Many book bloggers last week were touring the book, "Flirting with Forty."  I, on the other hand,  never flirted with forty, just ran into it full steam ahead. 
On my visit to the doctor last Monday, he found that my blood pressure had risen dramatically, much higher than its ever been before.  If it's not down in two weeks, I get to discuss a "treatment program." 
   My hubby's helpful advice?  "We're just at that age when stuff like that is going to start happening to us, Pam."    I am still awaiting my other test results to see what could be causing my problems, but I believe blood pressure has been a big factor.

I am sure you are wondering,  "How does that relate to mothering?"  Because I feel unwell, I am not able to do as many fun things (or boring, educational adventure, depending on who you ask), with my kids. 
However, we did get to visit with some of the animals at the Christmas tree farm.
Here's Ash feeding a lamb...... Brit refused to feed it because she wanted to look for a tree.

I "asked" the kids to accompany me through the barn.  We saw some strange looking chickens.  I don't have any idea what kind they are.
a cute pot bellied pig...
and a very thankful turkey....

Every year our family drives to the local Christmas tree farm to choose a tree.  First, the kids have to stop for the family photo which I make every year.  There is much complaining that they would rather be hunting for a tree.

The kids wander around the five acre farm  "discussing" the perfect tree for our home.  When everyone agrees,   the hard work begins.  One of the kids has to saw down the tree while the other supervises.

I had an interesting "Mothering on Monday" planned.  My daughter has been learning about hydroponics.  She has grown some plants and Sunday she got a chance to help sell hydroponic, organic lettuce at the Chattanooga farmers market.  She made all kinds of interesting photos that are not downloaded to my computer.  I guess this is a preview attraction of a future post.

Instead, I will focus on Thanksgiving. 

On Thursday, our entire family comes to our house.  This means I need to be cleaning the house and beginning the long list of items to cook.  Instead, I will procrastinate and post a picture of the fun project that my son made.  First, he cut out a turkey and painted it.  Then he cut out bits of paper and glued them onto the turkey.  The finished project looked like this:

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

I have always *tried*  to give my kids lots of fun, educational activities.  So, what does my son want to do in his spare time?

Dig a fire pit in the corner of the backyard. 

I see him and his friend wandering by my kitchen window with shovels.  When I ask them, "What in the world are you doing?"  They matter of factly replied,  "Digging a hole to build a fire. Dad said we could."
Hmmm....

My son was so impressed with their pit, that he made the pictures himself and asked me to post them on my blog.  He also asked me to post the "classic video clip" that they made-- "The DWF or Dinosaur Wrestling Federation Movie."  I know everyone is sorry that I don't know how to load videos onto my blog.

Join our host, Mary, for more fun show and tells.

Usually on Monday, I talk about my children.  Okay, I do that all the time, but because this is Mondays on Mothering, I talk about what I enjoy about them.  However, since today is my birthday, I will talk about me.

I will not talk about how old I am!   Suffice to say, when I tell the kids' friends, "Twenty-five,"  I see a look of stunned disbelief  and quick calculation.  "You can't be twenty-five," they say, "You have a kid who is almost sixteen."
( I have been "twenty-five" since I have known her friends. You would expect them to catch on someday.)

My daughter helpfully reminds me of how old I am each year and gives me helpful advice.  ("Is that a gray hair I see?  Maybe you should update your wardrobe.")  She doesn't seem to realize that I got some of the gray hairs from her driving experiences.  Although she has greatly improved, she still tells me, "You can quit clenching your fists and holding on to the side, Mom."

My son tries to "cheer me up" after my daughter's commentary.  ("It's okay Mom,  you don't look that old." I look at him. He tries to regroup.  "I mean, you look young, Mom! Really young!")

The kids did bring me a bag of blow pops and some thick wool socks for presents.  I am ready for cold winter evenings!  Now, if only my daughter would be as happy with these presents for her sixteenth birthday next month!