I am understanding that you truly not only marry the person you love, but their family as well.
This Thanksgiving, as we spent a lovely time in Wisconsin with Danielle's family, I would never thought I would wake up to see Rick out "shopping" for our Thanksgiving meal...in the backyard.

This weekend, we got to wrap-up a great birthday celebration week for my father by taking him to see Chicago's best new show, Jersey Boys, at The Bank Of America Theater on Saturday evening. The show gets a complete "Two Thumbs Up."
On a completely different note, the house work continues even though the snow is starting to fly. Today, work began on re-siding our home. We came home to a driveway full of house parts...and parts of our house missing.


Also, as the effort to reduce clutter in the basement continues, I have organized my collection of Simpson's collectibles. I am planning on selling it online, so if you know someone who would be interested, please forward them the blog address or have them email me at SimpsonsStuff2007@gmail.com. Click on each picture for a closer look.

http://mysimpsonsstuff.blogspot.com/

This weekend was a "home" weekend...literally. Danielle's parents made their way down to Chicago to help my parents make some decorating decisions in the new home they are building in Crown Point, Indiana.
Since they arrived on Friday, there was time for a little "Lake In The Hills" kitchen project. After trips to the big box stores, we ended up with new fixtures in the kitchen sitting area, as well as prep area. Rick installed two ceiling lights and a ceiling fan, while the team of "Rick & Eric" ventured into track and pendant lighting. Danielle had purchased a new kitchen set a few months ago, but the set was very large in the small area, and it was retired quickly to the basement. After a couple hours of planning, measuring, and use of a table saw, the kitchen set makes it's home back in the kitchen. Problem averted! The girls spent time in the yard prepping for the cold winter months ahead. As usual, we are very blessed to have creative and patient people in our family to help move these home projects forward.

New track lights shine down!

New kitchen set ready to entertain

All fixtures are new...and bright!

The weekend all started with the fun and festive art of asking strangers for candy, which goes against EVERYTHING our parents taught us....with Halloween. Lake In The Hills trick or treat hours were 2p-8p, so we got home later than expected, so we only had two T or T'ers. Our low turnout was very disappointing to the devoted "decorating" professionals. Below, is some of the effort that went into making our home very scary. The garage cranked out numerous SFX that made it creepy to walk up the driveway. Once you arrived for your candy, you needed to serve yourself from the bowl on the porch being guarded by the "Grim Candy Reaper."

Grim Candy Reaper

If you made it past the Grim Candy Reaper,
you had to face to Evil Demon Cat guarding the door.