Thanksgiving Weekend Part two

It was also my birthday. Hubs took me out to a fancy dinner Friday night and we stuffed our faces with filet mignon 3 ways and asparagus and macaroni and cheese it was soo good. We also headed up to the NC mountains to get our Christmas tree. It took forever to decide, we have gotten very picky, we will do better next year, we will try not to be so picky.We ended the weekend at my brothers house eating more delicious food and watching football. I got to see the rest of my nieces and nephews, I adore them all. From here on out my days will be filled with lists and shopping and wrapping and parties and more shopping and it makes me so thankful for this past weekend, it was all about hanging out with loved ones without all the stress and other stuff.

 If the rascals see a tree they climb it, its in their blood. they must.

 hubs swore he heard a moaning in the barn behind him, like a dead person zombie moan, it's a sickness.

 We walked all over this joint, it took us forever to decide....will do better next year.

 Hey whatda say, the tree farm also had a Santa. Good thing I told the rascals it was just one of his helpers. cause about 5 minutes after this shot "Santa" got up for a smoke break, Emerson's eyes were big as saucers.

 quick game before trimming the tree

 must fix crooked angel

 so we took our dog Leon to my brothers house and he chased their cat up into a tree...NOT GOOD

 I mean W A Y up in the tree. He came down eventually, so glad we didn't have to call someone. So Glad.

 My niece Lilah, AKA BUTTERBALL, she is beautiful and I love her so.

 she is actually posing, can't you tell?

 my nephew Stephen lost a tooth, he got 5 bucks from the tooth fairy, he was stoked. I wanted to pull that other tooth that was pointing at me but it was not ready, not yet.

 My niece Crisenda played her cello for us, it was beautiful. she is beautiful. they are a very talented, musical family.

 even Lilah was checking her out

 We ended the evening with T H I S. Oh my goodness, my SIL Dana made it and it was HEAVEN

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving Holiday too.

Thanksgiving Weekend Part One

We enjoyed some wonderful family time over Thanksgiving. It was the first time in many years I did not cook and I was so excited to spend the afternoon socializing and visiting with family, and eating...

 My brother in law Rob brines and fries his turkey, I do not brine and I bake. Rob's turkey is better then mine...ALWAYS.

 drama Jake ruining a perfectly good picture.

 cousins being silly

 the most precious Millie, oh how i love her. notice no helmet, she saves her helmet wearing for inside.

 beautiful, sweet Syd

 um can you say A D O R A B L E?

 techno addicts

We are so blessed to live so close to all our siblings, i love seeing all the cousins together. They love each other so much.

Monday Musing

1.Don't you hate when you have a bad dream and you wake up and think it was real? And for hours you walk around either really sad or really angry? yea that just happened to me, I am pretty angry right now.

2. I am STILL FULL. I ate so much this entire weekend. It was also my birthday.

3. Today I am going to Pottery Barn to spend my birthday money...I might move in there. L O V E IT THERE.

4. Did you know Alfred Hitchcock used chocolate sauce as blood in the movie Psycho (shower scene)

5.I am happy my kids are going back to school today, I need some S P A C E....

6. The average person spends 3 years of their life on the toilet.

7.I think I'm going to take advantage of cyber Monday.

8. I'm not going to eat today...still full.

You can make home made bread.

This is life changing people. You CAN have fresh home made bread come out of your oven several days a week. No kneading, fool proof, delicious, crusty bread. You make a batch of dough with 4 ingredients,water, yeast, salt and flour. It sits in your frig for up to 14 days, it makes several loaves. This is awesome. This is easy. Do not be afraid of bread. Try this recipe. Here's the link with excellent, step by step directions.

http://www.artisanbreadinfive.com/2010/02/09/back-to-basics-tips-and-techniques-to-create-a-great-loaf-in-5-minutes-a-day

And here is the bread I made using this recipe.

 I mixed it right in the container I was storing it in. I used a wooden spoon. No mixer, no gadgets.

 after 2 hours sitting on my counter it turned into this

 I ran to Target to purchase one of these. You could eyeball grapefruit size balls but I wanted to be precise.

 My 1 pound of dough sitting out ready to be baked

 nice and crusty

yum

Christmas Inspiration

My Pottery Barn Christmas Catalog showed up in my mailbox yesterday. Just in time. Once the turkey is consumed I am in full Christmas mode. For the last few years we've gone up to the NC mountains to cut down our tree Thanksgiving weekend. We will be doing that again this year. I have been on Pinterest getting some new, fresh decorating  ideas. I have a thing for Burlap garland because of some pics I found on Pinterest. I am on a mission.