Our squirrel feeder and other happenings

...Not! This all started over a week ago. I had two small pumpkins on our doorstep. One day we came home and one was a little gnawed on. Then a few days later it was cracked open. And little by little the pumpkin was gone! At first Cliff thought neighbor kids were playing a prank on us because we have lived in this house for almost 6 years, and have never had squirrels eat pumpkins we set out. I really didn't mind that they ate the small pumpkin. But then a few days later they cracked open the other small pumpkin we had set out that was a decorative one with a red, white, and blue heart painted on it. So, I thought they got that out of their system and decided to buy a larger pumpkin to carve this week. Well, as you can see from the photos we will not be carving it! The squirrels have done some carving of their own. I quietly opened our front door to get these photos. As you can see these squirrels think they own this place. Who am I to tell them otherwise?! Their ancestors were probably here long before I was. LOL.

We went to a Halloween party yesterday put on by our Navy Ombudsmen. There were quite a few women there whose husbands are also in the Middle East. We were greatly outnumbered by all the children and we all miss our husbands. But we had a great time anyhow. After the party we went to Living History Farms and then went swimming at the hotel they were staying in. They live all over Iowa and since I live in the same area as the unit headquarters, the kids and I opted to just go home after the gathering. But we stayed at the hotel with them until 11pm last night. I didn't take any photos yesterday. I should have!

On Tuesday my sister-in-law, Denise is going to bring her kids here to go door to door with us in our neighborhood. It should be fun. It is going to be warmish that day and I am so grateful for such a lovely fall! The day after Cliff left it was gloomy here and I was kinda mopey and cranky (plus with sinus issues). But I am feeling better now. He has called a few times and he is doing o.k. He is ready to get home, and he will be back here soon enough. I've been keeping busy with housework and other stuff with the kids. Their friends come over every day after school and we have fun. I made fried (in olive oil) veggie egg rolls the other night and I was surprised that they liked them. I use a yummy sweet chili sauce for dipping (I got that secret from my brother-in-law). It is really spicy, but so delicious!

When they are not riding bikes or playing outside their favorite thing to do is play a Gamecube game called, Super Mario Smash Melee that he LOVES and so do his friends. It is a 1-4 person game and they can pick out their characters (Pikuchu, Link, Zelda, DK, Bowser, and many others) and they fight each other in 15 or so different areas of their choosing. Also, the kids and I have been getting into "I Spy" books! We also like a book series by Usborne (author is Young) with animals and insect searches. Holden is doing so awesome at counting and is starting to recognize certain letters and numbers more and more. He watches me play Scrabble on the computer and asks a lot of questions. To my surprise Camden (3) can count to 10 on his own--not something I sat down and drilled him on. I think he learned from TV and from playing hide and seek a lot (they count to 20).

So, that is about it at the moment. Just trying to get the kids into the dentist soon and get some stuff done on my car. It will be another busy week here. But another good one. Hope you like our squirrel feeder photos. I know I do and so do the kids! Happy Halloween!