Merry and Bright

One of my favorite passions and hobbies is decorating my home. I love picking out colors and pieces that will make my home a warm and inviting place to be during any season of the year, but I especially love decorating for the holidays! There is just something special about cheery red Santa's, green and red stripes, and twinkling little lights that warms my heart. If you have ever been in my home, you know that I have a love for all things primitive and vintage, and this year I thought it would be fun to decorate one of our Christmas trees in a bit of an old fashioned/primitive way. We always put up two Christmas trees. One homemade/family tree with all of the children's homemade and personalized ornaments on it (this year we are going to chop a real tree down at a tree farm!), and one tree that we decorate with a particular theme. The past few years I have gone with a red and gold theme, to match the colors in our dining room, where the tree stood. But seeing as we are in a new house this year, I wanted something different. I wanted primitive. I was envisioning popcorn and red wooden bead garland, brown paper ribbon, and old fashioned looking ornaments. I wanted to wrap our gifts in brown paper grocery sacks, and tie them with huge red and white bows. I wanted simple and old fashioned. Nothing else would do.

But then, one fateful day last week, I made the very grave mistake of taking Emma with me on an outing to Target to look at all of the primitive ornaments. Because there, three shelves over, a package of sparkly, shiny, pink and turquoise ornaments began calling her name. Oh, yes, there were purple ornaments in that package, too. Pink, and turquoise, and purple ornaments! At Christmas! And my daughter was in love. Insert big problem. Pink, and turquoise, and purple do not go nicely with primitive brown and red. Whatever was I going to do? I bought the ornaments Emma fell in love with, of course, along with pink, sparkly, bright wrapping paper and shiny turquoise bows with purple polka dots, and I put my dreams of a primitive Christmas to rest. And you know what? After putting the tree up yesterday evening and staring at it for the past twenty four hours, I have decided that I think it looks amazing. It is cheerful, and merry, and bright, and when we turn on the lights, it looks like something out of an add for a beautiful candy store. And I love it! It is perfect for our family. Perfect for my six year old who has an eye and a love for bright colors. Perfect for my four year old who adores all things sparkly. Perfect for our home that is currently housing seven females this holiday season. Simply perfect, and merry, and bright. What can I say? It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Holiday Weekend Wrap-Up

The Thanksgiving holiday weekend has come and gone, and we are now back to daily life in this home of ours. Which for me is okay, because it is my magical Monday! It is nice to have a few hours to myself to catch my breath from the busyness of the past several days. Our family had a wonderful holiday! We enjoyed a simple, yummy, Thanksgiving dinner with my mom and dad. Everyone went around the table and said what they were most thankful for this year. Boss said he was thankful for his faith (I heart him, by the way). I said I was most thankful for Jack's safe delivery and wonderful addition to our family this year. His life has been such a blessing. He might even complete our family, but that is still being debated :). Emma and Kate both said that they were thankful for God and for our family. I heart them, too. Jack said he was most thankful for bottles, bananas, and binky's. At least that is what I think he would have said, you know,if he could talk. I do believe though, that the highlight of my day was when one of our big girls (residents) said to Boss and I that this year she was thankful to us for loving her and treating her like family during this past year that we have been together. I may or may not have shed a tear. Makes what we do everyday totally worth it.

That evening we went over to our dear friends and neighbors (really, they are more like family) for more food and fun. My favorite part was flipping through the holiday newspaper ads with the girls. (My friend girls, not the residents or my little girls. Just felt the need to clarify, seeing as there are so very many girls in my life!) I have always wanted to experience Black Friday, but have never had anyone to experience it with. Now I do. Just another way that God has blessed me with where we live and who we are surrounded by.And the next morning I actually joined the masses and went shopping with my friends! In the name of honesty, I didn't actually head out with them at four in the morning. Instead, I met them for breakfast at eight and joined them from there :). But I still got to witness people shoving in line and being nasty to sales clerks, so I would still say that I got the full experience. Only I was a bit more rested than everyone else :). That evening our family loaded up our van and headed out to Bob Evans to eat dessert for dinner, per Emma's request. Yum. A perfect ending to a perfect holiday day.

On Saturday, my mom and I took all of the girls (both big and little) to see Tangled, while all the boys (both big and little) stayed home to watch Ohio State beat Michigan. (See? Even after eight years, I am still Boss' lucky charm.) Can I just say that it was a great movie? I usually do not like cartoons, but this was super great. But perhaps my favorite part was watching my oldest daughter's face in the golden glow of the movie lights, as she watched a particular scene with her eyes aglow and a smile on her face. In one scene they release hundreds of glowing lanterns, and Emma leaned over and whispered to me that she wanted the sky to look like that on her wedding day. I may or may not have shed a tear at the thought of my oldest baby growing up and getting married. That evening Emma and I decorated the inside of our home for the Christmas holidays, everything except for our Christmas trees. This year it was fun to have a little helper! She really got into the spirit and magic of it all.

Yesterday (Sunday) we worshipped, rested, and then celebrated one of my besties fortieth birthday. I may or may not have shed a tear over my love for her and at the thought that when I am forty, Emma will be leaving our nest and heading out into the world as a newly eighteen year old. Sigh. Why must they grow up?

Life. It is a constant flow of growing and changing. Giving and taking. Complete joy and deep sorrow. That is why I am so thankful for this time of the year. The time of the year where we celebrate Christ, our families, and what really matters in life. We truly have so very much to be thankful for. And may we always remember to thank the Giver of all good things!

Thanksgiving 2010

Scenes From Our Table and Home

Really Great Day

Today was a really great day. A really, really great day. First off, Boss let me sleep in. I currently have an ear infection and pneumonia, and last night I took some medication that really had me flying high. Within half an hour after taking it, my lips were completely numb and the rest of my body was tingling. I kept having to ask Boss if he thought I was still breathing because I could not feel my chest. It was crazy, and once I got over my anxiety, I slept great. Better than I have in weeks! So sleeping great, and sleeping in were both really great starts to my day.

After I was up and functioning the boys (aka Boss and Jack) went out to get new tires put on my sheep (my "she" jeep) in preparation for winter, and left all of us girls to get started on our cooking. I had forgotten how fun it was to spend the day preparing for a Thanksgiving feast! The past few years we have celebrated the holiday with Boss' family at their home, so all I have had to do was show up. Sometimes that is really nice (the just being able to show up part), but sometimes (a sometimes of the very rarely variety) the Betty Crocker in me comes out and I love everything that goes into hosting a special meal. On my list to make today? Cream Cheese Mashed Potatoes, Strawberry Pretzel Salad, Broccoli Cheese Casserole, Pumpkin Pie, Pecan Pie, Pumpkin Bars with Cream Cheese Icing. and a Cream Cheese/Chocolate Chip Ball. Yummy. So I got to work!

I turned the radio in the kitchen on to a station that was playing Christmas carols, our families first of the season, got my two tiny helpers their aprons, and we went to town! The girls cracked eggs, stirred things, and licked beaters. And in between helping they watched movies or made Turkey crafts with the big girls who will be spending the holiday with our family. We never got out of our jammies, and there was far more laughing and helping, than bickering and complaining, so that makes today a very good day. Once it got dark outside we loaded up our van and headed to town to get pizza. Carols were playing in the car, warm heat filling the van, and five girls, both big and small, were laughing and enjoying being together. My heart was filled, and my soul was smiling.

After pizza we came home, got back in to jammies, and piled onto the couches in the living room to watch Home Alone. While we watched, I made place cards to set on our table, with each persons name on them that will be joining us for lunch tomorrow. While I usually do not love cooking, I do love preparing a beautiful table! Now, everyone is tucked into bed and I am waiting to give Mister Man his last feeding of the night. My heart is filled with anticipation and excitement over the day tomorrow. We will enjoy lunch and the afternoon with my parents and then we will head to Ms. Faye's for an evening of games, fun, and laughter. We have so very much to be thankful for. Hope your Thanksgiving is blessed!

Yes

Eight years ago today started out like any other typical day during that season of my life. I was twenty years old and in my junior year of college at Texas A&M University (some of the most fun years of my life, I might add!). That year, November 23rd fell on a Saturday, and I was home visiting my parents in preparation for Thanksgiving. A certain someone, whom I now lovingly refer to as Boss, had accompanied me on this trip. But back then he was not Boss, he was just Boyfriend. And that was a very important day for Boyfriend. Ohio State was playing Michigan, and Boyfriend took those games very seriously. He still does. That day, Ohio State beat Michigan, and Boyfriend told me that I was his lucky charm and that he was thinking of keeping me around forever. My heart melted and I got a little rashy at his words. In my world, getting rashy is a very good thing. I get rashy when I am excited and nervous. Back then, Boyfriend made me rashy all the time. I even threw up on our first several dates, but that's another story for another day. Back to this story. Oh yes, Boyfriend was saying he thought he would keep me around since I was his lucky charm. I believe after that game we went out to eat with my parents and then we went bowling. I remember I was wearing tiny gray pants (because I was quite tiny back then) and a pink and gray sweater. Boyfriend kept telling me how beautiful he thought I was. Boyfriend beat us all at bowling and told me once again that I was his lucky charm and would I mind sticking around forever? You got it, more rashes for me! I just remember it was a really fun day. I was so in love with this boy. After we returned home to my parents, Boyfriend suggested that we go for a walk around the lake in my parents neighborhood, the neighborhood where I grew up, the lake that I used to ride my bike around as a child. So we started walking. And holding hands. And looking at the stars. It was a beautiful clear night. And at a certain spot, Boyfriend stopped. And took my hand in his. And then he got down on one knee. I was certainly rashing at this point, and it is quite possible that I might have squealed. Boyfriend then proceeded to tell me that he loved me, and that he didn't want to live another day of his life without me, and would I do him the honor of becoming his wife? I kept asking him if this was really it, was I really being proposed to? Was he serious? Then he opened a white ring box that he held out to me and showed me a beautiful diamond ring that sparkled almost as much as his eyes, and I knew this really was it. And I said yes. And my life was forever changed for the better. And six months later we were married on a beautiful, hot, summer day in May, and boyfriend went from being Boyfriend, to being Boss. My best friend, my confidant, my rock, my life partner. I am so glad that he asked me that important question eight years ago today. And I am so glad that I said yes.