"Nevermore!!" (Quoth the Raven!!)

I don't usually do much for Halloween anymore - the lack of small children in the home seems to dictate that. I couldn't even find my witch hat to wear to school on Friday!! And I seem to have misplaced my spook earrings.

But Marcie came to my room Friday to borrow my skull candelabra - it was left in Room 5 years ago - and when I was put in Room 5, I appropriated it for my own. It doesn't do much except serve as a prop for Marcie, but it's a handy prop indeed for her as she does her Edgar Allen Poe impersonation, reading "The Raven."

A little island of culture for CMS!!

A peek at the week - so far!

Tuesday found us saying good-bye to Phoebe, Calvin, and Sully. They brought lunch to me at school - it was certainly fun to introduce them around!! And it was great to have lunch brought to me!

Then Tuesday afternoon, I picked Eve up at her piano lesson so that we could finally finish out our "Grandma's Birthday Sleepover." We both have pretty crazy schedules, so we've kind of been doing it piecemeal. A couple of Saturdays ago we went for manicures. And Tuesday we went shopping!! Afterward, we met up with Grandpa at Mimi's and had a great dinner.

Tuesday night, Eve wanted to do her mask project that is due Friday. She was pretty insistent, and we were pretty resourceful, so we found stuff around the house that would work. Her book was about the young Eleanor Roosevelt, so this is our interpretation of her!

We didn't have any yellow yarn, so we made her a brunette! And I think she enjoyed sleeping in the bouncing chair!

It was fun to once again have hair to fix, a lunch to pack, and waffles to make for breakfast!! Eve was excited to get to school a bit early even - "Now I can play before school," she said.

One of the great blessings in my life is our wonderful grandchildren - when I dropped her off at school, Eve said, "I love you Grandma!"

Charles Dickens once said, "It is no small thing when children, who are so fresh from God, love us."

He's right you know!

The weekend winds down -

Like all good things, this great visit with Phoebe, Calvin, and Sully is drawing to a close. We have thoroughly enjoyed having them here - and it will be eerily quiet when they go!!

Dad doing Grandpa duty on Saturday night. Phoebe had her reunion - and enjoyed connecting with old friends from high school and the neighborhood.

Sully had his moments - but he has so many charming moments that we are happy for the trade-off!

Sunday was the family birthday celebration for Calvin - and I tried to get shots of everyone.

Greg, Milea, and Kevin joined us - as did Noah.

Heather came out with her kids - Steve was at a Chargers' game.

Frances was here for the weekend, so that was a plus.

Dawn - ever the hostess with the mostess!! And Isla, trying out some new faces!!

Madison and Ember - and while posting this I figured out that I didn't get a shot of Scarlett!!

Mary came - and enjoyed her time with baby Sully.

Grandma Helen joined us - along with the Bolanders.

Bruce and the charming Miss Ella - with her lovely crimped hair!! The Bolander Beauties just get prettier and prettier, don't they??

Our own Miz Phoebe - always makes a party more fun!

Aunt Donna - still the favorite aunt!

Oh those ferocious little scalawags - they chose this pose!!

I had to leave early to speak at a Young Marrieds' Fireside in our stake, but got in on a great meal and a chance to say hi to everyone.

Always finding the babies to hold!

Hmm - like mother, like daughter!! Those beautiful Bolander women again!

Harry and Phoebe - reliving the old days!!

Miss Isla has discovered climbing the stairs!

Celebration and singing time - shy Calvin!!

Quite a crowd to sing to him - he did the honors in fine style.

Monday - Calvin's actual b-day - found them at Disneyland.

Bonny did the babysitting duties.

Harry and the boys joined them after school - luckily we are on an early schedule this week.

Fun rides!!

Calvin - and Porter - got picked for Jedi training!!

And Mr. Sully got his First Disneyland Visit badge!!

The end of the day - and the end of the "Six Days of Calvin" birthday gifts from us - the chisel - so he could crack open one of his geodes!

It is always fun to have big family gatherings. And it is always fun to visit everyone. But it's especially enjoyable to have kids and grandkids here in the house to just enjoy on a "regular day" basis - pouring the Corn Chex, folding the baby laundry, fixing lunches, chatting into the night, having prayers together, soothing a fussy baby.

Come again soon!!

Grandma's B-day Weekend and other delights!!

Calvin and Porter have been having a great time together - and the sleepover was a smashing success!!

Noah joined us for dinner and went with Phoebe to GH to visit the folks there.

We're thinking we'll be blowing this one up poster size when they leave on their missions!

A great visit with Grandma Clayton - check Donna's blog for more photos.

Favorite Aunt Donna - getting to know the newest little Terrill baby.

Phoebe lucked out and found other family members there.

Phoebe even got to sleep in today - enjoying a little stretching time with Mom.

Phoebe's class reunion included a picnic at Library Park - and fun times with old school chums! These girls haven't changed much at all!!

Sully wasn't extremely impressed with the proceedings.

Getting a group photo of your old school friend's kids is about as easy as getting a grandchildren shot!!

Included Kyle in this one!!

A group went to the Homecoming game last night, and there is a get-together tonight too. Calvin, Porter, and I enjoyed shopping and lunch at Wendy's - and Porter was sad to go home - and Calvin was sad to see him go.

Tomorrow a big family party at Chez Terrill on Lemon - the good times continue!!

All in a day's work?

Phoebe and I had quite the eventful day today!! In fact, we could do without any more "events" for a while!!

For starters, we went and rented a car and left Calvin with Dawn while we did so. When we got back, we were visiting briefly and observing Calvin at play when we all heard a "thunk!" We ran to the front window to discover that a car had somehow run into a car parked in front of the park and had flipped on its side. You could hear the woman crying for help. Dawn ran across the street and started reassuring the woman that help was on its way - Phoebe commented that she was amazed at how many neighbors were at home, because folks were pouring out of their houses. 2 fire trucks came, a rescue truck, an ambulance, and 3 police cars.

We were all riveted as we watched the firemen cut the woman out of the car. And the poor man who had been sitting in his car - eating his lunch - was wandering around in shock! Dawn took a photo of the car and sent it to Harry on her phone - Harry was in court for his job - and I thought about taking a photo, but obviously didn't get around to it!

The woman was taken out on a board with her neck anchored - and it was amazing a while later to see that the car had been essentially put back together to be towed away. In the meantime, since all these rescue vehicles were smack in front of the driveway, we were not able to leave! Dawn ended up walking with Calvin to school to walk Eve and Porter home - it was still raining, but Dawn, ever prepared, had umbrellas for everyone! Phoebe and I stayed at the house since Isla was asleep. Harry was at Nadinna's - so Dawn texted her the accident photo to explain why she hadn't come for Harry!! Nadinna texted back that it was fine, but could Harry walk in the rain with them to go get Damien and Sascha from school!!

Calvin had been dreaming of In and Out, so we detoured over to Santa Anita and Colorado for lunch - it was now after 1 - and then finally got on our way to Bonny's!! The plan had originally been to go to Bonny's and the beach - the rain nixed that plan - and then to go out to the Valley to visit my mom and Donna. Like all plans, these went awry!! I'm sorry I didn't take shots of the kids at Dawn's - we were preoccupied with the moment I guess!! But as you can tell from the photos here, I did take shots at Bonny's house.

Bonny and Phoebe had a nice visit, the kids enjoyed playing with Calvin, and we enjoyed a yummy dinner together. We left around 6:45 and figured a half hour would see us at Mom's house. Oh, ho, ho - aren't we dreamers!!?? Bonny drew us a map and we decided to go over the mountains - a route I have gone on countless times, so I wasn't worried.

I guess I should have been though - because our first hurdle showed up a ways down the road - FOG!! We cruised slowly along, thinking that we'd recognize the sharp turn at Stunt Road. We started thinking we'd missed it - but we were heading down the mountain so we figured we'd hit the way out of the mountains soon enough. And the fog started to clear so we could see - scenery I did not recognize!! That should have been a clue!!

Then we came to a sign telling us the road was closed - we had no choice but to turn around and go back. At least it was clear - we had been afraid to turn around before because of the fog. We were on La Tuna Canyon Road. We headed back and miraculously found the turn we had missed before!! In the meantime, Phoebe, who was driving, was feeling more and more carsick from all the winding and turning and twisting we'd been doing. We had tried several times to make calls to Bonny - or anyone actually - but there was no service!! We finally got hold of Mom and Donna and said that now that we'd found our way, we were just going to head home - it was after 8 already. And did I mention that about halfway through our misadventure Sully started crying - mostly inconsolably??

We got home safe and sound - which is the important part. But Phoebe and I are feeling like we've had enough adventure already!! I thought about not going to school again, but my favorite sub was not available, so I'd better sign off and get to bed. We're also thinking about how we can incorporate this experience into a good object lesson for a talk!!