Thanksgiving Getaway

I really love Thanksgiving Break! Our kids get a whole week off from school and that makes me happy. I love having everyone at home all day. There are no lunches to pack, quarrels over brushing hair, or math sheets. It is just family time. We tend to get a lot done around the house and next to nothing makes me more happy than checking things off my "to do" list!

For the last three years we have opted to take a day or two and get away. It slows our pace, allows us to enjoy nature, and have fun together.

This year we had decided not to do an overnight trip. So we planned a day trip to Dunn's Falls and were very excited about hiking the surrounding area and seeing the waterfall. We had to adjust our plans once we arrived because they were closed! But, thanks to a map app, we quickly reorganized a new destination not too far away :)

We ended up at Clarkco State Park. The kids were exclaiming their famished state long before we arrived so the first thing we did was enjoy our picnic lunch!


There were several really nice playgrounds that we all enjoyed!





The park has a gorgeous lake!


They had several large pavilions with lots of picnic tables.


Some of the pavilions even had these stone fireplaces that I thought were really pretty.


We chose to walk a portion of the five mile nature trail. The leaves were really beautiful.


And the kids had a great time climbing over fallen trees, finding little critters under leaves, and listening for wildlife.


There were people fishing under the shade of the big trees.


There were cabins available for rent that sat on the water's edge.


It was really peaceful!


We had a great time getting away and would definitely visit this park again. YAY for Thanksgiving Break!!!

Ann Elise's Kindergarten Thanksgiving Program

The week before Thanksgiving Break, we got to see our little Indian perform with all her classmates.

They were each given an "Indian" name - Ann Elise became Princess Snowflake :) The students decorated headbands, necklaces, and a pillowcase turned vest with symbols and designs illustrating their new names.


The Kindergarten classes had been practicing for several weeks learning songs about Thanksgiving and thankfulness and memorizing Bible verses. They performed in the church sanctuary and did a great job!

(Ann Elise is on the top row, third from the right)

After the performance we walked back to the classroom and snapped a few pictures with Princess Snowflake!

Happy Thanksgiving!

A number of years ago, my good friend, Christi, mentioned that she had her boys make a list of things for which they were thankful during Thanksgiving. I decided it was a great tradition for our family to adopt!

We have tried different ways of making our list in order to change it up a bit. While they are still young I have focused on making turkeys with their hands and feet.




Last year I must have run out of ideas...looks like I let them color, cut, and paste a turkey and write their own list :)


I hope to keep them in a 3 ring binder and add to it year after year! It has been fun to read back over the years and see how they have matured in their thankfulness....or should I say will have matured :)

I would LOVE to know if you have any ideas of ways to make turkeys!

Wordless Wednesday

(Wes and Kris - Walnut Street Bridge, Chattanooga - March 2006)

FLASHBACK: Summer at the Splash Pad

Just as the five dubs have a birthday marathon beginning in October, our cousins have one beginning in May! We usually make two or three trips to my hometown during the summer squeezing in family time with the birthday celebrations.

This was our attempt at a cousin portrait in July 2010:

(Mac [5 1/2], South [4], Ann Elise [5], Carter Cater [2 mo], Bankston Hays [2], and Wes [7])

My hometwon has always done Parks & Recreation well. There is an abundance of parks, ball fields, lakes, pavilions, trails, and pools. They do an awesome job with landscaping, safety, and planning events at these locations such as movie nights in the park, concerts, tournaments, city wide tailgating, egg hunts, etc.

A few years ago they installed a Splash Pad and it has been a huge hit. While home we have been able to have a great time there! This summer the kids really enjoyed it.

(Mac and Ann Elise)

(Wes and South)

(Bankston Hays)

(Mac, Bankston Hays, and Ann Elise)

(Mac, Ann Elise, Wes, South, and Bankston Hays)

Handprint Christmas Canvas

A few weeks into school I received the dreaded call..."Will you be a kindergarten homeroom mom?" It was dreaded because I just have not felt like I could give so much time at this point in my life - I still have a toddler at home with me all the time. I figured I would serve in this capacity at some point, but not yet. After a little bit of chatter and her convincing me that the teachers understand little ones tagging along, I agreed to the duties.

So far it has really not been bad. The things I have participated with have been right up my alley and having Bankston Hays with me has not been too much of a problem (except maybe the minute he refused to leave the Discovery Lab and threw a train across the room in his frustration with the fact that it was time for us to go home). My biggest responsibility to date, and possibly for the whole year, was to provide a class project for the Fall Festival's silent auction. I gathered the facts, what they expected of me and of the class, and came up with a plan. We would paint a Handprint Christmas Canvas!

I can be creative and have participated in various crafts over my life, but I had never painted a canvas. I knew what I wanted, but was not confident on how I could achieve it. So, Kris recruited me a creative college student and with her helping me brainstorm we made a plan!

The first set of supplies, plus a 20X24 canvas, and a paintbrush to start the project:

I used painter's tape to line off some "candy cane" stripes.

I painted the stripes red. It took about three coats to get a good covering.

Brandi, the creative college student, and I loaded up some supplies and visited Ann Elise's class one morning. She helped the students do their handprints on the canvas while I herded them to the bathroom to wash up!

The sweet Kindergartners showing off their project :)

The second set of supplies, plus a hot glue gun, some grosgrain ribbon, and a staple gun allowing us to finish the project:

After giving the handprints several days to dry, I gave the sides a couple of coats of red. Then I used the different size circle sponges to paint polka dots around the sides.

Next, I used gold glitter glue to jazz it up and added the tree trunk (by using three fingers).

The wooden discs got painted with bright colors to make ornaments. Then they and the star were attached with hot glue.

Added some polka dot grosgrain ribbon and waaaalaaa....the project was finished!

Not bad for a first canvas...but certainly not making a career out of it :)

Wordless Wednesday

(Ann Elise, 5 and Carter Cate, 6 months - November 2010)

mmmmm...my favorite pie

Between myself and Kris, we now only have one surviving grandparent.

Meet my maternal grandmother, Jewell Evelyn...

As a rite of being the first grandchild, I had the honor of "naming" my grandmother, and so she became "Jewella".

Jewella has always been involved in our lives - visiting on holidays and special occasions, taking us to DC, introducing us to the Amish and Mennonite countrysides, cooking up some delicious meals over the years (love, love, love, love, love her fried squash), starting and continuing our collections (Santas and Madame Alexander dolls are two) and even housing me while I completed my 12 week internship in college. While some of these traditions continued through the last few years, a few did not. Unfortunately, Jewella lost her husband (my grandfather, Gran-Gran) to Leukemia in March of 1985. I had just turned 10 and the memories of his diagnosis, battle, and death are real. I was not old enough to completely understand, but I was old enough to feel it. Over the years I watched my grandmother seclude herself, watched her life stop as if she should no longer live since her husband did not. She stopped traveling, stopped visiting our house, stopped the lively and social life from before and took to re-living the memories of her past life instead of making life anew. It was sad. But we all just accepted it. She couldn't be changed. She was making her own decisions and this was the way she wanted it.

Fast forward 25 years, she has now had a few strokes and gradually has needed more care, but continued to live alone, refusing any help. This past summer she fell and cracked her back, had surgery, and received rehab at an inpatient facility. It became very clear that she would no longer be able to live alone - her short term memory had suffered. Plans began to be made and the standing decision was for her to move in with my mom, almost 200 miles from her own home.

I was very supportive of this decision. After all, Jewella deserves it. Though I was very concerned for my mom. I knew how unhappy my grandmother could be and I knew it meant my mother "giving up" her recent (as in 2 months!!!) retirement to care for her mom and it would limit my mom's going and doing. Even with all that said, Jewella deserves it.

Once the move was made and she got settled in, things started looking up. She now had a doctor that listened, read between the lines, and cared. She had a daughter that was fixing her meals, tending to her daily needs, and seeing that therapy was arranged. And, she had interaction with people - including her great-grandchildren (my sister's kids live in town). Within a few weeks (and with some medication changes) she was a different person. She is now happy - even laughing. She is now agreeable - even speaking appreciation for my mom. She is enjoying life - even traveling and spending the night out of town!

What an answer to prayer! It is not all a bed of roses, but so much better than we ever imagined. And we are thankful!

In the heart of thankfulness for Jewella and the spirit of Thanksgiving I thought I'd share a recipe of her's that is my all time fave!!! My mom would make this pie often and I loved it every single time. It is absolutely delicious when warm and just as tasty when cooled off. Enjoy :)

Jewella's Chocolate Pie

FILLING:
Butter (size of an egg, softened)
3 Egg Yolks (reserving whites for Meringue)
3/4 cup Sugar
3 tbsp Flour
3 tbsp Cocoa
1 cup Milk
1 tsp Vanilla
Pie Shell (baked)

MERINGUE:
3 Egg Whites (yolks used in filling)
6 tbsp Sugar

Cream butter and sugar.
Add egg yolks and beat well.
Mix flour and cocoa and add to above mixture.
Add milk.
Cook over low heat stirring constantly until very thick.
Add vanilla.
Pour into baked pie shell and set aside.

Beat egg whites on high until thick.
Slowly add sugar, 1 tbsp at a time.
Beat till it stands in peaks.

Pour meringue on top of pie.
Bake at 350 degrees till lightly browned.