Thanksgiving Dinner

We all got together for dinner at my sister's house today and after we stuffed ourselves we piled up on the couch for some photos and some laughs. My sisters always do Thanksgiving with their in-laws so we had our lil get together today instead. We had a great time so I thought I would share some pics.

Pictured above is Jack (my brother in-law), Val (my sister), Abby (my neice), Gracie (my neice), Jackie (my sister), Steffie, me, Jonathon (my nephew), Sandy (my Mom), Winston (my Mom's boyfriend).... Adrian was at work :(... and Todd (my sister's hubby) took the pic.

Princess Steffie

My Sister Jackie and Princess Jonathon

Gracie and Steffie

Me and Steffie

My Grandma and Nephew Josh

My Sisters.. Jackie, Valerie and me

The guys... Jack, Todd, Jonathon and Winston

Jonathon, Steffie, Mom and Gracie

Steffie and Gracie making funny faces

Jonathon, Gracie and Steffie jumping on the trampoline... it was all good till Gracie puked!
Rule of thumb... don't jump on a trampoline after stuffing yourself!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Happy Thanksgiving!

Just wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving... I hope you all enjoy lots of food and family!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Happy Birthday Lil Steffie!

Just wanted to wish my baby girl Steffie a very Happy 4th Birthday!!! She had a great party at the park with friends and family.  She was sooo tired afterwards... but of course all wound up.... she cried when her Daddy told her she would never be 3 again.... I told her that I wanted to be 3 too... she quickly got over it and we snuggled as she drifted off to sleep.  Here are a few pics....

The Cake... Steffie picked it out

Our 8 Guests

Blowing out her candles

Cousin Gracie and Steffie

Lexie and my Grand Daughter Makaela

My Grandson Austin having a blast popping balloons and ripping down streamers

Reading her birthday card

Opening gifts ... V-Smile

Peeking in the bag

Strawberry Shortcake and Orange Blossom

Sweet Surprises Strawberry Shortcake

All done

Another shot of our guests

HAPPY BIRTHDAY STEFFIE!!!!

A Lil Enchanted,

~LaShan~

Top Droppers For September

I haven't been around in a few days because I've been really busy with birthdays... so I have a lot of updating to do in the coming days. We celebrated Sarah's 21st birthday on Saturday... so I have pics and updates on that. And tomorrow is lil Steffie's 4th birthday... so I will have pics and updates on that as well. Getting everything ready and doing our bi-weekly shopping has kept me far away from my computer. We also celebrated my niece's 5th birthday on Sunday. Tomorrow' s celebration should do it for a few weeks on the parties so hopefully I can get back to my regular blogging schedule. I've really missed all of my blog friends and have a lot of catching up to do. I also have some awesome new awards to share :).... so thank you to those who shared them with me... I'm looking forward to passing them on.

But for now I want to thank my Top Droppers for September.... I really do appreciate your visits and comments.... and I hope you'll keep coming back

Dropper # of drops All Stace, All the Time 31 Mom's Place 28 One World Realty 24 AsTheCrackerheadCrumbles 24 Luv a Bargain 23 Cooking Japanese Style 23 Grampy and You! 23 Small Town Mommy 22 Momspective 22 Momspective Reviews 22

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Vintage Board Games

Do you remember any games you used to play as child that they don't make anymore? There were several that I used to have that are now out of production and I wish I still had them. One that I used to love was called Which Witch. I managed to get one of these on Ebay a few years back... it was kind of expensive but I really wanted it. It's a 3-D game... you move through a haunted witch's house to get to the charmed circle at the end.... along the way you might get turned into a mouse. Steffie loves to play this game. I can't say it's really educational... but I do make her count the dots on the dice and then of course the number of spaces she is supposed to move... and it helps her learn about taking turns and following the rules... so I guess it's not a total educational loss. She insisted on playing it this morning... so that is what we've been doing... counting dots and getting turned into mice :) Here are a few pics of the game



I also remember a game called Voice of the Mummy... you had to travel around an Egyptian pyramid to get to the top where the mummy was and collect jewels along the way... the mummy talked and gave instructions that you had to follow. I've seen this one on Ebay as well for around $100... that's expensive for a game... but someday I would love to have this game again.

Another one I used to have was Seance... oooohhh spoooky... I remember sitting around my Grandma's huge dining table playing this with my family. You got instructions from the deceased Uncle Everett from the seance table included in the game. The goal was to collect his valuable... or maybe worthless items from his estate... and at the end of the game whoever had the most valuable ones and therefore the most money won the game. This too is a highly collectable game and worth quite a bit of money. I would love to have this game again for the childhood memories... yes I was into the strange and the paranormal even back then.

Did playing these games make me strange and interested in the paranormal? Did they make me a Witch? No.... I already was what I was.... even as a child.... and I would be who I am now even without these games.... but they sure made made my childhood a lil more interesting. Would I let my own child paly these games? Yes! They are just games... and Steffie already loves to play Which Witch.... she calls it my "magic witch game".

I also had a magic genie bottle and a Zodiac Ball... I couldn't find any pics of the genie bottle but you pulled the top off and smoke came out and it predicted your future. The Zodiac Ball is just like a Magic 8 Ball that you can still buy.... you ask it a question and turn it over to get your answer in the window in bottom.

I think it would be great if they would update these fun games and and make them again.

Do you remember any of these??? Did you have any of them? Do you still have them tucked away somewhere in a closet, attic or basement???

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

One Insanely Weird Weekend...

This past weekend was just weird... flatout weird. I just had to take a blogging break and so many lil weird things happened now I just gotta tell...

My Friday started bright and early with babysitting my 2 year old grandson Austin... he's a lil cutie... but he's constantly into things he shouldn't be... so between him and Steffie I was running around like crazy trying to keep with the mischief the 2 were making. I was supposed to do this for 8+ hours... so I was suprised when Hannah called to say her Dad would be here in 5 minutes to pick up Austin... this was around 2:00.

I was able to pick up the toys they had scattered from one end of the house to the other before Adrian was due home... and get a good amount of my blogging and dropping done. He got home around 6:00 and brought a box of 30 White Castle burgers and Steffies goodies. So we ate and she got her loot. Adrian has 4 days off work so I'm thinking we're having a good weekend... now mind you I've been feeling pretty crappy lately... thinking about how my family could care less whether they see me more than a time or two a year... about how I have no friends close by to hang with... and most of our weekends have been spent at home doing nothing... so I'm hoping for some fun and some adult company.


Well Adrian decides to take Steffie down the road to the lil playground for a lil bit to spend some Daddy time with her and to give me a break because at this point I just really need some time without kids ( I love the kids but sometimes a person just needs a break from them).... but before they get there my sister calls him to say she is stopping by... she had tried to call my cell which I didn't hear and our stupid Magic Jack # which I hate and don't even activate anymore and so she called him... he turns around and comes back home. Now this is strange occurance #1 because we have lived here for 9 years and in those 9 years my sister has been to my house 2 times... we go see her a couple of times a year when we're invited to family events at her house but she just doen't come to our house... I don't know why... she just doesn't. So we were a bit weirded out by her sudden visit.

She visits awhile and then we all walk outside to say our goodbyes and chat a few more minutes when all of a sudden wierd event #2 happens... I hear a huge BANG like a gunshot... so I'm like WTF?.... Steffie was in the driveway playing just a couple of feet from us... between Adrian's car and my van (which he backed up the driveway so the two rear ends were facing).... I walk over there and there is a HUGE hole in my back window. It just exploded and started crumbling all to pieces. I was really freaked out by it... we watched it continue to crumble for about 30 minutes.... had we not been standing right there when it happened I would have sworn some vandal had broken or shot out my window. But after some online research I have found that it happens... car windows... especially the back windows in vans... especially Dodge Caravans can just explode for no apparent reason... who knew??!... I didn't... never heard of it before...

After we all calm down and get settled for bed... we're laying there watching tv... and weird event #3..... my very good friend Cyn calls... she's coming to town tomorrow and wants to hang out... totally great unexpected news. I love Cyn... wish she lived closer than 2 hours away... but at least now she does live that close... when we first met she lived about 8 hours away near DC.

So while we are sleeping all of those White Castle burgers disappear... Sarah has been gone for 3 weeks staying with friends but she came home on Thursday and since she's been home she hasn't been here for 1 minute alone... she's had 5-10 other people with her. This is how Sarah is... she has a huge amount of friends with her almost constantly... fortunately the bunch spent most of the time over at her Dad's house in his pool. But they did come here that night long enough to devour our burgers.... and anything else they could find.

So Saturday we had a great visit with Cyn... we all loaded up and went to the local Chinese Buffet to eat... I love it... the food is good... it's close... and it's cheap! So we all stuffed ourselves miserably. Cyn had to leave right after we ate so Steffie decided to call her Nana ( my Mom) and ask if she could come see her... she loves her Nana but doesn't get to see her very much and is always wanting to go visit her. She said they were about to go eat but they would call as soon as they got back home and we could come over. Mom calls back a couple of minutes later... this is strange event #4... they are going to the Chinese Buffet to eat... she has never been there before... it is 5 minutes from my house.....she wants to know if we want to meet them there... we decline since we just stuffed ourselves at the very same buffet. So after they eat.. they drop by to visit.... my Mom just doesn't drop by either... she comes to my house maybe twice a year if we invite her over for dinner or some special event. So to have 3 people just come over like that within 2 days was just odd.... very nice... but not normal. I really wish I had family and friends who just dropped by to hang out... or called me up to say 'let's hang out' .... I've just never had that kind of special best friend.... except for the few years when my other sister and I were close like that... I miss that time... a close best friend is something that I always wanted.

So anyway.. on Sunday we decided to take Steffie to have a picnic at Coolidge Park in Chattanooga.... they have a really awesome water fountian that the kids can play in and it's FREE! And since we're broke until payday.... and then we still have to fix my van window.... it fit the bill perfectly. She had a great time! Here are some pics...

Everything went great we had a fun time.. Steffie loved the fountain... she giggled and splashed and ran around... it was so much fun to watch her laughing and playing. Afterwards we went for a walk across the Walnut Street Bridge.... and old wooden and steel bridge which has been converted to a walking bridge. The Delta Queen Riverboat is now parked in this area.... we watched her come in a few months ago.... and she is now a floating hotel on the Tennessee River.... as we walked across the bridge someone on the boat started playing the calliope so here are a few pics of the boat with steam coming from the calliope pipes....

On the way home Adrian decided to go the backway and take the "scenic route"... this was the first time that Steffie and I have ridden in his car since he bought it a few weeks ago because it needs some front end work to really make it as safe as we would like it to be... but since my van still has glass still crumbling on the back window we decided to take his car. On the way home... we're driving through 'da hood'.... I kid you not!... and a car backs out of a parking lot right in front of us... we had time to slow down quite a bit but we T-boned that car! We're all fine.... and the car still runs... who could tell it has a few more bangs.... and the guys in the other car were fine as well and were very much against calling police or insurance... we were fine with it as well since no one was hurt and his car only has liability insurance anyways because it a POS. I highly suspect the guys in the other car were doing something illegal... but I really wanted to get outta there.... so this was weird occurance #5... getting into an accident the first time we rode in his car.

So now it's Monday... hopefully the weirdness is over, we'll get more visitors, and maybe I'll find that BFF I would love to have. But tomorrow my van goes into the shop at a whopping $200 to fix the rear window. This is not petty cash for us. This means that this is the 3rd paycheck from his new job and we will still not be able to enjoy having the increase in salary because yet again something unexpected took away all the extra money. Oh well... at least I'll have the money to get it fixed... if he hadn't got the raise I wouldn't have that.

So I hope everyone has a great week.... and somebody for God's Sakes please turn off that damned weirdo magnet that is causing all of these weird things to happen... at least the bad weird things!

A Lil Enchanted,
~LaShan~

Happy 4th of July weekend!

OMG! Can you believe I slept until noon?! We took Steffie to see fireworks at Patriotism At The Post in Fort O last night... I had talked to my sister about it on the phone earlier and we were supposed to meet up there. We decided to eat at CiCi's since it was on our way there... and cheap... and I love Pizza... I never mentioned to my sis that were eating there because it was kinda a last minute thing... but as we were leaving she's walking in to pick up her to go order. Now Fort O is a small town... but it's not *that* small.. there are plenty of places to choose from to eat.... and she lives in a lil town on one end of Fort O and I live in another small town on the other end... so bumping into each other at just that moment was just one of those things that verifies for you... right place... right time... this is where I'm supposed to be and what I am supposed to be doing kinda moments. (Another one of those verifiers for me..... is when I'm out somewhere and Stevie Nicks or Fleetwood Mac comes on.... yes I'm a bit strange....)

The kids had a great time playing on the bouncy slide that was there and the fireworks were nice... not a huge display but nice. Turned out my Mom was meeting us there as well... so we got to spend time with her too. We got home around 11:00 p.m. .... way past Steffie's bedtime... so she slept in this morning until 10:00 a.m. and so did Adrian (he was worn out tired from all the hours he's worked this week and having to get up at 3:30 a.m. to be at work at 5:00). He was a sweety and let me sleep in (he does this on weekends quite often!.... Thank You Hunny!!!!)... I was worn out from staying up until 2:00 or 3:00 a.m. all week and getting up in the mornings to take care of Steffie. As much as I try to be a morning person I am just not... my body insists on staying up into the wee hours and fighting it just makes it worse.... so I end up getting a nice sleep deficit by the weekend. Getting to sleep in one day a week is very helpful in reviving my body to do it all again the following week.

Not sure what we're doing tonight.... everyone is busy today with their own activities... but maybe something will come up to entertain us.... whatever it is will have to be free.... we have $7 to last until payday on Tuesday....LOL

Happy 4th to you all.... Have a great weekend!!

~A Lil Enchanted~