Wrapped in love

2 years ago this month, we lost a beloved family member.  Sidney was my father-in-law and he passed away at the age of 83.  He was a simple, quiet man who loved the outdoors.  He was known for wearing flannel shirts, suspenders and a ball cap.  After he passed away, a friend of the family took many of his shirts and jeans and made a beautiful quilt.  I just love this.  Sidney used to sit in this chair when he would come to our house, so to hang the quilt over the back of the chair only seemed appropriate.

Summer Cardboard Box Forts

If you're like me, kids spending too much un-entertained time together can get dangerous.  The fighting and bickering never seems to end!  I am constantly looking for things to keep them busy, so this week we made a trip to the Appliance Recycle store.  We loaded the back of the pick-up with about 6 giant cardboard boxes and brought them home to make a fort.  I handed my kids packing tape (to put the boxes back together again), spray paint (to paint flowers, write their name, whatever they wanted to design their fort with) and whipped up some curtains for their mansion in the yard.

Everything was going well until it came time to paint.  After a while I looked out back and saw them spray painting EACH OTHER.  Oh, for cryin' out loud. 

I quickly re-directed them and helped cut some windows and doors.  This was a WONDERFUL fort... for about 20 minutes.  Shortly after it was complete, my oldest noticed a small spider in one of the rooms.  Of course, they all ran screaming down to the house, abandoning the fort forever.

It's been 4 days now and the fort is beginning to crumble.  I'm thinking next I will send them out with matches and let them have at it. (Kidding, of course).

What fun things are you doing with your kids this summer?

Thanksgiving Tablescape

Happy Thanksgiving!  I've been busy getting the house clean, the table set, the food prepared - now I just need the ice on the driveway to melt so my 18 guests can arrive safely!  I must say, it's been nice to be snowed-in, more gets done that way.  Schools have been cancelled, so the kids have been busy sledding, drinking cocoa and baking sugar cookies.

OK, so the frosting didn't quite turn out like I had hoped.  I was going for Autumn colors - orange, brown and green, but they turned out more of a poopy-brown and pea green.  Funny, none of the kids wanted to eat any or take any home with them.  I'm just not the baker that my sister is.

Moving on...

The tables are all set and look very festive!

The grown-ups are in the formal dining room.

I found some cute little sparkly pinecones at the dollar store and use them to hold the placecards.

The kids table in the kitchen

And the appetizer buffet.  I think we look forward to the appetizers more than the dinner!

I love the Johnson Brother's Friendly Village place settings.  My sister and I got married in the same year and both registered for them for our holiday sets.  We live just a couple of miles from each other so now at the holidays, we merge sets and have enough for our entire brood!

We have since done the same with our everyday settings.  It's so nice to not only have the same taste, but to own the same sets.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Gobble Gobble...

In a perfect world...

My home would be clean and organized.

My kids would hang up their coats and put away their shoes when they walked in the door.

I would take the time on Sunday afternoon to scour recipie books, inventory my pantry, meal plan for the week, grocery/Costco shop, and divide and freeze bulk foods.

I would take a day and prepare meatloaf and vats of spaghetti sauce to seperate and freeze for instant dinners.

I would build my meals around a crock pot to save myself from the 4 O'Clock frenzy.

I would put enough time into my side business to earn enough money to hire a weekly housecleaner to do the floors and bathrooms.

My garage would have cabinets and a shiny floor, with a place for everything and everything in it's place.

I would take the time each month to organize 1 scrapbook online and catch up on 12 years of photos.

I would take up painting.

I would have warm cookies waiting for my kids after school.

I would find the time to get in a daily workout.

And during the weekday, I would be organized in my business - spend my day more productively rather than cooking and cleaning, and I would have structure in my life.

What does your perfect world look like?