Wife of Craig, mom of Sarah, Jessica, Kyle, Lisa, Curt, and Cole, mom-in-love to Todd, Andrew, Vanessa, and Emily. Called Grammy by JC, Jayci, Trinity, Cambria, Titan, Braden, Adelaide, Cory, Whitney, Melissa, Ian, Mila, Lukas, Julie, Kate, and Susie, and Great Grammy by Elsie Mae. Black Lab Pepper rounds out the family!
On Fridays, Curt brings Mila and Lukie to our home for the morning. He goes upstairs and works and Craig and I have fun with the kids. This week, we made Halloween things and planned out the Halloween party we are going to have next Friday. (With costumes!)
I got out my cookie cutters because they want to make cookies for the party, and after selecting some that looked Halloween-ish (I didn't have many so some of them are a stretch...)
... we got out the Play-doh and experimented to see what would work. My favorite? The nutcracker soldier that Lukie was sure was Frankenstein. The hat it wore did make it look like the monsters head! (I got onto Amazon and have a set of real Halloween cookie cutters coming tomorrow.)
To be sure that Mom and Dad knew that there was to be a party, we made invitations that the kids could take home and hang on their fridge.
We also had a snack - Play-doh cookies and invitation-making sure can burn a lot of energy.
We then did some weaving on laminated spiders
that I got from Oriental Traders.
And finally we made a banner that they could take home and hang on their fireplace,
It turned out really well and was very easy to make. (Unlike the spiders; Craig and I had to do all the weaving.)
Naturally we hung it on our fireplace so they could see how it would look.
The previous week I had sewn them ghost puppets that they decorated with fabric markers. Lukie had Ian's with him and wanted to spend time scaring Boompa again (and again and again and... Boompa is VERY patient!)
Vanessa has dubbed this Groompa Preschool and it really is just about as much fun as Groompa Camp is! I can't wait for next Friday.
My family owned and operated a family apple orchard when I was growing up. It was an old orchard with 3,000 plus trees (I remember helping Dad count and log them all - what a job!) with many varieties that are now considered heirloom. We had Northern Spy, Grimes Golden, Maiden Blush, Winesap, Rome Beauty, Paula Red, Lodi... I wish I could find all those old varieties now!
A 1960s family picnic among the trees during apple blossom time. That's my mom's parents, Georgia and Earl Honeywell, on the left and our cocker spaniel, Benny, lying in the grass in the middle.
A fall tradition when I was growing up was making homemade applesauce from some of those apples and freezing it for winter. I continue that tradition now, even though I have to buy the apples instead of growing them.
I was delighted when Leslie found an orchard in Wabash, Indiana that still grew Northern Spies. She brought me some so I could make what we consider to be REAL applesauce.
I always save all the cores and peelings in a large bag and take them out to the horses.
Apple spaghetti makes them all very happy.
To ensure that no one horse gobbles it all, I walk along the fence row and sprinkle handfuls on the ground, spreading it out for quite a way.
Independent Hokey was a little slow in coming up, but I made sure that he got his fair share, too.
I miss having access to fresh off the tree apples, but the memory lives on every fall when I make applesauce and pies. I serve it at Thanksgiving and Christmas, and boy howdy it DOES NOT last long.
Lisa has been dating Tyler Smith for five months. This weekend he is introducing his two daughters to her, and she asked me if I would make them masks embroidered with their names. I hadn't done that before, but was willing to try and I am very happy with how they turned out.
Lynn says that I am now a mature dog since I turned four years old on September 25. Do you think that means she plans to take away my balls and donuts and rope tugs and frisbees? Oh, I hope not! Especially the frisbees - they are my absolute favorite toy!
Oh, wait. Lynn just used the "Oh, Pepper" phrase. And then she said that she had no plans to take any toys away from me. Whew! I was a bit worried there for a minute.
Anyway, Lynn and Craig gave me a birthday party! And my favorite folks came - Nacho (swoon!), Millie, Molly, Lisa, Curt, Ian, Mila, Lukie, Kathy, Mary Anne, and Bill all dropped in during the day. And they came to celebrate me! Oh, did we have fun.
Lynn hung a birthday banner up and set out a squeaky toy birthday cake and candle, cupcakes and cookies for the humans, and the yummiest doggie cake EVER for me!
Photo of Pepper sitting in front of the table that is set for the party.
It was made for dogs, but Lynn said it smelled so good, she was tempted to try it. I gently pointed out that she had cookies and cupcakes and to please leave my birthday cake alone. (Photo of the doggie cake which smelled like gingerbread and had white icing and sprinkles on top.)
After we were all set up for the party, we sat down to wait for our guests.
She also put a bandanna on me that said, "Happy Birthday to me." I wore it all day so that everyone would know that it was my special day. Photo of Pepper wearing her blue birthday bandanna.
Lisa was our first guest, and she brought Millie and Molly with her. And you know what? Even though Lynn said to not bring me any gifts (why she said that is beyond me; I can always use more toys and stuff), Lisa brought me a box of treats! Of course we opened them then and there. (I was a good girl and shared them with Millie and Molly. Lisa, Lynn, and Craig declined. Their loss.)
Photo of Lisa with the dogs gathered around her, handing out treats.
Lisa had to go to work, but Millie and Molly stayed all day with me. Oh, how I love it when they come over to play! But we soon had more visitors - Curt arrived and he brough Ian, Mila, and Lukie! They were SO EXCITED to come to my party, and the first thing they did was to sing Happy Birthday to me. Ian played the Happy Birthday roll on our player piano while Mila, Lukie, Lynn, and I danced.
Ian pedaling the piano with Lukie and Mila dancing around the living room.
Then we played games. One was to guess how many dog biscuits were in a jar. Ian won, and his prize was to feed me a biscuit. Mila and Lukie's consolation prizes were to also feed me biscuits! It was my favorite game of the party!
Next we went outside to play some games with my beloved tennis balls. The kids lined up and all three threw their balls at once. I went running for the balls, and whoever's ball I picked was the winner! (I asked for the prizes for this game to also be biscuits, but Lynn said I had had enough already plus we would be eating birthday cake soon.)
Lukie, Ian, and Mila with me standing in front of them. Will they EVER throw those balls for me??
And then something REALLY funny happened. Watch this video, Mom!
Lukie's ball just smelled so good, I had to switch! He'd grabbed a cookie and had frosting on his hands. I just couldn't resist!
Well, after the games in the backyard, the humans ate the cupcakes and Millie, Molly, and I had some of our special birthday cake. Curt took the kids home and things were quiet for a while.
A few hours later, my sweet Nacho (swoon!) arrived.
And promptly grabbed my new birthday cake squeaky toy! I almost broke up with him over that, but he gave it back.
I was still a little miffed - after all, it's my new birthday toy! - so I sat by Craig and well, Mom, I am a little embarrassed to say, but I pouted.
Nacho (swoon!) slipped up behind me and gave me a sweet kiss on the ear and all was forgiven. Photo of Pepper sitting at Craig's feel while Nacho stands behind kissing her ear. Mary Anne is sitting on the couch watching. (There are ALWAYS chaperones around - the two of us never get any alone time!)
Bill gave me one of his legendary ear rubs, and he, Mary Anne, Kathy, and Nacho brought me a new frisbee! Oh, joy and rapture! (I have decided that I like it when people ignore Lynn when she says, "No gifts, please.")
The afternoon party just kept getting better and better - Lisa came back!
We four dogs were so happy to see her that she finally sat on the ground so that we could all cuddle her. (And be cuddled, too. We are pretty smart like that.) Photo of Lisa with Nacho (disappearing around the side of the couch), Molly, and Millie.
Oh, Mom, I just had the best day. But I still was a little sad because some other important people weren't there - you, Dad, the kitties, and Ursula. Maybe next year you can come to my party? (Lynn just said, "Wait! What party? We just got through this one, Pepper!")
Okay, so I'll talk to her privately and let you know. Anyway, I love you and send lots of licks, wiggles, and wags to everyone. Please pass them on for me!
