~~ODNEAL FAMILY BLOG~~Port of Readlyn, Iowa

  Hope everyone has a great day and weekend. I took this picture with my cell phone and if you look at it a certain way my shadow looks pretty creepy (so Bruce had to point out to me)! I did light the pumpkins every night this week, except last night it was raining pretty good and windy and cold. I will light them up the rest of the weekend though. Watch out for the little trick or treaters running around!

  Here is a picture of Bruce and Helen the weekend we closed up the houseboats. Bruce's birthday was on the 16th and Helen's on the 17th. And we didn't have any fun celebrating that night, either! Just a normal weekend in Lansing on a houseboat!!!! Everyone have a great weekend!

Of course we had fun and started too late on Sunday before Kyle had to head back to Iowa City. Kyle free handed the cat (Taylor's) and his Hawk (Kyle's). Bruce just carved out his IOWA with a sawzall blade (of course!). Tyler free handed his "thing", and I did a normal jack-o-lantern. We had a lot of fun I think. At least I know that I did. I am lighting them each night for however long the tea lights last. Thursday and Friday sound really windy though so not sure how they will stay lit. Even though Kyle drew Taylor's for her on her pumpkin, she did carve it. I think maybe we started a new family tradition since I was informed we haven't carved pumpkins for "like forever"!!! They even said that I started making them draw or paint. How lame!!!!!

Even though I know that Ann doesn't look at this blog I thought I would put a shout out to her on this special day anyway. So Ann, I hope Kevin takes you out for a nice dinner or something, and buys you a nice present. Hope your day was great! Hope to see you before January!!!

I looked through a million pictures on my computer to find one, and this is one that fits your personality best! Happy Birthday to one of my favorite brothers! May you have a great day, and maybe Pam won't count your beers tonight as a present to you!!!! Just kidding. Well, maybe not. That wouldn't be a bad gift now would it? Happy Birthday and may you have many, many more. Love you bro!

So we got the runabout home and had it parked out behind the shop. Well after Bruce talked to a friend of ours (John) they decided that the boat could be lifted off the trailer and set on cribbing in the shop so that it could be worked on over the winter. Well, Bruce decided to dink with it, and had a plan to get it started at least. Guess what? Yep, no skid loader needed. He hooked a strap through the ceiling for the front of the boat, and jacked up the back to slide the cribbing under. Then pulled the trailer out once it was high enough. I didn't watch this process of course, him and Ty did it while I wasn't out there. I was very glad that they had it done with no issues by the time I checked on them! With any luck Bruce will have time to work on it this winter and we can put it in the water next spring!

Taylor sent me this picture on my phone on Sunday as we were coming home from the river. Yes, Kyle has H1N1. Apparently at least around here any confirmed flu with high temperature and all the symptons is the H1N1 strain. According to our doctor office anyway. We took him to the doctor yesterday and by the time he left to go back to Iowa City his temperature was finally gone. He was sick all weekend and yesterday. Got him a prescription for his cough. At least he doesn't have pneumonia because his cough sounds horrible. Here's hoping that the rest of us don't get it. I cleaned his bedding as soon as he left yesterday. Next I will sanitize anything and everything that he touched or was in contact with. It's amazing how people at work want to stay away from me today! Get better soon bud and take it easy this week so you can feel good next weekend when you come home! And not have to feel like crap!

Hopefully I will have a lot of beautiful pictures like this to share with everyone after the weekend. We will be moving our houseboat Sunday to its winter spot and winterizing it for the year. Sad, but gives us something to look forward to next spring. The leaves are supposed to be at peak this weekend, so hoping to take a ride and snap some awesome scenery shots. I'm sure Schnak will appreciate them! This one is from last year as we were leaving the marina. Enjoy your weekend everyone!

Here is Tyler's clean shaven head. He had been bugging me to shave his head because it was getting too long so I did. Although he told me to use the 1/8" guard, and I really think the last time we used the 1/4"! Oh well. He's fine with it and it will grow. I think it looks fine! Going to go watch Wapsie hopefully kick some Central Elkader butt tonight in football, and then heading to the river tomorrow to close up and winterize the houseboat for the year. Hopefully will get to spend a little bit of time with Kyle this afternoon and evening before we lose him to Taylor! :-) Everyone have a great weekend. Enjoy the warm sunshine on Sunday. I know that we will!

Today Bruce turns the big 46. Wow he's getting old! I kid, I kid. Here is a collage of some pictures all taken at the river, the place he loves to be most. Hope you have a wonderful day and night, and even a better final weekend at the river closing up the houseboat for the year. Love you hon. Happy Birthday!!!!!! Oh, and isn't the picture with Taylor's Coach purse over his shoulder just awesome??????? LOL

Last weekend I buzzed into Bath & Body to get some stuff I needed and with the purchase of two of their oils you got a burner "free" (usually 12-15). So of course I had to get another one and these two frangrances (cherry blossom & midnight pomegranate) smell awesome. It is nice to walk into the warm house from out in the cold and smell something so good. Better than cookies baking. Okay, maybe not. Bath & Body also has a coupon book out right now and it has a coupon for anything under $15 free with purchase. So I got an oil plug in thing for the bathroom. Ladies, get yourselves there before this sale ends!!!! And they gave me another coupon book so I think I will pick up another 2 oils and burner for a Christmas gift. I'm all for deals.

So we finally got our boat out of storage and have it home so Bruce can do some stuff to it over the winter in his shop. It actually looked pretty clean inside for being inside a building for 3 years! Now maybe we can get the kids to come to the houseboat more often if they can just jump in the ski boat and take off when they want to! I think this means that I will have to kill myself skiing again next summer! It's been a while since I attempted that. I will be everyone's entertainment the first time I try I'm sure. Good thing for health insurance. And the dust and mud on the oustide of the boat was from when Bruce took it out to storage three years ago and the roads were muddy. I think it needs a good bath to begin with. And then some TLC to get it into shape once again. I'm glad to have it home!

There is nothing like the smell of banana bread baking in the oven on a cool fall night. Let's just say that this batch turned out awesome. Bruce took a loaf into work and I took the rest into my work and there wasn't any left to worry about. Love the smell of any bread baking! And it warms up the kitchen nicely. Might be a good, cold weekend to do some more baking and send some to Kyle!

This is what we do to friends of ours that decide to spend the weekend in Chicago rather than come to the river. Yep, this is Kevin & Ann's houseboat and all of us friends and family that were there that weekend piled on the front of their boat and had Tim take pictures from the back of our boat to show them what they missed! Don't worry, we didn't go inside and trash the place or anything! But boy it sure does look like the front of their boat is a little low in the water! Everyone have a great weekend and stay warm!

So I have been talking about doing a stirfry for something different for supper for quite a long time and just never get around to it. Well, last night I finally decided that it sounded good. And let's just say that we will be having stirfry on a regular basis since we all loved it. Bruce even tried the broccoli and didn't mind it. Usually we are just a meat and potatoes family for supper so it will be nice to add some variety regularly to our meals. Guess I'll have to invest in a pan or wok since Helen gave me her pan to try and see if I even used it before I went and bought one. It worked great! **Bruce was laughing at me that I had to take pictures because it was "blogworthy". Presentation is everything when it comes to food pictures for the blog!

So I try and take a nice picture of Kyle & Tyler hanging out in the livingroom watching the Iowa game and this is what I get. Thanks Kyle! Oh, and before he did this his hair looked just like Edward from Twilight. That is the real reason I wanted a picture but he had to ruin it for me. But it was great having him home for the weekend and spending time together. Maybe next time he'll behave when I get the camera out! Have a great week.

So Sunday night I decided that Chili sounded good to have for supper. So I started cooking my onion in with the hamburger and added a bit of water just like I ALWAYS start a pot of chili. Well, I went to add some seasonings, and when I went to put in some Lawry's seasoning the lid and much of the bottle flew into my pot. Yes, I already had the V8 juice, Rotel tomatoes, chili beans, kidney beans, etc. in the pot cooking. And of course I didn't think quick enough to grab the ladle and try and scoop most of the pile of seasoning salt out. So I did what any "stupid" so called cook would do and stirred it in thinking there had to be a way to fix it. Well, I called my sister in law Martha Stewart (Helen O.), and she pretty much didn't have a clue and gave me the impression that I was screwed. This is Tyler in this first picture re-enacting what I did to the chili! So, Bruce, Tyler, and Ashley were all good sports and put cheese and crackers in a bowl and tried to eat ...

I have been a bit of a slacker on the blog updates this week. Sorry. No excuse really. Just haven't taken the time I guess. For today's photo though we have Ray and his "8 Pound" fish that he caught last Sunday at the river. Is that right on the weight Ray, or is it 18 or maybe 38 pounds? Just kidding! So, here is Ray with his blogworthy fish. Hope everyone has a great weekend. I am looking forward to getting some stuff done around the house, spending some time with Kyle (hopefully), and yes, even doing some dreaded shopping . Yep, makes me a little ill just thinking of the crowds and stores! A girl has to have some winter clothes, and ample Bath & Body products though you know! I can bet anyone that it will be the fastest shopping trip on record if I have my way! And what a great fish Ray! I kind of got away from the picture that I was posting didn't I? So sorry. Happy Friday All!