FALL HAS FALLEN AND I CAN'T GET UP.....

Whew!

Just so you know right upfront
I lied about the 
"I can't get up" part.
How I WISH I COULD sleep in.
Apparently my DNA is tied to the
whirling dervish rather than
a fat lap cat.

These last few weeks have been a whirlwind.

Fall is finally here,

after a long hot summer,

 and the leaves have started to fall.

I have been putting bits and pieces 

of FALL around here.

They will stay up until the day after

THANKSGIVING.

(except for the Halloween stuff)

This is the little slate I painted

when my kids were little.
These are the youngest three-
my older son was "too cool"
to dress up anymore.

I sold a lot of these slates back when

FOLK ART CRAFT SHOWS

were popular.

This is the only one I have left 

for Halloween.

Love this soft side of fall.

I will do some overall pictures this weekend

of the new place and I will post them

this coming week.

I found an opaline pumpkin that is gorgeous!

I have never seen one like it

so I need to get a picture of that 

on the blog here so 

YOU CAN SEE IT,

too!

On the last warm nights of autumn

the kids liked to go down 

to the beach by the bay.

Their Mom took these pictures.

SweetCheeks said they are 

MAGIC PICTURES.

Cooler nights bring

sunsets like this!

Oh!!! How I miss this view.

I hope to have some sort of 

water view when we figure out

where we are going.

We have fall colors all over.

Wisconsin is a wonderful place to 

take a drive to see colors

like this.-

Or this-

However,

Please remember-
DO NOT TEXT 

while driving...

or in MY CASE-flying!

The kids say I have found

the perfect sign for my

front door.

I need to hang it there this weekend.

Wonder if I should paint

The Witch Is Out

and turn it over when I leave?

Nah....let 'em be scared!!!!

HAVE A WONDERFUL

FALL WEEKEND!

SOMEBODY STARTED PRE-SCHOOL TODAY & SOMEBODY GOT GLASSES!

These are the times I miss

because I live several hours

away.

How cute is this?

Little Miss Bright Eyes!

She goes to a Christian pre-school

and is just delighted to be there.

Now- Here's the funny part.

SHE might be delighted

BUT

look at the little girl's face

as she is looking at Anna.

is that funny, or what?

AND

Not to be outdone--

CharlesInCharge

got glasses!

Mimi said he took them 

off and put them on about

ten times 

as he gauged the difference

between blurry and crisp vision.

Off they go for another year

of school adventure.

They look like Irish lads,

don't they?

And WHAT, pray tell,

is Mama Mimi,

the beautiful Irish colleen,

doing with all her

FREE TIME

now that the kids are in school?

Why-she is drinking wine 

and taking selfies with

Miss Peggy Sue.

As you can plainly see,

she is a 

VICIOUS WATCHDOG!

Don't you just feel sorry

for Mimi?

Look how sad she looks!

NOT

Meanwhile, I am still in the process of

Purging & Packing.

If I don't show up in a day or so

send someone to search for me

among the boxes and packing paper.

I may have taped myself in a

box somewhere!

Whew- here is ONE job I 

won't have to do this year!

I hate raking!

I thought it might be easier to MOVE--

I was wrong!

Have a great week!

LOVING MY LILACS & HONORING GRAND GRADUATES

I apologize for being so sporadic

in posting lately.

Working everyday puts me 

a little bit behind.

I wish it would GIVE me a 

little behind-but that's another story.

Our growing season is a 

LITTLE BEHIND

in Wisconsin this year.

My lilacs are finally in full bloom.

I don't know what kind they are

but they are highly scented.

A larger shot of the bush.

Aren't they just gorgeous?

There is another big bush next to that one.

I think it probably needs trimming

this Fall-pruned back a bit so it

produces more heavily.

Along the foundation under 

my bedroom window I have

Columbine blooming and

buds on the peonies.

I love the deep cornflower blue of the 

columbine.

I look around and talk to myself

a bit- Oh-How-Pretty!

Yep- I am pretty happy

except when I see this....

the picnic table we move from

area to area.
Right now it is under the trees...

Know what I say to myself about that?

OH! CRAP!

YUCK!!!

Hope YOU have a wonderful day...

as for me-this day is for the birds!

Next year these scenes will all belong

to my son and daughter-in-law.

It is kind of weird to think I won't be 

living here anymore....

but...such is life, right?!

I will tell you my son washed that table

and the patio set and all the seating

areas yesterday.  Good boy!!!

Kinda makes up for all the chores

he DIDN'T do as a kid....Kinda!!!!

Our Aleena had a

BIG GRADUATION PARTY

here yesterday.
She graduated from high school.

Isn't she a beauty?

I might be a tad biased....

I hope to get around to visit everyone

in the next couple of days.

Our Ria graduated from 
eighth grade and is off and running
towards high school....
where HAS the time gone?

I am so annoyed that 

BLOGGER has once again

changed the game...

Your comments no longer come through

to my email-which makes it much more

difficult to reply.

Just know that I do read and treasure

every one of your comments....

cuz I love you guys (or gals)..or....

Have a wonderful week!!!!!

WHO'S THE APPLE OF MY EYE? IS IT Susie @ She Junks?

BIMBO, BOMBO,

TOMKIN PIE.

She's  the apple of my eye

Swing her low or swing her high.

She's the apple of my eye.

The original poem says HE but...

I took a little liberty there..

If you have never read 

FATHER FOX'S PENNYRHYMES

you have missed something

WONDERFUL!

My friend, Judy Tower,

(I have sadly lost touch with her-

if you read this Judy-please call me)

gave me this book and it soon

became my children's favorite.

Speaking of friends,

I was

SO VERY LUCKY

to meet Susie,

from the  SheJunks blog.

A REAL LIVE BLOGGING FRIEND!

You KNOW how sweet Susie is on her

blog and leaving comments in blogland?

Well, she is even sweeter in real life!

I don't think either of us felt

the least bit awkward when we met.

She is a very pretty lady

and a lot of fun!

I was lucky enough to meet her 

sweet daughter, too.

We met at Horton's in Tipton, IN.

Susie only lives about a half-hour from my daughter, Mimi.

We talked so much I don't remember

half of what I saw at Horton's

but it is a FANTASTIC PLACE.

I will write more about that another time.

Right now-

I need to get busy because I have been 

a bit lazy since I got home.

I left Indiana the day after Jason's surgery.

He is doing well and thanks

you for the prayers.

So...I will say..

TaTa for now

and head on down the lane--

just like little Miss BrightEyes.

She has two lines for me-

She wakes me up with 

"Good morning, Beeyoutuful"

and when she turns her back on

me like you see below

she calls out over her shoulder...

"Go 'Way, Nana"

Sigh....

So---off I go.....

Next week I'm gonna have a 

NEW APPLE OF MY EYE...

It might be one of these three!

Or....maybe not.....

Oh- wait---

almost forgot---

You have a couple of days to sign up

for my giveaway

on my other blog-

A Cottage On The Cove.

All you have to do is be a follower.

AND---I have added a few more 

GOODIES to the GIVEAWAY...

AND if you don't like witches

I will have another 

GIVEAWAY

coming up for Christmas.

I will have one of the

"apples of my eye"

draw a name on Sunday sometime.

Sunday Sass-Honey- I'm Home!

Here is where I was this 
past week!

Gotta love Waterlogue.
It can make a watercolor out of
any photo!
This is taken from the park across
the street from my daughter's house.

However, 
TODAY I AM HOME!

Oh- yeah- Home Sweet Home!

I had Mindy's two boys 

at the house in Milwaukee for the week.

They were good kids-busy-busy-

as kids that age are.

The topper is that the house has to be kept

REALTOR READY

in case there is a showing.

There were TWO SHOWINGS while I was there.

I like to put on the 

Dog & Pony Show

complete with cake on the table,

the dining room table set for show,

and fresh flowers throughout.

My best friend, SANDY, drove over from

MINNESOTA

and stayed for three days.

We ate ourselves sick and I got her 

hooked on 

CALL THE MIDWIFE.

She is fully addicted and now I have to send her

Season Two & Season Three

because she can't get PBS

out in the wilds of Minnesota!

We had a LOT of good LAUGHS!

Today I am off to our little 

SWEET CHEEKS

FIRST COMMUNION!
How in the world did she get this old?

I will have pictures of this special day tomorrow

and some other news for you, too!

So...y'all come back now, ya hear?

But----while you are waiting--

Let me show you a picture of the 

SMARTEST ONE YEAR OLD IN THE WORLD.

She is TEXTING!

Bet you can't beat THAT! 

Pick Your Favorite PLAYHOUSE WINNER...and ANOTHER WINNER of Another Kind

I love that you all play along

with the 

PICK YOUR FAVORITES 

that I put together.

I am a couple of days late getting to this

because our friend Dr. Ball passed away

and we have had so much going on.

SO

WHICH ONE  Of THESE WAS THE WINNER?

First place with the most votes is:

GAZE AT THAT GAZEBO

Coming in at a close second is

THE LITTLE HOUSE THAT GREW

Coming in THIRD PLACE is:

SWEETLY STONED

I LOVE all THREE of THOSE!

~Thanks so much for playing along~

Here is another kind of 

WINNER!

We sat at Dance Competitions all day yesterday.

You have watched me brag as Ria won in 

every competition she has entered.

She got a Lightening Gold Trophy

(the highest she could get)

and came in FOURTH OVERALL!

That is huge- she is dancing 

with girls that have been

doing competitions for years and this is only her

FIFTH competition.

BUT THE SURPRISE IS!!!!

SWEET CHEEKS

in her 

FIRST EVER PERFORMANCE

got a 

HIGH GOLD

and SIXTH OVERALL!

I might or might not have teared up a little bit.

Little Miss Personality

came "alive" on stage!

It was so fun to watch!

Have a great Sunday.

We have another competition today!

Finish It Up Friday-FUN WITH THE FAMILY

THE BABYSITTER

Lulu is just getting old enough to babysit.

So, while she was here last weekend,

we had CJK come over so she

could practice.

Here is how it went!

Lulu is trying to read her book for school

and keep an eye on CJK.

He is VERY INTERESTED in her book.

He is SO interested that he says he can read it--

and starts with

Once 'pon a time....

She is not getting much reading done because

Bucko drops her book on the floor 

and gives her a 

GREAT BIG HUG!

That hug did not seem to get enough of a response-

Let's try 

ONE MORE REALLY BIG HUG-

along with the 

CHIN GRIND!

Ah- yes--perfect response...

Now- Let's just move along

to balancing on the 

Hairy Headed Sisters!

This is what they call an 

ACTION SHOT

in the movies.

Free of charge for you, of course-

And now that you have had fun with 

everyone else it is time to have

FUN WITH POPS!

 Yeah-That's they way we all feel, kid!

Sorry----

LOOK WHO is here visiting for the weekend!

I have the unexpected pleasure of

THREE SISTERS

that showed up 

after school yesterday

and are

staying with us for the weekend.

Plus TOMORROW night we will be adding

ONE MORE SUSPECT

to the fold

to spend the night!

That ought to be entertaining!

Plus- we are helping my sister-in-law move...

SO---as you can imagine

I am a BUSY GAL this weekend.

I'll be around on Monday 

if I can still walk!

Have a great weekend 

and

STAY OUT OF TROUBLE...

oh- wait---

it is ME that is supposed to

STAY OUT OF TROUBLE!

I think that is what my mother said to me

EVERY DAY OF LIFE

when I left the house.