Thankful Thursday

 

Last week, I introduced you to our new "Thankful Thursday" tradition. We purchased our items for a 5 year old boy, said a prayer and packed the box.  It is all ready to go to Church with H this Sunday for delivery.  I cannot wait to watch him drop it off.  He's growing into such a sweet, caring and thoughtful little boy.

I will be sharing more about the history behind Thanksgiving with him tonight.  We will then work on this week's project, which is just perfect given the Veteran's Day holiday we celebrated on Monday.  Both my Grandfather's served in WWII (my paternal grandfather was the XO of a ship and survived D-Day), my maternal grandmother drove ambulances for the Red Cross, my father was in the Air Force and my father-in-law was in the Army and actually deployed to Vietnam.  And since the hubby and I had an eye witness account of 9/11 from Washington, DC, it is very important to us that our children understand and respect their freedom.  Again, this makes me no different from any of you I am sure - but I do welcome an excuse to pause, reflect and TEACH my boys.

As such, I was thrilled to receive this package in the mail the other week inviting us to Adopt a Platoon.  I knew immediately that we would do it but was thrilled that this would tie perfectly into my segments for Thankful Thursday. 

 

So happy to do a small part to say thank you for the brave men and women who fight to defend our freedom.  Land of the free because of the brave!

 

xoxo,

TSS

Talkin' Turkey

I cannot believe Thanksgiving is three weeks away!  It is all going by so fast and I simply am not ready.  So last night I started getting myself organized in an effort to not be a hot mess come Turkey Day.  This made me smile as I got into the mindset of Thanksgiving - what it has meant to me in the past and what it means to me today.  And it all starts and ends with one thing - family.

Thanksgiving is chock-full of memories.  It is a great day filled with traditions that will never be broken.  I realize that I am no different from thousands of other Americans who hold this day dear to their hearts; but I did want to share with you how we "do turkey".

First off - all day long, my parents would answer the phone, "Gobble, Gobble".  All.Day.Long.  It used to drive me nuts but guess how I answer the phone on Turkey Day?  Secondly - somewhere along the line it ceased to be called "Thanksgiving" and simply "Turkey Day".  I guess if you've had my Daddy's turkey, you would know why.  Lastly - we grill our turkey.  Daddy perfected it and passed it on to the hubby.  No waiting by the oven, no frying - just hours of drooling by the grill.  It is amazing and yes, I will share how it is done.........later.

I had to laugh when I tried to come up with my recipes.  This menu never changes.  Never.  I mean, you cannot mess with tradition! 

As a child, I would wake up to coffee cake and eggs on the sideboard.  I'd watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and be all giddy when Santa would pull in at the finale.  (As I got older, my brother and I would wake earlier to run the Atlanta Half Marathon).  After the Parade, I would help Mom prepare for Thanksgiving dinner.  There were two families in our neighborhood whose houses we would rotate for holidays.  We would customarily show up around 4pm and eat at 5pm.  Then we would all pile in cars and drive to downtown Atlanta for the lighting of the Christmas tree at Riches Department Store.  After the tree was lit, we would ride to the top of the building to ride the Pink Pig.  The highlight of this visit was getting your, "I Rode The Pink Pig" sticker, sitting on Santa's lap to tell him what you wanted and then Daddy would buy me the Rich's Christmas Bear.

Obviously, I no longer live in Atlanta but many of those traditions are still upheld.  The family wakes up to a breakfast platter inspired by the Barefoot Contessa that I partner with breakfast breads.  We watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade, followed by football while the hubby gets our grill prepped to grill our turkey.  I answer the phone all day saying "gobble, gobble", and we enjoy a wonderful meal.  After dinner, we watch a classic Christmas movie and ready our hearts for the most wonderful time of the year......Christmas.  It is a warm day that means so much to me.  It is my hope that one day my children will have as many powerful memories of our holidays together that I shared with my Mom, Dad and brother.

So I'll share with you my menu next week.  Stay tuned and practice saying it, y'all - "GOBBLE, GOBBLE".   Yes, I know I'm nuts...........

xoxo,
TSS

Creating Fall Vignettes

Happy Monday!  I was out of town over the weekend and so Sunday Supper in our house was nothing to blog about.  Hubby warmed up frozen meatballs and made spaghetti with garlic bread and a salad.  It was yummy and I was thrilled not to have to cook.  So I am simply going to remind you to hop over to A Stroll Thru Life for her segment on creating fall vignettes. There are so many fun, fall activities for you. Enjoy!!!

xoxo,
TSS

Thankful Thursday

Yesterday we had our first Thankful Thursday.  I had so much fun with the boys Spooktacular Surprises in October and have already shared with you how I plan to celebrate Advent here - so this was just a fun idea to keep the suspense going.

Each Thursday, we are taking time to learn about the Thanksgiving holiday and to do something special for someone else.  And since our Church is already working on Samaritans Purse Shoeboxes, I thought that would be the perfect place to start.

Harrison has picked a 5 year old boy to pack a box for this year.  I shared with him the history of the project and explained to him how fortunate he was to have a nice warm house, warm clothes, warm food and more than enough toys to play with - that not all children had such luxuries.  I am not sure if he understood but last night when we said our prayers, he listed every single friend he knew and said he wanted to pray for them.  He told me how lucky he was to have good friends too.  Oh, sweet boy!  We will go this weekend to pick out the goodies and pack the box.  He can't wait and that warms my heart.

So we will do this every Thursday right up until Turkey Day.  Can't wait for next week's installment.

xoxo,
TSS

Scuttlebutt

Just a few thoughts to share with you today from quotes that have been haunting me.

1.  The first one comes from a Bible Study I've been doing on Wednesday nights on the book of Ruth.  It is by Kelly Minter who is fabulous.  In it Kelly challenges us to realize that God doesn't want our best answers, he wants our true answers. 

UM - WOW!  If you are anything like me, you go around trying to please everyone and cater to their needs and wants.  Granted, this is mostly in my work life, but is applicable to family and friends as well.  I know what pushes peoples buttons and try (fail - but try) to avoid them and do only what pleases them.  Well, you can't fool God! 

I have grown more comfortable in my own skin to speak up when I don't think something is right or if I have another suggestion.  But I am not so hot at having my ideas or opinions rejected.  I don't cause a stink but I do have an internal pity party (and a verbal one to the poor, poor hubby). Furthermore, it is one thing to say, "this is how I am and I believe this, this and this" but have your actions not measure up.  I'm good at making excuses - "Oh, I'm just too busy", "work is insane" , "kids got sick", blah, blah, blah - so on and so forth.  At the end of the day, God knows why I did or did not do something...........and he holds me accountable. 

How powerful is that?  I can rationalize excuses away all day but God knows my true my answers - not my best answers.  And I am sure he isn't impressed with little ol' me trying to outsmart him.  hmmmm...........

2.   "If you have done the best you can do and if you have gotten all you could extract from something -- you have given all you had to give, then the time has come when you can do no more than say thank you and move on."
~ Maya Angelou

Love that quote.  I find myself at a crossroad of having to make a decision and this has been ringing in the back of my head.  Who I am and who I want to be aren't exactly in the same place these days so stay tuned........

3.  I posted this on Facebook awhile back.  It makes me giggle.  And since 1 and 2 were sortof deep and heavy - I want to leave you with a giggle.  Meet me on the front porch!!!

Have a great day!

xoxo,
TSS

Sunday Supper

After a week of eating off of Pumpkin Stew and then our Halloween chili, I was ready for a light and healthy dinner this week.  However, H came down with what S had all week (though not as severe) and the hubby woke up sick as a dog Saturday as well.  So - after all three of them pitifully lounged around the house on what was a gorgeous Carolina weekend, soup was the winner for last night's Sunday supper. 

I opted for Creamy Tomato Soup with Grilled Cheese Croutons.  The recipe is from the Barefoot Contessa's Foolproof cookbook.  If you don't have this cookbook, you owe it to your family to go get it today.  It totally lives up to the name - foolproof.  And what is better than a bowl full of yummy goodness when you are sick?  I will say I prefer her roasted tomato soup from her original Barefoot Contessa cookbook - but this is version is less involved and also very delicious. You can't go wrong with any of her recipes.

Since my weekend plans were cancelled in order to play Nurse Mommy, I took advantage of the time to take down the Halloween decorations and get ready for Thanksgiving.

 

The sideboard got a Thanksgiving makeover

 

I've opted to put the pads on my table since grubby hands seem to LOVE it and it also became "The Island of Sodor" over the weekend (for all you Thomas mommy's out there).  As much as I would love to see my Grandmother again, it certainly won't be for her coming back from the grave to snatch me baldheaded for allowing trains to be run across the table!!!  I need to find a cute tablecloth as the only one I have is her linen cloth that I use on holidays.  Not a good everyday choice.

And speaking of Thanksgiving, Marty at A Stroll Through Life will be hosting a week's worth of creating fall vignette's next week.  You don't want to miss out so mark your calendar today and hop on over there November 8-12. 

Have a happy & HEALTHY week!
xoxo,
TSS

Boo Breakfast and a Spooktacular Supper

We survived!!!  Halloween was a hit this year despite the wee one having the croup.  The boys woke up to a "Boo Breakfast" that they preferred to eat by the glow of our pumpkin tower.

Sadly, this was how the majority of the day went for S.  Poor fella....

He rallied through the day just in time to enjoy trick or treating at a few houses.....but only after their Spooktacular Supper.  The kiddos enjoyed mummy hot dogs and ghost mashed potatoes while the adults enjoyed chili with cornbread.

The Pick Your Poison Tray went untouched so we'll be ready for another party soon!

H's school is closed today and he has a classmate coming over to play.  After all this excitement, we are ready for a long, fun weekend. 

May the Force Be With You!

xoxo,
TSS