I wasn't very good at taking pictures this weekend.  What a busy weekend!  I didn't have a minute to think about pictures!  Well, I guess I had a few minutes, because I did take a few!

On Saturday night, we celebrated Betsy's birthday, although the whole family couldn't be there.  So, there was me and Jim, Bets and Bryan, Suzanne, Amanda, Charlie and Megan.  We had lots of fun!

Betsy loves cookie cakes instead of regular cake.  This year, we got her cookie cake from Sam's Club, and it was VERY good, looked great, and was much cheaper than the one and only cookie store in our mall!  Betsy decided to get an Elmo cookie cake, because not only is Elmo adorable and she has always liked him from her youngest days, but CHARLIE likes him a lot, and so we had a party that made Charlie very happy!

                                         

We even got some cute Elmo plates and napkins.  Here was Charlie, looking so happy!  He helped Aunt Betsy blow out her candles.

                                         

Here is Bets, ready to cut the cake -

                                         

Megan with her Aunt Suzanne -

                                         

It was a fun birthday!

                                         

 After a recent day of rain and wind, our yard is full of leaves!  And the other day when Grandpa blew leaves off, he left a nice pile for Charlie to play in.  So, yesterday, there were more leaves on top of the pile, making it a lot of fun for this little boy!

                                         

                                         

                                          

I haven't blogged in awhile - it's a busy time of year!  Here is what I have been doing:

- trying to stay ahead of the dust balls, stink bugs, fleas, and general disarray in my house!  Borax and salt - that's what the vet told me to sprinkle all over the carpets since we found fleas on Luna.  Leave it for a few days, then vacuum it up.  So far, we haven't even seen fleas in the house, and only a couple at a time on Luna now, but the Borax/salt mixture is definitely a safe and effective way to get rid of them.  The vet said that this is the worst year for fleas she has ever seen - and I thought the stink bugs were bad!

- rehearsing for the sign language interpreting of "Scrooge" that will be at our Civic Center the first weekend of December.  Betsy is the director!  And 6 of us are interpreting one performance.

- finishing, finally, the piecing together of my bear applique quilt, and I made a pieced back of the left-over fabric.  Now to send it to the quilter.

- getting other projects cut out and ready for quilt camp in a few weeks.

- shopping with Betsy for a wedding dress and we found one!!!!

- working on the cross stitch Christmas stocking I started for Charlie last year and that will be finished soon!

- still taking care of paperwork for my mother's care and visiting her at the nursing home - she seems to recognize me, and sometimes nods or shakes her head, but otherwise, no longer responds to my chatting or my questions.

- enjoying seeing my grandchildren as often as possible!