Thankful

At dinner on Thursday I said that I was Thankful to have family to be thankful for. And I truly am. Our house was filled this past week with wonderful, caring, helpful, thoughtful people. Who came all the way here just to celebrate Thanksgiving with us. They helped cook, washed dishes, played with Odin, and told stories over and over again. Then they thanked me for everything that I had done.
It was a great Thanksgiving, one that I will remember for a long time.

Yard Waste

This is the first time that after making our big leaf pile we have to clean it up. Not a problem! Odin was a great helper (no really he was).  He also thought that 55 degrees was far to warm for wearing a shirt.

He filled the compost bin

He compacted the load

And filled more!

Leaves

Every autumn when my sister and I were growing up my mom would take us out into the yard and take fall portraits. I remember one year wearing a purple and pinkish and blue sweater sitting in the leaves (that I clashed terribly with) for my portrait. 
Every year since he was born I have done more or less then same with Odin. We seem to always find a perfect fall afternoon with the sunlight streaming through the trees.

Frost

Happened on Tuesday for the first time. Gardens are looking quite dreary these days. But it is NOVEMBER!

Mr. O'lantern

Carving pumpkins gets more and more fun each year. Odin get so into it and can now actually do more of the carving part.  We had some sheet vinyl relaxing on the living room floor (to be put into the RV) and it was a perfect place to carve this year. It looks almost identical to our actual floor..

battery operated knife, Odin was very determined to use it this year.

Happy Halloween!

We had a great halloween! A few months ago I asked Odin what he would like to dress up as this year. He thought about it for a millisecond then announced that he wanted to be a flying squirrel. I wondered if he would change his mind but nope he held fast to the flying squirrel. About a  two months ago we started working on his costume. We made a prototype, learned a lot, then made the real thing. He picked out the fabric at the store, did a little hand sewing, and also ran the pedal a bit on my sewing machine.
Over the weekend we went to the Children's Museum for their Boo Bash. It was a blast. And people could figure out what he was! Success!

The flying squirrel in his natural habitat.

Yesterday we went to John's office after school for a Halloween party then John and Odin, together with some friends, hit the neighborhoods.

it all added up to 3.5 pounds!