Holidays

This is What It’s All About

Earlier this fall… yes, it’s still fall… you know tomorrow starts the Winter Solstice, that’s the shortest day of the whole year. From there we’re going to be gaining light!! Anyway… back to the fall… We had our annual Chili cookoff to raise money for deserving Children whose families have fallen on hard times for whatever reason.

I always refer to those who help with this project as Santa’s Helpers because who couldn’t use a helper? So, Santa’s helpers have been busy at work, getting applications, reviewing them, and trying their darndest to make sure kids have a fabulous Christmas no matter what the circumstances their family faces are. But here’s the thing…

They needed a place to store the presents bought, wrap the presents, and have a pickup point for parents. But the other day someone broke into that warehouse and stole at least $300 worth of gifts. WHAT? Sad, but true. (more…)

Thanksgiving 2017

Thanksgiving feastDesserts at my Father in Law's house - Thanksgiving 2017

Thanksgiving 2017 is on the books. It was a bit of a sad Thanksgiving this year as it was the first Thanksgiving without Grandma W. That first Thanksgiving is always awkward. Awkward and sad. This proved to be no different. And it was strange because my Father-in-laws house is always booming with people. Not this year though. There was still a fair amount of us, but still, it was different. (more…)

Hallmark Thanksgiving Dinner

Thanksgiving table

I saw a friend posted on Facebook yesterday (I think it was) a question asking if everyone had that perfect, Hallmark Thanksgiving Dinner. Then she asked what about those who had no one. I am paraphrasing. I guess I never really thought about it truthfully. We have Thanksgiving whether it’s my extended family or just my close family, either way, we celebrate it. In 2011, hubby and I made our first Thanksgiving meal. Prior to that we just attended Thanksgiving at family’s house.

I always had a goal to make a turkey. In 2012 we made our first Bacon Wrapped turkey. Yum! I think having a turkey is the only “traditional thing” we do. We play with sides. We play with turkey recipes. We’re not traditionalists. I remember one year at my aunt’s house she said we were having a “grown-up” Thanksgiving meal. It was good, but the only traditional part was having a turkey. I wish I was into taking pictures that Thanksgiving (as I am now) so I had a memory of what we actually had… I remember steamed green beans, roasted potato chunks, and that’s about my recollection of that menu.

But… do we have that Hallmark Thanksgiving Dinner? Good question. Here’s what Thanksgiving looks like at our house, give or take….

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Black Friday

Sitting pondering life drinking a cup of coffee

Guys, I’ve never been a “Black Friday Shopper.” Not in the sense of Black Friday shopping anyway. I’ve never stood in line hours or even the night before to get into a store. I’ve never been in a fighting match over the last hot item, etc. Truthfully, the reason is… I’m lazy. I like my sleep. The older I get, the easier it is to get up early, but I just flat out love my sleep.

Now don’t get me wrong, I usually do venture out on Black Friday, but my morning doesn’t start until closer to at least 7 am. And that time is pushing it. That might be my roll out of bedtime…

But these days I listen to the ads on tv and they talk about getting Black Friday prices NOW. Now happens to be 2 weeks or more before Thanksgiving. So It makes me wonder, are they going to do something special for Black Friday? Or are the days of true Black Friday shopping over?

I know people who are in the stores on Thursday night when they open. Roaming, looking for just that perfect deal… In fact, someday I may be one of them if need be to get my kid just what she wants. Truthfully I hope I’m not that person. Again… I like my sleep.

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Raising Money for Christmas {Last Three Months of the Year}

It’s no surprise that I LOVE CHRISTMAS. I do. I can’t hide that fact. Some people ask why I like it so much. This is kind of hard to put into words but I’ll try. There is something so magical around the time of year between Thanksgiving and Christmas. There is something in the air. The air is crisp, which it is also known I hate cold weather, but that time of year you know you need snow so that Santa can deliver his presents. Duh!

But there is a spirit among people. Yes, a lot of people are stressed out by Christmas and they say that the suicide rate is up around this time of year, but there are a lot of happy people around this time of year. They are out and about shopping for just the perfect present for their loved ones and friends. There is Christmas lights and Christmas music and little kids getting so excited that Santa will visit.

That is the thing though… Little kids get extremely excited about the thought of Santa visiting. Some little kids though are sad at this time of the year. Their family is going through some struggle and the thought of Christmas is far from their mind. That’s where Santa’s helpers come in to play.

There are organizations that are working year round to make sure that every little kid knows what Christmas is and knows that they aren’t forgotten. Santa’s helpers run fundraisers and ring bells, and everything else to raise money for presents for those deserving little kids.

I’m sure we all know this, right? So why am I discussing this? Well, because the last few years I have been working with one of those organizations. I have been volunteering my time to help raise money. To help raise awareness. All little kids are deserving all year round, but I want them to know my favorite time of year and have fond memories of it just like I have.

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Easter 2017

One tradition I really wanted to keep is getting pictures with Santa and the Easter Bunny at the respective holidays. So far Abug still hates the Easter Bunny. This year Tbug happened to be with us when we went to see the Easter Bunny. She’s old enough I wasn’t going to make her get in the picture, as you may notice from how she’s dressed (just regular clothes) but Abug threw such a fit that we conned Tbug to be in the photo to keep Abug happy. We never did get Abug to smile, but this isn’t bad I guess….

Mom bought Easter cookie cutters and asked that I make her some Sugar Cookies to take to work. This is what she got. Not bad I guess, right? Please tell me they’re good 😀.

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Our Valentine’s Day

Here while back I started thinking about Valentine’s Day and wondering what to get hubby. When I asked him what he wanted, his response was a quart of Thank You Cherry Much Ice Cream and the ability to eat the whole thing and not feel guilty. I laughed so hard, but he was serious.

Then I got to thinking about it and decided that he needed a receiver hitch in his truck. I have one in mine, but my dad’s got stolen when his truck was in the shop getting worked on, so dad had to borrow mine. It made me realize that we needed another one at least so I decided to get him one like the picture above. This way he had 3 different sizes, versus mine 1 size. My one will haul our flat bed trailer but if it is bigger or smaller than what was on my truck (and don’t ask me what size I have) we’d have been screwed, so I decided to get him the 3.

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Our New Year’s Eve

New Year’s Eve I woke up thinking about the Beer Cheese Fondue we had the year before. We didn’t have any plans so I asked hubby if he’d be interested in doing that. He said sure. I also asked my parents, grandma, and mother-in-law. Low key and good food. We had to get up early the next morning so it was perfect for us. (and yes, I was in bed by like 10:30… I’m in my 30’s 😉)

I also saw this on facebook and laughed. It’s probably true…

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Merry Christmas to All and to All a Good Night….

Ah, the joys of Christmas are over. I know I complain a lot about January, but I really just don’t care for January. Tbug on the other hand does because her birthday is that month, although once upon a time I asked her if we could celebrate her bday in June. She looked at me like I killed her puppy. She was like 7. Then… last year, she asked me if she could celebrate her birthday with us in June. I told her NO. She asked why and I laughed and told her about this 7 year old who was offended I even mentioned such a thing. We all got a good laugh.

But that was just a side note… the real reason for the post is Christmas. And here is the calm before the fury… or something like that. Right now hubby, the girls, and I are living with my parents until we decide our next move after selling our house this late summer/early fall. We decided we were going to set our Christmas tree up in our little living room and we were going to open our presents just as a family Christmas morning (since Tbug was with us Christmas Eve through Christmas Day).

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