We made Taffy

My best sister, my Dad and Barb all  trecked to Ames last Saturday to help me make Salt Water Taffy for a community church outreach event "The Perfect Gift"  Dad whipped through 7 batches in about 5 hours (we took a little over an hour break to watch Em in the childrens program).  We cooked in the equipment closet for the gym, to keep the heat away from the kids.  Dad pulled out so eveyone could see the fun part.  Almost 1700 people came through the Plex on Saturday.  We could have gotten rid of every piece, but we did save a little back for ourselves.

 

 

Dad's new cooling pan has a drain! -seriously this revolutionizes the process

wrapping

 pullilng

Em's first task of the day, holding the wax paper roll

Time for reading

 Emily would sit and read all day if Dallas would let her!

 

The library in Ames has re-opened.  We returned our books we had for the last 4 weeks, and the kids were happy to come home with a new load.  We also have out about 30 Christmas themed books that stay with the Christmas decor, so it has been fun to rediscover those. 

Bo the Dog

 A picture from the first week we owned Bo ~ 8 months

 One of his favorite spots in the house, looking out the window and sunbathing on the floor beneath the window

A recent picture of Bo from November ~ 7 yrs old

 

 

I found Bo dead Saturday evening after we returned home from spending the afternoon at a church event.  Rob and Dallas had just played football with Bo in the backyard fours hours earlier.  He had turned the corner with the Blastomycosis.  He had gained back about 10 lbs.  His blasto antigen level had dropped to a readable value on the scale, although still high, he was still on medication.  His outward symptoms were all gone.  Rob thinks he had a heart attack and went quickly, and that is reassuring to me.

 

Bo was a great dog.  He loved our kids, and loved other kids even more.  He rarely barked.  He was loyal.  His favorite activities were retrieving a football, eating sticks and chasing squirrels.  He loved getting treats from the kids and was great at cleaning up the floor.  I liked that he didn't lick and he didn't beg (although he would try to stare the food out of you!)  I always wondered what he was dreaming about, he was so animated when sleeping.  We were so thankful for the wonderful time he was apart of our family. 

I am so behind.  I have run out of free photo storage and can't decide what my next blog move will be.  In the meantime I have fallen out of practice blogging because it is so much more fun with pictures right?

 How many Kibbe's can you fit in a rocking chair?

 Emily performing her first disection.  She dove right in and took apart a crayfish.  Her partner was not quite as enamored.  I was proud of Emily, she removed the eyes, legs, claws, I helped her find the lungs, the stomach, and all sorts of muscles. 

Today I helped Rob drive and dontate the family RV to Teen Challange.  By "help" I mean drive behind Rob from CR to Des Moines. 

I have bunches of other pictures I want to share.  They are on Rob's phone and I have been having issues loading them on the computer. 
Sunday we took Aunt Lynne to the airport.  We then got to spend the afternoon with our besties that live in Des Moines.  The kids played wonderfully and we were able to chat and eat homemade sushi, it was fun and perfectly low key.  .  It was nice to have Robert home this week.  He arrived Friday night, and went to the football game with me and some friends on Saturday.  Monday we jumped back into life.

I can't make this stuff up

After polishing off a pint of (shared) blackberries Dallas asks for more.  I responded, "I think one box is enough, I don't want your poop to be funny" -- Dallas says "but I do want my poop to laugh at me!"

 The Great Pumpkin Charlie Brown

 What are living room looks like 15 minutes after breakfast

Earned her first pizza for meeting her October reading goals.  Pizza Hut Book It!