All Together Again for Thanksgiving!

When my boys were younger and off at camp during the summer, nights never felt quite right. Mamas just want all their babies in their own beds under the same roof at the end of the day. I wonder if this will ever change, because while I may be slightly used to the fact that our oldest no longer sleeps here at home, I certainly don't like it.

But he was home for Thanksgiving weekend and I couldn't have been happier about five whole days together!!!

It has been really hard lately keeping up with sewing and orders, in addition to life in general, but I wanted to have these days as a family without worrying about needing to finish a bunch of things. I worked hard to complete as many things as possible, and then I just worked on stuff here and there when nothing big was going on. #mombosslife I guess! I know there was some drama, because with seven people, how will there not be some drama? But truthfully, I can't even remember the details of any of it now. So my memory is basically just a highlight reel of the whole weekend. Hooray! :)

Caleb, where are you?? ha ha

We had our very own feast at home, and then headed to my parent's house for another meal. Whoa. We'd been hoping to host a family in need for dinner, but it didn't end up working out- someone at our church offered to prepare and serve all of the families who were scheduled to eat with host families, which was extremely generous and thoughtful, but it also kind of left everyone else out of the whole thing. I wanted my kids to be able to participate in something meaningful, too. 

This has been the dreariest fall on record here in NH. It's been awful. I was thrilled to see the sun, even if it only lasted for an hour. By the time the table was all set, the sun was gone. :(

My Mom and Levi- he kind of looks like he's giving her the stink eye, but he absolutely adores her, ha ha.

We had some other service ideas in mind for the weekend, too. We ended up donating sheet sets, blankets, and toiletries to our church for families who stayed right there on the premise for several days, gathered clothes to bring to our local crisis pregnancy center, and gave away lots to a friends of our family who will be now acting as guardians of their three young granddaughters- it's a sad situation, and I hope we can be a help and encouragement to them (they are my parent's age, can you even imagine the transitions taking place there??!!).

And here is what November has looked like so far:

Hopeful that the lighter sky meant sun was coming. Nope. It never even appeared, though this sky was so pretty.

Same here...

WHAT!!?? Blue sky!!??

Some sun!!! I remember that day, that moment, so clearly because dayyyyyysssss go by without even a hint of sunshine. It was cloudy and dark again with twenty minutes. Twenty minutes! I feel like I'm losing my mind. We need sun!!

On Saturday, my in-laws came over for dinner, but we'd already gone from fall to Christmas, and I've been slowly adding more things each day. We were so hoping to get to the tree farm since everyone was here, but Saturday didn't work, and Sunday was miserable and rainy...until about 4:30, when we headed out for our town's tree lighting party, but Ethan was already gone. :(

Thought I had a picture from Saturday night, but they must still be on my phone...

We had to get to the town square early for chorus, and Levi was feeling pretty good about everything. Fast forward fifteen minutes, and he wouldn't let either of us put him down!

For the record, that's my hat. That's supposed to look cute on me. Except it doesn't, and someone had been eyeing it all week and I finally let her take it, and of course it's the cutest thing ever on her. Also, why does she look fifteen here!?

Christmas carols! Santa arrive shortly after, in the firetruck with the sirens and horns blaring, which Levi was totally smitten with. He didn't care much about Santa at first, but then he warmed up and wanted to go say Hi. The line was massive, and I know he would chicken out when the time came, so we walked by him in the gazebo and waved from the outside. Win win. :)

There was hot cocoa and so many cookies! Just a really fun little event for families. I can't wait to get back and take some more pictures, it's so pretty!

I hope your Thanksgiving was full of family and love and gratitude!

Simple Fall Decor in Our Entry, Living and Dining Rooms

It's Thanksgiving Week! I'm not one for decorating early (before Thanksgiving) for Christmas. However, this year, I find I've got the itch to move the autumn things out to make way for the lights and sparkle. Last fall, we had painted lots of the trim and the door white, but the walls were still pretty awful. I love how fresh and light the space looks now.

 Simple but festive on our front porch

I'm still loving the sectional sofa in our family room/living room. It opens the space up the way I'd envisioned.

Here's a look at the dark leather furniture in here- it was still such an improvement getting the TV mounted on the wall so we move the couch to that wall.

I admit, I did not bring up even half of the decorations I normally do. I used fresh flowers and food basically. And I liked it, but I missed some of my favorite things.

Somebody didn't mind all the pumpkins and gourds around the house!

Plus they made fun bath toys :)

Just some candles and faux flowers for this hallway.

I have not finished with that far wall, but it looks so much better than when we started. This was taken a couple of days after we moved in. You can see all the wood trim and that ginormous brick fireplace with the stone cold slab of granite (which weighs like a thousand pounds...no joke!)

This is not a very good picture...I'll have to change it out... but it shows our framed ship lap wall. We removed that awful gold wall mounted fixture and finally kissed the green farewell. A year later and we still haven't done the mantel. #lifewith5kids

And because this picture always makes me smile. This was really the only decoration that I ever loved on it. :)

Baby shower post HERE

I'll be making Pumpkin Pecan Pie and Sweet Potato Casserole this year...can't wait! Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

Winter Wonderland...and Thanksgiving in the Dark

Not that I think I could ever forget about the Thanksgiving black-out we experienced this year, I thought I should give it some sort of proper documentation. Just in case. The memory does get a big, well, spotty at times.

It's hard to reconcile the beauty of nature with the frustration of being in the cold and dark (when night falls anyway, which is around 4pm here). Overall, we tried to stay upbeat, we counted our many blessings, read Little House books by flickering candlelight (which is actually quite treacherous!), got all cozy with blankets and games, and when we'd just plain had enough, we loaded everyone into the van with a movie and just drove around to get warm and have a little modern-day enjoyment.

Much to my dismay and surprise and all that, I even found myself at our local mall on Thanksgiving night. Isabelle stayed in the car watching Elf (our tradition...well the movie part, not watching it in the car...) while the boys braved the crowds with me. The electricity inside was touch and go, too, so there were literally two cash registers available, and the overhead lights flickered on and off like some horrifying nightclub. Gah. But...we were warm! So truthfully, none of that bothered us terribly much.

By Saturday, though, our spirits were beginning to dip as low as our thermostat. Then the unthinkable happened. Well, I'd actually been thinking of it and had been terrified at the idea for two days at that point as the house grew colder and colder.

Caleb came to me in tears, announcing that his beloved Hulkie the Fish had died.

I had been pretty even-keeled throughout this whole ordeal, but this made me snap a little inside. Sure enough, the gills were not moving and his little fish body was arched in that awful, awkward sideways bend. Looking back, I don't even know why I did what I did because it didn't make any logical sense; but my boy was heartbroken and I had to try to do something.

I filled a plastic baggie with water, held it over all the candles I could find for a few minutes, and then had Caleb scoop the lifeless body out of the fishbowl and into the bag. My mind was going in a million directions but at the same time, I was completely focused on and devoted to the situation at hand. Strange feeling. Wouldn't you know, after twenty or so minutes of holding that baggie over candle flames and gently caressing Hulkie's body, that thing lurched forward and darted around that little bag with a new lease on life! Literally! I was shocked, really shocked, because I have seen my fair share of deceased fish, and this was one.

I looked Caleb in the eye and told him with 100% certainty and seriousness that our God, who created the entire universe and everything in it, does notice the little details in our lives, and He saw fit to give us a miracle that day. I tried to explain that even if Hulk hadn't come back, God still cares and He would be heartbroken right alongside us. But today? Today He let us have the miracle! Truthfully, I had an awful time even trying to explain this, because it felt like I might be saying that God didn't care if Hulk didn't recover, or worse, that God wasn't still good if he didn't.

So we had a Thanksgiving Blackout miracle! Or else you can call me the Fish Whisperer.

On Saturday afternoon, we bundled up again and headed to a local tree farm where they have a big fire going and lots of hot cocoa for the taking. Oh it was so wonderful! We even got our power back on that night in time to sit by the glow of the Christmas tree for a long while and just be. I don't think I could have stomached one more trip to the mall just to get warm, ha!

Oh, so on Thanksgiving morning, we went to...McDonald's. Along with the rest of our city apparently. Lines were all the way down the road! Then we headed to my parents, also without power, and had hot coffee and sausage biscuits and hash browns for Thanksgiving dinner. And pie.  ;)  The power did return a few hours later, so we threw that turkey in and enjoyed a nice meal around 7 that night. We were supposed to have dessert with the hub's side, but when things changed, we were sort of uninvited. That wasn't the greatest feeling, but at least we didn't have to feel bad about not running around everywhere like we usually do.

And our wonderful neighbors, who have a generator, hosted the two fish for the rest of the power outage. And they are still happy and healthy today!

We always have so much for which to be thankful, but on this day, we were reeeeaaalllly thankful for sunshine, fire, and hot cocoa!

I'm thankful for...

...all of it.

I'm thankful to God, and I pray each night with my children about how much He loves us, and how much He wants us to share His love with the whole world. It may be a simple children's song, but Jesus loves you! He does!

I'm thankful for family and friends, thankful for all the fun things we do together. I'm thankful for traditions as well as new experiences, for our health and our home. I'm grateful that when I turn on the faucet, I get hot water with ease, I have a reliable van to get us where we need to go. All of it.

I know life can be painful, and trials can be so, so difficult, but I am exceedingly thankful that I am never alone. No matter the circumstances, I can trust God with every single detail of my life.

I'm thankful for the people in my life who help me to live it well.

Now, on a lighter note... we got our first snow of the year today, so much that the boys are outside right now shoveling and snow-blowing. The girls are inside, nice and warm, and I've got a Pumpkin Pecan Pie in the oven. Confession time: I was pretty prideful of my nice crust, which for me, is still such a huge deal! Well, you know what they say about pride. 

Or in this case, pride cometh before the pie crust fall. 

It caved in, collapsed. As in, swallowed up by the pie contents. How in the world?!? 

And then, wouldn't you know it, the power blinked out for several minutes. Normally I wouldn't exactly be thankful for such a thing on a dark, cold night, BUT it does make for a lovely excuse reason as to the fateful pie crust collapse.

In everything, give thanks.  ;)

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving, however you are celebrating!

Isabelle's School Thanksgiving Party & the Terrible Afternoon

I still cannot believe that this is Thanksgiving week! I still have some beach things in the trunk of the car that haven't been put away yet...which, if you know me in real life, well...audible gasps can be heard for miles and miles. ha! Maybe my sense of time is slightly askew because I've been working like cuh-razy to complete custom orders (THANK YOU!), and of course it doesn't help that today- a Tuesday- totally feels like Friday because of the few days off. Not that I'm complaining one little bit about that! It was kind of nice to have an early Friday.

And we awoke to sparkly snow! Not nearly as much as in other parts of the country, but it covered the deck and driveway! That was an exciting start (or end?) to the week!

This morning I got to spend a couple hours with Isabelle Kate's class helping out for their Thanksgiving party. I was in charge of Thanksgiving BINGO.  Rocked it. ;) Though my mind was mush all afternoon because I used up all my energy with those darling little cherubs this morning, and now I'm sitting here all twitchy and agitated because of the sad state of our home. I just can't seem to catch up with anything these days! And if by chance I do catch up, I blink and then suddenly I'm thrust right back where I started from...or even further back! Ouch!

There's something about colored pencils that speaks to me and makes me happy. They're so cheerful!

 Can you tell how glazed over her eyes are here? More sugar, anyone?

After school today was just a regular delight. As in, it really wasn't- it was the pits! Everybody was just in A Mood. I wanted to crawl under the covers and hide. But they always find me, so I didn't even bother to mess up my bed. Times like that always make me feel like such a failure as a Mom.

This was poor Isabelle last week and into the weekend- I found this vision after having been upstairs for a few minutes, probably changing sheets or something fun like that. She was sound asleep in her little cocoon! Look, even Ariel is tucked in, ha! Anyhoo, if I could fit in there, that's where I'd have been this afternoon!

Like most everyone else, I've got a super busy day of prepping, cooking, and cleaning for tomorrow. I think I'll just crank up the Christmas music and tackle that looooong list head-on! The smallish people around here had best just stay out of my way if they know what's good for them. Unless of course they're actually being nice!  =)

ps- If anyone is interested in seeing some of Isabelle's Christmas outfits I'm making, I'll be posting them on instagram here. Apparently my identity crisis lives on because I keep changing my username, but this week, it's roseruffleco. ha ha

Thanksgiving 2010 Festivities

Our Thanksgiving day was filled with friends and family, and lots of laughter.  We have so much for which to be thankful!

Yesterday the kiddos were home from school, so we celebrated with a yummy breakfast...

 

 and created wonderful treasures...

Caleb was teaching us how to make bear skin drawings, just like the natives.

Ethan got an impromptu babysitting job for a neighbor, so it was just the four of us until lunch.

I love that my children are so creative!

Someone was a little upset that she couldn't get her pajama top off to the side, like big brother Warrior Jonah.

She got over it.

I was planning on taking a picture of them with all their artwork, but the day got away from me, and they gave them away to various family members today.  They did a great job!

This one lost a tooth.

Well, removed is more like it...such a bad, bad Mama.

No worries, he thanked me afterward because it had been getting sore.

Man, I never get tired of looking into those amazing blue eyes of his!

And I'm very pleased to report that the Tooth Fairy remembered to make an appearance.  And to pay up.

I baked Autumn Apple Squares early this morning while listening to an old Johnny Cash cd Bill got me from the library.  There is, nor ever will be, any other quite like Johnny Cash.  Love love love him!  Got in a full hour of writing, too, before the mayhem began.  The end is near!

We headed over to our neighbor's house for the annual Turkey Trot.  So much fun!  We were freezing, but it was so worth it!

 

 

Thanks for the picture, Adrienne! 

And for all the fun!

We came home and watched the Macy's Parade, and Bill helped me make Sweet Potato Casserole to bring to his parents for dinner.  That was it!  I had it easy this year....and it felt great!

We had a nice time visiting with family and some dear friends.

 

 

 This little purple bundle of energy isn't getting left behind!

Then we were off to my parent's house for pie.

I already informed my mother that I'd be happy to bring anything but a pie- they are the bane of my existence!  

My Mom laughs at me, and then sets out the most gorgeous, picture-perfect pies.  Show off.

With my beautiful niece, Darianna- Enjoy, Mom!

Happy Thanksgiving!!