Halloween, Izaac and Noel on the roof!

Went to Des Moines today for (nephew) Ben's and Mema's (my mom's) birthdays. Uncle Charlie treated us to Old Chicago pizzas--yum!!

Izaac was Batman for Halloween and enjoyed going door to door in his neighborhood. He wouldn't tell a 'joke' but had conversations with the 'treaters' about their decorations and candy. He woke up early this morning hoping he could go fill his candy bucket again!

Izaac posing with Samantha (Sa-may-may, as he calls her), who had a tire problem on the road today, but made it safely to Des Moines.

Izaac wanted his hair styled "like a mohawk" this morning, and he liked the look!

Mom's trying to choose new shingles for her roof (and having trouble deciding) so I was trying to take a picture of our new shingles out the upstairs window. When I opened the screen to take a close-up of the shingles, Noel escaped out the window.

She crawled around for about five minutes, decided it was too far to jump down and crawled back into the window.

Emmitt is slowly getting over chasing the kitties....

That's Emmitt under my sewing table (except my computer is on it much more often that the sewing machine, unfortunately), after Georgy (on the chair) swatted his nose when he got too close.

Emmitt will be going home this afternoon with his 'mommy'. I think we've had a pretty good week, and Emmitt has enjoyed being here.

This is where Bogie has spent most of the last week--on top of the cupboard in the bathroom--so he could avoid the dog.

This is where Queen (the oldest) has spent most of the last week--on top of the hutch in the Prairie Room.

(Last Sunday morning after I was ready for church, I was trying to feed Queen a bowl of tuna, and when I reached to put the bowl up there with her, I dumped some of the tuna and juice down on me--including my hair. I didn't have time to RE-shower and get to church on time--so I didn't go! I think it should rank near the top of the 'weirdest excuses' not to attend church!)

Emmitt in the early morning!!! (and My 500th blog posting!)

This is about how far Emmitt gets from me (he's sitting on my feet) inside or out of the house unless he's answering 'nature's call'...

That's not the sun setting in the west, that's the moon going to bed! It was much prettier than the picture, however.

Emmitt got up VERY early this morning, so does that mean he'll go to bed without whining or barking early tonight?? His 'mommy' will be here Sunday afternoon to retrieve him.

(The orange tint on the pavement is actually from the yard light that was still shining brightly this dark morning!)

Kim got a new 'furry' family member!

This is Bentley!!! He's a little over a year old, and freshly groomed. I went with Kim today to the Boone Humane Society, and Bentley is now home with his new 'siblings'.

Kim and Bentley meet Alex (holding Maks) in Kim's front yard. It went quite well because Bentley is relaxed and ready for some attention.

This is Rascal (Kim's outside dog) checking out Bentley.

This is "Rambo". He is the official greeter at the Boone Humane Society and he was trying to tell us quite a story.

More Emmitt (the grand-dog) pictures

Emmitt trying to get on John's lap yesterday. Emmitt is very friendly, but still wants to chase the kitties (we're working on it!).

Emmitt enjoying some supper in the kitchen.

Emmmitt and I playing tug-of-war with one of his rope toys.

Here's a 10-second video of him chasing a toy in our yard today.

Samantha driving the Combine...

Samantha went to the South Hamilton home football game last night (after dropping the grand-dog off here at our house) and apparently was lamenting about how she had never ridden in a combine in all the time she lived in the country (1997-until high school graduation 2005).

So, the three 'boys' who were going to harvest this morning talked her into bringing them breakfast (which I got up and packed for them--biscuit/egg/ham/cheese sandwiches, blueberry muffins--from a mix I'll probably never buy again because they don't taste like they used to--and an apple and a juice box) and she drove a combine! Thanks to Dave, Ron and Tim...

The 'other' 'grand-dog'....

Emmitt arrived a couple of hours ago and he's been investigating the house non-stop. It's been hard to get a picture of him (since he's barely stopped moving in that time).

He's a ten-month old border collie and Samantha adopted him from a friend of hers (from Des Moines) who didn't have the space or time to devote to him.

One LARGE black cat...

This is the whole front yard. The cat is really cute, though, and not too scary (at least to me!!).

Neighbors with the fall harvest combine(s)

This is the picture of how to combine corn....


This is how NOT to combine corn.... According to our neighbor, other combines have reportedly caught on fire similar to this model. yikes! Glad the driver jumped out quickly! This video runs for 1:19, and part 2 can be found through this link, and on youtube.com