Furniture

While perusing Pier One over the weekend we found this piece of furniture that was on super sale. We decided to buy it right then and there with the understanding that it was a final sale and not returnable. In our excitement over finding such a great item for our home we never thought about how we would actually get it home since there was now way it would fit in either one of our cars. Luckily a friend let us borrow his old truck that we couldn't turn off once we got it started (which ended up being hilarious) so we could pick it up. We brought our furniture home and have it perfectly situated in our guest suite. Doesn't it look great? We think so!

Tropical Storm

The last two days a slow moving tropical storm has been hovering over the area dumping and blowing rain all over the palce. Yesterday was Veteran's Day so I had it off from school. The rain and the wind were cozy companions as I worked on grad school work for a good portion of the day. At 5:15 this morning I got a phone call telling me school was cancelled due to the storm. It means we have to make up a day later this year but it was glorious to linger in bed with Jon this morning and to have extra time to follow my nose a bit. I even made homemade applesauce before 9 a.m.! The storm has definitely picked up gusto as the day has gone on and there is flooding in the area but for now we are safe and hunkered down (except for Jon who had to go into work. Bogus!)

Field Trip

The 6th grade went on a field trip to the Jefferson Lab in Newport News. The lab has a particle accelorator that splits atoms. We didn't get to see the high speed stuff but our class got to participate all sorts of science experiments. The kids loved it all and were totally enthralled by liquid nitrogen. We all also got special glasses so we could see the color spectrum when we looked at light. I couldn't help but take this shot of some of my kids with their glasses on. I love them all!

Handy man

Just a regular old Sunday on our block. Isn't he handsome even when he's fixing his car?

Happy Halloween

We enjoyed the evening of Halloween on our block. Our neigbors get together at one end of the cul-de-sac, set out candy for trick-or -treaters, and the adults get to have fun with eats and "friendship juice." Our friends Mike and Claire joined in on the festivities. It was wonderful to be a part of our little community for the evening and really felt like we were part of the 'hood.

Pumpkin Carving

Our first Halloween in our new home! We contemplated about the right time to buy our pumpkin and, well, us being us, it ended up being the day of Halloween. Here's a tip: if you wait until the actual holiday all of he big pumpkins are gone. Luckily Jon is crafty and thought of making a pumpkin man out of three smaller pumkins. We had fun working as a team: Jon cut, Lisa scooped out pumkin guts, and Jon added embellishments. We even managed to escape without injury from Jon's Hammer -in-the-Knife trick.

Tree Trimmin'

Fall is here and so are Ma and Pa Bell. While enjoying time together cleaning out flower beds in the back yard and talking about how the trees need to be trimmed we decided to make a go of it ourselves. Dad zipped up to Home Depot and got a saw. The rest was sheer strength and elbow grease. It was a beautiful day and we enjoyed the hard work outside. Take a look at the before and after photos.