thanksgiving week

during the first part of the week some sweet friends came to visit us one evening

 then we went to oma's house for a thanksgiving feast

 we had some good family time playing games, going to the park and doing crafts

we got to spend some time with the cousins

 and went to a train show or two...
thanks oma for hosting us!

queens of cuisine

both of the girls and some of their friends from 4H found out about a cooking contest that is similar to iron chef, but designed for 4H kids.  so, the girls formed a team called "queens of cuisine" and decided to enter the district contest.  for the contest, the kids have no idea what they are going to prepare nor what the ingredients are.  when they arrive at their designated table, they open their bag of groceries and have to prepare a dish using each ingredient in the bag.  they have 40 minutes to prepare the dish, figure the cost per serving, and tell about the nutritional ingredients, food safety and possible dietary substitutions.

i am pleased to announce that the queens of cuisine won their district competition and are proceeding to regionals after making a cous cous chicken salad.  bon apetit!

backyard guests

 i opened my back porch umbrella yesterday to find these 3 fellas...

after a significantly loud scream, i tried to get them to fly out by poking them with a stick

buster was very curious, despite the hissing noises. 

come to find out my neighbor had just built a bat house and was eager to have some occupants.  

there was one casualty as a result of leaving jack alone with a bat unsupervised for a couple of minutes,

but overall i considered it a successful adventure.

basketball season

 basketball season is upon us.  although she was skeptical about playing last year,

mackenzie was actually looking forward to it this year.  she even made the starting five for the first game!

look at that defense!  they won their first game and mackenzie sunk her first free throw. 

yep, i'm one proud momma. 

halloween happenings

 wolverine and the mad scientist

 jack goofing around

 mackenzie and her friend decided to dress up as each other at the last minute.  i think they just 

couldn't bear to watch the younger kids get all the candy. 

jack convinced me to attempt some pumpkin carving the day after halloween.  i chose an aggie 

pumpkin and he wanted me to do yoda for his pumpkin.  to say that yoda was beyond my 

skill level is completely accurate. 

national bar-b-que cookoff and parade

mackenzie twirled in the parade (far rt)

 parade spectators trying to keep warm

 cow patty bingo

 carnival rides

engineer jack

 yummy bar-b-que...the big pig rig won people's choice

 

 we ate some delicious pulled pork, ribs, brisket, and jalepenos.  colin

was asked to judge the entries for bbq ribs...he loved it!

  at home we indulged in cute and yummy snacks...thanks leanne

 so glad my brother and sister in law came in for such a fun weekend