my blessed life

0361. a special time to focus on thanksgiving to God 0362. the amazing story of the pilgrims 0363. fun and peaceful family gatherings 0364. the joy of making {and eating} cookies 0365. watching holiday movies snuggled up with my family 0366. watching the Christmas tree lights twinkle 0367. delicious food to eat 0368. walking through a *forest of lights* with my kiddos 0369. star-gazing on a clear night 0370. the comfort of snuggling down under the covers on a cold morning

We got our Christmas tree up this past week. It's the first time I've ever put mine up before Thanksgiving. After trying it, I think I still prefer to wait until after Thanksgiving to put it up, but my goal this year was to have my Christmas shopping and my decorating finished before December. Here is a little video Vince put together of our tree trimming time. If you're wondering about that extra person helping, that's my sister. P.S. Ignore the mess in the background:) This post is linked to: and also Kelly's Korner.

Ahh...the crazy frenzy of cooking from last week is over and this week will be much more laid back, right? I thought taking last week off from school would give me so much extra time, but I think I spent it all in the kitchen either making dinner, making things ahead of time for Thanksgiving, and then making the actual dishes for Thanksgiving. I need another week off to recover! However, we are going to have two more weeks of school before our Christmas break. So I'm planning simple meals. Comforting and hearty, but simple. Monday: Pinto Beans & Cornbread (from the freezer:) Tuesday: Turkey Pot Pie Wednesday: Tostadas Thursday: Spaghetti Friday: {date night} Saturday: yet-to-be-decided as there are some Christmas activities looming This post is linked to Menu Plan Monday at I'm an Organizing Junkie.

Whew! I made it through this weekend of food~hopefully my clothes will still fit! I have to start off with this picture of my beautiful peanut butter pie. It was so yummy! Frankly, it was all amazing. We had an overabundance of food, that's for sure! This was the spread at my parents' house on Thursday. You can read all about what's on that island here . There were a couple of food bloopers: my homemade rolls didn't turn out well, I didn't beat the meringue on my pie long enough and I left the pumpkin bread for the pumpkin bread pudding in the freezer at our house (luckily my hubby was sweet enough to go get them for me:) . But oh, well...right? My sister decorated our table very prettily, including these fun place cards with turkey trivia. It was a very relaxing day filled with watching the Macy's parade, cooking with my mom and sister, watching A Christmas Carol , playing Phase 10, having our annual ornament exchange and watching Punkin...

Today we'll be at my parents' house. I'm going very hungry~we have a tendency to get carried away with the cooking:) *** Fruit Salad with Dressing *** Copper Pennies *** Roasted Turkey *** Cornbread Dressing *** Giblet Gravy *** Cranberry Sauce * *** Mashed Potatoes *** Green Bean Casserole * *** Corn Casserole *** Roasted Brussels Sprouts * *** Homemade Bread * *** Pumpkin Pie *** Pumpkin Bread Pudding * *** Peanut Butter Pie * * {what I'm making}

May you have a wonderful holiday weekend with your families and friends! I am looking forward to a relaxing day with my family and then a fun little road trip to visit more family on Friday. P.S. If you've never caught the Thanksgiving Charlie Brown show, you totally should! It's great (of course, my family LOVES the Peanuts gang)!

In case you're still looking for some great sides to go with your turkey on Thanksgiving (or are already planning Christmas menus!), here are some yummy suggestions for you. These are some of our family faves and they will definitely be making an appearance (some more than once, I'm sure) during this holiday season. Frankly, the sides are my favorite part of the meal and I sometimes even have them for dessert:) Enjoy! Corn Casserole Copper Pennies (Marinated Carrots) Green Bean Bundles Squash Casserole Special Peas Macaroni & Cheese Cornbread Dressing (slow cooker!) What are some of your family's favorite side dishes?

After hauling the Dickens Village boxes out of the attic nearly two weeks ago, I was finally able to get it all set up on Sunday afternoon. I've noticed that a lot of people display their villages all on a flat, smooth surface and that is fine. But I thought I would share with you how I like to display mine. It's definitely not a flat, smooth surface~at least, not when I'm finished with it:) First of all I clear my space off. In this case, I am displaying my village on the tops of my living room bookcases. So off to boxes go my framed pictures, etc. Next, I visualize which village pieces will go where and then I pillage my bookcases for the right-sized books. I stack them in varying heights across the tops of the bookcases, like so: Then I get out my *snow*. Now I'm not yet brave enough to use all those little packages of fake snow that come with the village pieces, so I use cotton batting. I used to find this in the fabric department, but last year I discovered ...

0351. the opportunity to be a blessing to others through Operation Christmas Child 0352. studying the Bible with my children 0353. a week off from school for Thanksgiving 0354. *free* goodies in the mail 0355. good food to nosh on 0356. the anticipation of what God has planned for our family 0357. time with my sister 0358. God's daily provision in unexpected ways 0359. candles on a cozy evening at home 0360. opportunities to be a blessing to others in unexpected ways

You know how last week I said I had started my Thanksgiving grocery shopping? Well, I really thought I was practically finished. At least I did until I watched Throwdown with Bobby Flay and The Pioneer Woman last week. Now I have a massive list of new items that I've got to get to make some of those super, yummy-looking recipes they made. Did anybody else catch P-Dub on Throwdown ? She was really great! Of course, I'm a big Bobby Flay fan, too, so I enjoyed the whole show. I even made a special visit to my parents house just to watch it because we don't have cable. Yep, I'm a dork like that...haha We are taking this week off from homeschool in honor of Thanksgiving. I'm got lots on the agenda: pre-making/baking things for Thanksgiving and getting the house decorated for the holidays. Here's the plan: Monday: Salads & Sandwiches Tuesday: Cincinnati Chili 4-way (this means the chili is served over spaghetti with diced onions and shredded chees...

When the weather gets cooler I get in the mood for some good ol' stick-to-your-ribs chili! This is my fave recipe for a good, classic chili. Red Hot Chili 2 tbsp. canola oil 2 lbs. coarse ground beef* 2 lbs. boneless pork shoulder, cut into 1/2" chunks* 3 cups onion, chopped 4 garlic cloves, crushed 1/4 cup chili powder 1 tbsp. sweet paprika 1 tbsp. smoked paprika 2 tsp. cumin 1/2 tsp. oregano 1/4 tsp. ground red pepper 1 can (28 oz.) Italian plum tomatoes** 1 can beans, your choice 1 cup water (more if you need it) ***** In a large, heavy pot heat oil over high heat. Add beef and cook until browned (about 5 min.). Using a slotted spoon, transfer beef to a plate. Add pork to pan and cook until browned on all sides (about 5 min.). Add onion and garlic; cook until onion is soft and translucent. Add browned meats and spices and cook 1 min. Stir in tomatoes and water; cover and cook over medium-low heat for 1 hour or until meat is tender. Serve with fresh chopped onion, sh...

Christmas cards~sending them and receiving them~are one of my favorite things about the holidays. I started sending them to friends and family when I was just about six years old (I've always been an avid letter writer, so I always had pen-pals). I love the whole process of Christmas cards: choosing the card(s), making my list, addressing the envelopes, putting on the holiday stamps, dropping those huge stacks of cards into the mailbox. It's all so much fun to me! In the early years of our marriage I discovered how to stamp my own cards, using rubber stamps and ink. That started a whole new Christmas card process for me. The first year that I stamped our cards I did a 3-stamp-multiple-color-plus-ribbon process on over 100 cards. Yeah, a little too ambitious, but they turned out great!:) (front cover) (inside) The next year I wasn't nearly as crazy. I still stamped over 100, but I kept it to a 2-stamp-1-color process. (front cover) (inside...