Dirty hands, Beautiful life

Simply Elegant Centerpiece

One of my Turkey Day Tips was to let the kids make the centerpiece...little did I know that it would be the first day above 30 degrees and sliding around on the pond and tromping through the woods would be much more enticing than making a centerpiece in the kitchen even for my sweet little nieces. (They may perhaps have been influenced by some little wild cowboy that runs around this place.)

I at least talked them into trimming off a few greens for me. Hopefully they didn't pull them right off the front steps!

I'm not sure that I've ever even shared on here that I collect Early American Prescut Glass. I started my collection nearly 10 years ago and have only a few of the most select (aka..expensive) pieces left. I L-O-ve them because the clear glass allows you to change for every season or color scheme. Mainly I L-o-ve that it is durable enough to use for everyday if you wanted. (I don't want.)

I quick went to the cabinet and pulled out a couple stackable pieces. Filled each bowl with water. Dropped in a few cranberries and tucked some greens ins around the edge.

This still seemed a bit outdoorsy, so I dropped in a votive candle --- which by the way floats even though it is not a "floating candle." Hmm...the money that could have been saved over the years...

And...I'm proud to say although the house well-decked for the In Between...this was the first red and green to make an appearance until after our Blessed Thanksgiving.

Linking to...
Nifty Thrifty Sunday
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Overflowing with Creativity

Blessed

As every mother out there can attest, until you are a mama you can't know how it feels to do the hardest and most wonderful job on earth. When we were children it seemed that each Mother's Day sermon at church included Proverbs 31 - maybe that's why it's my favorite. I remember though, my mama would wait eagerly for the preacher to get to verse 28:

"Her children shall rise up and call her blessed"

At this point she should whisper a little "Amen." At the time we rolled our eyes knowing later that day when we poked fun at her that we would no doubt get a scolding about not listening and that we were supposed to call her blessed. We would retort with the idea that we didn't need to do that until we were grown.

Well, wouldn't you know that grown thing came all to soon. (For us anyway)! Now as moms ourselves we know that through the daily struggles of raising babies and then years later raising babies and teens together, that she was probably looking for hope in what sometimes feels like a thankless and scary job.

Yesterday, once the potato peeling relay and the gravy train were finished, we gathered as we haven't done in many years. When we sat down to the Thanksgiving table, mama and her children, we gave the glory to God for holding our family together through many challenging years. We gave thanks for the heritage of believing that began over 50 years ago with our grandparents. We gave thanks for our children. We gave thanks for one another. We without using the words, I believe, called her blessed.

Although we missed our extended family, thank you for this special day. And...this was my first time ever giving in and posting from my phone (still in bed!). Therefore, please forgive any typos or errors in format.

Turkey Day Teacher Tips

Here's a few fun things this teacher is going to take home for the holiday...

For a little fun...try this turkey quiz! Compare your Thanksgiving to turkey at the White House.

Play Thanksgiving Day Parade Bingo

Let the kiddos make the centerpiece...less for you to do and everyone will L-O-ve it!

Don't forget about fractions when you are measuring out those ingredients.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!!

The In-Between

One of my favorite children’s books refers to the moment when you wake up, but the sun’s not up as the “in between.” I think of this time of year as the same. Really in the Midwest autumn is over…trees are bare…pumpkins are rotten from freezing…but winter really isn’t supposed to come until after we eat that turkey!

This year Thanksgiving is late and there are actually only 3 short weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas break which for us teachers IS Christmas! With family coming, I didn’t want to “overkill” and have the house decked out for Christmas…but where is the balance for the “in between…”

I would love to know what you do, but here is what I’m trying…

A nature inspired tree

The grapevine garland I bought for Our Knot, but it has been one of the most diverse things for adding a little touch of nature to any room

Decorating a tree with branches of flowers is so much faster than ornaments! We will still have the traditional tree in the family room, but this gives just the right touch.

See my pumpkins mixed in still – I think the key was not to introduce any bright red yet. Red is one of my favorite reasons to L-O-ve Christmas. It will be easy to put the pumpkins away next Friday and pull out the red!