing the pantry.

 

 

Grampa loves to grill, even inside.

 

 

Grampa is famous for his pumpkin rolls.

 

 

Nolan is happy to be heading to Minnesota. 

He's riding between Grampa and Gramma, to keep them from fighting in the car.

 

 

Nolan likes the Reader's Digest books.

He has a real appetite for reading.

 

 

Nolan has a monkey on his back. 

A lot of people have that problem.

 

 

Nolan enjoys a drink with Daddy.

 

 Amanda and Nolan enjoy a duet.
 

 

Kevin takes his culinary skills seriously. 

It's more dangerous without a "cut" glove.
Good thing he's Chipotle trained.

 

 

After 10 hours of sleep the night before,

Mitch is exhausted and sleeps a couple of more hours.

 

 

A view from the top.

 

 

A great way to check on the baby in the middle of the night.

Or to find your way to the bathroom when you're staying at someone else's house.

 

 

Feed the birds, tuppence a bag.

The black thing is to prevent the squirrels from getting to the feeding dishes.

They have the fattest squirrels I have ever seen.

 

 

Nolan begins bird watching at an early age.

 

 

The cold Minnesota weather calls for a warm hat, a scarf and gloves.

 

 

Grampa offers to watch Nolan,

while the rest do Black Friday shopping.

This old high chair wasn't designed to be able to recline the back.

 

 

Grampa, the engineer, made a few improvements.

 

Matt inherited the luck of the Irish from his mother.

We were at the Half-Price Bookstore before 7:00 A.M.  13 degrees and snowing.

One lucky customer, out of the first 100 gets a $100 gift certificate.

Knowing it would likely be Matt that would win, I suggested the winner split it with the rest of us.

Matt would not agree to it.

Here he's pictured with last year's winner,

who did not want to have her identity revealed, because of the IRS.

 

 

Has anyone seen the leftover broccoli-cheese casserole Aunt Linda made?

I know there was some left.

 

 

Nolan reads a Christmas story to Grampa,

while wearing his reindeer pajamas.

 

 

Heading back to Illinois.

It was an exhausting Thanksgiving.

 



 

Grampa is exhausted too.
And he didn't even go shopping.


Daily Double from California

 

The whole family skyped with the twins on Thanksgiving.

As soon as they have an audience, they like to put on their Superhero costumes.

The weather was nice enough for a Thanksgiving picnic lunch.

The boys have a collage on their wall; made up of all the people they love. 
As a part of their bedtime prayer ritual,
they shine a flashlight on all the people who love them and pray for us.
This could be the backbone of my Irish luck.

 

Kisses for Free (Offer expires in 15 years)

 

Great Grampa Goedken had a hat like this. 

It was perfect for those cold Iowa winters.

We never told him how silly it looked on him.

 

 

Nolan doesn't look silly.

He's too cute for that.

Aunt Becky used to have a funny looking black lamb fur hat.

She still thinks she looked cute in that hat.

 

 

Grampa is working on Gramma's closet. 

It takes a lot of prep work.

When I came and found my clothes missing, I could hardly breathe.

Grampa assured me my clothes had been numbered and would return to their assigned location.

Unless I appear too anal, his clothes have to all have the buttons facing the same way.

 

 

When he complained his arm hurt from moving all my clothes,

I explained he should have carried less and made more trips.

 

 

I worried about what would happen if we had to exit through the balcony door.

Grampa said at least we wouldn't have to go out barefoot.

 

I was trying to teach Nolan where my nose was.

He thought I was just trying to get another kiss.

It was so sweet, I bothered him about my nose all day long.

 



 

Who knew you could actually ride this plane?

 

 

Has anyone seen Nolan?

 

 

Nolan blends into the plants in his green. 

I think he's hiding from Gramma.  She keeps bothering him about her nose. 

 

 

Nolan has mastered eating slimy finger food. 

Sometimes an extra piece shows up in his bib. 

We're pretty sure they're from this meal.

He prefers his avocado mashed into guacamole.

 

 

Daily Double from California

 

 

The boys decided to enjoy last year's costumes.  They traded colors.

Usually Nathan's color is green and Andrew always picks blue. 

In California, any day can be Halloween.

 

 

Row, row, row your boat. 

 

 

Andrew is enjoying the set of blocks Grampa made for him. 

Sometimes the best part is the box they came in.

I noticed the baby Gramma gave him is well cared for in the background.

I think his baby is taking a nap.  Or maybe he's in time out.

 

 



 



Grampa for Hire

 

Grampa usually changes our letter blocks.  Can you tell he looks forward to bowling night?

 

You might think Grampa is seeing a heavenly light. 

Perhaps.  It's one way for him to spend some time alone.  He painted the front hall closets and then had to fix it, because the color didn't match in the corner.  Perfectionism is alive and well in our house.

 



 

Nolan's Drawer

He enjoys Andrew and Nathan's kitchen gadgets.  Not so much, Andrew's drill, that also served Nathan and Andrew as a hairdryer.  When he touched it and it started to buzz and vibrate, he withdrew and wasn't sure he wanted to touch it again.

 

 

He can stand at his drawer by resting his tummy against the top of it. 

Later, it will come in handy at the sports bar.

 

Nolan's vocabulary is growing.  When Grampa says, "Eat," Nolan opens his mouth and vocalizes hunger.  If you say, "Spider," he looks for the Halloween decoration in our entryway.  If you say, "No," he looks at you and then tests you again, to see if you really mean it.

 

If there's a door open, Nolan makes a run (fast crawl) for it.  Usually, I can beat him, but there have been a few close calls.

 

 

 

Grampa is now taking his talent on the road.  First stop, Andrea's.  Sometimes a handyman has to be creative.  When he went to install a new light fixture, he found out the old fixture was not attached to anything but the wires connecting it.  The new light fixture will hold up to swinging on the chandelier.

 

 

When Andrea sent a picture of just the light, I asked, "Where is the handyman?"  She replied, "He's working on the front door, now.  He just finished the shower door, hanging a new mirror, installing a dimmer in the kitchen and a new light switch in the hall."

On his way home, Andrea had to call and tell him the door would no longer lock.  He replied, "I'm turning around."  Satisfaction is guaranteed.

 

 

Isn't that a sturdy looking light?

 

Next stop was Matt and Megan's.  He installed an electrical outlet in their island.  Not an easy job when the basement ceiling is finished.  The house now meets code.  And the basement ceiling is unharmed.

 

The handyman says, "Do NOT contact the blog to get on the future Jobs Waiting List."

 

I am starting to shake in my boots, worrying that my closet will be next.  I'm pretty sure a closet has to be emptied before painting.  It's one thing to ignore the clothes in your closet that don't fit.  It's another to actually take them out and then rehang them in it.  I'm thinking of telling the handyman to just put back the clothes that don't make me look fat.

 

 

 

Daily Double from California

 

A trip to the San Jose Children's Museum

 

 

A child's hands are always open to something new.

 

 

Children learn early they want to be in the driver's seat.

 

 

If there's water and bubbles, Nathan is all there.

 

 

How wonderful to be in an environment where touching is encouraged.

Our schools could learn a lesson here.

 

 

A ride on the gurney and NO emergency.  What fun!

 

A miniature world is perfect to make a child feel immense.

 



 

Children see gears as art in motion. 

And some children see gears as the start of an engineering career.

Apple should put these in their cafeterias.