Getting my decor on

I got a little bit of a slow start with getting my Christmas decor set up this year. Usually I am pulling stuff out Thanksgiving day or Black Friday...this year I am just glad it is sometime this weekend. I have had a hard time getting into the spirit this year. I remember hearing Christmas music a couple weeks ago was a bit disgusted by it all...just too early!! Today I decided to pull all the stuff out regardless of how I was feeling...or in this case 'not' feeling it this year. Good thing God blesses us through song because I filled the CD player with my favorite holiday songs and got busy. (The music this time helped...thank you Casting Crowns!!!) I put out my favorite decor and this year only put out about half of the stuff. As I was looking around I felt the less is more approach and I am so happy.

The first picture is my new pom pom garland...THANK YOU HGTV!!! I was watching some HGTV show last week and they have this great, easy and super cheap idea for a new garland and I am so in love!!! It is whimsy and creative and it makes a great bit of holiday flare for my window. All you need is a bag of pom poms, needle and thread...see, told you it was easy.

This is our first Christmas with the new room arrangements and I put the tree back in the front room. I moved a few pieces of furniture and the tree stands there against the wall...gorgeous and confident. It makes me smile.

And these last few are just a few of my favorite things about decorating for the holidays...I love the light glow of light in the quiet moments of the night or early morning. I causes me to take a breath and reflect on the joy Christmas brings and how thankful I am to be loved by God.

So here's to all of us jumping head first into this time of year...may you find His peace and joy.

Thanksgiving 2011

If you can believe it...I never took my camera out on Thanksgiving once everyone got here!! This is the only picture I took. It was out bird and a co-worker friend of Shane's getting ready to be smoked. The meal was very good this year and the smoked turkey of course did not disappoint. We had both sides of the family over to our house this year which made for a full and fun time. The kids all got a long great and enjoyed each other most outside on the trampoline.

It has been a very blessed 2011, with the adoptions completed this year we have much to be thankful for. Our family is complete and it feels awesome!!!

Thanksgiving Sticky buns...yum!!

This is a great way to start the early morning...makes the house smell so good and the kids' devoured it!!!!

Preschool Thanksgiving Feast

Hannah and Nathan had their Thanksgiving Feast today at school. This is my third 'feast' as both Jacob and Samantha each had their feast in preschool too. These two are great eaters and I think they will be very excited for Thursday since they ate seconds on all the food. It was fun to hear them talk about all the crafts and fun things they have been doing for the past two weeks to prepare for the feast.

They are the Indians and the younger class were the Pilgrims. They made tee pees and got to say what they were thankful for.

Pumpkin Pie Bites

I found this idea on Pinterest and wanted to give it a try. It was a prefect way to make a little treat for the kids' teachers.

We made a few to eat after dinner last night and with a small dollop of whipped cream...they were delightful!!

Then I packaged them up and decorated them for their teachers.

http://www.bakerella.com/pumpkin-pie-bites/
Here is the link if you too want to try something a little different this year...

Napa Valley Basil Burgers

Shane and I watched a food show over the weekend with gourmet burgers and it didn't take us long to crave that same tasty food at our house. I searched the web, (love searching recipes) and found this one. It was extraordinary!! We enjoyed it so much and we are going to have to fight each other for the leftovers.

Napa Valley Basil Burger

Pesto Mayo
2//3 cup mayo
2 tablespoons basil pesto

Patties
2 lbs ground sirloin
1/4 cup zinfandel
1/4 cup fresh basil, minced
1/4 cup red onion (I used a regular since I didn't want to run to the store again)
1/4 cup Italian bread crumbs
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes (I skipped this, but sounds divine)
1 tsp garlic salt
pepper to taste

Garnish
Monterey Jack cheese
tomato
lettuce
onion
sandwich roll, grilled in last moments to toast


Ours cooked just a tad too long..I like them barely pink but it was full of flavor and a nice, fancy twist on the old fashioned burger. If you try it, let me know what you think!!

Isn't great to live in AZ where you can still grill in the fall/winter??? We are spoiled like that!

What happened to the turkey?

I was disappointed to walk around Michaels and the mall earlier this week only to discover Thanksgiving is gone. Seriously, it has been completely skipped over...or at least it seems that way. I wanted to find some cute fall ribbon and/or stickers for the baked goods I am making for the kids fall festival this weekend and there wasn't even anything in the clearance bins. It makes me so sad! Why pass over a holiday that should make us stop, pause and reflect on our blessings? Why do we not remember the first Thanksgiving and the people that came to escape religious persecution and struggled mightily just to survive?

Not going to happen in this family...

I am doing a 'thankful' activity with the kids starting tomorrow...1 week of Thankfulness. (I will post more about it as we get under way.) And I bought a book to read to the kids to help them understand the beginning of this holiday and to not forget all our blessings.

So, Happy Thanksgiving to all of you...