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thursday morning thoughts.

December 11, 2014 Filed in faith

i have been quiet… unintentionally.
just doing the mom thing over here.
staying in pajamas far too late everyday, decorating, christmas shopping, going to programs, ball games, getting groceries, etc.

this post may sound a little Stauart Smalley to you but some days it just has to be said.
Stuart or not.

i just wanted to tell you – in case you forgot for whatever reason today –

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YOUR STORY MATTERS.

it does.
(i want to grab you by the shoulders and make you look into my teary eyes)

it does.  it does.  it does.

we all have our own.
we are ALL living different stories and we are ALL at different places.
none of us have got it all together.
none of us are THERE.
none of us have arrived.
if you think you are the only one – YOU ARE WRONG.

we are all messing up… messed up… broken people trying to get through a day without causing too much damage.

your story is your life.
and your story is important.
it’s important to you.  to your friends.  to your neighbors.  to your family.
Telling your story matters…. LIVING it out!  don’t hide your true self from your people.
They need you.

God knows all the details.
He knows how hard you are trying.
He knows how much you may be struggling.
He is right there with you.
You are never alone.
He makes you strong.

What if you don’t like the story you’re living?
pick something to change and make your story better!  It’s yours!
it won’t change everything but it will be a start.

what if you didn’t choose it for yourself but it’s happening to you anyway?
what if you feel broken and stuck?
what if you are exhausted in your story?

that is where the HOPE comes in.
hope is trusting that God has a plan that is bigger than the “right now”.
because your right now might be really tough – or boring – or sad.
what if this hard stuff is just a plot twist? the place where things get intense in the story?
and what comes out of that twist is something better than you could have dreamt up?
God has a plan that is good and loving (not easy).
we can trust in that hope to say “God i know you see me here and i know you love me.”

All of us have had days where we feel like losers.
or weeks.
or months.
but i KNOW that YOU are not a loser.
🙂
i know it for sure!
You were made to SHINE and you just need to get out and do it.
pick one thing to be shiny today.
smile.
be kind to someone.
make that phone call.
write that letter.
give a hug.
get out of bed.
go for a walk.
start a journal.
read something uplifting.
sing loud in your car.
give something – your time, your heart, your money, your words

YOUR STORY MATTERS.
it all intertwines… your hope, your love, your strength, your story.

isaiah

 

 

add a comment

Weekend Cheer-Ups - […] I know I need ^^ this, and you might, […]

Angie - Thank you.

XOXO

Jen - I have read your blog for awhile now, and with this post, I feel you were speaking directly to me. I’m a working mom of three little boys who is constantly struggling to keep it all together. I often feel like a failure. I want nothing more than to stay home and raise my babies, but that just isn’t in the cards for me. I feel like a failure as a wife, as a mom, as a person. But reading this today gave me just what i needed. Thank you for ministering through your blog. You are appreciated more than you know by a stranger. God bless you and your family. Thank you for your sweet words.

Sara - Meg, Thanks for your faithfulness to write this. Tears streaming down my cheeks. Overwhelmed in my story with the burden/privilege/weight of having eternal influence. Does that make sense? I’m exhausted. But HE is not.

Erin - Where did you get your “Your story matters” t-shirt…love it….

Louisa - Thank you. I SO needed this today. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Lori - I needed to hear this….thank you.

Tammy - Tears are flowing down my face….going through a difficult time in my life.
SO needed to hear these words tonight. Thank you Meg for taking the time to write this strong and heartfelt message. I know that our loving Father will carry me when I fall, but your post really hit home tonight and I am grateful for it.

Rachel - I really needed this today! It really touched my heart and helped me just let some things go! By the way, where did you get your scarf? I think I NEED it!

Jenn @ EngineerMommy - Love this post. Full of inspirational, thought-provoking ideas!

Carol S. - I first read you were getting “gorgeous” not groceries, lol. I liked that! This sweet post is so much better than one more Christmas decoration perfection post, but I like those too. I’m sharing this with a friend who is sick and down. Thank you Meg for this thoughtful post. I love your kind heart.

Linda - Wonderful post. You always make me stop and think. I love the shirt. Where did you get it?- linda

Ann - I know you are right. But I just don’t feel it. And I am so tired.

Kimberly Dial - Thank you Meg. That was beautiful. Merry Christmas!

karen - Wow, thanks Meg, went straight to my heart, really needed it today….

Barbara (WA) - It is SO hard to believe this is true. Is it?

Diane - Wow. So needed to read your post this morning! THANK YOU!!! Felt like it was written just for me. 🙂 YOU are such and INSPIRATION!!!

Merry Christmas to you and your family! I hope you have a wonderful and blessed holiday season!!

Fabulous Friday Flashes…of Inspiration | - […] Now hear this: What Meg Duerksen thinks of you.  […]

Kristen K. - Meg…thank you. Thank you for this ‘early’ Christmas present to my soul. 😉 I am sharing it with my 4 kiddos, too, because you so beautifully wrote what I struggle to tell them – and myself! I am so easily caught up in the tiny details of every day, hyper-focused on myself and my junk…and I forget to see myself and life from God’s perspective. His love is enough! And it doesn’t mean life is perfect..some days, the grace given is just barely enough to move forward…but it’s enough. Next week marks the 5th ‘anniversary’ of my beloved mom’s sudden death, and I’m still devastated somewhere deep down. So many days, I just NEED my mom. You know? So today, I will let the tears flow when they must, and I will purpose to praise God – who carries me and loves me – through it all. So thankful for you, and for your heart! xo

heather m. - Thank YOU : ) ♥!
This is something we all need to hear- myself included. Thanks for sharing what God put on your heart- i didn’t know how much I needed to hear it. You have such a gift and I’m thankful for you and your wonderful blog! And “Be shiny today” shall be my new motto! LOL! Happy Friday Meg!

Karen - thanks!

jo guy - thankyou, needed to hear that today. xx

Ashley from Tennessee - AAAmmmmmen Sistah! Love that verse and have since high school.
We need a holiday home tour. It’s so fun decorating a new home for Christmas.
Hope you and your family are enjoying it!!!

Mignon Jones - Please share where you got that awesome shirt!

Jeanie - Thank you Meg. I really needed to hear this today.

Lesley - Beautiful message, impeccably timed. Bless you Meg. xox

Andrea - Meg, thank you. You are so right…..It was good to read this today….. I wish I would have made the choice to be a stay at home mom despite the different lifestyle we would have had, but I will continue to make each day count with my children and let them know that despite working outside our home they are the most important thing to me….thank you….our stories are all important.

Kristin S - Thank you, Meg.

michele m fry - Loved this and love your heart!! Need this t-shirt, I am a therapist and I tell people all day long how much their story matters, would love to wear to work as a reminder too :]

Valerie - Oh Meg, your words are amazing! They speak straight to my heart. Thank you for sharing them. Have a blessed day xx

Victoria - Thanks! Needed these words today.

Bobbie - wow that was just what the doctor ordered. Rather I believe it was ordered by God. Thx

Kathi - Thank you.

Kara Byrne - Here’s my day… mommy mistakes and all…in a blogpost…
https://byrnenlove.wordpress.com/2014/12/11/pray-for-him/

I promise it’s not spam. : )

Michelle Deckert Richmond - Thanks Meg….I did feel like I was the only one who doesn’t have it all together….thanks for keeping it real. And thanks for sharing “your story”….great post…a lot to think about. Michelle from Canada

Lisa - You just communicated this so well! As I sit here praying off and on for a young couple at our church who are working so hard, doing everything they should and nothing seems to go their way. And yet they are still trusting Jesus to provide financially. And they continue to give. And they just had a 2nd baby and are so thankful. But the struggles can be so real. I want them to read this because I know it’s so hard on them right now. And I’ve been there when life seems too much but now being on the other side, I can see the strength and growth that happened during that hard time. And am so thankful for it now. Thanks for sharing your heart. Praying it touches those who need it badly right now!

marnie - There isn’t a person you wouldn’t love…if you could read their story.

I read that often and it’s true.

Jenna - Wow, just wow. All of this. I needed to hear and be reminded of. Crying the ugly cry in my office right now. Thank you for posting this today.

Kathy - You’re good enough.
You’re smart enough.
And doggoneit people like you!

Lisa - Thanks for writing this and sharing yourself so openly on your blog.

Stevie - This = awesome and true. Thank you for sharing your story with us!

Vicki - And now I am weeping. Thanks for sharing this. Very timely for me.

Michelle - Amen! Thank you for sharing your thoughts and the passage from Isaiah!

Rebekah Lyon - Loved this! Thank you. And (in the best possible way), right back ‘atcha!

Skye - Thank you!

Kate @ Songs Kate Sang - Love you. So much awesome truth here.

Linda - thanks you for sharing this. I really needed to hear it.

carissa fox - I love you.
your heart.
and I love that you share.
thank you friend for shining yOur light!
when I crank up the music in my car today… singing lOud…
shaking off my doubts & faults… I’ll do it extra loud… and think of you.
thank you!

Jessica - Such a beautiful post! Thank you so much! It’s is just what I needed to hear today

Sarah - After feeling defeated and crying the entire way to drop my boys off at school today, then trudging into my office and letting the tears continue, I needed this. I needed to know I’m not alone, things aren’t as bad as they may have seemed this morning, and they WILL get better, I can do something to make that happen. Thank you Meg. The tears are back, but they’re tears of hope this time, not tears of sadness and pain.

Mickie - Somehow you knew this was just what I needed today. This was a morning where we ended up yelling at our son (because he wouldn’t get ready) and he ended up crying and “wishing he had a nicer family!” Sigh… It’s the most wonderful time of the year but can also be the busiest and most stressful. Thanks for the reminder that we can get back up after these moments and be forgiven.

Jennifer - AMEN!!!! I needed to hear this. You are awesome and great too! Thank you, Meg…thank you!

Jan - Thank You, Meg, for sharing this today…it was just what my heart needed! Beautifully said. Waiting on the Lord teaches me so much about myself while trusting in his plan. “You take joy and suffering and make it an offering for Your glory.” Listening to the words of this song iver and over!

Cindy - holy cow that was powerful! thanks so much for your encouraging and lovely words! they were moving!

Kara Byrne - Yep, yep, yep. Needed this today so much. Took the day off because my stress level of being supermom while working PT and husband working overnights has gotten to me. I need to hear the holy silence of the season…without the nagging requests drowning it. Thank you for writing what was on your heart as there are many of us out here that need to hear it. Merriest Christmas wishes to you!!!

Kelley - Thank you! I needed this today!! Getting to be a stay at home mom while my husband works his tail off to support us. Yet we are struggling to make ends meet and I am feeling so guilty for not working outside of the home. Was praying this morning about ways to bring in some income. Thankful for the reminder of hope and trust in our Lord and Savior. And the reminder to start doing something! Thank you! I admire you as a mom and wife and sister in Christ. I know you don’t have it all figured out, but it’s so nice to have a real role model who’s a few years ahead of me in this parenting game. Thank you.

Jack - I think I needed to hear this today! Thank you Meg.

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my usual random thoughts…

December 5, 2014 Filed in random

i have ideas for my day.

1. workout as soon as i finish writing this blog post.

2. clean my bedroom – put away my laundry

3. put away all things NON christmas on surfaces to make room for christmas decor

4. go to store for dog food

isn’t that the most exciting morning????

but the likelihood i accomplish these things without writing it down is slim to none.
so now it’s official.

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this is as far as I’ve gotten with decorating.
🙂
but there is potential there.

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i made a new soup for dinner last night!
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Cheeseburger Soup!
all of my kids ate it AND said it was good.
woo-hoo!!

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Do you do an Advent study?

i never have.
i’ll be honest here…
i’ve gone to church my whole life and to me advent was something that pastors or really churchy people did…. lighting the candles… the pretty (and seemingly perfect) families get asked to come up on stage to read from the bible… OR it was something that those really spiritual moms did with their kids… OR it was another elaborate thing to set up for your kids with 25 different ideas or projects or things to buy.
so with all that i have just never been an Advent girl.
i did do the advent calendar candy thing & some of my kids stole the candy for the days ahead!

but i felt stirred this year and thought “i wonder what advent might look like to ME… without all the baggage i’ve put on it.”
that thought came to me on Nov. 30.
of course.
too late to order a book or set anything up.
i asked a friend if she was doing anything for herself for advent.
she was going to use She Reads Truth’s Advent plan.
it’s a blog but She Reads Truth is also a free App for your phone!
i follow them on IG but i didn’t have the app… so i got it.
and i bought the $1.99 advent plan.
and i’m reading it.
because i always have my phone.
but the blog is even easier!

so… if you have ever thought any of those thoughts like i had about advent maybe you’d like it too?
it’s short too.
you won’t be too far behind to start now.  🙂

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YOU GUYS!!!
right now at this very second my Pandora is freaking out and playing two songs at the same time?!!?

weeeeeeird!

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LindsayLettersdoxologycanvas_thumb
i am totally loving this photo.
all of it.
the curtains, the lamps, the canvas, the light fixture.
i want basically everything in Lindsay’s shop.
sigh.

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scott has his first basketball game of the season tonight.
it feels like he JUST played in the state championship game like last week?!!
time is such a sucky jerk.

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but… he is excited and we are excited.
talby and sean have been playing for several weeks already.
i love it.  i love going.  i love watching them get better!
and they love it too!
it’s so cool!

and here’s a funny fact: i don’t own a single team sports related clothing item.
i don’t have so much as a t-shirt that says our team.
i just can’t do it.
i can’t see myself in a sports shirt… ever!
maybe it was all those years of wearing a cheerleading uniform?
i don’t know.
but i go and watch!  i just don’t wear the gear.

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i think i would lose my mind as a window designer BUT i am in love with window designing.
having a job where you could say “i am thinking of hanging 2300 paper plates with string from the roof” and no one even bat an eye… that job has got to be THE BEST!

THE BEST
i imagine if this was my job that it would go down like this:

“i am going to pour paint down the front window of our leased store space… ok?”
“Why wouldn’t you? It sounds brilliant! here are 4 employees to help you accomplish this easy idea you have!”

then the next month:

“i ordered 10,000 clothespins and 50 pounds of dye. i’m going to hang all 10,000 clothes pins from string above your head at the registers. But don’t touch it or they may fall on you and you could die by the weight of all the pins”

“No problem.  are you sure 10,000 will be enough?”

ha ha ha

seriously though… a job where you can dream up crazy beautiful huge displays?
wow.
it sounds exhausting and awesome.
exhausting because there is always a new window to be done which means the ideas can never stop and the billion hours every window would take.
(i mean i can’t even get my christmas decorations out of the boxes!)
awesome because you can do anything!
and it’s on such a huge scale that it makes a big impact.
i know anthropologie’s windows make everyone happy.
because that is the point!
🙂

anthro is a crazy place that sucks me in with their 10,000 clothespins and folded cardboard hanging from the ceiling but where i never actually purchase anything because i can’t bring myself to fork over the money.
but i love being in there.
i am there for the art.  🙂

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ok i guess it’s time for #1 on my list way up there….

i want to skip it all and go purchase stocking stuffers instead.
but… i won’t.
i hope.

add a comment

Karina - I just have to say…When I was little my plan was to grow up and become a window dresser. lol…I used to decorate each shelf in my bookcase to be a miniature window. I thought that was a great career ambition! Also…I love Anthropologie but have only bought one thing from there because it is really not in my budget. But I visit the web site for the art…just like you said. So cool.

Kelly - hahaha. I had to laugh about the team gear. over all of the years and all of the different sports my kids have played i have never worn a team anything. i find them kinda repulsive. but i always make sure i have clothes in my wardrobe that are team colors so i can support them but still be fashionable 😉

Lucy - I always like the idea of doing advent, but it takes up time and thought. This year I bought Ann Voskamp’s advent book. The pictures and the words are beautiful. Makes me teary when I read them. My children are too little, but my hope is to just read this every year and maybe do some of the suggested ideas in the future.

Beth Ann - Is it weird that your admitting that you have never made a purchase at anthro made my day? I really enjoy window shopping at the store, but I am too frugal to buy anything. Beautiful items and displays tho! I remember when I was in college (paying my own way, but no baby or husband) I would go shopping on the clearance racks (but only when the clearance items were on clearance – ha!) and say to myself “I can’t wait until I make good money so I can buy whatever I want!” And now that I make good money the frugal-gene in me still shops the clearance racks and rarely buys anything unless it is on sale!

Jenny B. - Lovely fun pictures! 🙂 We scaled back the Christmas decor this year. As I sent my husband up to the attic, I gave him a list of what to LEAVE up there. Ha. It still looks festive, and the kids are happy. So, I’m happy. Oh, and then when my husband came back in, he said, I just realized I forgot to pay our property taxes, so I think your car tags are expired. I said, but I remember putting the stickers on not too long ago. Yeah… that was a year ago. Time is crazy!

Angela - Come on girl, get in the spirit! Year round I look at your Christmas posts for inspiration, yours are my favorite, the BEST…ever. I know it’s a lot of work but I bet your girls would help you with most of it. I always think about that saying, “the days are long and the years are short” and then I realized one day I won’t have all these wonderful, bratty, children living with me. Even if you only did a quarter of what you used to do it would be fabulous! Merry Christmas Megan!

Mindy - I think you would be a great window display artist with all your fun colors. Your Christmas decorations look so cheery. And the Lindsay’s Letters photo – beautiful.

Patricia McClure - First, I love your blog. Second, this is my first year of doing an Advent study, so you totally spoke JUST to me with this one. I was lucky cuz on November 30, at church, someone was selling the book “All I Really Want” by Quinn G Caldwell and wanted to start a study group. Perfect timing, I was wanting and what I needed appeared. It is sooo good. If you ever have a chance to look Quinn or the book up, I recommend both.
I better get coffee going. My lists won’t cross themselves off. Today we will get a tree! ( it is written, therefore has to happen

Greta Sutherland - They’re not random thoughts, they’re straight out of my head.

So glad I bumped into you recently in this odd little blogging neighborhood. You’ve been a pleasure to follow…

g

Patty - OmiGoodnessGracious! I had everything in the house for Cheeseburger Soup, made it for dinner and my husband who does NOT believe that soup is a meal for dinner — APPROVES! It was so yummy! Thanks for the recipe!

Michelle from Australia - We leave in 8 days for our family biennial USA adventure. I am very much looking forwards to seeing store (we’d call them shop windows) decorated for Christmas and loads and loads of Christmas lights.

Alexandra H. - Considering what a visual person you are, I thought you might also enjoy this Advent Project done by the Center for Christianity, Culture, and the Arts at my Alma Mater (Biola University): http://ccca.biola.edu/advent/?_ga=1.186323305.119595799.1414683382

Secondly, you may already know about Kara Paslay, but she used to design all those Anthro windows in Tulsa. You can see some of her displays here: http://karapaslaydesigns.com/category/blog/my-anthro-displays/

Hope you enjoy these treats!

Heather S. - Went to the Festival of Trees today. Saw a rainbow tree. Thought of you. That’s all I have today.

Tracie M. - One of my college friends decorates Anthropologie windows in Manhattan. It is amazing the amount of hours she puts into it, but they are incredible.

tiffany day - You are funny, I mean that in a good way! 😉

I feel the same about Advent – and honestly dont really know as much about it as I should!

And I want to marry Anthropologie!!!

The only team related thing I had when my kids played sports was a red jacket when I my son played little league and was on the “Angeles” I so feel you about sports stuff!

Have fun decorating – I plan to finish up tomorrow!!

Have a great weekend!
Tiffany

patty - Oh yes the Anthro….. love looking, touching, overwhelmed at how much everything costs and then not buying anything and leaving. : D

I actually once took a silver tray off the wall to see how they hung them (hot glue and a paper clip! Brilliant!), and currently have supplies ready to go on the work bench to copy a horse shoe and wood plate display! Aaagh! Love it.
p.

Rachel - I am pretty sure that no matter what it is, as long as it is in rainbow colors, you can make it look fabulous hanging on a wall. Plates, clothes pins, scraps of fabric, you name it, rainbow colors make it look cohesive and purposeful and beautiful.

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Project Hunger

December 2, 2014 Filed in charity,faith,family fun,sponsored

i was asked by Unilever & SheKnows Hatch to share some words about hunger in our communities. i watched their videos and looked through their websites and i was immediately aware of how uninvolved my family was.

please watch:

i have so many intentions of helping but life is busy.
i have a busy family life… my husband and i both work… our kids are in activities everyday… we have so many things to do…. does this sound familiar?
as i watched those videos or stop & think for just five minutes about hunger in my community, it breaks my heart.
no matter how “busy” i am i know that i need to take action… and so do you.
but WHERE do we start?  WHO do we ask?  WHAT is the need?

i started simple.
i texted my friends….”hey… i am writing a post about local hunger/poverty, ways to help out, getting involved and talking to our children about those issues… any suggestions?”
i loved hearing their thoughts!
they had all kinds of suggestions of kindness that weren’t just hunger focused:

– run in a race that supports a good cause
– donate to the Angel Tree throughout the Salvation Army at christmas
– pay for the family behind you at the drive through
– join an organization called Circles, USA
– bring a dish to a community meal
– volunteer at a homeless shelter
– have a simple meal of rice & donate the money you would’ve spent on your meal to a food bank.
– leave a treat for your mail man
– visit elderly neighbors
– talk to the new kids at school
– invite people over who may not have a place for the holidays
– “adopt a family”  for the holidays by giving a meal or gifts
– donate food and gifts to your community center
– donate to the food bank (food or money)
– volunteer at the food bank
– join meals on wheels
– volunteer or donate to your local clothes closet
– call the local schools and ask how to help

doesn’t that list just get you excited?!!

i had never been to our county food bank.
and i will be honest… i just never put much thought into it.
i didn’t even know where it was.
i called and asked all kinds of questions.
and the bottom line of our conversation was “just do something”

so we did.
i talked with annie about what a food bank was and why we have one.
i asked her to come shopping with me for items we could donate.
we talked about what it might be like to not have any food or enough food for a thanksgiving dinner.
But then we decided to get foods that someone could make a thanksgiving meal with.
i had her write a list for the store.  🙂
we also added other items that seemed like a good idea not thanksgiving related.

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we each got a cart and i let her do all the shopping for her list.

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annie mentioned several times “this one is on sale”.
i loved seeing her take notice of that.

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we asked our store to bag her groceries separately and
then we drove it straight from the store over to the food bank.

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it was easy.
but you don’t have to shop!  You can donate food right out of your own pantry.

my encouragement to you is:  just do something!

Call the organizations in your community and say “what do you need and how can i help”

get involved.
share.
donate.
give.
love.

Project Sunlight and Project Hatch are working on the fight against child hunger right now.
they gave great suggestions on how to get started if you feel a little stuck.

hunger3
go to the Project Sunlight website to learn about all of these options.

 

About SheKnows’ Hatch, the Hatch Hunger Project and Unilever Project Sunlight:

SheKnows’ Hatch teamed with Unilever Project Sunlight to help families build awareness and take action around child hunger in America. The facts are startling: 16 million kids living in the United States don’t know where their next meal is coming from. That equates to one in every five children – enough to fill 18,000 school buses and 223 football stadiums. On average, those who live in food-insecure households have only $36.50 to spend on groceries every week. That means that 80 percent of children may not understand the everyday struggle their peers – many of whom could be their own friends or neighbors – confront when there’s not enough food on the table. The Hatch Hunger and Project Sunlight video and workshop aims to create empathy by showing kids what it means to shop for healthy, filling meals for an entire week on a thrifty budget. It teaches important math and teamwork skills. Finally, it is about action, empowering kids to have a positive impact on their community to Share A Meal with a family in need and donating food and canned goods to local food banks.

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will you share with me ways that YOU are already involved in your communities?
i would LOVE more ideas of ways to help!
every little thing adds up to a lot of BIG things when we are stepping up in kindness.

add a comment

patty - I am a 4-H leader. About 10 years ago our State 4-H project was called Massachusetts 4-H cares about the community – and we were charged with doing something to donate food to a food bank. Some clubs fundraised, put tubs to collect food at local grocery stores. Our club (the kids) raised money during the year and chose to spend $500 doing something, so we decided lets just split up the money and take the kids shopping.

This is our clubs FAVORITE field trip each year. No one misses it, even on a busy Thursday night. We give each kid $30-$50 dollars in an envelope, and send them off in groups of 2-4, and tell them to purchase things that if their family had to go to the food bank, they would want to choose.

It is FASCINATING to see how they arrive at what to buy. Some groups use a calculator to budget and buy store brand. Some buy healthy food. Some buy Starbucks coffee and cheese doodles because even at a food pantry there should be some specials (the teens ; )). Afterwards we weigh it and divide it to be delivered to towns that our members come from — the go for pizza where we talk about how they chose things and methods of budgeting and shopping.

This year a family from our county lost their home to fire and were starting over so we chose to donate to filling their cupboards. The kids sent 496 lbs. of food to this family who then decided to split it with another family whose house burned down on the same night.

Sorry for being so wordy, but honestly this is the most fulfilling community service project — it is so REAL to the kids and shows them that helping someone else can be thoughtful, fulfilling and most of all a FUN thing to do with their friends and family for their community. Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah and Happy holidays to you all ; )

Erin Ussery - Loved this post! Thank you for sharing about your trip to the food bank with Annie. It’s so cool when our kids get into giving back!

Our church Life Group was challenged to complete a service project in the Spring. We spoke to a local school social worker who pointed us in the direction of school uniforms. In our town, the public schools have uniforms (basic pants and different colored shirts for each school), which is great! When you can afford them. So we hosted a two week fundraising drive and raised enough for 244 shirts, 170 pairs of shorts and over 50 packs of underwear! So in the summer we decided to file as a nonprofit in our state and go BIG. We named our group Lowcountry Dress for Success. This Fall we completed our second drive which raised $16,549 in THREE WEEKS! How it works: People donate online or by check in the mail (the Flinstone method), we partner with local social workers in the school who tell us what sizes and colors they want, we order it, pay for it, and deliver them to the schools for the social workers to deliver them as they see fit. God has provided in amazing ways! It has been awesome to see our community come together to take care of its own. We started our third drive this week called the HO-HO-HOodie Campaign. $15 purchases a full zip fleece hoodie that adheres to the school dress code and will keep a child warm this Winter. Feel free to read more about it at http://www.lowcountrydressforsuccess.com
Can’t wait to read about what others are doing! This is awesome!

stacey - We volunteer at a local toy drive where parents come get toys for their kids because they cannot afford to buy presents for them. The toys are donated and all new.

Flower Patch Farmgirl - You know I love this.

Kathleen W. - My kids and I just went and helped to fill bags with food for our schools backpack program, Falcon Pack. It was a great experience for my kids to realize that not everyone has enough food to eat over the weekend and that these backpacks provide meals on the days kids aren’t at school. We plan to go and help again. On another note, my son’s Cub Scout pack is having a baked goods auction next week. The scout families donate baked goods, auctioneers volunteer their time and we raise money for the elementary schools “Warm and Fuzzy Fund”. The money helps families in our school to provide Christmas for their kids. Great post Meg !

Michelle - I take $20 from every paycheck and shop for my community food pantry. I alternate food one week, toiletries the next week.

Call and ask your food pantry exactly what they need. Mine has enough peanut butter and dried pasta to last through the apocalypse, but is always in need of paper towels and toilet paper (things you can’t buy with SNAP). Paper towels may sound like an unnecessary luxury, but when you have to choose between buying food or doing your laundry at a laundromat, not having to wash kitchen towels or cleaning rags can mean one less load of laundry and a little more food in the shopping cart.

kare - I lead a guild which makes blankets for pediatric hospital patients called “Katie’s Comforters Guild” at Seattle Children’s Hospital. We don’t raise funds; we raise new quilts and blankets, made of new cotton, fleece or yarn, to bring comfort to patients. We support pediatric cancer research through the Katie Gerstenberger Endowment, whose funds support the Ben Towne Center for Childhood Cancer Research at Seattle Children’s Hospital, and The Ben Towne Foundation. We are #strongagainstcancer (with Russell Wilson, as you may have seen during half-time of the Seahawks’ game on Thanksgiving day)! Thank you for asking, Meg! Blessings to you!

jodi - our church partners with the Salvation Army or other local food bank every year to do a Thanksgiving turkey drive, and sometimes at other times throughout the year we help stock a food pantry as well.

Our kids go to Awana at a church just down the road from where we live, and my favorite is that they ask the kids several times a year to bring cans and/or peanut butter to help stock their food pantry. Because they’re directly asking and talking to the kids about it, it really helps get them involved and gives us things to talk about. I love it!

molly - my church is very involved in fighting hunger in our community and the surrounding area. we have sack sunday every month were we are urged to bring in a sack of food items to donate to our local food pantry. we also have an agape garden where an amazing amount of produce is grown to be given to the food bank. it is just amazing to see what they grow and give away. and finally one of the most touching programs is called backpack buddies. during the week bags of food items are packed and then on fridays are delivered into the backpacks of children who would likely go without meals over the weekend. it is an amazing program that gets food into the hands of children who really need it.

colleen - Annual pre-thanksgiving competition at my kids middle school- each class brought in a specific type of canned food or nonperishable item to make a whole celebratory meal when put together -then the teacher made it interesting by offering country cow (a local deli) egg sandwiches for breakfast for the whole class if their class brought in the highest number of food items, My daughter’s class won and she alone donated 14 cans of peas which we also shopped for together- can only imagine what the total number of cans from her homeroom was!

Kate @ Songs Kate Sang - Love this – just do something 🙂

Ginny - This is such a great blog post and real tangible ideas for people to do and ways for kids to get involved. I just love it!

Amanda - This is awesome!

jeannie - Our family did the same last year at Thanksgiving and made the decision to also volunteer once a month. Even someone as young as Annie is able to help at our local food bank, and your bunch would fill a whole shift. I enjoyed this post. I agree it is hard to fit in more commitments, but this once a month commitment is always positive and always a win-win. My kids enjoy working with the clients that come in and definitely enjoy helping in a personal way! May your Christmas be merry, but especially blessed!

JL - Our small Jr/Sr High School holds a “Can the Teacher” event on the last day of school before Thanksgiving break. The students bring canned goods and other items…the school weighs the items and for every so many pounds donated, a teacher’s door is “canned”, meaning they can’t teach that day. As you can imagine, the students get really involved and gather enough items that they’ve succeeded in “canning” all the teachers the last several years. Since it’s a day they probably wouldn’t do much anyway…it’s a win-win!!

Stephanie - We always give to the Post Office’s food drive when they ask. I agree with you that we could do more. It’s so easy to get wrapped up in my own big family that I forget to minister to others more than I do. One thing I LOVE that our small town does is a community garden. That is such a productive way to feed people. It’s the “teach a man to fish” concept.

Kelly - and that’s why I adore you… You make me want to be creative, but you also give us thoughts on a creative heart too. I just looked up a number to a lcoal church that has a food bank and going to contact them on what I can do to help out. Hugs to you~Kelly

Sarah - Our community has a project called Packing Friendship. This started when a teacher sent a grocery bag home with a student for food over the weekend. Otherwise, they would not have had food outside of school. Now, I think they send out a couple hundred bags of food on the weekends. Numerous local churches collect specific foods that can be used. Pretty awesome.

JulianneB - Thanks for sharing. The video is so good. My 10 year old daughter and I have had a lot of discussions about this lately. This week her school is collecting food to give to 116 children in her own school. They are collecting specifically so they can have food over Christmas break to eat. Before we moved to a different town, we used to help with Blessings in a Backpack. I always want her to be aware of the needs around her.

Gevay - It’s so easy to think of this as a problem that is far away, but it’s right here in our own communities. My boys and I volunteered at a local food bank before Thanksgiving, sorting their donations with our home-school group. My older son has chosen to give his “something you need” gift during our advent celebration to Feeding America. My younger son chose Blood Water.

Michelle - Doesn’t have to be big to make an impact….if you haven’t seen it, check out Matthew West’s song “Do Something”. They showed it at our church last weekend and it was pretty awesome!

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our gigantic list of favorite movies

November 30, 2014 Filed in family fun,things i love

our family is kind of crazy for movies.
we always have been.
i have loved to watch movies since i saw my very first one….  ET.
i have told craig “movies are my love language”
i love escaping into a movie.
one of my favorite places is a dark theater… two hours with nothing to do but be entertained.
i have even started going to movies by myself because i just want to see one and i have the time.
my plane ride to and from africa had personal tv screens in the seat backs with 100s of new movies to choose from and i thought it was absolutely fabulous!  10 hours with nothing to do but watch movies.  i was SO HAPPY.

every year in my kids stockings i add new dvds.
we have a pretty big collection of dvds.
i asked them which were the ones they liked the most out of our choices.
the list was long.

so… maybe this will help you with stocking stuffers?
or an idea for a movie night?

i didn’t add any big Disney movie because we all know about those.
Frozen, Tangled,  Toy Story… yada, yada, yada – they are all awesome and everyone knows that.
these are other movies, some new and some old and we let our kids watch these.
maybe you wouldn’t… but you get that choice of course.  🙂

I’m pretty sure that at least 90% of these movies are under $10 too.

Cheaper by the Dozen                                     Jumanji                                      Honey, I Shrunk the Kids
moveies3

The Parent Trap                                The Sandlot                                              Shrek

Father of the Bride                                 Night at the Museum                           Napoleon Dynamite
movies1
  Evan Almighty                                       Nim’s Island                                     The Little Rascals

      Holes                                             Facing the Giants                                 Herbie Fully Loaded  
movies2
                            Annie                                              National Treasure                            The Emperor’s New Groove                 

                  Here Comes the Boom                                 The Blind Side                               Back to the Future                           
movies4
  School Of Rock                                                 Earth to Echo                          Journey to the Center of the Earth


Chestnut: Hero of Central Park                            The Princess Bride                                The LEGO Movie                   
movies5
Matilda                                                     The Goonies                                                Jurassic Park

                     The Karate Kid                                        Eight Below                                    Around the World in 80 Days        
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       The Pink Panther                               Ramona and Beezus                                The Chronicles of Narnia

The Avengers                        The Secret Life of Walter Mitty                                      Spider-Man
movies7
Diary of a Wimpy Kid               Harry Potter & the Sorcerer’s Stone                             Enchanted

 

my kids are older… these movies are mostly for that next stage after animated movies.
probably the most bad language is in the Goonies… 80’s movies are dumb like that.
but it’s the goonies!!
i had to put it on the list.
what is your favorite family movie?
what did we forget?
is there a movie i need to know about?

let’s hear it.

add a comment

Maya hoffmann - i LOVE emperores new grove

Jenny Mullins - I love this list! I feel like my family 11 year old boy and 9 year old girl would enjoy movie nights at your house! We love fairy tales. So here are two movies we recommend Ever After – A Cinderella Story with Drew Barrymore and Mirror Mirror with Julia Roberts.
I also love Little Women with Winona Ryder or any version of this story at Christmas time.
So really I have 3 recommendations.
Thank you for this list, there are few we haven’t seen and I know we will enjoy soon!

Jenn - The Great Outdoors! My whole family loves that movie 🙂

Rachel B. - Apollo 13—my 7 year old and 4 year old love it!

Stephanie - Wild Hearts Can’t Be Broken. Disney made it and it is based on a true story about a “diving girl” (diving horses off of a pier in Atlantic City) in the 1940’s. Fabulous family movie. Buy it! Watch it! You’ll love it!

Michelle Whitlow - So many of those are our favorites, too! Goonies, ET, Back to the Future, Matilda…etc. In fact, we went to see the Goonies house in August when we were in OR 🙂 I’m getting my son The Last Starfighter & my oldest daughter Quarterback Princess (I probably haven’t seen that one since the 80s!). We’re big movie fans in our house, too! And Guardians of the Galaxy will be making it’s way to our home this month as well!

Sarah - Life has been dreary lately with some teenager drama going on.
I love looking at your blog, with ALL the fabulous color combinations! It helps to brighten my days.
Anyway I just had to tell you how excited I am to start a new quilting project with rainbow colors! When I cut the fabric strips and made a nice pile, it reminded me of your rainbow of colors on your blog.
Thanks.

Brook - My oldest daughter and nieces love The Labyrinth with David Bowie and Jennifer Connelly.

Tanya - ET was my first movie too 😀 I wanted yarn bows in my hair like Gertie. 😉
We L.O.V.E Annie at this house and I just introduced the kiddos to the original Parent Trap this weekend. My mom intro’d us to all of the musicals really young and I plan to do the same thing.
Can’t go wrong with Goonies!!

Tina J - Great List!! Daddy Daycare, Dr. Doolittle, Adventures in Babysitting, the American Girl Movies!

Erin - Thank you for this post. I’m bookmarking it. My kids are 13, 11, 8, and 4. We are always looking for movie ideas (especially for the older 3). I had forgotten about a lot of these!

Jenn - My 13 year old daughter and I just watched Walter Mitty and LOVED it!

Have you seen “The Mighty Macs”? One of my favorites.

s - I love RV.

jaimie - home alone

Debi Meyers - AND … “Little Women” with Winona Ryder, Claire Danes… the Christmas opening is my favorite 🙂

Karen in NYC - Hi Meg, it’s Karen in NYC.

That’s so funny about Walter Mitty. I saw it in the theaters last year with 16-year-old Ross, and we loved it but felt like we were the only people in the world who saw it.

Your list is great. You and your family would also love these:

Must-See Adventure:
Star Wars (The original from 1977)
Raiders of the Lost Ark

1960s and 1970s Fun:
Freaky Friday — the 1970s version starring Jodie Foster
The Parent Trap – the 1960s version starring Hayley Mills

80s Fun:
Ferris Bueller’s Day Off (which includes the swearing that so many 80’s movies have)
Big

Hilarious:
Airplane!

Top Musicals:
West Side Story
Sound of Music
Fiddler on the Roof

Comedies in Black and White:
Bringing Up Baby
Some Like it Hot

The Two Best Christmas Movies in Black and White:
Miracle on 34th Street (the old one starring Natalie Wood as a child)
It’s a Wonderful Life

I have a separate list of great movies to watch with teenagers, that I guess everybody but Annie is ready for.

Sarah - Thank you for this – perfect timing! The Chronicles of Narnia link takes me to the Goonies movie, but I could be doing something wrong. 🙂

Debi Meyers - oh!

“Cool Runnings” about the Jamaican Bobsled team 🙂

Debi Meyers - great list, Meg… Secondhand Lions! Holes! Here Comes the Boom!

If you are a family that enjoys slower, noble, great tenderness against harsh realities: “The Book Thief”, and “The Straight Story” (know your kid. My son at 7 loved it. contemplative)

Musicals:
Fiddler on the Roof, Oliver Twist, Sound of Music, Cinderella (so fun…with Brandy & Whitney Houston)

Boys Adventure:
Mark Twain’s “Roughing It” with James Garner

Christmas:
“A Dog Named Christmas” Hallmark movie
“The Homecoming” (pilot for The Waltons series)

Slightly ‘scary’ movies:
so for older kids, but again, excellent themes.
“Lady In The Water”, “Signs”, and “The Village” (<— this has a bloody scene, but is one of our favorite love stories of all time, and AMAZING SOUNDTRACK).
all 3 have creatures lurking in the dark… jumpy, tense… 🙂

heidi e. - What a great list! And I love the idea of a dvd in their stocking! We just watched Cool Runnings, and it was hilarious! Now we run around asking each other ‘Sanka, ya dead?’… hahahaha

Stephanie - Oh! I LOVED Second Hand Lions. And laughed SO hard at Over the Hedge. Thank you for recommending Earth to Echo. Maybe we will do that for our next family night. I feel like we are running out of acceptable movies. One I loved when I was a teenager was The Journey of Natti Gann. I haven’t seen it since the early 90s, but I love a good adventure.

Rachel - Nacho Libre!!!!!!! 🙂 Mary Poppins!!!!
Great movies listed!

FLWendy - Funny how your list is full of what we have in our DVD library. What about adding some Studio Ghibli films? We have Ponyo, Howl’s Moving Castle, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Spirited Away and My Neighbor Totoro. All great films. My children loved them when they were young and still love them today (late teens, early 20’s).

Brittany - Great list!! Our kids love the Nanny McPhee movies!

Jenn - Father of the Bride 2 and Sister Act 2!!!! Apparently, we love sequels!

Jill - We are huge fans of Christmas movies…. so many! But one that few people seem to know about is “Prancer”. A beautiful movie! You should watch it!

Cathy Shealy - We like Robots (also with Robin Williams) RV, again with RW, You’ve Got Mail, Holiday, Christmas with the Kranks (we actually wore one of these out a few years back). Ratatouille

Heather S. - Our girls are 10 and 12 and we are all gaga here over the National Treasure movies (and desperately hoping they’d get done with number three soon). And yes – totally agree on the bad language with Goonies. We watched it with our girls a year or two ago and just thought, “seriously, what is up with all the bad words?” Such a classic, though!

Stacey - All of those and Secondhand Lions!

Peg Graham - Prancer, Fly Away Home, Little Women, While you were Sleeping…

Amy - It’s super old but my kids think The Court Jester with Danny Kaye is the funniest thing ever. Its free on Amazon Prime. They also love Surf’s Up.

Colleen - Hook is a great film (with thoughts of Robin Williams,) Akeelah and the Bee and Flyaway Home (for Annie)

Southern Gal - You’ve got a great list! We would add Secondhand Lions! Superhero movies especially Thor and Captain America; animated, The Croods, Over the Hedge; Christmas movies Elf and Home Alone.

Libby Herwig - Elf!!!!!!! The first Harry Potter also. We like the rest but they get quite dark.

Angela - These are great! Some are new to us. I would add Mrs. Doubtfire and Star Wars- the original trilogy.

Amy - We love Second Hand Lions and we recently watched Million Dollar Arm and it was great! Thanks for the list!

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family photos!

November 28, 2014 Filed in family fun,photography,pretty,things i love

this.
Blue Lily sent us our photos.
and i absolutely LOVE them…. every single one.
wendy you are SO TALENTED!!!!!

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TYL_1796ls2st2acm2TYL_2064mmom&boysTYL_2114TYL_2025asmTYL_2159TYL_2145TYL_2168TYL_1997TYL_2204TYL_1817TYL_1889scott&talby-2
seanHTYL_2225TYL_2283TYL_1827TYL_1916
squeeze

and now i need to order some!!

Blue Lily has made their 2015 schedule.
its WORLDWIDE.
i think you should get on their schedule!!    🙂    🙂    🙂
family photos are such a gift… you never know when life is going to change.
they freeze time.
we will have that night – that hour – forever.
and it was a really good one.  🙂

thanks again WENDY!!!

 

add a comment

Jeanie - Meg, you have a beautiful family! And I have to tell you – when I first looked at the pictures – I thought “where’s Meg?” You looked like one of the kids! How do you keep yourself so young – with so many kids, so many activities, schedules etc? I need your secret!

ellen patton - there’s a lot of love in these photos!

tracy fisher - love. just, love.

Debbie - I never get tired of looking at Bluelilly photos. I agree, all are very nice. You’ll be so glad you have these.

misty - wow! gorgeous! the 4th one down needs to be on a HUGE canvas! You have a such a pretty fam!! Love love!

danielle - These are gorgeous! You guys look great!

jen - Such great pictures! Thanks for sharing them.

Mindy - Beautiful photos done in perfect light. What a lovely family you have and great memories captured.

Kristin - Gorgeous pictures, with so much love shining out of them!

jaimie - beautiful! i love the poses, lighting and the outfit choices…you can tell from the pix what a lovely, tight-knit family you are! happy holidays!

iralee poore - these are simply amazing!!!! i love love love the lighting!!!

bethr - oh Meg, it was so fun to see all these beautiful photos of your family! The outfits, the light, the smiles and connection you 7 seem to share- all so touching!

Amy - LOVE!! You guys are gorgeous!!

Lori - Great pictures 🙂

Diana Yarborough - Beautiful family pictures! We need to do them like this one day!

On a totally different subject, is there a sewing machine you recommend? I really want to get one, but am obviously a beginner.

Leslie Humphrey - Absolutely beautiful – your family and the pictures. The love just oozes from each shot – thanks for sharing!

Stephanie - I have tears in my eyes for some reason. Good pictures do that. Your family is so beautiful and reminds me of my own in so many ways (we have seven kids). I love love love when big families are all captured in one shot–looking happy and in glowing light. You have quite a job picking one picture out!

martha - okay…so I’m just commenting to wish you luck picking your favorite picture! usually there is never a shot where everyone looks good and all of these do! ps. we don’t get a glimpse at your eldest daughter very often- she is just lovely! thank you for sharing your family with us!

Flower Patch Farmgirl - Stunning!!!
The one of the girls together…or you and the boys. Agh! Such pretty people. And the stripes were the right choice.

Kristin S - What perfect light. How did you capture so many great shots at that perfect light?

I love that last one.

Jenn - What stunning photos of your beautiful family! Just lovely! These are indeed true treasures that you will cherish and look back on for years to come. Many happy blessings to you and your family this holiday season. I am a thankful reader whose life is enriched by the inspiration you share. Thank you!

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thanksgiving ideas….

November 26, 2014 Filed in things i love,traditions

thanksgiving is not my holiday… i am not a foodie…i’ve never made a turkey…. i don’t looove turkey… it’s always been a weird not-so-awesome day to me.
BUT i try.
i try to get into the thanksgiving spirit every year.

so here is me giving it the old college try.
maybe it will help you come up with a great last minute ideas too?


IMG_2798edit
this stuffing looks DELICIOUS!!

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i doubt i would ever take the time to make these cookies but they are super CUTE!!

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i would LOVE this on a table! you are never too old to color.  these would be awesome!
and this is a pdf download so you COULD get it today and print it at home if you wanted.  🙂

 

skinny yellow
i like these ideas for conversation starters at thanksgiving. (from here)

  • Express thanks to someone in the room for something they did for you.
  • “I’m thankful for…” Finish the sentence.
  • If you could have the attention of the whole world for 30 seconds, what would you say?
  • One thing I’m thankful for about our country.
  • “I got in so much trouble…” Tell the story! This question is always a hit with the kids.
  • What is the key to success in life? Why do you say that?
  • Tell about a lesson you learned the hard way and how you are thankful for what it taught you.
  • What are some ways life is different now than in the old days?
  • Tell a story of a decision your ancestors made that changed the direction of their lives-and yours.
  • Tell about a lesson you learned by watching someone else.
  • “A person I would like to honor publicly is…”
  • “Time and money aside, I would rather be…”
  • Tell about an experience that changed you for the better.
  • Tell a story about something that started out bad but had a happy ending.
  • “My first hero was _________.”
  • Tell about a time when you showed courage.
  • Describe a teacher who had a significant influence on your life.
  • Tell about an invention that made your life easier.
  • “The most admired public figure when I was growing up was ____.” Tell a story.
  • Tell about a memorable event in your life.
  • “A famous person I’ve met is _____.” Tell about the experience.

skinny yellow
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annie is feeling better today so we are pulling out the art supplies and making these turkey drawings.

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you could arrange your veggies like a turkey….

or your cheesbeall.
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butterscotch pie sounds as good as pumpkin pie to me.

 

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this sweet potato casserole looks amazing and it’s even Paleo.

 

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we don’t have to overthink decorations.
leaves in glass containers = done

 

Moms-Oatmeal-Pie-101922291
this pie looks yummy to me… not quite a pecan pie… not quite an apple pie.
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these chalk place mats are simple and make a statement.  🙂

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i love how they took this tea towel and framed it!
i saw it and thought “$22 for a tea towel? my kids would RUIN THAT in 10 seconds!”
but framing it and turning into a statement piece on your wall… game changer!  I lOVE it.
so… i feel a little more ready for the thanksgiving weekend.
don’t you?
please tell me…

are you hosting?
do you make the turkey?
what is your favorite part of thanksgiving?

add a comment

Kristin - I’m late to the party…we hosted, made the turkey, favorite part is family (and food)! I LOVE your conversation starters. I mentor a class called Education for MInistry, and we start every class with worship & then an on-board/check in question. Many of these are perfect for that…thanks so much!

Kimberlee Jost - Someone gave me that tea towel recently and a frame is the perfect idea. 🙂

Heather s. - So not.my.favorite. Really.

I could do without all the food, cooking for hours, overstuffed houses with overstuffed people. I’d rather just have the people I love over for brunch and maybe a Just Dance competition. 😉

KirstenP - Pumpkin pie, using the recipe on the Libby’s can and refrigerator pie crusts, and whipping the cream, is the easiest part. I do the simplest turkey – I rub softened butter on the skin and stick it in a Reynold’s Oven Bag and put it in a disposable aluminum pan. It takes less baking time too. Hate making gravy so I just add the dripping and broth to a can of cream of chicken soup. Enjoy making stuffing with sausage and sauteed-in-butter chopped apples.
Thanksgiving is a stressful holiday for me because I host and do all the cooking.I hate the last hour getting potatoes done along with all the last minute stuff.
I miss watching my mom making cranberry orange relish. The fresh cranberries and whole oranges(including the rind) are put in an old fashioned meat grinder. Love the sound of the popping sound of the cranberries.

CathyMA - Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday. It always has been, and it’s probably because it’s right around my birthday. I’m hosting this year and you can tell because my house smells so good right now. 21 people will be here for dinner, then 9 more for dessert. This morning I ran our town’s Turkey Trot with my 10 year old son for the first time and it was so much fun, I will never forget it. It’s a stress free holiday for me where I can just be with family and friends without gifts, but lots of good food.

Kirsten J - Not my favorite holiday, either….probably mostly because my parents spend the winter in AZ and so my sister goes to her in-laws, and I always miss my mom. It’s been almost 20 years since I had Thanksgiving with my family. Wahhhhh. So I usually make my daddy a turkey dinner as soon as they come back up for Christmas. We’re going to my sister-in-law’s tomorrow. And….she’s not the greatest cook. This year, besides the turkey/mashed potatoes/stuffing (which is usually pretty edible) we’re having Yugoslavian sauerkraut and some sweet potato casserole – it should be an adventure! *ahem*

Paula Duey - We are staying home this year as it is Elk hunting season. My Dad came down to have turkey day with us and to hunt with the boys. Our middle daughter and Grandson( almost 2) are here too. I am the one who now makes the turkey dinner since my Mom passed away 4 yrs ago. I got the pumpkin pies made and the cranberry sauce today, yeah! My favorite part of the dinner (or late lunch) is the leftovers. My Grandma used to serve a late lunch turkey dinner and then we would snack off and on all afternoon and then have turkey sandwiches for dinner, yumm!
Have a wonderful Thanksgiving.

Jena Selph - I love Thanksgiving! Time spent with family, delicious food, and no gifts or shopping for gifts…win win! Yes, I’m hosting but it’s a very small group. That’s ok, our small group will be together. 🙂 Cooking a turkey is seriously so easy! Try it, you will be surprised what little effort it takes. I’m off to paint turkeys with my girls, using your inspiration. Many thanks and happy Thanksgiving to you!

Lisa Biedebach - Why I like thanksgiving- it is the only major holiday that doesn’t involve gifts. It is all about be grateful to God for his blessings. Love that. I dislike how it is overlooked and crowded out by Halloween and Christmas. I will not decorAte for Christmas until thanksgiving is over. Plus I am a mayflower descendent so I feel it is more my holiday.

stephany - I have cooked a turkey and all the fixin’s every year that we have been married (that’s 14 years)!

I have hosted my parents at our house the past two years.

Since we moved to Oregon 9 years ago, we have spent Thanksgiving in Idaho, Colorado, and at friends houses here in Oregon.

Tomorrow it will just be our family of four…and one of Ryan’s cousins who just moved to Washington. We’ll probably invite our neighbors over for dessert and drinks, too.

I would LOVE to host a big gathering at our house every year. I LOVE cooking the meal and having our house filled with friends and family.

Nothing better than food, friends, football {and, maybe some wine} all day long!

The next day we usually go cut down our Christmas tree and spend the rest of the weekend watching more football and getting the house decked for Christmas.

Thanksgiving is my most favorite holiday of all.

Julie - I love Thanksgiving! I have hosted before, but my parents have moved back to our home town and live in a large house (my grandparents’ old house) and they have room to host it again. Plus they are more centrally located for the siblings than I am. This year my mom is doing the turkey, stuffing, potatoes and gravy and I am doing the rest. So far I have done six pies, (one more to go), sweet potatoes, broccoli salad and the rolls are in the fridge. I still will make honey butter and one more pie today and then tomorrow will shape and bake the rolls and make crock pot corn.

Jenn - I love Thanksgiving! I love to cook and bake. Its the stress free holiday for me. I’ve baked a turkey once because of the amount of people we were hosting (we had 3 turkeys total). Most of the time, I’m just asked to bring sides. I’m sure in the not so distant future I will be asked to host again and baked the turkey…glad to do it! A new tradition that my little family has started is running in the Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving morning. This is my favorite part of the day. Its cold and early, but 1500 people are walking and running on Thanksgiving morning….its fun! Happy Thanksgiving Meg!

Christi {Jealous Hands} - Meg! Thank you so much for sharing these ideas – I had seen NONE of them, but I am going to be using some of them for tomorrow.

I AM hosting, yes – at least 11 people. We have an open door Thanksgiving & never know for sure who will be here (other than those 11).

I DO make the turkey – in fact, two 24 pounders (roasting only, no brine).

And my favorite part of Thanksgiving is opening our doors to whoever will come. Love it.

Happy Thanksgiving! xo

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unplanned

November 25, 2014 Filed in random

well…. so far nothing has been what i thought it would be the past three or four days.
i did pull off the 10 year old slumber party/Mockingjay opening night Jr. high night.
driving 10 kids in my giant van…. OY!
how does Michelle Duggar do it?!

then everything was different this past weekend and i got NOTHING done on my list.
and now annie is at home sick.
so i guess there are no days off this week since the others will be home on Thanksgiving break tomorrow.

i had visions of doing all my christmas shopping before friday.
i thought all the aprons would be in my shop.

my plans didn’t work out.
which has left me feeling a little lost and unsure of what to do next.

so i am sitting here in my jammies… thinking about doing PiYo…. deciding on some online shopping carts…. thinking about what to make for dinner….thinking about christmas crafts for december….

what are you thinking about?

Lauren showed us this video last week and we laughed so hard.

now you will have Careless Whispers in your mind all day… ha ha ha

 

here are a few things i pinned recently….

RA8A2075

be4cbe45d36b1e0e3f00115b692f9b4c

679c31d659c9dc507b491496fdbd05b4

c3d97fd8cc345d3564159477c3f74173a0595e760865c2ca2e2f7c82bf81fd6e
i don’t think i would choose monsters but i love this idea of wallpaper that you color!

111a044e29dbc888b323365f6103725f

cc33edeb4687cbb050841489597303c9
and now annie and i are going to make pumpkin pie.
because… why not?

and i am going to change out of my pajamas.
i mean it IS 2:20 pm so i don’t feel like I’m giving in too bad.
i held my ground for several hours.

 

add a comment

Wendy - Careless Whisper!!! It was a baseball players walk up song this summer … so funny. http://youtu.be/8X8M6KUoMsA

Lisa - More sax — less guns/violence! Love it! Thanx for sharing!

Carrie - The Saxophone players’ random gyrating! Oh my goodness! Hahaha!

heather m. - Love your candid randomness…speaks to my own soul I suppose…! And Michelle Dugger is a special kind of saint..! Hang in there and just try to roll with the punches as it sounds like you’re doing- you can never go wrong with pie! Have a Happy Thanksgiving! ♥

Tanya - Well my daughter would just die over that wallpaper – also not monsters though 😉
Our Canadian Thanksgiving was last month so it’s a quiet, regular week here.
Full disclosure – when I read the post title ‘Unplanned’ my mind immediately went to pregnancy…as a mother does. 😀

Traci - Wallpaper you can color! AMAZING! I have developed a new twist for my future dream house…

midwstmom - These are my favorite kind of posts. . No one posts like this anymore. It’s always look at what i have that’s new and don’t you need one too? Thanks for being real. ☺

mae - In case you haven’t seen “Back Home Ballers” yet, you might like it… currently a big hit with my college and post-college friends as we all head home for the holidays 🙂
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZmWH1F-caM8

Laura In Sacto - I am thinking about Thanksgiving pies, my all girls get away to Florida next week, all my Christmas shopping is done. I am stressing on the fact that when I get home from Florida, with a tan (hopefully) I have to package and mail everything out. Now last year during this time, I was stressing on what to buy for everyone. I got that in the bag this year and it feels good. Enjoy your pie.

colleen - I found something for you.. i know u will do this…. at some point in time.http://www.littlethings.com/3d-art/?utm_source=sungazing&utm_medium=Facebook&utm_campaign=PFPost
And even if you don’t have time you will think this is as cool as I do!
hope annie feels better and the others never catch it.. ha!

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