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I am currently on cloud nine from this fantastic holiday weekend.  I was reminded of a quote this morning by Dr. Suess, "Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."  I just can't stop smiling. 

The couple days before Thanksgiving I prepped and made most of the dishes I was in charge of and that helped to make this one of the smoothest Thanksgivings we've hosted.  The other biggie is that along with frying the turkey, my wonderful husband made the pumpkin bread pudding dessert and potato gratin dishes.  He was working in the kitchen the night before while I was top stitching my reversible Thanksgiving/Christmas placemats.  I wouldn't be me if I weren't doing something at the last minute *smirk*.

Thanksgiving was a wonderful day filled with friends and family, a ton of food (given) and games!  The younger kids also watched a bit of a veggietales marathon as it began to get toward bedtime.  Just a perfect day. 

After sleeping in on Friday and eating chocolate chip pancakes, we hit a bunch of stores to get some Christmas shopping started.  I've never shopped on 'black friday' and for a first experience it was very mellow.  Busy. Indeed!  But all we ran into was friendly people and some very good deals.  Now we are almost done with shopping!

Saturday had a couple of highlights.  One was the new disney movie Tangled. A bit intense at times for the three year old but all around very fun for the rest of us.  My boy sat on the edge of his seat for most of it!

Then we walked around our little downtown just before dusk in a beautiful snow storm.  Delightfully looking at Christmas lights and ringing the bell in front of our Capitol building.

Follow that up with a relaxing Sunday including a tryptophan nap for mom, (a weekend full of turkey will catch up to you eventually) a daughter rearranging jars of applesauce saying, "I'm shopping for winter" and a Dad allowing a son to watch parts of Empire Strikes Back, what more can one gal ask for.  I am so very grateful for this fairy tale weekend! 

Thanksgiving Memories

Speaking of people I love my Gram has a special place in my heart. She has been visiting my Aunt and is able to see photos of my kids via the web so I'm posting some photos of our Thanksgiving highlights. It's really terrible because I should be sending her more photos but here they all sit, on this computer...
Starting the holiday memories with tradition and our family holiday rolls. Recipe from my great grandmother and "the bowl."

The dough got, "so big!"

First we roll (which takes great concentration)

or a bit of squishing

Traditions says the cinnamon sugar must reach the elbows *wink*

You want me to give these to you after I roll them in this yummy stuff, ha, good luck with that!

Rolling their own pie crusts

Happy Thanksgiving!

 

I finally finished sewing the little jumper dress she's wearing, not that I got a great photo of it but she was so happy to get to wear it, and I was too!

There are twelve more minutes left of Thanksgiving and I can't sleep. This is extremely rare for me as usually I'm asleep leaning on my husband on the couch or at the very least as soon as my cheek sinks into the pillow.

Today was fabulous and even though I miss my family I'm thankful for my friends. I'm thankful for the gift of having people to love.

"Love one another, even as I have loved you." Jesus said these words. He did not say 'love your family' or 'love the people you like' or 'love the things people do or have.' He said LOVE ONE ANOTHER. This love he speaks of is sadly so foreign to our culture, isn't it just year ago that a poor man was trampled to death so that people could buy stuff? This is not love, at least not a love for people, it is a love for stuff. It's just stuff, loving the people in our life is the thing that brings us the most reward, the most happiness and the most fulfillment. Even though or I guess in spite of this love, as sinners, people have caused others (even loved ones) great pain.

1 Peter 4:8 says, "Above all, keep fervent in your love for one another, for love covers a multitude of sins." Amen to that, I have been hurt by those I love many times sometimes it is hard but I'll always love them. I'm certain I have hurt those I care most about too, I'm a sinner just the same I can try not to hurt them but I, like you am a fallen, imperfect person.

I began thinking about the word fervent, intense passion, with great zeal, hot and fiery are some of it's definitions paraphrased. What does fervent love look like? What does it mean to love our spouses and our kids fervently? Compassion, a willingness to serve them, even discipline. We still discipline those we love, because we love. What does it feel like to keep fervent in our love for our family and friends? Do they feel that love? What does it sound like to show intense feelings of love to a total stranger? How does his love act? Does it mean an encouraging smile to a mom with a tantrum crazed toddler or just being pleasant to those around you even if they are not.

This brings me to my next long passage, Romans 12:9-21 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. Be devoted to one another in brotherly love. Honor one another above yourselves. Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. Share with God's people who are in need. Practice hospitality. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited. Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everybody. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my friends, but leave room for God's wrath, for it is written: "It is mine to avenge; I will repay," says the Lord. On the contrary:  "If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.  In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head."Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Now that today is done and another today has begun sleep is beginning to fog my thoughts. I bid sweet dreams and pray that God will teach me this love and implant it into the hearts of my children and all of the world, especially through the upcoming Christmas season. Will You please open my eyes to ways that I can show this love to those closest to me as well as those I've never met. Please forgive me for the times I haven't been loving to others and please keep giving me opportunities to show Your love. I thank you Lord for people to love.

Seriously!

I have no idea how these things happen to me, but they do. Today making our family tradition cinnamon rolls recipe a bit of an incident happened.

See, I was excited, finally getting into the mood for all the work of Thanksgiving, feeling the energy of all my fellow women and men that have gone before me preparing feasts. The boys were out running a couple last minute errands and it was just us girls.

One of us wasn't really feeling the whole wonderful mood thing and I just had a few cups of flour left to put in so I thought I would nurse her in a carrier. I've never been able to totally do this hands free, usually her head rests in the crook of my elbow. Anyway, to make a long story short, for the first time EVER I was able to hands free nurse my 15 month old - yeah we have a slow learning curve!

I was doing two things at once, slowly adding in a cup of flour and nursing my precious beauty when all of a sudden the measuring cup gets violently sucked into the mixer, my split second reaction time was not quite fast enough to stop it before a bunch of dough ended up all over us and the kitchen.

I did clean it off of us before taking the picture. But it was ALL over the place! In my defense, when I've made this recipe before I've done it by hand and I had already decided that I didn't like using my mixer as the bowl isn't big or deep enough. So, I won't be doing this again!

Nursing worked out great, she couldn't have cared less what I was doing, even with raw dough in her hair, she just kept right on plugging along.

Finger painting was fun too.

A theme for the upcoming holiday season...

Happiness is not so much in having as sharing. We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give. -- Norman MacEwan

Happy Turkey Day!!!

Wishing all a very happy and wonderful Thanksgiving! That gratitude will fill our hearts not only this weekend but spill over into the days, months and years that follow.