Random photos

Here are some random photos.  First off, someone in this family has sticky fingers when it comes to taking more than enough after-dinner mints from the golf club.  Yes, it would be Charlie. Ha ha!

I decided to get a new rug for our foyer.  Plus, it was on sale!

I rather like that pop of color and because it was on sale, I'm not too concerned about it getting too dirty :-P

Charlie is back at the orthodontist's office because they needed to take a couple extra scans. I love how they give such attention to details.  I really hope the boys' new Invisalign will work!

Actually, they just have little "nubbies" installed on their teeth today. And did get a whole box full of retainers each. Actually, Graham got 2 full boxes. I'll explain some more in a new post :-)

We found an old train station that's been converted into a shopping mall.  I love the arches!

I think this was like one of the first horse-drawn water hose for the fire department here - way back when.  So cool!

I can't believe this.  The sign on the window actually says no kids allowed in this antique store??!  That's terrible!

And on this other side of their store - on another door, there was a sign that said "No wheelchairs".  Can you believe that??!  

There's still an old train in here and it sits on an old train track.  And I think you can dine in it. We will have to try this one day:

Off to the movies for us, after a really long time. Nice part is, it's pretty much empty except for the 4 of us and 2 other people that are seated waaaay on the top most row.  Ha!

Sitting close to Graham so I can snag some of his chips :-)

Graham is so funny.  He doesn't actually open up his bag of chips until the movie starts.  And I mean that bag stays closed through all the ads and all the previews.  If only he is this patient in everything else!

I finally had to turn on the 4WD function on my car last week. I can tell it's on because this little green thing shows up on my dashboard:

It was so slushy with rain and snow.  Yuck!

Definitely no golf today!

So thankful the simulators are available at the golf club.  We all can have some fun while it's cold outside.  Nothing like trying to hit the driving range cart :-D

Or, just go sledding with the kids and the neighbors.  Ha! I did tell Charlie he is not allowed to go past that tree at the bottom of the hill. Otherwise, it's definitely getting too close to the lake!

Graham gets home too late during the school week (actually, it's super dark by 5pm!) so he's trying to take advantage of whatever snow that's left over during the weekend:

Brrr, it is definitely cold.  Although, Graham has a thumbs up!

I'm not so sure but at first this tree looked really cool in person, but looking at it in the photo - it's looking rather scary.  LOL!

Lake was frozen but now it's not quite frozen anymore.  Boys are still finding bits and pieces of ice along the shore:

I saw this cute Joy sign in one of the neighbor's yard and am using it for a nice photo :-D

There was some deck cleaning over the weekend too:

Graham loves to shovel!

Well, there's a blizzard coming our way very soon and looks like everyone is prepping. There was actually a line when I went to get gas today!!

I also made sure we had some extra meds on-hand:

I probably should have bought some pepto for poor Charlie this past couple of days.  He threw up in the middle of Monday night in the bedroom that he shares with Graham.  Graham didn't even nudge when I turned on the light to clean. And not even when I pulled the sheet off his bed! Thankfully Charlie is better now. He is back to school tomorrow. Last day before winter break. Woohoo!!

And we've stocked up on some food too. There were like 4 checkout lanes open today compared to the normal 1 lane. In any case, we have lots of ingredients for "chunky monkey" bagels - blueberry bagel with peanut butter, topped with bananas and granola.  We learned that at a restaurant recently on our roadtrip back from MN. Yum!

Oh, forgot that there is a drizzle of honey too.  Super yum!! :-D

I hope this house holds up for this first storm.  It is going to be below freezing with all the wind chills.  Just insane! It's our first winter in the Midwest and of course, we are literally going to be bombarded with a "Bomb Cyclone".  Yup, that's what they are calling it! YIKES!!!