Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas

One of our local radio stations has been playing Christmas music nonstop since a week before Thanksgiving. And you know what...I love it!

I love Christmas songs. They remind me of my childhood and easily transport me back to those magical moments of Christmas when I was a little girl. The excitement of pulling out all of those boxes loaded with decorations. Searching for the sweet little cardboard church covered in glitter with the red bulb inside to make it shine. And the choir of candle boys and girls to place around the church. Hanging the red and green stockings my mama crochet for each of us...including a little one for Gigi. She used a fuzzy white yarn for our names and I thought it was so fancy. Oh, how I could not wait to hang those stockings!

We always had a big bowl of nuts in the shell out to enjoy too...almonds, Brazil nuts, hazelnuts, pecans and walnuts. I would always dig through the bowl looking for the Brazil nuts...they were my favorite. Why this was a Christmas tradition, I have no idea...but to this day, it says Christmas to me. And I'm bringing it back this year in my home. I may even try to sweet talk my mama into letting me have the nut cracker set from way back then...it's got to be vintage by now!

Oh, and how I loved when my dad would come home with yet another client gift of Hickory Farms...the go to gift of all businesses back in the 70's. All of those cheeses and beef sticks and the little strawberry candies nestled in the shredded green paper would make my heart race with delight.

Then there were the Christmas specials on television...Rudolph, Frosty, Charlie Brown, and It's a Wonderful Life. I can remember when HBO first came out, and I watched Freddie the Freeloader's Christmas Dinner and Emmet Otter's Jug Band Christmas...still one of my favorites. There were no dvd's to watch over and over again. It was a one time shot to enjoy...well, except for It's a Wonderful Life which seemed to come on twice a day every day. And I wanted to watch them all...to snuggle up and know Christmas was finally here.

So I say, enjoy all the Christmas music! And have yourself a merry little Christmas with wonderful memories...old and new!

I Need Help!

I need some serious help here.

I am looking for a certain necklace that I saw via another blog. And I can not, for the life of me, remember what blog I saw it on or who made the necklace. I'm pretty sure this was a giveaway post...and I clicked on the sponsor (not the blogger) to see what type of jewelry she made so I could go back to the original blog to comment about what I would get if I won the giveaway. This was a couple of months ago!

Have I lost you yet?

Anyway...

The necklace looked vintage (but was not), had a "glass" charm that said Daddy's Princess and another little charm (maybe a crown) hanging from it.

I do remember the person who made the jewelry specifically had a kid's section to click on and view items available...which is where I found the necklace.

I hope someone out there can help me! My daughter saw the necklace and said to me, "Wouldn't that be great if Daddy got that for me!" I should have bought it right then and there, but I didn't! Bad Mommy!!!

If you have any idea where I can find this necklace...any idea at all...please leave a comment. I appreciate any and all ideas!

Thanks!

Pilgrims and Indians

Crazy title for a December post...right?

Well, before I transition into Christmas, I wanted to share our Thanksgiving table centerpiece. We were out of town so a big to-do wasn't an option but I still wanted a special, little something...and with my sweet daughter's help...it was.

While the turkey cooked, we created our own Pilgrims and Indians.

We went from this...



To this...



To this...






We had so much fun creating this. And now, our Pilgrims and Indians are safely tucked away until next year.

I hope y'all had a great Thanksgiving too!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all

Can you believe it's almost here? Time to welcome family and friends from near and far. Time to crank up the oven and cook your little tush off. Time to figure out where you are going to put everyone and everything.

And then there is the table. To decorate or not to decorate...that is the question.

Do you decorate your Thanksgiving table? Does your family sit down to a gorgeous Thanksgiving table with the good china and all the appropriate glassware? Is the table filled with hues of red, orange, and brown...pumpkins, turkeys, fall leaves and creative place cards?

Yes or no...here are a few ideas to inspire a change.





country living


country living


all you


amandaparkerandfamily


Too much? Something simple can also inspire that Thanksgiving spirit.


better homes & garden


store&style


courtney russell


better homes & garden


unknown


Here's to a wonderful Thanksgiving filled with warmth and love...and a pretty table too!

Happy Thanksgiving Y'all!

Delish Nutrish - Pumpkin

I know, I know...another pumpkin recipe. This is a good one though! My kids absolutely love it, and it's got some healthy goodies in it too.

Chocolate chip pumpkin muffins are perfect for breakfast or a yummy afternoon snack. The kids love all the sweetness and chocolate while I love all the nutrients secretly being devoured. It's a win-win!


Chocolate Chip Pumpkin Muffins-makes 2 dozen
4 eggs
1 cup sugar
1 (16 oz) an pumpkin
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1-1/4 cups applesauce and/or mashed riped bananas
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon all spice
1 teaspoon salt
12 oz dark chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs, sugar, pumpkin, vanilla and the applesauce/mashed banana until smooth.




The applesauce/mashed bananas is used in place of any oil. Sometimes I use just applesauce when I don't have any ripe bananas. And sometimes I use just ripe bananas when I don't have any applesauce. My favorite is to use a combination of both. Do what works for you!

In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients together. Pour the dry ingredients into the pumpkin mixture and blend. Gently fold in the dark chocolate chips.

FYI...before folding in the chocolate chips, I coat the chocolate chips with a tiny bit of flour to keep them from sinking to the bottom of the muffins when cooking. Sounds crazy, but it really works! Pour chocolate chips into a little bowl, sprinkle a little flour over the top, about a 1/2 tablespoon, and stir to coat.

Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups 3/4 full.




Bake for 16-20 minutes. Let sit for 1 minute, remove from muffin tins and cool on a wire rack.




And guess what...these freeze great! And if you forget to add the chocolate chips...which I did with my last batch, much to my children's chagrin...no biggie. My kids still gobble them up, and I just had one for lunch and it was delish!

Born to Re-decorate

I have always had this need to re-decorate. Even as a child, my bedroom was in a constant state of re-arrangement. I would wake up in the middle of the night with a new brilliant plan to change my room around. It didn't matter that I had just re-arranged my furniture a couple of months ago or that it was 2 o'clock in the morning. And it didn't matter that I would spend the next couple of hours behind closed doors pushing that heavy furniture inch by slow, agonizing inch while sweating my tush off...praying I didn't wake my parents. All that mattered was turning my vision into reality and creating that perfect place that was all my own.

Nothing much has changed since then...except the middle of the night furniture re-arranging waits until my help wakes up. I am still creating that perfect place for me and now my family. I look for inspiration and ideas in magazines and blogs. And just recently I discovered Houzz.

O.M.G!!!

I know, I know...where have I been, right? But still...how absolutely perfect is Houzz for a born re-decorator like myself. It's like playing dress up with your house. It's...just...amazing. And soooo much fun!





















And don't forget about the outside...










Oh man...so many ideas...not enough rooms!

If you haven't discovered Houzz yet...go. If you're already in the know...well, you know what I'm talkin' bout.


*all photos retrieved from Houzz

A Perfect Day To Play Outside

It is always such a surprise on that first cool day. Summer is pretty hot around here...and don't get me started on the humidity...so that first true Fall day is somewhat of a shock. A very welcome shock for sure.




Go outside and play. Have some fun...be adventurous. Enjoy the beautiful weather. Build a pyramid...break out the puzzles and the sidewalk chalk.




Or paint a pretty picture!

A beautiful Fall day is like a breath of fresh air. You didn't know you needed it until you were right in the middle of enjoying it.