Thanksgiving Fun

Delicious food, 

good conversations, 

warm house filled with those you love!

Thankful Hearts!

Where's Waldo (I mean Ella) ?

On Thanksgiving , Marks mom wanted to get a family picture for her holiday cards this year.

We attempted it several times and this was the best of 2 that we got

notice Ella- 

we all couldnt stop laughing after seeing this!!!

and YES- Lina used this one for her family photo card!

It will make everyone smile:)

Happy Thanksgiving!

I am ThAnKfUl for..

Mark

Sophia

Arianna

Ella Bella

Elijah

( I talk a LOT about those people listed above so my list will include things not about them)

The GOSPEL that has transformed my life and to CHRIST who made it possible

My mom for giving me life and for inspiring me more than words can say:)

My dad who passed on to me a love for cooking and cake decorating! ( I miss him SO much)

A step dad who loves me and is a human encyclopedia! He knows everything!

A brother and step siblings who still keep in touch even though we are miles away..

a BAZILLION CUTE and COOL nephews and nieces!

Super inlaws who give me a break from cooking every Sunday!

Emy who scours the internet for me:)

Tina and Matt who motivate me to get a tattoo- SOMEDAY!

FRIENDS- you all know who you are!!You guys ROCK..

A home that keeps us warm and where memories are built!

the ability to stay at home and do whatever my heart desires:)

health that enables me to do what my heart desires..

a minivan that carts us all around

Little Basil- my new favorite cheap Thai restaurant that satisfies my cravings

my sewing machine- it rocks!

Apps on my phone that babysit my children

Colorado weather

lots of cute HIGH heeled shoes! I really like shoes 

reading others blogs- they inspire me to be creative!

a HUGE meal and fun with family to come soon....

HaPpY ThAnKsGiViNg!!!

p.s. please note that this is not an exhaustive list of what I am thankful for- just a small portion that came to the top of my head this morning;)

Gimme a break

Thanksgiving Break is 5 days in for us (yes, the kids have been off all weekend and all week!) 

Here is what we have been up to- 

We set up the Christmas tree- YES, I know its before Thanksgiving and Mark gave me the hardest time since we usually do it the day after Thanksgiving, but I was SO in the Christmas mood this week! 

This year, I got the kids these cute clay stockings and 

wrote their names on them- they were $1 at Big lots!! 

(our tradition is to get each of the kids an ornament every year and 

when they are grown, they can have all their ornaments for their tree)

Our tree is FILLED with ornaments that were mine when I was little- 

mom did one for us every year till we were about 6 or 7 (and she sewed them all!)

And as a highlight to my tree this year, she gave me all 

these old wooden ornaments that are SO vintage- from when I was a kid- I LOVE them! 

I remember playing with them when Justin and I were little- we would act out all these scenes on our Christmas tree with  the ornaments! It was fun!

The kids have also made a Christmas countdown paper chain and 

look forward to breaking one off every morning! 

32 days left! 

Grandma in PA also sent them the chocolate countdown calendars 

that my Grandma always used to get me when I was a kid:) 

They cant wait till Dec 1st to start opening the doors!

 (Elijah was still recovering from being sick, so he went to bed early that night- 

I will get a pic with him and his ornament soon:)

Another thing we have been doing is this cool Thanksgiving pack thing that I downloaded for free.

It was filled with the story of Thanksgiving and all these Bible verses, songs, crafts amd recipes to retell and remember why we have Thanksgiving! I have loved doing it with the kids.

We made homemade playdough below...

Notice the girls outfits- oh my! They wanted to wear their Christmas dresses- whatever:)

 We also made these cute little placecard Mayflower boats 

for Thanksgiving dinner tomorrow at Grandmas! 

They turned out SO cute!!

We have a whole fleet of about 20 of them!

Its gonna be a fun Thanksgiving!

I am making my moms recipe for mashed potatoes 

and a new recipe that I found for sweet potatoes!

YUMMM!!

 We have stayed home all week except to go to the park...

Its nice not having tons to do and just hanging at home.

The kids seem to like it too!

Although around 4 o clock, they are ready for Daddy to get home!

 And the last thing I have been very busy with is crafting:) 

I am working on making a LOT of Christmas gifts this year to save money and whats better than a gift that was handmade with love:) I have all the girls friends gifts almost made and the girls have helped me make them!! and they turned out AWESOME!! I cant wait to get pictures up of what I've made but it will have to be right around Christmas so I dont spoil the surprise! 

I also have been working on this CUTE garland for our tree- every year I do a gold  theme for our tree but this year I am doing a BRIGHT rainbowish color tree- its SO pretty- 

I found all these colorful balls last year for like $1after Christmas. 

I do not have garland so I found this idea below on a blog and have been sewing away.

IT TAKES FOREVER!

But I am very happy with the result!

It just might take me till next Christmas to get it all done- 

right now, I just have one strand done for the top of the tree- 

I want to make 3 more strands but they will have to be longer than the one before 

which means they will TAKE longer!

I also need to get white on the tree- 

any suggestions for what to add that I could make? or that is inexpensive?

I am thinking white fabric stars..

So that is what we have been up to this week of Thanksgiving Break!

Daddy is home today and we are going out to lunch with Grandpa so the kids are greatly looking forward to that! so am I!!

Making a List and checking it twice

I am very excited to get started with my holiday photo cards this year. Last year I used the above pictures to create a photo card from Shutterfly! 

This year, my sweet photographer friend will be taking our Christmas photo- 

JUST wait till you see them! We have some CUTE ideas!! 

And the best part is that I can get 50 FREE photo cards from Shutterfly by blogging about what I love about Shutterfly! Pretty cool, right!

So without further ado, here are some of my favorites from Shutterfly!

1. I would LOVE to send a photo card that looks like this (Seasonal Chic 2010)

Those are the colors we are wearing!

And their is lots of space for lots of pictures which I know Megan will deliver:) 

2.  And another version that I love is With Love Blue 

this one has room for 5 Photos! and I LOVE the mongram!

3. And if Meagan captures that one PERFECT photo of our family,

I may just go with Sweet monogram Ribbon

4. And if my husband needs a gift idea for me- I am digging these custom mugs with chocolate!

I love coffee and drinking it from a cup with my kiddos faces on them would make me smile:)

5. You know I love parties! How cute would these holiday invitations be! 

I'm digging Design Ornaments

6. and while you're at it check out these adorable birthday invitations. I usually make mine but since I LOVE themed parties, I may just order Ella some of these...Tumble Time since she wants a gymnastics birthday party this year!

And out of all of these I believe my FAVORITE one of all 

that I will most likely order 5O FREE ones of is HERE!!!!!

it is a folded greeting card- but I wont tell you the desing..

just check your mail if your on my list:)

I cant wait to get started!! 

LOVE Vintage

I found this cute little coat at the Paris Market this past summer for $5!!! 

Its VINTAGE.

I like vintage but its hard to find or maybe its just that I dont have the time to go out and hunt for it!

But I think this coat is just darling!

Lunch with Auntie

 What a fun day we had with Aunt Emy today- 

we met for lunch at yummy Paradise bakery and 

then headed to this COOL park near her work!

How cool is this picture!

 It was such a nice day today- hard to believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner!

After the park, we went back to Em's work and met some of her coworkers and got a tour of her cool office building! It really was a fun afternoon.

On a side note, as we were walking home from getting the girls at school, Elijah threw up all over the place- I mean a TON! He didnt have a fever, but looked a bit pale.

I gave him a bath and a few minutes later he was back to his old crazy self! 

I am hoping this was just from something he ate. 

He went all night without getting sick again and still has no fever...

Praise God!

Cake Break

 perfect vanilla cucakes with rich chocolate fudge frosting

black bottom cupcakes

best ever chocolate cupcakes with mint buttercream

Yes I do like baking cakes

but for a friends baby shower, I decided to take a break from cakes 

and try cupcakes- they turned out SO cute and yummy- it was perfect for the fingerfood shower and I even got to use my new IKEA cupcake pans- tall and skinny- really cool!

Flakes of White

Yes, its that time again! 

SNOW!!!!

I cant believe it has waited till mid November to snow- that is rare here

But yesterday, the flakes were HUGE and it was fun to snuggle down in the house and watch it fall...

I am ready for the change in season- winter is always so cozy and its nice that the snow doenst stay on the ground forever. I love that about Colorado.

We are supposed to get some accumulation on Thursday.

here we go...

Found a Favorite Today

I had some extra time to kill today so I figured I would walk around the mall.

I havent done that in ages! 

And on my walk, I found a store that I am just IN LOVE with!

It is called Anthropology

OH. MY. GOODNESS.

It has a very eclectic feel and is filled with things that are not "typical".

It reminds me of a boutique in Paris- it really does- or maybe Switzerland.

I just love it.

Now, the prices also remind me of Paris- VERY pricey!

BUT,

I, of course, found the sale nook tucked in the back of the store.

It was loaded with much more affordable deals.

Yes, it was all last season, but I dont care!

 

This shirt was originally $48 and I got it for $9.95

The necklace was originally $38 and I got it for $9.95

 I also saw a cute big black belt for $20 and a silky headband for $10-

(aren't ya glad I at least didn't purchase them too, Mark:)

And check out the cute price tag on the necklace- too cute!

I RARELY shop like this but I just couldnt resist!

 

I think I will be revisiting this store soon!

I also did not yet post a picture of my red wall. It is bright. really bright 

but I LOVE it! Notice the cool artwork by my niece, Alex. Super cool.

 

Our pumpkins all lit up and glowing:) 

Had to throw that pic in there.

  

My favorite man in the whole wide world.

And a throw back pic-

my mom sent the twins some of my old paper back books

from school when I was little- 

they have LOVED reading them and 

handling them with care- they are old! 

Great idea, Mom!

 Well, I need to get off here to cook dinner and clean this pigpen of a house:)

We are having company tonight- the twins teacher and her fiance!

The twins are super excited and so am I! 

Its fun to get the house all dolled up for company and I enjoy cooking 

when I know lots of people will be eating it! 

Have a great Friday and a great weekend!

and go see if you have an Anthropology near you-

I know you'll love it!

Snapshot of the Weekend

Above: Trick- or Treat Costumes:) 

Below: Boo Ball with friends and their teacher at school

Pumpkin Carving: Always a Highlight, although me and mark usually do ALL the work-

Fun Times all around!