Thanksgiving recap

So, we had a VERY busy Thanksgiving holiday.  Thursday, we had Thanksgiving dinner with my family.  Of course there was plenty of yummy food & everybody just sort of hung out & enjoyed each other's company.  We hadn't had a holiday at our house for well over a year, so I was excited, but as always, there's sooo much to do.  With 3 kids, our house doesn't stay clean for long.  Thankfully I didn't have to make anything for our dinner, so that released some of the stress.  Later in the day, all the girls went up to Lydia's room to watch her play.  Just observing her business brought us all some good laughs.  She's also been babbling alot lately {okay, sounds a little like she's Vietnemese}.  The pictures above are of her messy bed that she threw many things in & playing with uncle Bob with her dolly.  

On Saturday, we had Dan's family over for lunch.... this one was a little more stressful for me.  I did the turkey, which I've never done before & I was freaking out a little about the whole thing.  Not only did my turkey get done over an hour before I expected, our guests were about an hour later than I expected as well.  In the end, everything was delicious & I felt pretty good about how the whole thing went.  Maybe next time I will be more relaxed?  We had a great time as well, getting to see family members we don't get to see nearly enough.  We even got to see our niece Ashlyn, who we hadn't seen since she got home from the hospital.  

Let the decorating begin...

Over the weekend, my sister Carol & I went to a holiday open house, where I found this old metal bread tray.  So yesterday, I put together this ensemble of Christmas decorations that I had in my collection.  The santa is something I had made when I was selling crafts, so I've had it for a while.  The jingle bells came from a cool little gift shop a few years ago... sort of distressed ivory covered with some glittery goodness.  I think I'll change the stuff inside of the tray with the change of the seasons. I also put up the nativity scene, the garland with the stockings in the stairway & the boys put up their small trees in their rooms.  Dan & Evan even put some lights on a few spruce trees that are in our front yard & Dan put up some icicle lights around the porch roof.  Thanks honey!  We're really enjoying taking our time getting the decorations out & putting them up this year.  Last year we did it totally at the last minute & it was not at all enjoyable.  Hoping to get most everything up before Thanksgiving so our families can enjoy them when they come for dinner on Thursday & Saturday.  We don't normally get many visitors during this time of year, so we're pretty excited.  We're also doing some last minute drywall finishing in our basement & Lydia's room.  The guy is supposed to get the texture done tomorrow, so maybe we'll get some paint on before the guests arrive.  Yay!

remembering to be thankful

A few years back, I made up some cards to give to some people close to us during the Thanksgiving season.  I've tried to keep up with the tradition because it felt really good to let all the people know we were thinking of them.  We're always trying to instill in the boys how they need to be thankful for all the things in their life.... but obviously the people in our lives are what we truly need to be thankful for.  I think it's a great way to say "thank you" & remember not only what we're blessed with, but who we're blessed with. 

Happy Anniversary Ma & Pa

Just wanted to wish my mom & dad {or ma & pa, as Lydia calls them} a happy anniversary today.  I've always had alot of respect for my parents & their commitment to each other.  One of my favorite things I love about my parents is that they're not afraid to show their love for the other in front of others.  That was something I wanted to make sure Dan & I brought to our marriage... even if we may not always agree with each other, we try to show our love for each other in front of our kids {even though their may be some eeewwwws coming from across the room}.  Love you mom & dad, have a great day!

little decorating project

I've been rolling around in my head for a while about doing a little project like this.  I had everything I needed in my stash:  lots of paper scraps, a 10x20 canvas, letter/number stickers.  Just punched the various papers with a square punch, adhered them with mod podge, then when that dried just took a little burnt ochre acrylic paint & mixed with the mod podge & brushed that over top of everything.  I then added the various Ms & 5s {for Meierotto & the 5 of us}.  I had the big M that I'd bought at Hobby Lobby a long time ago {each of the kids has their letter also}.  They come in sort of a gilded gold, but I've spray painted the boys red & I sprayed this one ivory, then scuffed it with sandpaper.  I love the way the little ensemble came together.... needed a refresher.  Put it above one of our couches in the LR.

It all came together super easy & quick, I think it would be fun to make ones to fit various holidays/seasons, working with themed papers.... maybe with different sentiments on them to fit the theme.  HMMM... maybe some christmas gifts for special people?