Happy Halloween

We decided we should get into the swing of things tonight at our Sunday night gathering...

so I put on my cowboy hat, shirt and boots and hubby dug out his old farmer overall... he just needed a straw hat, eh?
Happy Halloween !

Treats and Sweets..

Here are some treats...

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and...

here are some sweets!

Happy Halloween!

Yeah team!

Happy little faces

This evening we had to say goodbye to these 5 grandchildren and their parents as they set off to their home in a neighboring state. It's a ride of about 6 hours, so they time it for a few stops and then, hopefully, the children fall asleep the last half of the trip.

It was fun to see them and get a few more pictures...

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Our oldest grandson is now taking piano lessons and he enjoyed playing our piano.

I can tell that he is a natural, both with his manual dexterity and his musical ear.

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Next comes this smiling fellow. He is full of energy, full of smiles and has the most tender spirit towards younger children and babies.
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He is great buddies with his cousin, who is a year younger.

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Then there is this gal! All girl! All talking... talking, talking, talking...
questions, questions, questions...
drama, drama, drama...
Yup. She is an adorable little female grandchild!
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We thought you might need to see her new hair-do.

It's so cute.

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This grandson was a happy little boy, he had a DVD player and a Diego video all to himself!

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He also enjoyed playing with the Mayflower ship.
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And then there is the newest member of our growing family... this sweet little pumpkin!

I tried to get a few pictures of her smile...
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Actually, it wasn't that hard.

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This grandparent thing is mighty fine.

Taffy, the kitty...

Here is our new kitty. She's pretty easy to care for... she doesn't have to be fed or anything!

And she looks really great for being such an old kitty. In fact, she is over 20 year old. We bought her as a gift for my great Aunt, who was living in a nursing home. Taffy looked exactly like my great Aunt's cat and we thought perhaps she would enjoy a stuffed animal look-alike. She did enjoy her and often stroked her fur just like she would have done for her real cat, Taffy. After my great Aunt's death, Taffy lived with my mom, never making any kind of mess at all.

This past October my mom said I could take care of her. I was thrilled.

I couldn't wait to see what the grandchildren thought of our new kitty.

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Well, this little sweetheart thought Taffy was perfect!

She was a cuddly cat and didn't scratch or run away!

She loved being hugged!


and Taffy made someone very happy, indeed.
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Welcome to your new home, Taffy.

First snow

I love winter. I love Minnesota. I love snow.

I love my warm house.

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It was a beautiful, mild fall but winter must come sometime..

Berge Bed and BREAKFAST

I'm not that great at getting up early in the morning and making a big breakfast, but I sure do love breakfast, especially the kind at the motel where you help yourself to all those tasty choices.

So I decided that, with a little planning, we could have a fun "breakfast buffet" and people could help themselves (and serve their children) to whatever suits their fancy...

So we had:

Belgian waffles, of course, with the cool flip over waffle maker.

I love it.

Some "muffin tops" since I wanted to use my "muffin top" pan.
We had pumpkin, banana and blueberry muffin tops.
The blueberry muffin tops were the most popular.

Of course, these were a requirement...
We had a pan for Saturday and a pan for Sunday
... and a pan for Monday night too....

This may not look so fabulous, but it is. It is steel cut oatmeal cooked with figs, dried cranberries and some half and half and water. It is cooked on low in the crockpot overnight.
Easy. Healthy.

Finishing up with an egg bake.
I am good with things I can make ahead (this is made the night before)...
I just have to stumble out of bed and put it in the oven.
One trick is to set the oven on timebake so it is preheated when I have to put it in the oven....

Two little boys in their jammies.
So sweet.

A few sweet faces...

It was a great Saturday with all our grandchildren and their parents in our home.

I didn't take too many pictures with my camera, actually, as we had some nice group pictures taken for our Christmas card with John's nice camera. You will have to wait for the Christmas season to see them though!

But here are a few little faces I captured when I had a minute.. starting, of course with our newest little sweetheart- grandchild number 10... Isn't she a honey?

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Here is Auntie S. cuddling her newest niece - and her own precious child as well.

It was so sweet when T. climbed up on mommy's lap to share in the cuddle time.

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A bit later some costumes were brought out in anticipation for
Halloween, of course.

The cow is on the left with his hood/ears pushed back.

Some marvelous space person is on the right...

Ah! spaceman and a kitty...

Not everyone likes clothes...

but everyone likes story time with momma..

And now this little sweetheart is up and walking and more like

one of the gang.

Watch out.

(she is also quite good at climbing up on the chairs, etc...)

Busy weekend. Very Sweet.

It was a very busy weekend. All three sons, their wives, and all TEN sweet

grandchildren were here.

Yup.

It sure was SWEET.

Happy Birthday Aunt Bea!

Today my dear Aunt celebrates her 91st birthday!

She is special to our family and we are so happy to wish her

Happy Birthday!

Grandma day doubled

It's been a long time since I had a grandma day and these two brothers have been asking when is their "grandma day?" I thought I'd have them both together today and they agreed it would be a good idea. So, here's how the day shaped up at grandma's.....

First they got to watch some Diego adventures on DVD....

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In no time, it was lunch time!

Toy Story Mac and cheese was a big hit!

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We played toys.


We got out the pinto beans.
We talked about not putting them in their mouths or noses....
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Time for a little playdough..
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and then time to decorate the REAL dough!
I let them put on the colored sugar any way they wanted...
and in any amount....
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Some sandbox time while the weather is still nice!
.and time to dig in the dirt...
It's a good thing we don't have any flowers in that spot yet...
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They explored and found some raspberries still tasty!

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A little time to swing..

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and a little time to work in the garden clearing out the corn stalks.

It took some hard pulling!
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All in all, it was a good day!