a family birthday party and some other things

 Fall has been beautiful. October, you do not disappoint.

These kids were here last week. Supposedly the two older ones were sick.

Maybe.

I don't know--never checked their temperatures or anything.  They seemed fine to me.

 We had a very good time, some video games, some Legos, some time outside, part of a movie, and they had zero complaints of any kind.

Here's my little mom holding that baby who is growing like a weed. That baby is so docile and funny, smiles at us now.

 Oh, these guys:

 And this sweet little girl:

 Presents!

 Cake time!  Joe indulged me, blew out this massive fire.

 And then Maria with a niece on her hip:

And that's the end of that. A fine Sunday afternoon party was all kinds of fun.

Love forever, Grandma

jumbled week

 These are pictures of the new hoop shed going up.  In June the first one was destroyed by a storm, and only a small section remains.  A new one was put up in a spot where no trees are as likely to fall on it.

It was a big job, tedious.  It said, "Instant," on the box.  Nah, that's quite the exaggeration.  "Fairly fast if you have several people involved," that would be more like it.

 A weird disease has been flowing through the family, especially the grandchildren. It's called Hand, Foot, and Mouth Disease.  Apparently it's a virus, and they don't get very sick, but there are blisters and rash and a sore throat.

So the child in the pink polka dot jacket has had it, and so did these other guys, I guess.   They couldn't go to school and ended up here.

 They hadn't been here in a while and arrived ready to PARTY.

Before the parents were even out of the driveway, they were unwrapping ice cream treats.

Whatever. They're sick. They need nourishment to get well.

 And a few video games, some Lego time, and a bit of sunshine in the hammock couldn't hurt.

 I don't think any of my kids ever had this disease, homeschooled as they were.  Kari missed school today because of her throat.  Maria called tonight from her friend's house, sore throat and blisters on her hand.

Good Lord.

Here's the Heidi tonight, keeping that little peanut happy:

 We had a big lamp from the cabin that was smoking in the plug in, so I bought lamp kits at Menards and he rewired that lamp and also a couple others.

This one was made new:

 And this one from Japan:

 Some he put together wrong and had to make adjustments, but he hung in there until they were right.

And tonight is Sleepover Friday.

If any of you want to sleep over, just let me know.

Sleepover is well underway:

 This is Elin with a new dog toy.  We bought her a new flavor of dog food too. She's so sick of the other one she can't stand it and is getting skinny. She throws the bowl around with a big paw, tosses the dog food across the floor in disgust.

The new food, she likes.  She's eating it.

And these two Florida dogs, so sweet.

Friday, best day of the week.  Love, Val

maria's 23

It was a quiet birthday--work, dinner with a sweet guy, birthday cake and gifts late in the evening.

This is so ridiculously cute, didn't even know it was possible:

M, I went looking for some old pictures of you and found a few.

This was Christmas Day a few years ago, holding Grace's son:

In Dan's lap, three months old, him entertaining you babies:

Some kind of fun:

 Squirrel time!

 Glamorous for the wedding:

 Age 7:

And here we are now, at the end of the day:

It was a fine, quiet birthday, and it's been lovely having you back at home again.  You are intense, true, an over-reactor, whatever.

You're also generous and helpful and have a big heart and a fine sense of humor.

We are lucky having you--this whole family is crazy about you.

So much love, Mom and Dad and Everybody

happy birthday, joe

Happy Birthday, Joe!  Thank you for being such a great son-in-law, uncle, brother-in-law, dad, and husband.  This whole family loves you very much.  We've had a lot of fun these last thirteen years or so.

Love always, Jay and Val and Everybody