We are Thankful

Thursday was the kids' Thanksgiving Program at school (Palmetto Christian Academy http://www.pcagwd.org/). This picture is Will's class (5 boys!). As you can see, Will is an Indian and so is his friend Grant. Some of his friends were Pilgrims and his friend Graham was the turkey. So cute.












Sarah Grace and her friends were Pilgrim girls. She and her friend Laura (sitting right next to her) are 2 peas in a pod. They even had the same costume! Both girls were so cute.


After the program we (the PTA officers, comprised of me, Laura's Mom and Grant's Mom) put on a Thanksgiving Dinner for the whole school - we had help from all of the families who brought something to share - sort of like the first Thanksgiving). It is so nice to have a small school. We invited parents, grandparents, special friends, etc. Everyone came and we served lunch for 120.

We hope you have a very Happy Thanksgiving. Be thankful - I know that I am.

Grancy & Grandpa's China Cabinet

We have moved into our new house - we are working on unloading boxes and arranging furniture. One of my favorite rooms is our dining room - it has my grandparents' china cabinet in it. My Grancy and Grandpa Degenhart gave us their dining room set and I love it. When I look at it, I think of all the years, all the dinners, all the people that have eaten there.

My grandparents have been married for over 60 years - this set is almost that old. It's so great.

I think I got this set by default - Grancy and Grandpa had 8 kids and my family is the only family close to that size - it's perfect for our family of 6.

The house is going well - we'll keep you posted on the progress.

Halloween - better late than never

Halloween - what fun. John was an Indian. He wanted to be called "Running Deer". Sarah Grace was a scientist. She wore a white coat and carried a beaker of green water. Will was a cowboy, with chaps and all, and Maggie was the Tooth Fairy- note her toothbrush.

We all had a really good time - we went to the church carnival. They had candy, popcorn, jump-on rides and games. This final picture is a picture of Maggie and Will, jumping around on Jump-on ride. This was right before Maggie decided she had had enough of being bounced around and decided to hurl all over her brother, sister (Sarah Grace was on the ride, too, you just don't see her), and, of course, the ride. Needless to say we cleaned up everything and everyone and made a hasty exit. Ah...the joys of motherhood.

FALL

Growing up in South Texas, we didn't experience the leaves changing colors and a typical "Fall". Fall meant football season and following the Mighty Alice Coyotes, but it did not mean leaves changing colors or really even cooler weather.

I really like fall in South Carolina. All of the leaves change colors, the weather gets cooler, but not too cold, and, of course, it still means football season, but now its following the Carolina Gamecocks.



Here are some pictures from our new house. One is looking toward the house and the other is from the front porch, looking toward the pond. As you can see, we have some fabulous trees in our yard and they are certainly changing colors gloriously.

Look at the sky, today is going to be a fabulous day with what Brian always calls a "Fall Blue" sky - it almost looks clear. It's supposed to be 76 degrees today - looks like a day to play in the yard!

MOVING DAY!

HOORAY!!!

We moved to the "New House" this weekend. I guess it's not the "New House" anymore, just our house. I'm so happy with the house. I'm not thrilled about moving...but happy to be in the house. I guess you don't know how much stuff you really have until you have to put it all in boxes (or bags or cartons or whatever you can find) and put it in the back of the moving truck. It took 4 loads for us to move all (or most of all) of our stuff! WOW!

It will take some time for us to get everything put in its proper place - but that will come. I've been working on the kitchen and laundry rooms, first.

A picture of my new pantry - we are starting to organize and although we don't have much food (I've been holding off going to the store until after we moved), we do have PLENTY of mustard it seems.

The Cromers came and helped us move, all weekend! We absolutely could not have done it without them. Marc helped Brian and Poppy move all the heavy stuff and Peggy wrapped and packed my entire kitchen! WOW! Poppy Lee and Mimi came and unloaded some stuff, too. Even though moving is hard, we did laugh alot of the time.

I've posted a few pictures from our move...We can't wait for you to come and see us in our "New House"! The kids seem to really enjoy their new rooms. They have just been running from room to room, checking out everything to see if anything has changed.

Here is are living room after the move - you can see I have piles and piles to go through

Here is our littliest mover. That girl can unpack a box faster than you can pack it! Here she is sitting in the room she and Sarah Grace share - apparently she likes her new bookshelf.

Flat Stanley

Flat Stanley is a character in a children's book. A bulletin board falls on him and he stays "flat". At first he thinks it is very fun - only realizing later that he wants to be normal again. Luckily he pumps himself up in the end.

As part of a school project for Sarah Grace, Flat Stanley went to work with me at Lander University today. Here are some of the pictures of what he did....

First he rode the elevator to class

Flat Stanley studying hard for class.

Flat Stanley taking notes in my Essentials of the Legal Environment class.

Flat Stanley taking notes in my Income Tax class.

Flat Stanley is so crazy - here he is posing with a pumpkin on my friend's desk.

We sure had a fun day together. I'm sure Flat Stanley is ready to go home and take a nap!

Boxes, Boxes everywhere...

MOVING DAY IS SCHEDULED FOR THE WEEKEND OF OCTOBER 25TH! Can you believe it. I'm so happy. I'll post pictures of the finished new house soon - it's so great!



As you can see, we've started packing. Good news - the Slurpee Machine and Ice Cream Maker are safely packed up. I've packed up some of the kitchen, and some of the living room. As you know, I can live without my kitchen stuff - it is on the list of items that can get packed early.







These shelves are in our living room. Most of you know they are usually crammed with toys and books and movies. Now, just a few sad leftovers.






Living room boxes - what kind of boxes would we pack in? Dell computer boxes and diaper boxes, of course! I've gone through our bedrooms and cleaned out, but not really packed up - I guess that is a job for another day.



I will keep you all posted on our progress. Hopefully you can come and see our new house, soon!