Christmas Week

What a week we had at the McCarty house!!

I will spare everyone all the details except to say we have a beautiful new grandson and we got to have the whole family together this year for Christmas.

We forgot to get a family picture so we will try again in the summer hopefully:)

Shane David Johnson

Anticipation......

I am sitting here waiting in anticipation for a host of things.

1.  Warren coming home today, I always miss him and am glad when he is safely home.

2.  Kirsten, Jon and Evie arriving Tuesday from Tucson.  I am so thankful to have them    home for Christmas this year.

3.  Monday, I get to spend the day with my sisters, who have become my best friends.

4.  The arrival of our 2nd grandson.  I love new born babies and can not wait to meet him.

5.  CHRISTMAS - the celebration of the birth of Jesus, family time and fellowship.  

Weddings... You got to love them!

Mick and I traveled to Phoenix to attend the wedding of Mick's sister Jan.  

The wedding was beautiful and congratulations to the bride and groom!

Jan and Art Molina

We also got a chance to see The Phillips.  Evangeline is getting so big and we can not wait to spend some more time with them at Christmas!

My Little Snow Bunnies

We had our first snow of the season this past week.  It was beautiful!  I love seeing the Cardinals (not the St. Louis kind) sitting in the bushes at the edge of the woods.  We have had so many birds and it is so much fun to watch them come to the bird feeders.

Mick loves to use the SnowBlower (men and their machines)!  I am thankful that I do not have to shovel the driveway!

Caleb and Meredith had fun playing in the snow at their house! 

and here is Evangeline with her winter coat and hat on, but there is no snow!  Wait till she gets to Roscoe for Christmas!

Preparing....

I have started to prepare for the Christmas Season.  Getting lights put up outside, going to pick out the right tree, buying gifts, decorating the house.  But I want to make sure I do not lose sight of the true meaning of Christmas.

Christmas is a time to rejoice in the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ who was born so that we could have eternal life.

As I prepare for the Christmas Season I hope I can take time to be faithful and thankful for the greatest gift I have been given.

There is a stocking in the middle for Baby Boy Johnson, who is due to arrive after Christmas, but just incase he is early he will have a stocking hung by the chimney with care.  Next year we will have to add another stocking for new Baby Phillips!  We are so blessed!

Successful!

Thanksgiving meal was a success this year.  After a lot of hard work everyone sat down to a meal full of way to much food.

Thanksgiving is one of those meals that you can't leave certain things out, like grandma's jello.  So in the end there is so much food, but that is why we have leftovers.

Thanks to Deb and Debbie for the great salad, lime jello and Cranberry Wine,thanks to Meg for the Pecan Pie and Heidi for the yummy brownies.

Now let's start thinking of the Christmas Menu!!!

Thanksgiving

I am writing today because I will be very busy the next couple of days with cooking and cleaning for company on Thanksgiving.

What am I thankful for:

My wonderful husband who takes such great care of our family.

For my children who have grown into amazing adults.

For my son-in-laws who take great care of my daughters.

For my grandchildren who keep me young.

For my grandchildren to be who keep me waiting anxiously to meet them.

For my sisters who have become my best friends.

For my sister-in-law, who is like a sister to me.

For my brothers.

For my friends and extended family who mean so much to my family.

For our church and the message we get every week.

I am going to miss Kirsten and her family this Thanksgiving, but they will be here for Christmas.  I will miss Warren:(  I pray they have a Happy Thanksgiving and we will see them soon.

I am so blessed with many things and I give thanks to the Lord our God, who has provided our family with all that we need and more.

Happy Thanksgiving and may God Bless You and Yours.

Cindy

The Project Begins....

Today the roofers showed up nice and early.  Bye Bye old roof, skylight, old vents old gutters.  Looking forward to  the new roof.

When one of  the workers came into the house to go into the bathroom where the skylight is being replaced, he told me the plywood sheets around the skylight were just about to cave in they were so rotten.  Good thing we didn't wait until spring.

Hopefully the job will be done by Wednesday.

Hope this guy doesn't fall!

My biggest problem is keeping Cubby from going crazy with all the pounding and new people around.

Empty Nesters?

We have no more children living at home, but we have a dog that might as well be another child!! He loves to just sit at the table while Mick is reading the paper and eating breakfast.

To my defense he does not do this very often.  Sometimes when I am sitting in that chair he jumps up and sits behind me.  Well I got up and he stayed there.  

You gotta love this guy he is just like having another child.

Thank You

Today is Veteran's Day.  It is a day we thank and honor all the men and women who have served our country or are serving at this very moment.

My father Loren (Bud) Edmunds was one of those men.  He had to leave his wife and 2 small boys to head off to war in the 1940's.  He got lucky and was assigned to do office work (because he new how to type) under General MacArthur  in the Philippines.  

For as long as I can remember my father would not eat rice or fish, he had a little too much of it in the war.  He never really talked much about it, but I can imagine it was very difficult. It was not only difficult on my father, but I am sure my mother had a hard time being alone with my brothers.

Mick's father served in WWII along with Mick's Uncle George, Great Nephew Justin is home from Iraq, friend of the family Mark who is in Iraq right now.

I am so thankful for the freedoms that we have because of these brave men and women.

I will pray today for safe return of all the men and women who are in harms way.

THANK YOU and GOD BLESS YOU!

Fall Back

Tonight or tomorrow morning we set the clocks back an hour.

Sometimes I wish I could turn back the clocks a little more than just an hour!  Where has all the time gone?

Time seems to be passing by so quickly, but at least for tonight and tomorrow I will get an extra hour!

Gobble, Gobble

Leaves have been raked and burned.  Pumpkins are out.  Thinking about the Thanksgiving Menu today and then all of a sudden the Turkeys invaded the yard.  I took this video before I let Cubby out to chase them!

Monkey Joes

Today Meghan and the kids came out to Rockford and we took the kids to Monkey Joes.  For those of you who do not know what Monkey Joes is, here are some pictures.

Look at me I can walk!!

We had a lot of fun and the kids were great.  I had a great time going down the slides with the kids.   But now I need a nap!

I am a little wobbly in this thing!

Smile

I love rolling around in here!

Having Fun!

Small Changes

I made some  changes to the kitchen chairs over the last couple of days.

The cushions were looking a little old and dingy so I decided to recover them.  I bought the fabric and recovered them and think they turned out great.

Old cushion

New Cushion

Cindy

Soups On

I was in the mood today to try a new soup recipe.

I love "The Pioneer Women".  Well I guess I really don't LOVE her, but I love her blog and her recipes.  She has a book out, but it is just as easy to get her recipes off of her website. http://thepioneerwoman.com/cooking/.  Look her up and enjoy the funny way she writes and talks about her family.

Well back to her recipes.  I have made a few of her things and like everything I have tried so far.  I made "Skillet Corn Bread" the other night and it was delicious.

Today I tried her Carrot, Squash and Curry soup.  I really like it, but I have only had a little taste of it.  I will serve it for dinner tomorrow so hopefully Mick will enjoy it too!

Cindy

Running? Who Am I Kidding?

Today Cubby and I took another walk/jog on the path at NorthPoint Wellness Center in Roscoe.  We walked and ran 3 miles today and we both felt really good when we were done.

Do you notice how I say walk/jog?  Who am I kidding? I would say it is more of a fast walk. My running skills have long since left me.  I do not even know if I ever had any running skills.  In fact if you ask anyone who has seen me "run" it is not a pretty site.

The whole point of this is that I am at least moving!  I thank God every day for the ability to  get out of bed and get moving!

Cindy

Chewing the Fat

 Cubby and I had a nice walk this morning and then off to do some errands.

I then picked up lunch for my neighbor Carol, who had surgery a couple of weeks ago. I have visited Carol once a week for the last couple of weeks. We had a nice visit for a couple of hours. It is always fun to talk about when the kids were little. She should be able to get out of the house next week, so hopefully we will be able to go out to lunch.

We talked about weddings.  Her daughter Jenny got married this past June and her son is getting married in April.  I can relate!

We talked about kids, Prairie Hill, Hononegah,  and families.  You name it we talked about it. As my mother would say we "chewed the fat".

I want to know who came up with that saying?

Cindy

Summer Coming to An End

Fall is here.  The weather is still lovely but there is a chill in the air.

I took the day today to clean out our closet and store the summer clothes and arrange all fall/winter clothes in our closet.  I also weeded through alot of stuff that doesn't fit or  I know I will never wear again.  I need to take on a project everyday so that everything is neat and orderly all the time.  Remember I am NOT a first child, or second, or third, or fourth, or fifth but sixth.  My poor mother!

This is what reminded me that summer was over.

I washed it the other day and it will probably stay in the garage for the winter.  

Cubby loves to be outside and as everyone knows he loves to play ball.  So this afternoon we played catch and catch and catch and catch (you get the idea).  Leaves are still falling and it looks like the rakes will be busy on Thursday and Friday.  Anyone want to join me?

Cindy

New Blog

Having some trouble with this new blog.  I am used to the McBlog, but it is on Mick's computer so I thought I would start my own.

Hopefully I can figure things out and get as creative as my 2 daughters and my husband.

Stay tuned.......

Another Beautiful Day......

We have had the best fall this year.  Warm days, cool nights.  Good sleeping weather as Tommy Skilling would say (meteorologist on WGN).

Along with fall at our home comes lots of yard work.  The leaves have just begun to fall.  The last raking of the year is usually around the 1st of December.

Today we raked and burned leaves.  Mick cut the grass and is applying a winterizer.

Football at noon and our Sunday Roast later this afternoon.

Another Beautiful Day......

Wow!!!  We have had string of beautiful weather here in the midwest.  Plan on spending the day in the yard, maybe taking Cubby for a walk and then church.

Life is Good!

Another Great Fall Day!

I am headed out to workout and then will come home and tackle some of the leaves.

The only thing is my allergies seem to be kicking in.

Beautiful Fall Day in Roscoe!

Today is going to be a great day in Roscoe.  The leaves are falling and the air is crisp.  I think I will take Mr. Cubby for a walk this morning and then rake some leaves.

I will leave the burning of the leaves to Mick for the weekend.