Mita's First Pie - All From Scratch!

I thought about writing a snarky post blasting what I am ungrateful for as a direct contrast to normal Thanksgiving day blog posts, but I didn’t. I don’t have the time or energy to be snarky at this point!

Christmas is my favorite holiday and (not just for the gifts!) but Thanksgiving is growing on me. I, of course, like the food.  I can take or leave Turkey, but the sides I adore.  Noodles, stuffing, deviled eggs, pie…… I can east several helpings if I leave out the turkey!  Mostly I like the time we take to be thankful. I think all of us are thankful for our blessing, and I also know that we are all so busy we sometimes forget to take the time, the space, the moment to give thanks.

I am thankful for many, many things, but here are just a few:

My hubby for putting up with me, loving me and being such a great Dad.

My girls – all of the them for bringing laughter and pride into my lift as well as challenging me to be a better person.

My parents for their continued support and help with watching my kiddos when I need it and having a great home to go relax in.

My mother in law for her love and generosity.

My brother and sister-in-law for giving hubby and I a great date weekend last week and watching my girls.

My job, for letting me come back to work for a few hours a week to help new families and help me regain my sanity.

My friends for giving me a circle to have fun with and complain with.

My upcoming breast reduction -  No more back/neck pain or skin infections!

My puppy dog for cuddling with me nightly.

There is more, but I will stop there for now!

#12 Computers

What would I do without my computer?  I would be lost. I would have to go to the library to look up information. I would not be able to map out my directions at the drop of a hat. Phone numbers?  I would have to let my fingers do the walking while using a good old fashioned phone book.

I love that I can type out letters and emails to the kids’ teachers quickly, put a feeling on twitter to share will the world and look at pictures my friends have taken in another state as soon as they are taken.

I may be addicted. I have had to pace myself at times, I have stepped away from my computer at times  I may be loving it a bit too much and not getting things done that need to get done.

I adore living in the age of the Internet and am very thankful for my computer!

My Disney blanket. The softest ever!

I am talking about blankets today!  I think it is interesting that the last three days have been about things…remember this is randomly pulled out of my list of twenty-five items. I am not totally shallow and I’ m bound to be thankfull for something deep and emotional here soon!  Check in with my original post here.

#23  Blankets

I’m not a cold kinda gal.  I appreciate fall now as an adult, but it took me a long time.  Autumn is now my favorite season, but for most of my life when I thought about Autumn all I could think about is cold being on the way.

While I cannot say I love being cold, I can totally admit that I am in love with blankets!  I adore soft blankets that make me so cozy and overheated at times.  On our bed we have a sheet and a comforter.  At the beginning of October I pulled out my Disney blanket and a huge quilt.

My Disney blanket is one of the softest ever and brings me great memories of our last trip when I bought it.  It has Cinderella’s Castle all lite up in purple..ahhh. This is the blanket I put under my sheet so it touches the skin.

My quilt is one that my dad got at an estate sale last year.  It is big and bulky and I love the fact that it is old and has lived a long life of warming people (although I did wash it before using it!).  This blanket goes on top of my comforter, folded in half.  Hubby doesn’t care for my added blankets and I must say my side of the bed is a bit bulky. The hazard of having a pile of blankets is that sometimes they fall on the floor and can trip people on the way to the bathroom.  Oops.

My 35 year old blanky.

Blankets are home to me. Cuddled up reading in a blanket is like Heaven on Earth. It doesn’t get any better unless I have my chai with me.

Photo Credits Mandy W. 2010

My favorite photo book is about our trip to England and Ethiopia!

As I mentioned yesterday, I will be writing about 25  things I am grateful about. They are not in any particular order, nor are they all amazing and awe-inspiring.  They are just my simple everyday thanks.

#24 Photo Books

I adore my photo books.  I am not crafty, but my mind is creative (maybe). The problem is that my thoughts do not travel down to my hands and my projects rarely turn out as they should. If anyone has ever seen Meg’s first five years of scrapbooks they will understand what I am saying.   They look like Meg worked on them, when she was a baby!

A few years ago this Internet thing hit it really big and started going really fast, even in Ohio!  This made my creative juices be more productive and I gave up the scrap-booking and said hello to my photo books.  My photo books, like my scrapbooks, are not perfect. They are, however, much better quality and much more fun for this mom.  I can whip out a book in 15 minutes or work on one for a year. I create them ahead of time, then save them and wait for a sale and free shipping them buy!  I also adore the easy editing.  There are many sites out there to choose from. I’m pretty loyal to Shutterfly, but there are several good ones out there.

Photo books  and digital photography in general has made my life so much easier to remember, keep track of and document our lives.  I have used them to make Life Books for Mita and Enu and last year we sent one to their Dad in Ethiopia. They make great gifts for anyone and everyone. 

More Photo Book Ideas:

• Recipe books
• Holiday books
• ABC books
• Teacher’s books (end of year gifts)
• School work remembrance book

What a blessing I am truely thankful for!

Have you ever made a photobook? What was your theme?

I am doing this not only to remind myself of my thanks, but to promote a thankful blogosphere as well.  It is good to remember our blessings big and small, cheap or pricey, trying or easy.  What ever they may be they are blessings.

#25

I am thankful for Chai Tea. Hot or cold. It wakes me up and energizes me more so than a latte or plain hot tea.  I’m not a coffee drinker, though I love the smell immensely.  This is a small blessing, but a true blessing. I love having a morning drink to go to when everyone is coffeeing up or swigging Diet Coke down.

Plus the name is fun. Chai.Chai.Chai. How cool am I?!

Day #24 Photo Books

Day #23 Blankets

Day #22 Moments

Day #21 My Country

Day #20 Adoption

Day @19 Health

Clip Art Credit

We decorated our tree and went and saw the  A Christmas Carol in 3D (kids didn’t so much like it FYI).  Here are a few pics from our weekend, including a bike ride yesterday that was a bonus due to the nice weather we had!

Thanksgiving means cousins wrestling!

Christmas tree time!

Hubby looks good holding our new niece... he is a natural!

Elle did great on the bike ride!

Photo Credits Mandy W. 2009

While your cooking the turkey (or watching mom cook the turkey) the kids can be coloring up a storm and get in t the mood for the upcoming Holiday Season.

*This picture was colored by the famous Mita who made her first snowman just last year and cannot ever recall watching Frosty the Snow Man (did we really miss it last year?  Was I that busy?)