Grandkids!

The twins are getting ready to go outside:

Checking out the garden again with Papa.

A few cherry tomatoes were found - delicious!

Enjoying an egg and sausage casserole for breakfast.

I am usually the one to buy for the kids, but Dave bought these items while grocery shopping. A hooded Spiderman and Dora towel, a Spiderman night light, a movie and a pocketbook for Meg.

The kids had a bath in our big tub.

Alex didn't like the jets on...

Meg love it!



They loved their towels.

November 7th was Samara's first birthday:

She had her own very cute little cake made by Judy.

November 7 is also Samantha's birthday. Happy Birthday Sami. We will celebrate your birthday on your next visit. We miss you and love you.

Halloween

Halloween was so much fun this year!I found this cute decorating kit at an antique mall. I couldn't resist.

Pumpkin is now a jack 0 lantern. A lot easier than scraping out all that pulp.

The goody bags are ready for the grandkids.

It was a fairly quiet Halloween at my office. This is the only employee that "dressed up".

There were all kinds of creepy things in our building. This spider was in the bathroom; I almost jumped on the toilet when I walked in.

These bugs were everywhere.

The best part of Halloween was spending the evening with the twins.

Meg was really hitting the candy.

Our little spider man is ready to go.

Meg was a cute pink leopard. She picked out her own costume.

Waiting to go trick or treating.

We had planned to buy Meg black shoes, but when she saw these that was it.

Still eating candy!

Our neighbors came by.

Here they go. The weather was perfect. No rain and warm.

Dave looking scary, but Meg wasn't scared.

We couldn't figure out what Alex was trying to do. It looked like he was trying to climb up the house?

Chocolate mouth.

Back from trick or treating - the twins weren't very hungry for dinner. Meg would rather have a tea party.

Alex loves playing instruments and

singing. He found his old swing and was singing like I had never seen him do before.

Meg catching up on her reading.

Thursday Night Hokie Game

We loaded up the car and headed to Va. Tech for the Thursday night game against Boston College. It started raining and didn't let up. We really needed the rain but why did it have to rain on this day. The rain may stop me but not Dave and thousands of other Hokie fans!


After we checked in at the hotel in Roanoke we headed for Blacksburg. Another Hokie headed to the ball game.

Another decorated car outside of the bookstore. The wreath had lights on it - wonder if they would light up?

Me outside the bookstore; we bought this Tech umbrella.

We went to the Cabo Fish Taco Restaurant, one of my favorites. Dave wasn't real excited about the food the first time we went, but I think he liked it better this time. He got appetizers and soup. The drink is a "El,cheapo Margarita" this is the description on the menu - " Low on funds? Not to worry.....drink'em like the Baja locals do: fresh, tasty and super-easy on the pocket - $3.50. (All the drinks had cute descriptions)

Enjoying the shrimp!

I had a hard time making up my mind, everything sounded so good. This was the night special - "Tortillas piled high with soft shell crab on top" Sooo good - the best meal I have had in a long time.

Dave stepped outside for a cigarette.

Dave's next drink - "Azul a Rita" "Try something new.... it's blue. Made with Jose Cuervo Esperial, Blue Curaco, pineapple juice and our house mix". I stuck with wine and diet coke.

Yummy!

The rain did not let up, so this is where I stayed during the game. Upstairs in the restaurant there is a big red leather sofa and chair. Very nice and cozy. I was the only person up there most of the night. I watched the game and did my knitting. The game was great with the Hokies in the lead until the last 2 minutes. BC had 0 points for most of the game - all of the sudden they came to life and scored 2 touchdowns winning the game 14 to 10.

A Little Knitting and a Little Cooking

I have been attempting to squeeze in a little knitting - I cast on for another moebius wrap. I really love this pattern - and now that I understand this knitting method the results are much better. The first one I made in bright orange was a little disappointing - too big and it had several mistakes. So, I bought more orange yarn and will make it again.

I started this cute giraffe sweater for Alex. It is called "Creature Comfort" from a booklet by Better Homes and Gardens, "Teach Yourself Intarsia & Fair Isle Knitting". Well, I would have never been able to understand these instructions on my own. If it wasn't for a new co-worker, who is a very fast and talented knitter I would have thrown my arms up on this one. This is a quote from the booklet - "Intarsia is sometimes called picture knitting. This method of color knitting allows the knitter to create incredible designs in unlimited colors and shapes on a single layer of fabric". I should have known there was trouble ahead. Then, "With intarsia, each color section is worked with its own yarn supply. If your design uses 10 colors in one row, you'll probably have 10 strands of yarn hanging from your work". Once I got started, I thought no way!!, but persistance payed off, plus the help from my co-worker. Each row got easier and less cumbersome with all those strands of yarn versus the one strand I was use to having. I have had to tear out many a row and start over but I think I finally have it. By the way, my co-worker finished this sweater in less than two weeks. Oh well, I have several projects going on at one time so it will take me longer. I am still working on my scarves project for Christmas gifts. But, I will finish it - eventually.

I made some Halloween cookies from my favorite sugar cookie recipe. I have been using this recipe for years. I think the recipe came from a girlfriend back in high school. Amy and I made these every Christmas when she was growing up.

Now I make them for every major holiday. Dough rolled out and ready for the cookie cutters.

I put sugar sprinkles on half of the cookies.

and the best glaze on the other half. This is the best cookie icing. When it dries it is shiny and crispy. This is the way I prefer them. But I have to be careful, they are made with real butter and not low in calories.

This is a batch that I am taking to work on Halloween. There is a picture of Meg and Alex in last years' costumes in the background.

A few weeks ago, Dave requested cheesecake or something lemony. I decided to make lemon bars from Ina Garten's book.

It took a dozen lemons to get the amount of juice needed.

And a lot of zesting.

After this delicious dinner of shrimp alfredo we had a great dessert.

Dave thought the bars were great, especially with a cup of coffee in one of his favorite mugs.