Thanksgiving Faces.....

Adult table

Kids table





Teen table

Pictures of grandkids

The Story behind the dirty bowl.......

We enjoyed a wonderful meal with all the fixings....sweet potatoes being my favorite! Here is a picture of what the bowls looked like when we were done! During dinner we had a discussion about whether my dishwasher could get this clean or not...I was sure it was up to the challenge! So I recorded the before and after picture! You decide?!?!......Maytag you rock!

Blessings!......

As I was thinking of a post for the Thanksgiving Holiday.....I first asked Steve, a much better writer than I, to compose a post?!?!!? He said "let me think about it..No"...he didn't have time.

So as I thought about Thanksgiving and what it means to me...this hymn kept playing through in my head. I have not sung this in church in many many years...so I don't know where it came from...but here it is.......

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.

Are you ever burdened with a load of care?
Does the cross seem heavy you are called to bear?
Count your many blessings, every doubt will fly,
And you will keep singing as the days go by.

Count your blessings, name them one by one,
Count your blessings, see what God hath done!
Count your blessings, name them one by one,
And it will surprise you what the Lord hath done.
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We are no doubt, a very blessed nation. I know we are told these days that we are all going to die and lose our jobs and eat dirt and have to ride bikes to work..... I do know that I personally am very blessed, I might not have what the world calls 'wealth'. I have better....

I have a Saviour, a wonderful husband (that loves me a lot) & 3 healthy boys (that love me most of the time..especially when I make them food). I have a wonderful family, a great extended family and an amazing church family. I have never gone to bed hungry, I have a never gone anywhere unclothed, I have never been homeless and I have never walked to Meijers.

That's a lot to be thankful for!! We are not the provider of all this...it's God...he has provided for us all along the way. Let's try it today.....Counting your blessings........naming them one by one.........

Wishing on the Wishbone....

I made a turkey last Monday and saved the wishbone. After it dried for a couple days, I let the kids "wish" on it.




As you can see, Troy got the 'wish'. (He's the lucky one in our family!) Trent was disappointed that he didn't get the bigger piece, so he promptly called G-ma to see if she would save the wishbone for him out of her turkey! She agreed.......

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The Thanksgiving ritual of two children making a wish while holding opposite sides of a V-shaped turkey bone and breaking the bone apart may be rooted in ancient history.

The wish of the child getting "the lucky break" (resulting in that child holding the longer piece of bone) is predicted to come true. The loser - who gets "a bad break" - suffers the disappointment of a shattered wish.

At Peace!....

G-ma B, as we fondly called her, passed away yesterday. She was 97 years old....what a strong bloodline!

We were just up to see her on Saturday. She seemed pretty good...her mind has always been good! Her legs just didn't work that well, so she was pretty much bed ridden. She didn't appreciate having laid in bed for the last 3 years....she seemed to tell me when I would see her.

She was a avid gardener and bird watcher....she had a REAL green thumb! I swear she could grow a whole geranium off a little clipping! I could kill a whole plant in less time than it took her to grow new one. Although she was known for speaking her mind, she always had an open door policy! We were always welcome at G-ma B's! The guys use to hang out there after hunting, before Neil & Bonnie built their home up there. She always was eager to hear the deer stories!

She was a hard worker too! She helped build an addition on their farm house and probably did her share of canning and farming. She raised 4 kids, with Steve's dad being #3. Yesterday would have been Lawrence and Wava's 80th Wedding Anniversary! That just seems unbelievable...80 years!! WOW! Lawrence passed away in 1986, after a short battle with lung cancer. I never had the opportunity to meet G-pa B.....but I have told Steve...I know he would have loved me..Ü..!!!

Another chapter in the Buckner history books. I never knew for sure if G-ma had excepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior. I can only hope that at some point she came to know Him. I do know that someday, we will stand before the Lord and have to give an account for our lives & what we believed in. It will be too late on that day to believe in Him! Good deeds and kind heartedness will not get you into Heaven. Only those that believe on Him with be saved. We don't know when that day will come..could be tomorrow..could be next year...could be in 5o years! Being a good gardener, good dad, good mom, a shopper, good employee, are all good things to be but only knowing Jesus will be good enough! If you have never considered your relationship with Jesus...don't wait!

You Have Got to be Kidding Me!

This was an actual listing on Craigslist. I cracked up when I came upon it and had to post it! I think my sister Julie made some of these same items!

I didn't think anyone did Macrame anymore...I guess I was wrong! I just hope none of my readers posted this on CL...they might not think it's so funny!


I guess Craigslist does have it ALL!!!! Too funny!
___________________________________

Macrame Hangers
Reply to: mailto:sale-926240113@craigslist.org?subject=Macrame%20Hangers [?]Date: 2008-11-19, 7:48PM EST

"The Driftwood Owl" - Macrame Wall Hanger Four-ply natural jute cord with a driftwood perch. Completed length: 24-30 ". $27.95

"The Sunshine Surprise" Macrame Plant Hanger Plant Hanger Six mm orange braided nylon cord with wooden beads. Finished length: 52 inches. $20.95

Field Trippin #2!.....

I had the privilege of going on a 1st. grade field trip this week. We visited....you guessed it, the zoo...John Ball Zoo! When Trent first told me about the zoo trip...I thought he was mistaken! Don't you go to the zoo in the spring? Well I guess NO! We actually had a pretty decent day! We did have to bundle up a bit...but not too bad!

My favorite is the Spider Monkeys. They were so comical. They were jumping all over and putting on a real show for the kids!

The other animals were all very active..as you can see they were up close and personal with us! One other year, we went to the zoo when it was fairly cool and we noticed they animals were much more active. When we go in the summer, it always seems as though the animals are hiding, trying to stay cool. Seems as though I'm saying...."see the lions ear up there by the rock" or "watch and you might get a glimpse of the bear behind the tree"...I think the kids must wonder if this is really a zoo???

We had a personal guide..Barb....you can see her in the red coat. Trent is to right of her....we only had 5 kids in out group & 3 adults!! Here is a picture of the Snow Leopard (he has a very bushy tail!) & the Tiger.

BTW...JB Zoo is redoing the monkey island....it will be open for the '09 season!

On a strange note.....If you have ever been to John Ball Zoo you will find a bronze statue out front of John Ball. I don't know when the zoo opened but my dad has a picture of himself with his class visiting by the statue!

Cards & Hunting.....

We had a lot of action this week-end.....so I'm combining posts to 'catch-up'! Saturday, was of course a Michigan Holiday.....opening day of Deer Hunting....rifle that is!!

So the girls had a card stamping class! We had sooooo much fun and got 10 cards made AND had a 'chick' lunch.

Maybe you will see one of these cards in a mailbox near you????

THEN there was hunting! Troy had his new gun so he was pretty excited to hit a deer blind! (as in, sit in one, not shoot at one!) Here he is loading his gun...I was doing a lot of ducking!! He sat by himself a couple of times...AND THEN.....here's where I know you are all gonna things we all drank toooo much....we let him & Madison go out together..WHAT??..CRAZY!!....I KNOW....What were we thinking??? A 13 yr old, 12 yr. old & a gun!!! I think about it and it still frightens me!

There they go!......

They did come back.....with all parts still attached! So all is okay! They did get to see a 4 point but Troy didn't get a shot at it. Wouldn't that be a story if he had!

FYI.....Tyler went on a youth retreat, so he didn't go hunting. Steve didn't get one yet either...maybe next week-end????

A Night of Fun......

Friday night we attended a cooking show staring.....Deanna House of House Specalties.

That's Deanna on the left, then Kristi's mom Janice Freeland, then my sister-in-law Kristi, me, niece Madison, then another sister-in-law Carrie and mother-in-law Bonnie.

We had a wonderful time out together...just the ladies! It was fun to hang out togther....we don't get to do it much as we are all spread out.

And for Deanna....what can I say?!?!! She is very entertaining! We had alot of laughs together! She was a former Home Ec. teacher turned cooking show teacher. It's very hard to describe her......lets just say, if you get a chance to see her...GO!!

November Recipe...late!

I finally posted my November recipe...better late than never!

I received this recipe from a friend of mine, Kelly Wilson. Every fall she makes these and brings them to some event I happen to attend with her. I then ask her for the recipe...she replies "I gave that to you last year!" They are dddddelicious.....I think, anyway! It's a great fall cookie...I can't imagine making them in June...something weird about that!

Pumpkin Cookies

½c. butter--soft
1½c. sugar
1c pumpkin
1 egg
1t. vanilla

preheat oven to 350°. Mix above ingred. in large bowl

Add lower ingred. to wet ingred. Mix well

2½c. flour
1t. baking soda
1t. baking powder
1t. cinnamon
½t. nutmeg
½t. salt

Drop on greased sheet. Bake 8-10 min.

Glaze.....
2c. powdered sugar
3T. milk
1T. melted butter
1T. vanilla

Mix & frost cooled cookies

I added raisins to mine..'cause I like raisins...but you don't have to! Note about raisins.....if you put them in water and microwave them before adding to recipe, it will 'plump' them up! Making them 'plumper'.....duh!

These are not a family favorite, rather a joanne favorite! I might have to share with my neighbor man Mr. Brott....he loves it when I bring him homemade baked goods!

Give them a try and see what you think!

Field Trippin!......

I was privileged enough to go on a field trip with Troy on Tuesday. We attended a Grand Rapids Griffin Hockey game. Maybe I should say 'crazy' enough to go...as I was the only parent. Now I'm knowing why!

It's not like going to the zoo with a group of 1st graders. "where did Justin go?"......"Jenny get your arm out of the monkey cage!"....."Come on, eat your lunch so we can go see the rest of the animals!" and my favorite......"can we go in the gift shop Mrs. Buckner?...pretty please!"

No, it's more like.....a group of 13&14 year old jocking for.....who's most popular....who will sit by whom? What boy can I pester? What friends will follow if I get up to go to the bathroom?......You get the jist!

It's not for the weak to go on a field trip with Jr. Highers! We did have a good time though..I'm glad I went! Troy will hopefully have fond memories of a mom that went with him and spent time with him...(I think, he just wanted me to go so I could get him a $4.25 Mountain Dew!) But we will pretend that we really appreciated me going!

This picture is, Troy and his friend Tyler sitting in the front row! They moved down after the game started and no one had purchased those front seats. They were right on the curve, so they saw lots of action...slamming, bamming, faces pushed into the glass, boy kinda fun.... The usher that was 'guarding' our area was none too excited about seeing them out of there 'assigned' seats. I think she had decided, she wasn't willing to walk all the way down to the front row to kick them out though.




Here we are under the Griffin blow-up....kinda can't tell...trust me, that is what it was!

Troy was saying "just take the picture...my mom has her arm around me in public!"

Does this make me a 'Hockey mom?'....I didn't think so!!

HB2U!.....

Happy Birthday to you Jaxi!

Our little Jaxi is officially one year old today!! I gave her some banana for her birthday breakfast. She went for a ride in the van to the nail trimming place....which I might add, was not a present for her at all!! She doesn't care for either of those things......rides or nails!

We did get her some birthday presents......a big rawhide bone...which she can hardly pick up and a pink loofa dog toy (she is supporting breast cancer awareness!) The dog toy has a squeaker in it, which she will most definitely have out by the end of the night...she loves the challenge of getting the squeaker out of the toy!

She has been a fun addition to our family!...except when she brings in a squirrel!! Hope we can celebrate many more with her!

In Disbelief!!........

:: UPDATE 11-13-08:: Speedway 1.85!!!!













I'm in total disbelief...amazement...astonishment...shock!!
Can you honestly believe it??

I never thought I would see gas drop below $3.00 let alone $2.00! This is a gas station right here in little Kent City.

One of our friends told me on Halloween, that gas prices were going to start dropping. They said someone they knew, told them, it was going to go below $2.50...I said yeah right. I'll believe it when I see it! Well, I am seeing it! It hasn't been this low in like forever...I'm sooooo liking it!

It's almost a joyful feeling when you have to go get gas....(okay don't go that far!!) I feel like I should start saving milk jugs to save it in....my own private stash!

Okay, now you get to share....How much is it in you area????

Operation Christmas Child.....

Our Thursday morning Bible Study Ladies were all about giving yesterday! We participated in Operation Christmas Child, an event run by Samaritan's Purse. The objective is to put together gift boxes for kids to send to other countries. We wrap the boxes in Christmas wrap, fill with goodies for an age appropriate child and send on their way. They receive these as Christmas presents. What a blessings to give these kids, a gift of love, some of these kids have literally nothing. We are so blessed here in the U.S. It's such a good feeling to give these kids some of the basic necessities that we so often take for granted!

This is Jackie and Daughter Lizzy faithfully wrapping boxes. She has faithfully and artfully, I might add, wrapped boxes over the years. She apparently is training Lizzy to help in years to come..... Here is a table full of Beanie Babies/stuffed animals that will be included in the boxes. We also include things like toothbrushes, soap, washcloths, socks, toys and candy. Here are some of the ladies filling boxes. We had 30 ladies come to help.....many hands make light work!

Here is Jacob watching us fill boxes........

More wrappers.....Angela and Karen......

This is the foyer of the church...we needed lots of room!

Drum roll please.....here are our completed boxes.....145 of them! WOW! Ready to be taken to a pick-up location!Here is Sherry with her back full! She contributed a whole bed room full of supplies...literally! She saves stuff all year long for this event....Thanx Sherry, we couldn't do it with out you!

Taking Care of Business.......

One of the down sides of living in town is.....leaves!...... Steve got my Dad's yard sweeper and picked up the leaves that had fallen thus far. Trent had fun playing in them and Jaxi really liked them! Trent would through a hand full up and she would jump to get them! Jaxi was tearing around in circles with great delight. She has been a great dog for the boys...... She enjoys them chasing her, playing frisbee, chasing the tennis ball..... She has a lot of spunk! We have to put the leaves by the road and the village comes by with a big leaf sweeper. It has proved to be a great purchase by the village. We very much enjoy not having to haul them away!! Growing up in the country, I can honestly say, I had never raked leaves till I moved here!!

Boo!...

Trent had his Halloween Party on Friday. They dressed up and then had a parade for the parents and grandparents. We had a beautiful day for a parade and tricker treating....last year it rained!He wanted to be Ironman at first..then, the football players game to visit his classroom on Homecoming.....after that...it was all football. Which I was totally okay with...we had all the football gear. The Ironman costume was $25+, needless to say I didn't convince him to go back to Ironman! What he really wanted, was the black lines under his eyes...he couldn't wait till I put those on him. I have to admit, coming up with costumes is my least favorite part of the holiday.

I like the fall season, the falling leaves, the Thanksgiving decor, Pumpkins, apple desserts. I just could do with out the 'finding of the costume'. Maybe it's because I have boys??? It seems that girls get more into the whole dress up thing.....brides, princess, barbie, fairies, angels...... Maybe I have some suppressed trauma from my own childhood??? Maybe I never liked to dress up?

I do remember one Halloween, I was going to be a oriental lady. My mom had a dress I was going to wear and she was going to make my eyes look slanty with makeup. I had a meltdown the night before when we were having a trial run. As I remember it, she couldn't make my eyes look slanty enough and I refused to be an oriental lady! I do remember her saying..."you aren't oriental, I CAN'T make you eyes look slanty!!!!!" You do have to remember, this was back in the day when most people did not go out and buy a costume. You put one together with stuff you had at home! Okay, now that I have confessed that, I feel a lot better!

My sisters wil say I should have dressed like a 'Drama Queen'...be nice sisters! Don't forget I can delete any comment you might leave!

Here is Trent's haul....it doesn't look that massive...but it is bigger than it appears! I did tell Steve while we were walking him around...'You know, he's tricker-treating for the whole family'

How about you? What was your favorite costume or least favorite??? Steve, what was yours??

Blog question.....why does it not allow me to put in paragraphs where I want them?? They appear to be there until I publish post? So irritating!