The End!

YIKES!!  Can you believe that today is the end of November already???

Before it slips past me I did want to share some Thanksgiving with you all.  And as a side note, Advent has begun and it is my FAVORITE season of the year. It really is.  I love our traditions...which now I should admit, we are officially 3 days behind on.  If you only knew the chaos we currently going on, you would maybe understand.  I promise you, that as soon as I am done with this post, I am headed out to the garage to get Advent going in our house! PROMISE!

We did not host Thanksgiving this year -due to chaos- but we certainly did celebrate!  It began with a trip to school the Monday before to share it with the First Graders!

 Everyone got to make hats!

 A special treat, Daddy was able to come!

 And perhaps the most fun for CJ's class, was on Wednesday they had earned the prize for all of the First Grade that their teacher dressed as a turkey! 

Fantastic teacher!

We also went to Eric's Squadron feast on Tuesday and on Thursday we shared a wonderful meal with some friends, and I got off easy on what I had to bring!

I am grateful for our many blessings, even when they cause life to turn upside down for a while.  November was overflowing with blessings and some of our dreams were finally placed into reality after being wise and thoughtful about the process and saving our pennies. (Okay maybe a few dollars too ;) ).  

I hope you found November to be a blessing for you and your family. That Advent is a wonderful season you can enjoy while preparing and waiting.

Now I'm off to pull out our Advent stuff.  But check back soon. Since the pictures are imported and edited, I might just get them posted!

A heart*full

Today is Sunday. We are in the middle of a two week project and "maybe" just slightly on or ahead of schedule! YEA!!  So we are using today as a day of rest, at least as a family day.  And we are grateful. We started some Christmas cooking with cookies. A competitive game of Monopoly is about to kick off. And our evening walk as a family will close our day of calm.

 This week will be full of lots of gatherings, with big meals, we are blessed!

 And a chaotic remodeling mess at home. Thank you for this opportunity!

However, we are together, and for that we are thankful. And we have more than enough and that is a blessing we will not forget.

A very heart*full, HAPPY THANKSGIVING, to each one of you!

Winner

We found 18 bananas!

Grandma L...was the closest at 15!

So, I'll be sending a treat (banana type) your way!


What a busy week we are having. I hope to squeeze some real posting time, but not tonight.

Good night!

Oooh Oooh Aaaah Aaaah!

I have gone bananas!

Actually, my freezer was going bananas! Literally, so I pulled them all out. Well I THINK I got them all. I made up banana bread and chocolate chip banana muffins and put the new form of the bananas back into the freezer.

So, how many bananas do you think are in the bowl?

Really, how many?

I have a prize for the person or people who correctly guess the number.  And if no one guesses the actual number, the one who is closest.  You have until Tuesday to post a comment here to be counted for the prize.

I'll even give you a hint,

There are more than 2 bananas in the bowl. 
:D

That was a good hint wasn't it?!  ;)

Career exploration

Some time in Middle school teachers start to encourage students to consider future careers. For sure by High School students are suppose to have a clue anyways as to what they want to pursue as far as higher education and careers.

Well, our sweet little boy is also exploring.

 In Nail Technician.

Now, before you jump to any conclusions or say that this is clearly not his skill set we must consider:

A. he is not even 3 years old yet

B.  He was practicing on his OWN nails, and how good are YOU at doing both hands of your own nails?

C. This was his first time.

D. He didn't spill the nail polish bottle, kept the paint on his fingers tips. and he was very careful in walking around with wet nails.

E. He does have 2 older sisters, so he has a built in audience to practice and perfect his skill, which he can't even pursue as a career for another 16 years!

F. If it brings him joy and pays his bills, whom am I to argue?

On the other hand (hehehehehe) maybe he is just a toddler watching his big sisters and wanting to copy all they do and he will instead play defensive lineman. Based on his current tackling skills that also seems probable. He just might have the best manicured fingers and toes on the field.  :)

Fall time baking

I have been taking advantage of the cooler temps, the seasonal harvest and the blessing of staying home to try out new recipes, stock the freezer, and in general we are all eating well around here.

 Yummy pot pie with Grandma's never fail homemade pie crust recipe.*

 Pumpkin muffins filled with cream cheese and topped with walnuts

 I saw this idea online and felt the need to try it!  So easy to make egg muffin sandwiches!

Greese up a muffin tin, crack eggs and bake about 15 minutes at 350* and you have as many sandwiches as you need at once!  I thought it was brilliant! Kids liked them too.

 Chili cornbread bake.  Left over chili? Or just want to change things up? A new favorite around here! Also great for freezing ahead!  Just assemble and before baking freeze! No need to thaw ahead of time, just pull out and bake. It will take about 90 mins, but for someone who always forgets to thaw out supper, very handy!

 Headed to the freezer!

Season for apples! In addition to dehydrating I also:

Made spooky spider web pizza for a special treat on Halloween

 Making applesauce is not new, canning it was. It was fun this year to can.

Applebutter, new to me, also canned.

Freezer stocked up on apple muffins, pumpkin muffins and this week banana (with chocolate chips of course) muffins!

This brings me to a small announcement. I have been asked to try out recipes from the Richards' cookbook 2 and write about them. So in addition to this cooking and baking, I have been trying out other new recipes and taking notes.  These recipes will be blogged on the Richards' family blog. If you are interested, I will let you know when that starts up, which should be soon, with a link of course.

*The pie crust will be one of my first posts.

Sabino Canyon

We took a Saturday and finally went exploring a bit of Sabino Canyon.  LOVED IT!  We all did.  Pictures don't do it justice, if you want to truly experience it, we are game to join you!

 Can you see Eric and 2 kids?

 This is what fall looks like in the desert

 CJ wasn't so brave to hike without someone holding her hand after listening to the warning about mountain lions.

 Just keeping it real here.  The kids do NOT always sit nice for a group shot

 Usually I can at least get one at some point!

 WATER! Precious, life giving water!

 In they go!

 He is trying to catch minnows -good luck boy!

 No matter your hiking preferences, there are the rugged trails, like what we started out on, and a paved one that all can enjoy.  Here, they were all walking backwards -can't do that on an unpaved trail!

 She found overgrown stairs and had to go find out what they led to.

 Having fun!

 This rock not only has a face in it, it is winking!

Warning: the following picture may unsettle some:

 A Sonoran Whipsnake. Harmless to humans. It was the wildlife we encountered and spent time watching, until it slithered away into a hole.  The kids love finding wildlife on our hikes.

 Tuckered out at the visitors center

The kids declared this also, "THE BEST DAY EVER!!" and would like to do this every chance they get.  During this hike we decided it is time to consider camelbacks for the kids.  I think Christmas is coming. . .

Busy Busy

 Busy growing up

 Busy loosing teeth

Busy being themselves

 Busy doing crafts

And playing restaurant

Most days are filled with child's play and no grand adventure.  However, we do love just hanging together, and in ten years, that may not be the case, so I gobble up as much of it now as I can!

A month

Many people like to take November to intentionally acknowledge what they are grateful for.  What are your blessings?  Can you see your blessings even at moments that are intense, scary, or even life changing?

Many years ago Eric's Grandma gave me (and others) a simple notebook with a message that it was a grateful journal.  The challenge was to each and every day write down 5 things you are grateful for.  I am not really much for writing a journal.  Most often I think I'll keep a diary or a journal, after a few minutes of pondering what to write about, realizing how mundane my life is, and even if I were to let my thoughts free flow, would I want anyone ever to come across those thoughts and read them?  The answer, a paralyzing NO! So after maybe half an entry I would abruptly stop as quickly as I had started.

The grateful journal was an intriguing idea to me.  So I thought I would try it. To be honest, the first day was brutally tough. The second day wasn't any better!  UGH! By the third day I had at least come up with 5 things the first two days that I could just copy down and it was slightly easier. That went on for a few days. Then, I because I didn't want it to be an empty list of items, I became more conscious of finding things throughout the day that I could write down new that night as something to be grateful for.

I only kept up the journal for about six weeks.  I think mid terms hit about then. However, I was no longer writing 5 rote items down each night. I was listing and listing different items every day. Some things made the list often or even nearly every day, but the INTENT was different.  I was really looking at the world differently.

That was the longest I ever kept a journal. It made a difference!

I still have challenging days to remember all that we are blessed with. I can be as snarky as the best of them! When hit with unexpected news it might feel like a punch to the gut, but give me some time and I will see our blessings and be forever grateful for them.

We are blessed with a place to call home, employment-which comes with medical insurance. We are able to provide for our needs, a few personal interests and still squirrel away for a rainy day or a family vacation. We are blessed that our home is filled with music, laughter, love, and beautiful memories. We are blessed with comforts of the first world and still take time to acknowledge and reach out to others who are not.

Is your life overflowing with blessings? If life is challenging you, might I suggest a grateful journal? Really commit to it, give it time, and watch your blessings grow.

Thanks Marge for the journal!