Thanksgiving

This year Thanksgiving was a little different than normal for several reasons, but we still had a great time, even if Kelly and I were in charge of most of the food;).



I didn't get any pictures of the food or table, but I did manage to get the above picture...priorities people;).


Dad and I playing with my camera phone. I should note, that while we were playing, I put Cole in charge of snapping the green beans...child labor, yes, but he did a great job;)


Hadley slept through dinner, but she enjoyed herself some pumpkin bread after a looong nap.


She also enjoyed her cousins feeding her..


..and teaching her new faces.


Hummm, you might say..why does my mom have on a blue headband with a piece of magazine stuck to it? Well, it's only the most fun game ever! You have two players and each one wears a headband with a picture on it. You play 20 questions and try to guess what's on your head. The game comes with pictures, but being the family from OK, we decided to find our own pictures from the newspaper and People magazine.


Jared trying to guess Oprah...still makes me laugh. When he asked the color, Kate blurted out, ' blackish brown!' ;)


Still playing...


And since Monday is technically movie Monday, I have to post this little clip..background story... Kelly and I don't have many pictures together, so we decided to have mom take one. Kelly suggested that we sit in this chair
(which is way to small for two people). It turned into us goofing off and just when we thought mom was snapping away, she was really video taping. This moment might not be funny to anyone else, but makes me crack up every time I watch it...

Thankful

Thanksgiving has always been one of my favorite holidays. It's comforting to be in the same place as everyone you love and share good food. I mean what could be better...ok, Christmas, but this is a very close second;).

I think it's fun to go around the table and share what you are thankful for. Someone always mentions family, health, good food, and then there is the wise guy who has nothing original to say except ' I'm thankful for football'.

But, in all seriousness, I'm realizing that I'm more thankful the older I get.
Being a mom has given me a glimpse of God's love for us. I got to see Hadley from day one and all I could think of was that God loves her so very much and He has created her for His purpose. He has known her and loved her more than I ever could. Well... that same God created me too. He has known me and loved me. He has created me for a purpose.

Pondering His love and purpose is something I think and pray about often. I think about God's perfect plan and timing for everything. How he has brought not just me, but all of us to freedom. First and foremost he gave us Jesus, our Savior who freed us from death. Then, he gave us Godly forefathers that set up a country which allows us to worship Him freely. If that's not enough he then blesses us personally with parents, grandparents, siblings, husbands, children. Combine all of that in a nutshell( mixed with so many other blessings) there is a lot to be thankful for! We should never run out of anything to be thankful for as long as we live!

So, this year when asked what I am MOST thankful for, I'm going to the source....I'm most thankful for Jesus! He sums up all of the blessings we will ever receive with just His name. He is the beginning of our freedom and why/how we are here receiving God's many blessings. He is love!

I'm so very thankful.

Thank you for your love Father and for sending Jesus! Thank you for your continual blessings in my life. I will forever praise your name and thanksgiving will continually be on my lips!

"We thank you, O God!We give thanks because you are near.People everywhere tell of your wonderful deeds."
Psalms 75:1 (NLT)
"Give thanks to the Lord and proclaim his greatness.Let the whole world know what he has done."
Psalms 105:1 (NLT)

Happy Thanksgiving!! Enjoy time with your many blessings and take some time to thank the One who created them. Be blessed!

Tasty Tuesday

This desert is easy, addicting, and feeds and army. If you still need a desert for Thanksgiving, you can't go wrong with this one!

Pumpkin Sheet Cake

2 C. Sugar
4 eggs
1 C. oil
2 C. Flour
1 tsp. Baking powder
2 tsp soda
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp salt
1 can pumpkin

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Mix sugar, eggs, and oil together in a large mixing bowl. Combine dry ingredients and add to egg mixture. Add pumpkin and mix well. Spray 11x 17 jellyroll pan and pour in batter. Bake 350 degrees for 25 min. Cool and frost.

Cream cheese frosting

3 1/2 C powdered sugar
8 oz cream cheese softened
2tsp vanilla
1/4 c butter, melted

Beat all ingredients and spread over cake.

Movie Monday

Hadley is getting so close to walking! She has been taking steps for several weeks, but would much rather crawl or be carried. This weekend we finally got it on video...





I couldn't pass up putting this video on here too..can you say chatty? She is such a ham!

Favorites

Here are a few of my favorite things this week..


1). This book is a MUST read!! I have really been enjoying it. Beth Moore has been a long time favorite of mine and this book just ads to my love for her and her candid way of writing. She is very real and her books are hard to put down, so be prepared, I warned you;)





2). You know how you find a blog, through a blog, and through another blog;). Well, I just stumbled onto this one and there are so many creative ideas. If you like to craft or decorate and need some new, fresh ideas check out http://craftily-ever-after.blogspot.com. The picture above is a print I had printed and it is easy decorating on the cheap;).




3). NATURALLY LUMINOUS COMPACT MAKEUP SPF 10 by Chanel.

I was on the hunt for some new makeup last week and ended up at the Chanel counter in Dillards. I decided I wanted to switch from mineral makeup to a compact foundation for the winter. I don't like a lot of makeup, but I like something that will smooth out my complexion and this does just that. It doesn't feel like you are wearing makeup and it is definitely not cakey. It is easy to put on and it stays on all day. What more could you want? ;) I promise I'm not trying to sell you, just saying, I really like it!


4). My favorite bible verse...Romans 5:1-2
Therefore, having been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom also we have access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and rejoice in hope of the glory of God.



Hope you all have a great weekend! Be Blessed!

Baby

Yesterday I started thinking about Hadley's favorite toys and realized she doesn't really like anything girlie. Her toys of choice are balls and books. So, I thought maybe it was because I haven't really showed her how purses work or how to hold a baby doll. I decided to get her baby out, wrap it in a blanket and show her how to hold it.

Here she is right after I handed her the baby


Two seconds later she is ripping the blanket off with a loud 'NO'





Thinking about what to to with the blanket..


Yep, the blanket went right over her head for a game of peek a boo..


I guess for now she is just easily entertained;)

Surprise!!

My hair looks nothing like I planned...it is now short and dark red, not blonde and shaggy;). Last minute choice..that I'm still getting used to...but hey it's just hair, why not have fun with it, right??


This picture is not good of me AT ALL, but I couldn't pass up HG's cute expression.




I think it will grow on me;). We will see.

Tasty Tuesday

Chipotle Pulled-Pork BBQ Sandwiches


I made these sandwiches on Saturday and they were so yummy. If you like BBQ then you should definitely give these a try. I ended up doubling the meat because the smallest pork loin I could find was 2.5 lbs. It worked out good because we had leftovers for Sunday after church. I'm not a big onion person so I omitted those and they were still flavorful. I used my panini press to make them and it worked great. Serve with potato chips and you got yourself one tasty meal.


Yield: 6 servings
Ingredients
1 (7-ounce) can chipotle chiles in adobo sauce
1/4 cup barbecue sauce
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
1 (1-pound) pork tenderloin, trimmed and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 (14.5-ounce) can diced tomatoes, undrained
1 tablespoon olive oil
3 cups thinly sliced onion
2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme
1 teaspoon sugar
6 (1/2-ounce) slices provolone cheese
12 sandwich-cut bread-and-butter pickles
6 (2 1/2-ounce) Kaiser rolls
Preparation
Remove 1 chile from can; reserve remaining chiles and sauce for another use. Finely chop chile.

Place chopped chile, barbecue sauce, and the next 4 ingredients (barbecue sauce through tomatoes) in a medium saucepan; bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Cover, reduce heat, and simmer 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. Uncover and cook 10 minutes or until sauce thickens and pork is very tender. Remove from heat. Remove pork from sauce; shred pork. Return pork to sauce.

Heat oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onion, thyme, and sugar; cook 10 minutes or until golden, stirring occasionally.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Place 1 cheese slice, 1/2 cup pork mixture, about 2 tablespoons onions, and 2 pickle slices on bottom half of each roll. Cover with top halves of rolls. Add 3 sandwiches to pan. Place a cast-iron or heavy skillet on top of sandwiches, and press gently to flatten. Cook 2 minutes on each side or until cheese melts and bread is toasted (leave cast-iron skillet on sandwiches while they cook). Repeat procedure with remaining sandwiches.

Nutritional Information
Calories:
431 (26% from fat)
Fat:
12.4g (sat 3.9g,mono 3.7g,poly 1.8g)
Protein:
28.3g
Carbohydrate:
51.4g
Fiber:
4.7g
Cholesterol:
59mg
Iron:
4.1mg
Sodium:
910mg
Calcium:
207mg
David Bonom, Cooking Light, JUNE 2004

Movie Monday

Ok, so taking this whole days of the week a little far..a little corny I can admit, but hey, that's me and its my blog...so, get over it...I mean get used to it!;)

Last week, Josh was watching Hg while I went to tutor for big brother big sisters and for fun he decided to pull out the air mattress ( which may or may not have been my favorite thing to hang out on this weekend). Here is Hg enjoying it...

Favorites

I was looking at my blog the other day and decided that we need a little variety around here. Of course I love to blog about Hg, but I think later in life it will be fun to look back and see some things that I like and into right now. So, from now on, Friday will be known as Favorite Fridays.

To kick it off, here are some of my favorite finds...



http://www.zulily.com/


You have to sign up, but don't worry, they don't spam you. They just send you an email daily telling you of all their great deals for the day. They best part is that they have something new everyday. Also, if you refer a friend and they order something you magically get a $10 credit..no strings attached, just 10 bucks! Score!




http://www.skiptomylou.org/2010/07/28/gathered-clutch-tutorial/
Aren't these cute! I just need to get me a new sewing machine and presto, everyone of you will be getting a clutch from me for Christmas. How cool that you don't even have to buy a pattern...it's a free instruction guide. Awesome!!




http://picky-palate.com/
I have tried several of the recipes off of her blog and 9 out of 10 are our new favorites. I even had a question about a recipe, emailed her and she wrote back within a few minutes. Super talented and nice. I think you will really enjoy looking around her recipe collection. I know I do;)

That just spurred on a great idea...I will post recipes we have tried and liked...Tasty Tuesday!! I'm sure a million blogs do this, but let's pretend I just came up with it;).

This haircut is a new favorite...I'm getting my hair done on Tuesday and I'm taking this picture with me...we will see.


I just told Josh that I was going to post my favorite things on Friday and I bet you can already guess his answer...'oh, you are doing a post about me'..funny, but do be honest, YES, he is definitely my favorite thing!!

Lunch friends

Today we had my friend Sara and her sweet kids over for lunch. Her youngest is only four months younger than HG and they play so good together!


We had lunch at the house and then went on a walk and played at the park.





She is patting the dinosaur so seriously





The slides are Hadleys favorite





She never stops! She just goes as fast as she can.

We had such a fun time;). I'm thankful for such sweet friends with sweet kiddos!

A day...pt 2

Things I like to do...


read the mail...


Watch movies...


Play with daddy...


And listen to him read stories.


I get way to bundled up with a hat that is never going to stay on...


Oh, and I wiggle..


And wiggle ....


And wiggle....


Until my mom finally gets a somewhat ok picture of me and my bottle of bath bubbles;)

Candy

I was totally not into Halloween this year. Actually we choose not to celebrate Halloween, so I normally don't get that into it, but this year especially it was a non event. I think it is so fun for the kids to dress up and have fun, but being scary is not my cup of tea. Our church had their fall social last week where the kids can dress up and have fun, but after that I was done.

Well, living in a small town in our neighborhood it is the biggest trick or treat party I have ever seen. Last year we ran out of candy and Josh had to go back to the store twice. It felt like our house was a booth at the mall. It honestly seemed like 800 kids stopped. My neighbors kinda laughed at me being my first year in the neighborhood and running out of candy in the first 30 min. The kids started at 6 and it didn't stop the steady stream until 10. By the end I was giving out dum dums ( the cheap stuff). Long story short it was a JOB!

I decided this year I would give out candy for the first hour or so( i like the cute little kids) and then turn off our light. No more madness for a holiday I don't even like;).

Hadley and I were going to go to the park and play until we walked outside and at 5:45 kids were already lining the streets. So, I decided that we would just hang out in the driveway and pass out candy. She thought that was a great idea.



Here comes the candy!


Watching all the kids was so much fun! There were some scary masks, but she didn't cry once. She just gave me a very serious look and once they left she would just laugh.


Hummm...maybe I'll stash a few for myself;)


Girl on a mission! She has candy to deliver!


We ended up having sooo much fun watching the kids and it wasn't a job at all with HG's help;)