August Fields

downtown disney.

the week before thanksgiving our family went down to orlando florida with my parents. it was delightfully not busy and the weather was awesome!
the first night we hit downtown disney.  this area is free to the public.  free parking.  
we contemplated taking the boys to the new legoland themepark but honestly the reviews were so so (probably due to the fact that it is new) and we had to be realistic with our time as we were already going to be fitting disneyworld and seaworld into our week.
my mom knew that downtown disney had amazing lego structures set up outside and indeed they WERE amazing!  this fulfilled my boys’ lego fix for sure!

the girls had fun choosing a little charm for their “charm it” necklaces.  this was not planned but looking back this is a great idea.  it steered them away from wanting uber expensive frivolous purchases of wands, dresses and other paraphernalia.

we let them choose a charm at three different stores. cute!

oh boy.  dubs was a riot!  he loves toy story.

temporary tattoos.

high school musical (for the music note), belle, finn, shu, and mater.

my parents took us to fulton’s crab house in downtown disney.  it was delicious!

a waiter went around doing magic tricks 🙂

we did not go up in this balloon (it was too windy) but it looked fun!

the night ended with some ice cream!  cookie dough for me. always.
this was day one of our trip.  more to come!

thanksgiving 2011.

thanksgiving 2011.  what a wonderful day it was!
we hosted my husband’s side of the family.
i made a few dishes using recipes i found on pinterest (check out my thanksgiving board).  including this a.maz.ing. pumpkin pie!
boone requested it.  i wasn’t a fan of pumpkin pie….until now.  this one won me over.

 the kid’s table was super simple 🙂  i did pick up some cute pilgrim hats from hobby lobby that they enjoyed coloring.

the adult beverage table.

 i shamelessly had deanie snap a picture of me and my cute husband.   🙂

a few more pictures of the yummy food.

rye bread appetizers.
*recipe*
one loaf of mini rye bread (found by the deli counter)
mix chopped onion (i use sweet vidalia), mayo, and parmesan cheese.  broil for 2-4 minutes.

oreo turkeys.  the kids LOVED these!  but please note….i had planned on making them with the kids.  so glad i didn’t as these are pretty laborious.  my kids were disappointed at first, but when they saw how long it was taking me they were fine to go play and leave me with the turkeys.

oh, these were good!  marinated mozzarella wrapped in prosciutto, topped with sun dried tomato and basil.
check my pinterest thanksgiving board for the pie, oreo turkeys and mozzarella appetizer.

the official turkey carver!  this is my father in law slicing up the turkey that my mother in law prepared and brought over.

and here is my favorite Bible passage to read for thanksgiving.  psalm 100.

the four big kids read this for part of our dinner devotions (hank was cut out of the picture…sorry buddy.)

mr. daddy followed this up with a reading from c.s. lewis called ‘the necessity of tribulation’.  it is a daily reading from “The Business of Heaven”.

this was the only picture i took that shows all the food. 🙂  that’s moz, my super stylish sister in law and on the left is my dashing, smarty pants brother in law.

games galore.  euchre, pictionary, scategories, chess and speed scrabble.

we settled down and pulled the computer monitor into the family room and streamed in a movie from netflix.

and when everyone had gone home just me, moz and susie put hair styles on pinterst to the test.  this braid is super cute no?
at 1am i finally gave them a hug and went to bed.  happy thanksgiving!

fall days

this fall has been full of fun!  i really really like all the different seasons and fall is no exception.
walks in the woods.  crunchy leaves and changing colors.

trying for the world record of “biggest pile of leaves”

then settling for the thrill of burying their 2 year old brother.

harvest festivals with petting zoos.

and of course deeeelicious crispy, juicy apples dipped in warm caramel.

or for the particular ones, no caramel.

bobbing for apples.

changing out the window boxes to mums.

this time of year carries traditions, memories, yummy smells (spices and caramel!).

so much goodness.  so much to be thankful for.

courageous. the movie.

we saw this movie last weekend.  it will turn a lot of emotions and definitely make you think.

i cried.

i laughed.

it challenged me to be a better mother and for my husband to be a better father.

and i think we ALL have room to improve.  whether you have your own children or not.

this movie will tug at your heart to ponder the way you raise your children.

have you seen it?  what did you think?

Courageous the movie trailer

its fall. and i love it.

we started out with a trip to chicago for our 12 year anniversary…..i love my husband!  cheers for many more years 🙂

fall brings fresh apples……and yummy candles.  i’ve been burning this hazelnut by swan creek candle and it is a. maz. ing.

fall decorations are out.  and i found white pumpkins and hobby lobby.  so cute.

the fall mantle.  so easy and simple.  here is last year’s mantle. you’ll see where i used these vases last year as well.

fall means extra hot salted carmel mochas and sunday paper after church.

fall means going to the pumpkin patch….

happy fall!