Probably my favorite picture of the day, depicted here as the card I'd love to send out!

I finally put together a group of photos for a Christmas card that just might make it out in time...then I used up all the ink that I just replaced 2 days ago printing just 20 cards.

smoke is billowing out of my ears.

the end.

why you won't be receiving a christmas card from us

exhibits A,B,C,D, and E

any questions?

7 days and counting...

can I make it?

Man, I hope so...

Proof that time flies, even when you aren't having any fun...

Wow, December 11th already!

December came in with...well...barf.  Yuck.  Ty came home from school last Friday {12-2} with a tummy ache and was puking a few hours later...every 5-10 min...for at least 2 hours.  He also ran a fever and had other "digestive issues" {trying not to gross people out} and was pretty under the weather for the whole weekend.  I kept him home Monday, just for good measure, and then he went and puked again.  Thank God for my parents.  When I say I kept him home, I really mean that they kept him home...he went back to school this past Thursday.

Now Eden is sick.  She got a fever this past Friday but waited until this morning to vomit.  I thought she was a one timer because she went all day without getting sick again, but then right before dinner it happened again.  Oh, and did I mention Chris is running a temp.  Joy to the world!

I'm waiting for Colin to fall.  Or me, for that matter.  Please God, just let it all be over by Christmas!

All this is putting quite a damper on the old holiday preparations.  I figure one day...one day...I'll figure all this holiday junk out!  Turns out you cannot just put Christmas on hold until after Thanksgiving if you want everything to go smoothly.  sigh.  The kids are harassing me because EVERYONE else already has presents under the tree.  I did manage to get four, yes four, batches of white cookie dough mixed up...just no filling for the date fills yet.  Good grief...who wants to bake when barfing is taking place?  I was going to take neighbors cookies this year...maybe I should scratch that! :)  I'm also hoping that I'll have time to try out (1). spiced nuts and (2). cinnamon rolls for Christmas morning.  My Aunt Nancy used to send us a tin of spiced nuts every year at Christmas-time...man I wish I had that recipe now!  They were so good!  I clipped one from a magazine a few years ago, but definitely not as yummy.  I really think I'm going to start giving food as gifts.  That's a tradition that needs to be revived.  Nothing says "love" more that homemade goodies at Christmas.  Goal for next year.  The cinnamon rolls are PW's recipe.  They look delish!  I think Chris and me, working together, could make cinnamon rolls a Christmas morning tradition!  And good news!...it makes a ton...more homemade goodies gifts!

I should have titled this post "random".  Sorry.  I guess I had a lot to say!  I miss posting!

One more thing...I got a new camera {yay!} and hopefully I'll be getting some good pics soon.  All this illness is really screwing up the Christmas card pics...{should have taken them in November!}

Keep checking in...I'm really hoping to get back soon!

Thanksgiving 2011

I'm happy to report that our Thanksgiving was a total and utter success!  With the exception of my creamy mashed potatoes {recipe by PW} which did not reheat in 30 minutes and had to be microwaved!  

Boo!  Nothing that a large glass of white wine, delivered by my big sis, couldn't cure...

preset table awaiting the guests and food!

lively dinner conversation...

two thanksgiving must-haves:
Michael and wine!  {why is Karen hiding her face?}

I have no pictures of the children or their table.  Bad me!  I never did get the kid's table decorations completed.  Sometimes something has to be scratched, and this year it was that...oh well...on the bright side, I have more than half of it ready for next year :)!


I thought I'd also share what my family was/is thankful for this year...our Thankful Tree was a big success as well...we all loved it {some more that others} and it will become an annual tradition!

Chris is thankful for:
my children,
health,
the Mother of my three, wonderful children, and
toilet paper {written on a piece of toilet paper because my husband is nothing, if not goofy!}

I'm thankful for:
a husband who's not above running the vacuum,
a night out with Chris,
Fridays,
my job and my boss,
family and friends,
Colin & Ty and their hard work and great behavior at school,
buttered popcorn...yum!,
my beautiful family, and
coffee {let's not forget that!}

Colin is thankful for:
my house, my toys, and my family,
video games and T.V.,
matter, water, and air {that still kills me},
school and friends,
a amazing Mom! (and Dad?) {that's how he wrote it...},
buttered popcorn...yum! {copy cat #1},
not thinking, {?} and
mice, rats, and raccoons and all the other things that could get in the house.  {that is written by an 8-year-old, who was trying to get a rise out of his Mother, because his Mother was freaking out about a mouse intruder.  R.I.P. mouse...}

Ty is thankful for:  {hang on to your hats!... this boy is thankful!}
Mom buying clothes, Mom buying stuff for the house,
light, Jesus, God and Gigi and Dad Dad,
paper,
health,
my Eden, my bed, and my brother,
Me, my shoes, and my art stuff,
the scissors, the crayons, and the shirts,
my food, my room, the table,
the place mat, the water,
breakfast,
school, like not {being sarcastic?},
mice {also trying to get a rise out of his mother},
pens,
buttered popcorn...yum! {copy cat #2},
my Mom, my house, my toys, my Dad, and
my friends and "buck-truck-doeing" {for those of you not familiar with "buck-truck-doeing", that's when
we all pile into Chris' truck and go deer-spotting as a family...big excitement!}

Eden was thankful too...with lots of little scribbles on her two, very-own tags.  She really wanted to join in the thanksgiving fun!

And now, the Christmas train has left the station...let's get the festivities going...off to decorate the tree!

the thankful tree, the kids table, and Target

I first saw the Thankful tree here.  I loved the idea and planned, right then, to copy it.  About a month ago the boys went on a stick hunt in our yard for perfect Thankful Tree branches {and also for our kid's table decorations}.  They found the most perfect branches!  I stuck them into my inherited Ball jar {thanks Grandma Jean...miss you!} and our Thankful Tree was born!

I couldn't wait to blog about the tree...it's such a great idea!  But, as usual, I was more than a little behind blogging schedule and then this post happened over at Jones Design...urg!  It's ok, because it's still a great idea and she was offering free printable tags to use on the tree {BONUS}!

And here she is:

our Thankful Tree

Ty's really thankful!  He's filled out many, many cards! :)

well...he has a point...where would we be without those
three things? :)

Chris

Love it so much!  

This is the next project....

from Parents.com.  This is what I'm hoping our kid's table will look like on Thanksgiving.  The boys collected sticks and, the other night, we painted them.  Hopefully I can keep moving along with this project and not stall out which seems to happen more than I care to admit!

painting sticks...well they were...they got side-tracked into painting pictures...

This is a long post...sheesh!  

Let's talk about Target.  I L.O.V.E. Target.  I shop there a lot!  We buy most of our groceries there.  They always offer me the Target REDcard and I always say no.  Yes I'd love to save 5% on all my purchases, and yes, I'd love for 1% of all my purchases to be donated to the K-12 school of my choice, but no, I do not want a credit card for Target...I don't particularly care for credit cards and I'm not sure that I have enough self- control at Target anyway :)!  

A few weeks ago, while checking out, they offered me a {wait for it} REDcard DEBIT card!  Yes, a debit card.  It links right to your checking account, you save 5% on all your purchases and you can designate the K-12 school of your choice to receive 1% of your annual purchases.  I said yes to that.  Let me tell you, 5% off of all my purchases at Target will be huge savings annually, and 1% of my purchases will give our elementary school way more money than the few box tops I clip.  It's a "good thing" {oh, Martha} that I wanted to share with you all.

I'm finished!  :)

Mayflower handprints

I found this cute idea on Pinterest {surprise, surprise} and I thought it was so cute and something different than the typical turkey hand print.

obviously Colin's :)

Ty's Mayflower is sailing through some rough weather...

Eden's Mayflower isn't sailing yet...

Happy DNF Day, as my Brother-in-law likes to call it {that's "darn near Friday" for those of you who, like me, couldn't figure it out...}

This month, so far,  has been a little bit crazy and it has me {once again} remembering how fleeting this time in my life is.  We're a full week into November and 2 weeks from Thanksgiving...hard to believe.

Being thankful is a mindful thing and, I believe, takes practice.  It's honestly part of my everyday self-talk to remind myself to count the blessings in my life.  I hear myself grumbling and in the back of my mind my small, personal Jiminy Cricket is whispering..."remember...you have a lot to be thankful for".  And, of course, I do.  I suppose that some people don't have that voice...I'm thankful that I do...only I'm still working on that voice becoming louder and louder so that it's bouncing around in there taking up all the room so that the grumbles are only a whisper.

So, I haven't been as productive as I'd hoped.  Things I wanted to accomplish haven't been.  I've wasted some time being upset about it, but then decided to mindfully embrace where I am.  I have 3 small children who need attention, time, and a Mom who can "go with the flow".  Right now homework, practicing reading and math, having a healthy dinner to eat,  and getting to bed on time is the priority.  And as we Moms know, that's no easy task...

And all this talk of Thanksgiving has made a difference for the kids.  Colin, completely on his own, started listing the things he was grateful for the other night while I was tucking them in...which then prompted Ty to do the same.  And, Ty got in the car yesterday and said "Mrs. Filkins is already talking all about Christmas!  We're the only ones who care about Thanksgiving...everyone else just wants to skip the holiday."

It makes me so proud of them...and for that I am thankful!



*tomorrow I'll post their Mayflower pictures we worked on this weekend...

thankful |ˈθa ng kfəl|

adjectivepleased and relieved : [with clause ] they were thankful that the war was finally over | [with infinitive ] I was very thankful to be alive.
• expressing gratitude and relief : an earnest and thankful prayer.
____________________________________________________________________________
I struggled today.

Here I am pledging to bring back Thanksgiving...to place our focus on being thankful...to inspire others to do the same...and I'm tellin' you, today was no bueno.


{Ah Ha}  But, there is beauty in being able to embrace, and be thankful for, our shortcomings.  Knowing that you were short tempered, and realizing that it's something you could stand to work on, is something to be thankful for.  We all know people who seem to be unaware of their imperfections...

So, I searched...I dug...I read through books.  I tried desperately to be inspired so that I could write something about being thankful to inspire the masses {i.e. you...my small handful of readers}, but still nothing.

And so this is what I say...some days are just like that.  I'll try again tomorrow.  I'm sure you'll tune in because you found this exhilarating.  { :) }

And, I did think of some things to be thankful for today:

chili to warm my bones {we had sleet today}

Colin's sense of humor

Ty's honesty

Eden's little arms wrapped around my neck in a tiny hug

having something to look forward to

{I do have some fun Thanksgiving projects to do with the kids...hopefully I'll have some pics to share after this weekend}

There are strict orders in place in our home this month.

November 1, 2011...today I start my "Bring Thanksgiving Back" campaign!  We are giving this holiday the respect and attention it deserves in this house, and hopefully inspiring others to do the same.

I have a hard enough time trying to teach my children the difference between a want and a need without every retail operation in the world trying to cram their version of Christmas down their throats in mid-October!  They're children for heavens sake!  They already come pre-programed with the "gimmes"...this is not something we need to train them!  Let's spend some time in November talking about what we're thankful for and how lucky we are and place our focus there...that way when December 1st hits they will {hopefully} have some balance to carry them through the season.

I am not a scrooge...I appreciate the magic of Christmas and the excitement it brings!  Trust me, I know the days are numbered.  I just listen and then quickly remind them that we have my favorite holiday to celebrate first and encourage them to keep a wish list to remind them of the things that they want.

We are having Thanksgiving at our house this year and I'm excited to involve the kids in planning the day. And, hopefully, instilling in them the importance of giving thanks!  Will you join me?  Let's take back the month of November!  Bring back Thanksgiving!

Happy Halloween!