my blessed life

This year we made a *thankful tree*. This is the first time for us to make one, but I've been seeing so many around the blogosphere and it seemed like a great project for the kiddos. And they are enjoying it! We simply found a branch in our backyard, stripped the leaves off of it, stuck it in a block of foam and put it in our fireplace ash bucket with a little bit of moss hiding the foam--then started adding our own paper leaves that have things we are thankful for written on them. Very easy! I just used some leaf cookie cutters for stencils to draw the leaves, but I'm sure you could find a template online or free-hand some leaves, too. For more Thanksgiving ideas, visit Kelli's at There Is No Place Like Home .

This week I'm joining Kelli at There is no place like home for a week of *Giving Thanks* and preparing for Thanksgiving. Now this year I am not actually hosting Thanksgiving dinner at my house. We are traveling to Arkansas for dinner with my family, but it will be great to start preparing this week and getting in the spirit of thankfulness. Today I'd like to share some pictures of our Thanksgiving table last year at my parents' house. My sister did most of the table decorating while I was helping with the cooking. It turned out very nice! She made a runner using a fabric remnant, added a cornucopia with faux fruits and veggies (from my mom's everyday decor), made little mossy candle holders with mini flower pots, and--my personal favorite--made place cards using a template and turkey trivia from (who else!) Martha Stewart's website. They were functional, fun and educational all in one! These are especially fun for the kiddos. Join us at Kelli's for a more *...

Well, y'all have greatly encouraged me in my new look --thank you very much! It was funny at church today to see friends do a serious double-take:) I'm starting to feel comfortable with my dark hair now. Did I mention that my daughter LOVES it? I find that very sweet--she likes it because it's so much closer to her hair color now. My son on the other hand doesn't really seem to notice, which is good, I guess. Aunt Kari must've gotten them well-adjusted to the many possibilities of hair color ( hehe ). We have had a nice, quiet weekend. Vince was out-of-town Friday evening and Saturday speaking at a youth retreat in Tennessee. The kiddos and I had a quiet day Saturday at home doing some cleaning. Although I've discovered that trying to clean your house with young children there is like trying to shovel your sidewalk in the middle of a blizzard--it's just about impossible. I can't even tell you how my standards for a clean house have lowered since ...

OK, I admit that I'm a chicken when it comes to major hair changes. I've been blonde pretty much all of my life and ever since too many of those *gray things* started appearing, I don't really know what my natural color is. Except that it's a lot darker than blonde ....and grayer. Now all of that hair upkeep does cost some bigger bucks than we've got right now. So in the spirit of being frugal and helping out our very tight budget, I decided to venture down the aisle of the store with all those little boxes. You know, the ones with all of those colors, millions of colors....for your hair. Talk about overwhelming! I immediately called my sister, whose hair I like to call *the color of the week* (just kidding, Kari !). But it is fair to say that she has much, much more experience in this area--I like to leave it to the professionals. But I'd had it with those roots and something had to be done. So I decided to go basically back to my natural color (whatever th...

Today was our weekly trip to the library and I just had to show you the goodies I found at the library's bookstore. current issues of great magazines a great little book about the founding of America And--I was so excited about this--my favorite Christmas record from childhood! My parents got this cool record player last year that will make cd's off of your records, so you know what I'll be doing during our Thanksgiving visit. The best part: all of these goodies only set me back $2.00.

Last year the kiddos and I made a Thanksgiving banner for the first time. We used card stock and found nature items. It turned out so cute! This year there have been several of my bloggy friends who have inspired me with their cute Fall banners, so we decided to try a different look. First of all I cut some triangles out of fall-colored card stock. Then we used leaf stamps to make some patterned paper: I used an oval template to give The Princess guidelines for drawing her letters: Then The Princess and I cut out her letters: I used patterned scissors to cut larger ovals out of the leaf-stamped paper. Then we layered and glued the papers together. I punched holes in the top corners and tied each triangle together with some ribbon: *Thanksgiving* (sorry about the glare in this photo): Some fall books we have on our hearth: More fall stuff on the hearth: (The more I look at our fireplace I wish we had painted it right away after moving in. Now that we're selling, I hate to bother wit...

Just made this tonight. It was so delicious that I had to share it with you.... Pumpkin Cream Cheese Bread 2 1/2 cups sugar 1 (8 oz.) pkg. cream cheese, softened 1/2 cup butter 4 eggs 1 (16 oz.) can pumpkin 3 1/2 cups flour 2 tsp. baking soda 1 tsp. salt 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/2 tsp. baking powder 1/4 tsp. ground cloves 1 cup chopped nuts, optional *********** Combine sugar, cream cheese and butter, mixing well at medium speed until well blended. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Blend in pumpkin. Add combined dry ingredients, mixing just until moist. Fold in nuts, if desired. Pour into 2 greased/floured loaf pans (if you're using mini-loaf pans, this recipe will make 12 mini loaves). Bake at 350F for 1 hour (30 minutes for mini loaves) or until toothpick inserted into center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes, then remove from pans. I halved this recipe tonight and it turned out perfect! It's the best pumpkin bread recipe t...