Today I'm adding hashtags to a few of these just for my man. It's a bit of an inside joke so bear with me for using my blog to make him laugh. That said, I love my little pilgrim garland from my bloggy friend Alicia. It's a very treasured decoration. I ended up hanging it in about five places throughout the month. #Loveitsomuch!!
Breakfast. Nothin' special.
Have any of you read this weekly encouragement? It's called Miracles and it literally takes my breath away every Saturday morning when we sit over breakfast as a family and read these stories!!(author is Karen Kingsbury)
I get to look into these baby blues every day. #howluckyami?
Falling leaves. Such a pretty display of color.
Election day.
Ava made herself a little wire ring. #Etsyhereshecomes!
Ikea shopping with one of my besties, Nurse Nicki. I was so good... stuck to my budget.. paid cash, yada, yada, yada. #daveramseywouldbesoproudofme
Finishing up the last of my Etsy items... and now my store is sold out for the holiday season. #imonvacation!
Okay we tried for a family photo... tried and failed. Grrr. #igiveup
Yes my son does wear this shirt almost daily. It's lined with fleece and he's big on textures. Adrain caught this shot of Daisy taking a little nap on the floor next to him. Precious.
Cozy.
Cuddly. I did the winter switcheroo on all our bedding, adding blankets and throws, so the guest room got a soft furry new blanket and pillow! (TJ Maxx)
Preparing for guests, big batch of pumpkin pie fudge in little takeout boxes. Because everyone loves a take home gift, right? My man teases me... my love language is gifts.
Thankful tree, Sasha style. (Note to self- next year write on the leaves BEFORE hot gluing them onto the branches. Idiot.)
Anniversary weekend kickoff. I admit it... I couldn't pass up the cute label.
Pushing myself way out of my comfort zone for my sweet friend Kristin. She asked me to photograph her family for Christmas cards... oh my word you guys, it freaks me OUT. I don't mind the practice with my camera of course... but yikes... I'm much better at snapping photos of things that don't breathe and move. Her family was super sweet to me though and gave me lots of grace. (This is one of her cute little hoodlums.) #icouldneverbearealphotographer #almostasscaryaspublicspeaking
Day date! We were blessed enough to have a few hours to ourselves (no kids!) and went to lunch in Seattle to celebrate 17 years of marriage.
Beginning to look a lot like Turkey day...
Baking day. I made gluten free stuffing... gluten free pecan pie... gluten free caramel pumpkin pie... gluten free rolls... and brined my turkey. #glutenfreeholidaysarecrazyexpensive #idontthinkdaveramseyisglutenfree
And yes... a tiny tree came out early. (I promise I was still focusing on thanksgiving and my present season... sometimes you have to put a few things out early though! Right? I know I'm not alone...)
I was afraid to try this pie. But my mom-in-law bravely took the first bite and declared it was GOO-OOD... then the wolves descended and my man was only left with one slice for leftovers. Ha!
Early I know.. but we always do it the day after... My hoodlums love helping, though they have informed me that next year if I have amassed enough vintage ornaments to hang on the tree, they want colored lights. I may have to cave. #theyarehardtoresist
I see many more in my future. #icanthelpmyselfforlovingyou
He hung my lights because he is madly in love with me. He can't help himself. Bwahahahahaha! I asked him the other day if he wishes he could take other women out to lunch (we were on a lunch date- and yes I ask dumb-girl questions sometimes) and he said, in a total deadpan voice, "I can barely handle you." #iwanttokeepitthatway #ithinkthatwasacompliment
Um. It's still November. #ichangeseasonsquickly
I leave my tree lights on when I'm home in the daytime. #ifeelfestive
Okay. This was the day I talked about in my previous post. Set that aside for a minute and let's talk about this elf. I am slightly creeped out by him. Yet here he is. I bought it last year because I thought it was a fun idea. (We never did Santa or any other magical beings because we didn't want to confuse our kids with Jesus since you can't see Him either. I know you get that regardless of whether you do Santa or not and no judgement here either way. It's all good and personal, yada yada yada.) Anyway my kids are way older now so I thought it would be fun for laughs and giggles... well Ava freaked out last year and was like, "NO! He's not real mom... don't pretend he is, etc." She wasn't a fan. This year however, she wants me to do all the mischievous Elf stunts with him as a daily morning surprise. So yeah... creepy elf is hanging around. And it kinda makes me laugh... Adrain comes up with hysterical ideas... and it's all in good fun. Which leads me to my next photo...
After the world calmed down... my boy handed me this pretty snail shell that he had found while running through the woods the day before when he ran away. It's a precious reminder that on some level I was in his thoughts... and an even bigger reminder of what I could have lost and what I didn't. This is a real Christmas treasure. We do silly things and we decorate and our thoughts get distracted... but some things are irreplaceable and precious... most of those aren't things at all. Which leads me to...
I've got some people to thank...
#ithankpeoplewithChristmascookies #oldschoolbows #mymanbroughtthosehome #theywerentmyfirstchoice #buttheyaregrowingonme
So... how was your November?!
