Thanksgiving at Dale Hollow Lake

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving with the Stinson side of the family at one of our very favorite places to visit....Eagles Haven at Dale Hollow Lake.

The whole Stinson clan....

The Thanksgiving Feast.....


Hanging out by the lake....

Rock-skipping contests.....

The Stinson siblings, Kevin, Melanie (& Bo), Stephen & Eric....

Super-hero cousins Van, Isaac, Lex & Clint......

Eagles Haven is a beautiful home that we rent from time to time, which is perched on a hill above Dale Hollow Lake, just a couple of hours northeast of us in southern Kentucky. The Dale Hollow area is absolutely pristine, one of the cleanest lakes in the country, and is gorgeous anytime of year. But it is really cool in winter, because it is one of the largest nesting grounds for bald eagles in the South and you can spot them so much easier when all the leaves have fallen off the trees.

The house has a huge deck overlooking the lake which is great for eagle-watching in the day and star-gazing at night.....the sky is AMAZING there at night!

Anyway, all of Kevin's side of the family gathered there for a few days and it was great! We stuffed ourselves, played games, built bonfires by the lake, ate some more, took naps in front of the fireplace.....a blessed and bountiful Thanksgiving in every way! Hope yours was great, too!

Happy Fall, Y'all!!

The main reason I haven't posted more this month is because it's been BOOK FAIR time!

For those of you who don't know, I spend way too much time up at school in the elementary library, especially around this time of year. Our elementary bookfair happens every November and involves lots of preparation and projects. This year's theme was "Book Fair Safari" so we had fun transforming the library into the Serengeti! We have some tremendously talented moms, and super supportive parents who all work together to make our elementary book fair the BEST one you will ever see! Here are a couple of shots of the library all decked out...

Yes, that is a real stuffed impala and an authentic Zebra rug hanging from the ceiling; and a few other exotic pelts were draped all over the tables (we have a kindergarten dad who goes hunting in Africa every year...how cool!)

And here is Sophie with her face painted during Family Night!

Also keeping us busy this month is Mary Rose's art exhibit. She was invited to show some pieces in an exhibit in downtown Nashville, so she worked hard and created some really nice pieces that were displayed and all sold on opening night! Thanks to our good friends and patrons of the arts...Brenda Preuett, Norman & Renita Harber, and Brenda & Emily Thompson for supporting Mary Rose's debut!

Halloween pics...

Well, I'm way behind again, so I thought I'd post some Halloween pictures quick before Thanksgiving gets here!

This year we had a cowgirl, Darth Vader, a nerd, and a GIRL pirate roaming the streets....

My nephews, Eli & Cooper, made the cutest Peter Pan & Captain Hook you'll ever see!

And Silas was a very sweet Ninja (is there such a thing?)

Here is Isaac visiting a very scary witch at the nursing home....(our friend, Nellie Mayes!) They kinda remind me of Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones...the Men in Black are back! Or maybe not so much....

And here he is with his pumpkin project for kindergarten. He was supposed to decorate it like a character from his favorite book. He chose Max, from "Where the Wild Things Are."

The Coffey Cabin

Well, fall break was too short, but we enjoyed it while it lasted. We took a quick trip up to Caneyville, KY with my cousins and some friends to stay in their family's cabin. I use the word "cabin" loosely...it is a beautiful, luxurious, woodsy retreat; there was no "roughing it" involved at all! My cousin, Terri, cooked for everyone all weekend and whipped up the most scrumptious meals; she had fresh flowers in everyone's room, and of course, brought along her fabulous mobile coffee bar....we were truly pampered! I keep telling her she needs to run her own bed & breakfast! The woods surrounding the house are gorgeous, with just a hint of fall color starting to show. We went on lots of nature hikes and discovered all kind of new (to us) trees and forest fauna. We were a tree-huggin' bunch all weekend, and have the chigger bites to prove it!

A big "thank you!" to Curt & Terri, for inviting us and to Joan & Larry for being so generous in sharing their beautiful home away from home!

Here's the whole gang; The Millers (friends from Indiana), Curtis & Terri Byers and our crew....

Our gracious hosts, Curt &Terri.....

Curtis on the front porch with all the kids...Bible trivia time!

The boys hanging out in the "BOYS ONLY" treehouse....

...And the girls in the "GIRLS ONLY" clubhouse!!

Here are a few shots from our nature hikes......


(can you see the "eye" on the tree trunk?....very Lord of the Ring-ish!
I thought it might start talking to us!)






(No, these are not ancient Native-American carvings, the artists are wood-boring beetles....cool!)






Jacob being a dare-devil....

Too tired to hike any more........

Enjoying the sunset.........


Smores at the fire pit........


Saturday morning, last minute hike to the lake.......

September Summary

Well, while the rest of the world is watching the debate, happening right here in Music City, I am going to plop down in front of the computer and try to recap the last hectic few weeks. I have been busier than usual the past month, which partially accounts for my blog-neglect. The other excuse is that my camera was missing for a few weeks...finally found it last week...in a cooler....long story....don't ask. Good news is, it's still functioning, so I have a few pictures to add to our September update, although not as many as I would like since I had no camera to take pictures with for a while!!

September started off with the wedding of our cousin Alex Hartsell and his lovely bride, Lindsey Yeater. It was at the historic Hermitage mansion, home of president Andrew Jackson and was so beautiful, despite the rainy weather! Mary Rose and Sophie were flower girls and my nephews, Eli and Cooper were the most adorable "ring bears." We had lots of family in town for the event and had a fun weekend.

Jacob had his 13th birthday on September 27th and celebrated with about a dozen of his friends. They played football and basketball and stuffed themselves with cake and icecream for 3 or 4 hours, then all went home and crashed. At least that's what we did afterwards! Whew! There's nothing like a bunch of adolescent boys hyped up on sugar and testosterone!! It was a blast, though and Jacob said it was his best party ever! CANNOT believe that we have a teenager! We can't be that old!




Jacob finished up football season last week and had basketball tryouts yesterday and today. They just posted the list at the end of the school day today, and he made the middle school team, so here we go with basketball season! It is his favorite sport (and mine, too) so we are all really excited that he made the team, even though it will add another aspect to our crazy schedule. Practice is every morning at 6:15 am!!! My wonderful husband is coming up to bat for those early morning practices, though. I just cannot function properly at 5:30 in the morning. It is just not natural....really, it's not. If it is dark outside, it is obviously not time to be up yet. Before electricity was invented, you literally COULD NOT function that early in the morning because there were no lights and you would have to go shuffling around in the dark to light candles, burning your sleepy fingers and walking into walls in the process. I rest my case. Our Creator obviously meant for "dark" time to be "sleeping" time. Now, for you nay-sayers who want to quote the "worthy woman's" attributes in Proverbs 31...."She rises while it is still dark...." I'm not quite sure how that passage fits into my theory, but I am working on an explanation and I will get with you later. BUT, I digress....



We also celebrated the birthday of a dear friend of ours, Mrs. Nellie Mayes, who turned 95 in September! All the kids from church helped contribute artwork for a big wall art project I assembled (stole the idea from Family Fun - I love that magazine!) and we gave it to her at her birthday lunch at Cracker Barrel, her favorite restaurant. Then we hung it on the wall of her room at the retirement home. I think it turned out so cute and it really brightens up her room! She is a special lady and we love her a lot! I hope I am half as spunky as she is when I turn 95!




Last weekend, we had a neighborhood garage sale, which was kind of a bust. Not much traffic, not much buying, oh well! Somebody told us that there were 230 garage sales listed in the paper that weekend, so I think we just had too much competition. At least we got rid of a bunch of stuff! Everything that was left over (which was a LOT) we loaded up and took to GoodWill. Kevin got sentimental, if you can believe it, over the old floor-model TV that he grew up with that we finally carted off. It had been upstairs in the kids bonus room until the picture finally started getting a little wavier than was healthy for the eyeballs, so we sadly (NOT) parted with it. Cel-e-brate good times, c'mon!! Sing with me now! Alas, my joy was Kevin's pain....he actually had to take a picture of the thing at the last minute before the GoodWill guys hauled it away!!

Behold, the bringer of "Brady Bunch" and other cheesy classics (is that an oxymoron?) that the Stinson gang grew up on....isn't she a beaut!!

We are finally starting to feel a noticeable chill in the air here in Nashville, so it's started to feel like fall! Hooray! Hopefully I will get to an October update before November gets here!