Thanksgiving

We had a really quiet Thanksgiving. With the busyness of the Advent and Christmas season right around the corner, I was very thankful for the restful and relaxed atmosphere!

We are incredibly, awesomely, unfathomably blessed!

My menu included cranberry bourbon turkey tenderloin, dressing, mashed potatoes, candied carrots, and brussels sprouts. It was all a hit, except for the brussels sprouts, which no one but me cared for. Oh well. It was worth a try. For dessert, I made pumpkin bread pudding. Yum.

We took the kids down to the Peabody to see the ducks march. It's kind of crazy - you wait and wait and wait and the actual march takes all of 5 seconds. But the kids thought it was the cutest, most exciting thing ever and spent a long time watching the ducks swim in the fountain.

Fail

I'll close with a little Thanksgiving entertainment from turkeys numbers 1 and 2. (It's kind of long - you'll get the idea after the first or second verse.)

A birthday, a trip to the farm, and a revival

Our weekend could not have been packed with three more diverse activities!

First was Elizabeth's birthday party. These two have been friends since they were born. I love that they are growing up together. Elizabeth's party was packed with all the things little girls love - princess costumes, tiaras, jewelry, glittery cookies, manicures, pink punch, and giggles.

Elizabeth was feeling particularly silly!

Saturday afternoon we headed out to the Halford's farm for a fall festival. I think everyone's favorite activity was riding the horses, even though for Caroline cooking her own hotdog over a campfire was probably a close second.

Caroline was in heaven! She listened intently to everything Dr. Halford said and did a great job! She was so proud of herself!

Helen loved it, too. She said, "I was so brave riding the horse!"

Dr. Halford is so great with all the kids.

Then Sunday afternoon, I joined my fellow church choir members at the Victorian Village Tent Revival. We sang a few pieces and then walked over to The James Lee House for a special reception and tour. My sweet friend and organ mentor Jennifer and her husband are in the middle of planning a huge renovation to the house. Hopefully, the B&B will be up and running by late next summer! It's going to be so beautiful and I can't wait to see it!

The original part of the house (now the back) was built in 1848. This front facade was added in 1878.

The girls are standing in front of one of the two magnificent marble fireplaces in the parlor.

It was a busy and fun weekend! Now I need a nap...

Fall break

The girls had fall break over this past weekend. We didn't go out of town, but stayed in and enjoyed some Memphis activities.

Peter had school on Thursday, so I took the girls to do something we wouldn't attempt with him in tow: painting pottery. They had so much fun. Caroline painted a cross treasure box and Helen picked a piggy bank. Helen was very worried about leaving Piggy behind to go in the fire, but I'm happy to report we picked him up and he was just fine. I treated them to lunch at Cheffie's afterward.

Friday, we got up and headed to the Licterman Nature Center. We had such a good time exploring and strolling around the lake there. It was a beautiful morning. Caroline participated in a 1st and 2nd grader group project at school several weeks ago. They designed and built a scarecrow. She was so proud to see their hard work on display.

 

Monday was the last day of fall break. I was grateful for an email from my friend Brittany inviting us to join her and her boys and some other friends at the zoo. My usual Monday morning activities are the grocery store and laundry. I'm so glad I neglected those tasks for a fun time with friends at the zoo!

It was a good fall break. I'm already looking forward to the next day off of school so we can have another Memphis adventure!

The fair

We went to the fair for two reasons: to check out my dress and to have some fun!

 

Boston girls' trip

I'm a lucky girl. I just got back from a fantastic weekend trip to Boston! One of my dearest friends, Brittany, is living in Boston for a year while her husband does a fellowship. I'm doubly thankful - Brittany is such a sweet friend and a fantastic tour guide and my husband is amazing for taking care of our three kids all weekend by himself. Can't wait for the next girls' weekend!

Check out Brittany's post on our trip. She's got a few more pictures and details of our weekend.


We took the Freedom Trail tour.

We ate...

(The Beehive)

...and ate some more!

(Mike's Pastry - cannoli disappeared like some kind of magic trick after I took this pic)

We shopped at Quincy Market and found comfy and cute new shoes.

(Apropos footwear - a very interesting stop)

We saw lovely buildings and gardens.

 

We found the resting places of some very famous Bostonians.

(Samuel Adams actually had nothing to do with the beer other than in name.)

We became Red Sox fans by proxy.

I had a fantastic time. It was so good to hug my friend's neck and experience a little bit of her life. She was an awesome tour guide. She has really immersed herself and thrived in Boston. I'm so proud of her.

I missed my littles and was so extremely happy to see them waiting for me as I exited the airport terminal. I brought back a couple of Boston surprises.

(Need a better picture! It's so cute, but I think he'll be 5 before it fits!)

I've got to say that my husband is the greatest. He was completely unfazed by my absence. He was 100% behind this trip and I am so grateful. He and the kids even had a little adventure of their own...

(Mud Island River Park)

Pregame downtown fun

We like the Grizzlies a little bit around here. We've had to plan our attendance as a family this year around Caroline's school schedule, which eliminated most week night games. We had tickets for a Saturday night game a couple of weekends ago and decided to head downtown early.

We took the kids on a carriage ride. The girls picked out the prettiest princess carriage they could find. They were absolutely thrilled with the entire ride. It was so fun watching their delight.

The girls even got to meet and thank Barney after our ride.

I'm not sure if this happens at every home game, but there were some fun slides and bouncy things set up on the plaza outside the Forum. We spent a couple of minutes letting the girls get some wiggles out.

A friend once told us that his kids got really excited about sporting events when they had a specific team player to cheer for. I think I've mentioned before that Caroline's favorite player is Marc Gasol. She's a super fan! Who wouldn't want this cutie in their cheering section?

The Grizz are headed to the playoffs and we couldn't be happier for our favorite team!

Dance cam

Caroline has been trying so hard to make the dance cam at the Grizzlies games. She hasn't made it yet, but we're hopeful.

Grizzlies

We have so much fun cheering for the Grizzlies! We love them - win or lose.

Everyone has Grizz gear.

This girl has turned into quite the fan over the last year. Her favorite player this season is Marc Gasol. Good choice. She chose him in a very calculated fashion. He is number 33; three plus three equals six, which is almost how old she is. Logical. We love watching her get into the game. She has most of the starting players and their numbers memorized. She cheers (so very loudly) at appropriate times and just generally enjoys herself.

I'm grateful for these family times. We have so much fun together. I'm incredibly blessed.