Yaya's Thanksgiving weekend

We had our yearly pre-Thanksgiving dinner at my sister's house. It is usually the only time that everyone in the family actually gets together. It is a wonderful time for reconnecting and catching up. The kids have a blast playing with their cousins that they don't get to see enough during the year. I am very thankful that Karen (aka Yaya) insists on doing this yearly.

Have You Filled a Bucket Today?

Olivia and Ave Kate's school has been on a bucket filling campaign. They have been learning about bucket fillers and bucket dippers. Being kind, courteous, and thoughtful to others helps fill their bucket. Being rude and disrespectful to others and hurting their feelings dips into their buckets. The children also learn that by filling other buckets that theirs get filled in return by feeling good about themselves. I think it is a great concept of teaching. It is based on a the book "Have you Filled a Bucket Today?" Today the author of the book Carol McCloud was at their school this morning to speak to the students about bucket filling and awarded their school as the first Mississippi school to be awarded as a bucket filling school.
How wonderful it would be if everyone became more aware of being bucket fillers instead of bucket drainers. So just ask yourself-Have YOU filled a bucket today??

pretty day picnic

It was such a pretty day today that we decided to have a picnic. We went to Desoto National Forest which is nearby thinking that we could hike some trails. There were no hiking trails to be found and not much to the place. We did at least find picnic tables to eat our chicken. My other goal for the day was to get some nice pictures with fall colors. We did find the trees with fall colors but my camera went out almost immediately. We still had fun and enjoyed the nice weather and sunshine. Next time we will research our destination better.

Friday night and family

A few pics from Friday night fun. Casey, Cohen, Alyssa and Grandma came over for dinner. Glen cooked steaks on the grill. The kids had fun playing and fighting over toys. Casey cut Glen's hair-notice the beautiful pic of the cut in progress;) Cohen had a new pair of boots that he did not want to take off. He wore them well.

Weekend happenings

We had a busy weekend even though it started out on a low note, We were all geared up to go to Jackson Friday night to Michelle and Buck's annual Tomb of Doom Halloween costume party. Ave Kate wasn't feeling well and the weather got stormy between here and there so did not make the trip. We ended up having a nice full weekend anyway. Lee, Erins boyfriend, came down for the weekend. I love having an excuse to cook so spent alot of time in the kitchen. Saturday night Casey had a Halloween party at her house. There were lots of cute little kids in costumes. Of course I forgot my camera and Erin's battery went dead so I have no pictures to show for it. We all had a good time and ate some good food. The kids trick- or- treated in her neighborhood. Lily caught on quickly and dug the idea of getting candy when she went to people's doors. The weather was perfect to top things off.