Ghosts and Goblins and Witches! Oh my!

I am a lover of all things Halloween . . . the

candy, cornbread, chili, costumes, more

candy, popcorn balls, sugar cookies,

pumpkins . . . 

Paul McCartney and Indiana Jones

made a special appearance in our

home to help us celebrate!!!  

Happy, happy Halloween!!!

Halloween Eve.

Happy Halloween Eve!!

It has truly been a whirlwind day in our

household . . . 

*Luke headed to Search and Rescue

training for the balloon races

*Zach started his new job

*Sam wrote a bazillion papers for school

*Tim ran around like a chicken with

his head cutoff preparing for his

departure EARLY on Thursday

*I am working feverishly on loose

ends for my dissertation

*Mike lovingly supported us all!

In all of the craziness of today . . .

*I ran into a wonderful friend that

I have not seen for a bazillion years

at the quilt shop . . . Talked for so

long that I did not have time to 

purchase fabric

*Had Samish time

*Quality school time with my Luke

*Fun sit-down dinner with my family

*Enjoyed the cooler weather

*Had a moment to chat with other

Scout moms

*Ate more sugar cookies than I

should have

As the busyness of today comes to

and end, I take such pride in counting

all of my many, many blessings and

realize that I am truly BLESSED

BEYOND MEASURE.

Cookie Baking Day.

 Halloween Week only means one thing

around our home: TREATS!!

 Keeping with yearly tradition, the Halloween

cookie cutters came out of the drawer today

for the annual Halloween Cookie Baking Day!

Boys, no matter their age, LOVE sugar

cookies . . . any.shape.any.size.

Happy Halloween Cookie Baking Day!

Celebrating OUR Tim.

 After church we headed up to BEAUTIFUL

Mt. Charleston to celebrate EVERYTHING

with Tim.  After MUCH prayer, tears, and

deliberation Tim has accepted a seven-month

contract aboard Vision of the Seas cruise 

ship.  It is a WONDERFUL opportunity. 

He will be in both the Eastern and Western

Caribbean.  He will also be doing a fifteen

day crossing through the Panama Canal

to Russia, Norway, and France.  He will

be leaving Thursday.  With everything that

is going on within our family, this was a

very difficult decision for our Tim.  We are

excited for him and for the many opportunities

ahead . . . 

 So today we celebrated Tim's Happy Birthday,

Merry CHRISTmas, Happy New Year,

Valentine's Day, and Easter.  We will miss

him so very, very much!!!

Holy Smoke, Tim, you certainly are getting

old!!!  Happy, happy 2-6!!!!!

Love you to the moon and back!!!!

Popcorn Ball Day!

It's Popcorn Ball Day . . . 

For as long as my family can remember, my

Gram ALWAYS made popcorn balls for

Halloween.  Like her, I love to cook, bake,

and sew.  It is so much fun to carry on

traditions!!!

These puppies are made with a ton

of love and a TON of butter . . . 

Boys have already stolen enjoyed MANY

popcorn balls before we had a chance to 

snap the picture!!!

Happy Popcorn Ball Day!!!

Friday Favorites.

Friday favorites:

1. Halloween jammies

2. Visit from Mom

3. Calls from friends

4. Stuff in the mail for Tim

5. Dinner with my boys

6. Cozy flicks with my people

7. Fallish temps outside

8. Sweatshirts

9. Finishing projects

10. Halloween happenings

11. Visits to the dermo . . . not so much

Happy, happy Friday and an exiting weekend!

H. B. Celebration.

 Mike and I got together with our

besties to celebrate a couple of

special October birthdays . . . Mike

and Donna!!!!  I have been wanting

to make my sweet friend a quilt for

the longest time.  Each of the fabrics

that I chose REALLY represent

my friend . . . wild, crazy, mismatched,

beautiful, cute, funny, whimsical.

 Donna loved, loved, loved, loved,

loved, loved her quilt.  She was

so surprised!!!  It was so fun to watch

her open it and to see her reaction.

Did I mention that she LOVED it?!?

 "The Donna".

Did I mention that she loved it?!?

 Oh, yeah!! Guy stuff.  We also

celebrated hubs birthday with an

exciting, cute, fun, cozy gun strap!!

 Men!

Gotta love 'em!!

Happy, happy, happiest birthday

Mike and Donna.

Did I mention that my girl loved

her quilt?!?

Apple Goodness!

 Told ya!!!!!

 I couldn't do it without my helpers!!

Ooooohlala!!!  I.really.mean.oooooohlala!!!!

Homemade fresh whipped cream and vanilla

ice cream in the hoppers!!!!

Tietjen Boy Fun.

What do these and Tietjen boys have in

common . . . a TON of fun!!!  My guys

all love to go out shooting their pistols,

rifles, and guns.  They love the outdoors,

being together, and shooting "stuff".

The guys reported that people brought 

washing machines, cars, and millions

of things to use as targets for shooting.

With the lovely fall weather, my guys

have loaded up a bazillion times and

headed for the hills and had a TON of

fun!!!  This is a tradition that all of them

have had for many, many years beginning

with Grampa.  He would take all of

the guys out shooting!  They have been

doing this since an early age . . . 

For me, a mani and a pedi would be

equally as rewarding!!

Apple Pickin'.

Granny Smith apples that we picked straight

from the orchard . . . guess what I am going

to bake today!?!

Sunday Fun!

Punkin pickin' Tietjen style!!!  Today our

crew along with Bobby and Grandy headed

out to Gilcrease Orchard in search of the

perfect punkin!!  We had a blast . . . ate

some yummy apple cider donuts . . . and

made quite a contribution to the Gilcrease

Orchards.  Fun, fun, fun . . . 

A Fairytale Pumpkin for Me.

Oooohlala! As a lover of all things pumpkin,

finding these Fairytale Pumpkins at our

local market were so much fun.  Yep, they

reminded me of pumpkins from storybooks

and fairytales alright.  What fun!!!  Finding

these babies helped to ease the crazy

weekendness around our pad.  I managed 

to chip a tooth . . . the front one, of course.

Living with FIVE boys, they all agreed

that it didn't look THAT bad.  Praise the

Lord that we have an awesome dentist

who met me . . . and only me . . . at the

dentist office and quickly fixed that bad

boy.  He didn't fix it before the kids 

had time to remind me that I could

be in an episode of the Beverly Hillbillies.

Coupled with a chipped front tooth, I

have had a raging kidney infection, and

an arm that feels like it weighs at least

fifteen pounds from a flu shot.

So yeah, the five bucks for a Fairytale

Pumpkin seemed in order.

I was excited that Luke earned FOUR

more merit badges today, Sam volunteered

to paint houses and pour concrete at an

outpatient facility near Mount Charleston!

The big guys went to school and work.

All of the kids are so awesome!  They

manage to call or text me during the

day to see how Granny Clampett was

doing . . . 

Family Pix.

 Our cast and crew.  F.i.n.a.l.l.y could steal

a few moments to take our pics.  With

a household of SIX . . . there is.never.a.dull.

moment . . .