Thankful...

I am so disappointed I never finished out my 31 Days series. Life got busy and I never got a chance to get back to it. I have been busy finishing stuff around the house, cleaning out stuff we don't need anymore, and trying to make things look pretty around here.

At this time of year I always have so many things I could share here, but never seem to get the time to do so. So this year I am going to try.

I'll start with a quick recap from Halloween:

Batgirl and Ariel.

Mummy tealight holder. 

 

Jack-o'-lantern.

Here in Texas we have enjoyed the most beautiful Fall this year. We have been here for 12 years, and I think this is the most perfect Fall I have ever seen. The weather has been so perfect - mild for a long time. Usually we go from 100+ degrees, to maybe one week of 70's (if we are lucky), then straight to the 40's, and ice! But we have been so blessed this year with perfect weather and enough time to soak it all in.

And the trees this year have been so spectacular! We always hear how beautiful the autumn colors are up north - ours usually go from green, to orange/yellow for a couple of days, then straight to drab brown. But this year we got to experience the full beauty of Autumn colors - reds, yellows, orange - all so vibrant under the bright blue skies of Texas.

Early Fall - beautiful blue skies and perfect weather.

Spectacular Autumn foliage - this tree just shinned so bright - breathtaking!

So I took the time to prepare my house for this beautiful season.

Antlers seem to be the big thing this Fall season.

So in love with these beautiful Fall flowers.

Side table with Fall colors and the bible from my Mum.

Mantle - antlers are always big around here!

 

 

Sideboard decorated with pumpkins and pinecones.

Look at these beautiful Sunflowers!! GGGGorgeous!!!

Pumpkin wooden bowl - inspired by Jeanne Oliver's Home For The Holidays e-course (SO awesome).

Added a blackboard to the kitchen - I get the top half, the girls get the lower half :)

I have so much more to clean out of this house (it is ridiculous!!). I really want to get it all done so I can relax and fully enjoy this holiday season. Next weekend I want to get all my Christmas stuff down from the attic, so we can start on our Advent calendar/tree. The girls loved doing this last year, so we are really looking forward to it again.

Trying hard to install the true meaning of Christmas without the emphasis being on us, and what we get for Christmas. So far we have put together three shoeboxes for the Operation Christmas Child campaign. We completed one shoebox online, and the other two shoeboxes we did together. We stuffed those shoeboxes so full of love and goodness and our love of Christ - I hope the boxes manage to hold up for their long journey. Trying to explain the process (why we are doing this) to the girls without crying was difficult. They love the idea that they get to make another child so happy this Christmas...and that is what it is all about, right?

Operation Christmas Child - hope our boxes make it intact. They were packed TIGHT!

Well, I have so much more to do...and more to share, but that is all for today otherwise I could go on for hours. Tomorrow I will share our fun family Thanksgiving get-together (we do this the weekend before Thanksgiving, each year) - it is so much fun (although this year it was also FREEZING cold!!).


Until tomorrow...

Thankful for my family, and sweet friends.

Thankful for my warm house, and nutritious meals.

Thankful for the opportunity to live this life to the fullest,

...and to share His love.

Fishing in a Tutu, and other weekend musings...

Monday was busy, so this post is a little behind, but here it is anyway:

Ever seen someone fishing with a tutu on?

Well, now you have! I think I could accurately describe both my girls as "tomboy princesses!"

We had a relaxing weekend at the lake "cabin". I finished the flooring in the bedroom and tore up more carpet to reveal lino underneath it. I do not like carpet. I really do not like the very ugly brown carpet we have, so I am very pleased with my progress. The husband is looking a little concerned. Guess he is just not sure when (or where) I will stop. Not sure when or where I will stop either. Really need to make a plan (that I will somewhat stick to - hehehehe!).

Before - the ugly brown carpet.

Close-up of very ugly brown carpet!

Carpet gone - looks better already.

Pulling out the million staples - uugghhhhh!

Vacuum :)

Done ;)

Love it! It looks SO MUCH BETTER, it smells so much better and it will be so much easier to clean. WHY. DID. WE. WAIT. SO. LONG????? (weird, huh?)

Hallway and bathroom are next....

In other news...we had big storm Saturday night - mostly lightning and rain (thank you Lord - we really needed the rain). The lightning always scares me the girls, so not the best rest that night, but we all slept in, so that was nice. We always worry about the big trees we have right next to the trailer - they will have to come down, unfortunately, just not safe :( boo! So I really need to start thinking about more landscaping - natural, hardy and pretty.

Grandparents new puppy was locked away for most of our visits over there - the girls were not amused! Poor puppy hurt his knee last weekend, so he is on "bed-rest". Girls still not amused! Puppy gets in the way when everyone is eating. Girls not amused! Not amused at all :( Hopefully puppy will be allowed out of exile next weekend. So these photos are from last weekend:

This photo shows my 3yr old being chased by the puppy. We were laughing so hard - you have never seen a kid run this fast EVER!

From the top pic to this, this is all I could get of her! I really wanted to get a pic of her face - so priceless!

Grandpa and both girls running again with the puppy.

Grandpa's dock - feeding the catfish.

What a pretty Autumn day.

Busy weekend. Busy week ahead!