It was a great holiday, family, good food and a quiet evening. We enjoyed a houseful of people with a visit from Nana, Papa, Kelly, Bailey and Baby Tabitha for the day. We are thankful they all traveled safely.

Rikard and his teacher get the big, creative award for preparing the most unique and Thanksgiving-themed decorations this year. This round turkey has a 3-dimensional neck and was a study in repeating patterns (a lot of his math homework is quilt block patterns lately, so I'm enjoying math).He also made this little guy, who sat on the mantle for the weekend and is kind of like a pinata. The paper bag he is made from is filled with sweet treats to share. He lost his foot on the way home from school, but thankfully he doesn't have to do much walking.Kelli made this great little turkey at preschool. The handprints are supposed to be wings and he apparently is a "cycloptic" turkey. She may spend the holiday break brushing up on her bird anatomy.Tatum had to solve a series of math equations to get the specifics to draw her coloful holiday bird.Thanks to everyone for the input on keeping one little boy busy. We have used and plan to use many, many of the suggested ideas for keeping Rikard busy in a couped up house. My best idea, to get him an outside toy that flies, didn't work well. Rick warned me of this inevitability, but I didn't listen. We got three good flights out of the hand launched helicopter thing-y and then had a distraught little boy. You guessed it, the darned thing landed on the roof.

Your ideas that worked out included going for a hike. There are miles of trails here and we set off and explored one. This cairn, or rock stack as Rikard calls it, was along the trail. When we returned someone had knocked it over and the kids spent a good 30-45 minutes trying to rebuild it.

Another idea came from my sister. Let the boy bake! When we visited them - oh so far away and oh so long ago in South Dakota - she let him knead dough and make cinnamon rolls with her. He was up to his armpits in flour and then sticky from head to foot in icing.

We took the easy route here at home and just bought a tube of refrigerated cinnamon rolls. He enjoyed this project a lot!

Coup'd up kids

Adjusting to life without a large yard where the kids are free to roam is proving quite challenging. As the days get shorter, darker and much colder we are finding they don't have enough time or space here in the city to release all their energy.

So, we've turned to crafty stuff. Tatum is working her way through learning to crochet. She has an instructional book made for kids, but like her parents, is doing it her own way. She spent hours and hours over the summer crocheting chains. Four skeins of yarn fell prey to her crochet hook. Now, she has some inexpensive variegated yarn and is attempting to make rows. There are some gaps, but she calls them ruffles and plows forward! We like her style.

Keeli gets these great rewards at daycare for good behavior. This week she brought home a princess paint by number project.

Our girls haven't watched many of the Disney movies, so their concept of the princesses needing to be painted or colored certain trademark colors is lost. Plus, much to Keeli's delight, this kit came with "wet paint," no need to add water and control the amount of paint that could spill or otherwise find its way all over the place.

We enjoyed several hours of self-entertainment tonight. Thank goodness for crafts. Any suggestions out there for little boys who want to dig tunnels under houses?

Cast Your Vote!

Grafitti is often times a good thing. Remember to vote today.

I found this fantastic piece of GRAFFITI along an arterial street in Northwest Spokane. I think it is a great rendition of the two major party candidates. All the work appears done in traditional spraypaint, most of it with simple black and white.

According to various dictionaries:

Graffiti [gruh-fee-tee]
1. Archaeology. an ancient drawing or writing scratched on a wall or other surface.

2. markings, as initials, slogans, or drawings, written, spray-painted, or sketched on a sidewalk, wall of a building or public restroom, or the like: These graffiti are evidence of the increased interest in national politics.

Remember to vote. Your voice counts.

more/Moore lions/Lyons

On a recent hike around the neighborhood, we discovered we live very near the intersection of Moore and Lyons Streets.

The way the streets wind around in this neighborhood, we actually live between Moore Street and Lyons Street. Which is funny because my sister's family's surname is Moore and my maiden name, thus my parents' surname, is Lyons. So, I'm kind of between Moore and Lyons all the time. Odd coincidence.

This street name issue amused me as our last home was on Dunn Street, near the intersection of Dunn and Brad Streets - a fiscal fact which amused my parents.

And, the world needs to protect its lions and to enjoy the Lyons in their natural habitat. Alas, I have no lions with wild manes roaming the backyard to photograph, so my new neice will have to suffice.

This is a shot I stole on Halloween in her cute little holiday outfit while she was out visiting. It was the first time I got to hold her. She is precious.