Abundance

That’s what we’ve got in this life we live.  More than we could ever need. 

Without it all, we’d be okay. 

We’d survive. 

We’ve got family, friends, health, freedom, faith, and hope. 

We must be so grateful for that.  Do we need anything else? 

No.  But I am thankful for all that other stuff too. 

It’s nice to have a little “fluff” in life.

As I write, here is the fluff that I am thankful for this Thanksgiving season:

sweet coffee

a mopped kitchen floor

an organized closet

bright sunny days

the smell of rain

great photography

heated seats

live music

babysitters

spray paint

50%-off-already-reduced-prices sales

bedtime

fun necklaces

unexpected beautiful weather

With a list as fluffy as this, I’ve got not excuses to whine about anything. 

Happy Thanksgiving Friends! 

A few family photos

    

These are just a few of my favs.  I am loving how they turned out. 

I can’t decide which one(s) will be in the Christmas card. 

Our photographer was my friend Becky, from Bex Photography.  If you’re here in town, she is totally recommended.  

A Thanksgiving Feast – Preschool Style

 

The four year olds feasted their eyes out.   The Cheetos were the big crowd pleaser.

We were responsible for bringing the tater tots. 

I wonder if I can get away with only bringing tater tots next Thursday? 

Statistics for the Grandmas

The boys had their yearly well child checkup today. 

Along with that came 4 shots for Jagger and 3 for Cash. 

So the boys are are little grumpy today.  But they are healthy. 

Here is what can be said about them in a nutshell:

Jagger         Height  43 1/2”,  >95%     Weight:  44#,  85%

Cash           Height  31 1/2”, <5%      Weight:  22#, <5%

Christmas….. err Fall

I’ll start with a disclaimer:  I do realize I am crazy. 

This morning when I got up, the Christmas bug bit me.  I felt a deep need to get the house all decked out for Christmas.  I had Christmas spirit, yes I did.  But I also felt conflicted, because I knew it was too early to be overwhelmed with such spirit.  I don’t want the neighbors talking. 

“Did you hear about Brei, and her spirit?”

So I did what any normal person would do, and took a little Facebook poll to see if it was too early to put the tree up. 

My friends supported my Christmas spirit.   So with the feedback I wanted, I started going through storage to bring out the tree and all the other goodies that adorn it.   Let the neighbors talk. 

About an hour later, I had the  tree up. 

About an hour after that, I regretted it.  I am not ready for Christmas.  What’s this tree doing in my living room? 

I need to undecorate for Christmas, and I need to undecorate now.  But without taking the tree down, because that’s a lot of work.  So after a couple seconds of thinking really hard, I had my solution. 

I present to you….. my Fall Tree.   Full of feathers, and golds and bronzes.  It’s like fall threw up on my fake tree.    There’s nothing Christmasy about it.  

 

It’s not that crazy of a notion.  It’s not.  I know other people that do this.  Yes, they are crazy, but only in the clinical sense, and that’s beside the point. 

The current state of this leaves a lot to be desired.  I am sure  I’ll be poking and prodding at it all the time.   But, in a couple weeks when I am ready for Christmas, I am going to just throw some more  ruby red ornaments on top of all that other junk and turn it from a Fall Tree….. to a Christmas Tree.  Presto-Chango.  And then I will put a lot more crap around my house and it will be the merriest Christmas this place ever saw. 

But for this next week or so, I only have Fall Spirit. 

Security Threat

Something is wrong with me.   

(Insert your own obvious joke here.)

But besides all that.

It turns out I set off  security alarms when I walk into certain stores.  And I have no idea why.   Or maybe it’s all the stuff I stole. 

I kid.  I’m innocent.

 

This is a big problem though, people!  It’s embarrassing. 

I have narrowed the culprit down, and it’s my purse that is causing me this embarrassment.  I don’t know why.  I bought it fair and square. 

Yet, when I walk into Wal-Mart, Dick’s, Express and Home Depot, and various other places,  the alarm goes off and I get questioned. 

And here’s the thing,  it’s not EVERY TIME, just EVERY OTHER time or so!  Today, for example, it went off when I was walking IN to the store… but when I was strolling on out….. SILENCE.  I don’t know what the deal is. 

It is so annoying and embarrasing though……to be scared by the alarm, have a forced encounter with a Wal-Mart greeter, and pray no one I know is passing by while I get patted down by a 90 year old.  Ok, they don’t pat me down, but still, they make me dig my receipt out. 

What is the solution to this embarrassing problem?   A new purse ain’t gonna happen.  I love mine too much, even with this “special” problem.  Is it the phone, the credit cards, the stolen CD, what?  Is there a tag I need to remove?  I looked, there isn’t.  Should I have my purse rubbed on one of those mat thingies? 

My current solution is to time my entrance and exit at the same time as someone else, preferably someone that looks a  little more shady than I do.  And I may or may not shoot them a look that says “Ah, I can’t believe you just tried to steal stuff from Wal-Mart.”

Now then, I can avoid Express.  That’s easy.  And at Dick’s, I can go in without my purse, because I’ll have Grant and his wallet, same goes for Home Depot.  But Wal-Mart….. I can’t avoid that place.  It’s like my second home. 

Anywho, your suggestions are needed.  And if we are ever on a shopping trip together, you might want to walk about ten steps behind me when we enter and exit each store.  Consider this fair warning. 

And for my next trick

…A much needed coat rack that my four-year-old can access.

There is literally zero storage in my house now.  So stuff like this makes a big difference in my life . 

I made it out of:

• $1.50 board
• A couple yard sticks from my Grandpa’s basement
• 9 rulers, at 10 cents a pop
• $9 worth of hooks 

I am pretty pleased with my $12 investment. 

Added to DIY Day at Soft Place to Land

Poor Eating Habits

You already know there is lots of candy around the house this time of year.  So obviously my jeans are fitting a little bit tighter than normal.  Well, let’s make them as tight as can be, cuz mama wants some homemade donuts! 

I thought it would make this afternoon  extra special for the boys and me….   And it did. 

Here’s how we did it:

• A  tube of refrigerated biscuits
• Vegetable oil
• Cinnamon and Sugar

Pop open the tube and separate the circles, and then use the lid of something in your refrigerator to cut holes in the middle. Save the holes for donut holes.
Pour some vegetable oil in a skillet 1/2 inch deep and heat it to about 375. Place the donuts in the oil, and they will golden brown fairly quickly~like 30 seconds or so
Then flip them to the other side, do the same. Drain them on paper towels, and then do the same for the donut holes. Those turn brown really, really quick so be ready.
Sprinkle them with cinnamon & sugar, or powdered sugar, or put glaze or frosting, or sprinkles, or whatever you fancy.

Recipe found via this blog.

 Anywho, it turns out the is the first time I have ever fried stuff in oil…. and, uh-oh,  I kinda liked it.  Watch out friends, it looks like I am the next Paula Dean.  

Actually, I only liked it while I was eating was eating them.  Minutes later I felt disgusting. 

Pop.  Yes, that was the button on my jeans. 

Sugar High

We’ve got a couple boys here that love them some sugar.

Grant and I already went through the loot to make sure the chocolate was safe.  It was. 

Our Jack O Lanterns are the most uncool  ones that I have seen.  Obviously we aren’t into templates or fancy carving gear.  We stick with a trusty steak knife. 

Instead of traditional Trick or Treating, we had a Trunk or Treat event at church.  It was a success: Trunks full of treats outside, and games, popcorn, and hot chocolate inside.  The boys had a blast with their friends, as did their parents. 

    It was great to have Halloween and Daylight Savings Time coincide this year, wasn’t it? 

They should do that more often.