9 Toys You (Probably) Won't Regret Giving Your Kids

It's the first week of December and I'm sure that you, like me, are in the thick of shopping for friends, family and your own children this week. When considering what to gift my children for Christmas I'm always torn between buying something they'll enjoy and buying something I won't regret bringing into our home.

You see my daughter sleeps with a plastic bracelet from Chuck E. Cheese's under her pillow. My youngest's favorite book is missing pages crucial to the plot and no back cover. My older boys have a collection of empty gum packages displayed like rare stamps on top of their dresser. These are not people with a taste for the finer things in life - so when my kids are given a quality toy that stands up to their abuse and that I don't hate, we're all pleasantly surprised.

The following toys are ones that, no matter how many times I find them under the couch or step on them in a dark living room at 6am, I am rarely tempted to throw away. These are classics, the keepers, the toys that have proven their staying power for both girls and boys, 3 year olds and 7 year olds, mild-mannered and/or insanely rambunctious children.



Legos or Lego Duplos
No list would be complete without them because, they epitomize classic childhood play. Boys like them, girls like them, Dads like them, Moms like to organize them (is that just me?) We were lucky enough to inherit BJ's full set of Legos, but we've easily doubled our collection since Elijah began playing with them as a five-year old. Prior to playing with these classic Legos, we bought a starter kit of Lego Duplos, which they all still happily construct with when I pull them out. Yes, you will step on them and teach your children curse words. Yes, they will forgive you because - Legos.

Educo Wooden Kitchen
Britain received this for Christmas four years ago and it's been played with everyday since. I highly recommend the Melissa & Doug cookie baking set and the Melissa & Doug Cutting Food set to go with it - both are favorites with all my kids and virtually every friend who comes over to play. Again, both my boys and daughter use this equally and BONUS! it's lovely to look at.

Wooden blocks
I found these at Goodwill years ago for $4 - still can't believe what a steal that was. This set is similar to what we play with daily. These blocks have formed the banks of the Nile River, served as a garage for untold numbers of matchbox cars, been used as Dominoes, car ramps, fortresses and Nerf gun targets. They are sturdy, open-ended play pieces that your grandkids will play with just as readily as your own kids. Even if you can't find them at the thrift-store, worth the money.

Fisher-Price Batman ride-on car
How I wish this were not one of my kids' favorites. Everything about it offends my minimalist, non-plastic-loving, Montessori-preferring sensibilities. But my kids love this thing dearly. Elijah (7.5) still sits on it with knees crunched against his chest and rips down the hallway chasing younger siblings. It is an ambulance, a getaway car, a minivan, a horse. The older kids rarely if ever play with the car ramp component on the front, but as toddlers that part delighted them all. It's held up to more than 5 years of abuse, and it's from Fisher-Price, so although I wish it were made from up-cycled bamboo by hipster Scandinavians who surf on their lunch break, it's been a keeper.

Dress-up clothes

My parents had the brilliant idea several Christmases ago to gift the grandkids the ultimate dress up bin. It was full of masks, swords and costumes they bought for 75% off at Wal*Mart and Target just after Halloween. It may be too late for you to snag those kinds of deals now, but these capes are a great start to any dress-up collection.. As far as costumes go, my kids love any and everything. Capes, masks and especially accessories like walkie-talkies, glasses, hats and belts.

Nerf Foam Sword
Yes, it is expensive "for a foam sword" Yes, it has the word "zombie" in its name. It has neon green accents and no, it is not beautiful to look at. But if any toy in our home has been subjected to years of daily, brutal abuse, it is this one. This sword has not bent or broken in over 5 years of battle, inappropriate use and general wear and tear. The boys have broken every other play sword and light saber we have gifted them, but this one has survived relatively unscathed. (And for those of you with girls...Britain uses it as a crutch when she plays make-believe...)

Tinker Toys
My in-laws gifted us this set when Elijah was a toddler and the kids create with them all the time. These are Wolverine claws, guns (-sigh-), spaceships, Chinese throwing stars (-sigh-), Harry Potter wands, teacher pointers, pencils, etc. I have been shocked by their longevity and I love seeing what new use the kids will put them to next. Again, sturdy, classic, quality toys. (I'm seeing now that apparently we are slightly biased toward building toys.) 



Balance bike
Our kids love this bike and BJ and I love how quickly they have all transitioned to pedal bikes after starting on this model. The seat of this particular one goes the lowest of all the ones we looked it, so you can start your kid on it around 2/2.5 depending on their legs. It also has the best foot rests once your kiddo is really cruising. There are cheaper models out there, but this one has held up to more than 5 years of continual use - it's a quality bike. Jude just started cruising the neighborhood on it last week.

Tonka Classic Steel Mighty Dump Truck
Honestly, my kids rarely if ever use the dump truck function on this bad-boy anymore. Britain sits in the bed and propels herself forward on her heels, her "wheelchair" getting her around the house in style. Elijah sets one knee in the dump and uses his hands to wheel down the hallway like some erratic scooter. Seems like good ab-work to me. Ben and Jude actually do use the dump as intended. They love collecting other toys or blocks and dumping them into bins, boxes and bowls. Works particularly well to clean up Legos. This thing is made of metal and has held up to my four monkeys using it entirely inappropriately for YEARS.



Would love to know what toys have proven themselves over and over again at your house - share in
the comments!

More gift guides from Crazy Joy: For newborns and their mamas: here. For moms: here and here.

If It Feels Like You're the One Making All the Magic this Christmas

You know that scene from the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy and her friends finally get an audience with the wizard? This grand disembodied voice is shouting madly, billows of smoke and flashing lights have the four friends completely captivated...and then Toto pulls back a curtain to reveal that the "great and powerful Oz" is just a little man with a microphone wildly manipulating levers and buttons? Picture that man and you'll have a pretty good idea of me the first year I had kids at Christmas.

I was running around between nursing sessions, stringing up half-burnt out strands of lights and trying to finish off our handmade stockings with faux-fur trim (I know y'all...I know). All around me bells were ringing and people were fa-la-la-la-ing and over at my house I was yelling, "pay no attention to the lady behind the curtain!" while making four different kinds of Christmas cookies I had no business eating.

It occurred to me that year that Christmas doesn't feel so magical when you're the one making all the magic.

That Christmas the kids didn't care about the presents I'd carefully selected and wrapped with love,  they played with the Amazon box they came in and expressed their thanks by throwing up on the brand-new sweater the hubs had given me. I felt so defeated by the whole ordeal. There was no joy in my world, no jolly in my season. And ever since that insane Christmas as a family of four, I've tried to lower my expectations for what this season "should" look like at this stage of life.

I've stopped baking Christmas cookies almost entirely and rely on invites to the in-laws or my mom's house to have the goodies I'm so sentimental about. It seems I'm constantly needing to shave an inch or two off my waist anyway, so this is really a win-win.

Every year fewer boxes come down from the attic and fewer decorations make their way into the house. Gone are the twinkly glass Christmas trees that used to live on the coffee table and the massive snow globe that plays 'O Christmas Tree' (which was used as a bludgeoning weapon the last time I put it out...)  

We still buy a real tree, but I've gone from hanging three boxes of ornaments on branches to only putting out a curated selection (on the very highest branches). We still hang stockings but I no longer change out my everyday kitchen linens for ones embroidered with Christmas trees and holiday sayings. Keep it simple is my mantra for the holidays nowadays.

If you're the crazy person behind the curtain at your house this year, might I make a few suggestions?

Pick one party to attend and decline all the other invites. 
Maybe don't put up the holiday village this year?
Ask the grandparents to have your kids over to their house to bake and decorate cookies. 
Get your tree from Home Depot instead of the gorgeous tree farm that is an hour away. 

If taking the kids ice skating downtown defines the season for you, make that a priority but skip caroling with neighbors. If sending Christmas cards is a must, then order them online and pay a little extra to have them addressed and mailed directly to your family and friends.

Pretty soon the kids will care more about watching A Christmas Story than pulling all the ornaments off the tree and in the mean-time, no one will care that your gifts all came straight from Amazon instead of the local fair-trade boutique.

When it comes down to it, it turns out that Christmas is a pretty magical season even without all the Pinterest perfection.



More great advice on how to keep Christmas stress-freee from two moms I greatly admire:

Christmas Guidance for Moms (Clover Lane blog)
How Do I Make the Holidays Run Smoothly? (Wire Talk LIVE w/ Karen Stubbs) 

Slowing Down This Season

I fumbled to the bathroom at 4:59am and couldn't get back to sleep. There's a long to-do list today. Family is on their way into town, there's a 12 pound turkey in the fridge that needs to be brined and I really wanted to connect with you guys before the holiday season is officially underway.

Thanksgiving is my very favorite holiday of them all - it's so pure and simple. Hundreds of years later, here we are, about to gather around a table, eat good food and give thanks for it. I love the new Friendsgiving tradition and the way this holiday seems to hover above the fray of commercialism that all other holidays have been sucked into. (Although yes, I have the Publix salt and pepper shaker pilgrims and would die for a matching pair of Indians...)

I'm off social media for a while (haven't you've been missing me??) - I'll pop on to post this and hope to write a few entries during the month of December, so email subscribers, no worries! But if you only catch the blog when I post on FB or IG, maybe subscribe via email so you don't miss anything? I'm struggling to manage the ever-present pull of social media with the need to be ever-present in my day-to-day routine, so I think it's best I back away from the smartphone and re-assess.

I'll leave you with this simple list, let me know what you're drinking, feeling, bookmarking in the comments? 

wearing: an old t-shirt with a hole in the collar, joggers and slippers
drinking: coffee coffee coffee....is there another drink to be had at 5:30am? 
listening: to Una Mattina by Ludovico Einaudi (I love me a good pianist before the sun rises) 

wanting: these pre-dawn hours to be less-fleeting
smelling: my Voluspa candle in Baltic Amber, I'm obsessed

feeling: peaceful. Is there any other way to feel when you're awake before the world?
making: margarita pound cake today for a bridal shower this weekend...fingers crossed it turns out


wishing: some of my high school girls (who are now college girls, but who will always be high school girls to me) would come visit while they're home for the holidays. Hint Hint.
watching: BJ and I just started The Crown on Netflix, so far so good! 

enjoying: hearing Elijah read to Jude before bedtime - it's hard to say who is most delighted with this new development: Jude, me or Elijah. 


eating: clean! I started tracking my macros this past week again, it always helps me to keep an eye on nutrition during a month where it's so easy to go off the rails 


hoping: Jude phases out of this whole screaming "NO!" act real quick

loving: my new volunteer commitment with Birds on a Wire Moms, I get to talk to adults AND contribute to a ministry that has given so much to me... #winning


bookmarking: my Bible. I've been filling up on the Psalms this morning and think I might want an Advent study to do this year, any suggestions? 
needing: nothing

Happy Thanksgiving friends! I'm so grateful you read and respond to this little space where I share my heart.

A Perfectly Imperfect Christmas Card

My heart overflows with happy as I look at the beautiful faces of family and friends surrounding me. No I'm not hosting a party - I'm looking at all of your Christmas cards strung across my living room and on my fridge.  If you got our card this year, it might look a little bit different from past years and maybe even from the other ones on your fridge. We look a little rumpled. There's a stray sippy cup in the shot. I am not wearing make up (hence the black and white).

Let me back up a bit and I'll tell you the story from the very beginning:

I booked a photographer in early October. I curated coordinating but obviously not matchy-matchy outfits for the family in November. I knew it would be outdoors and chilly so I bought nice coats and a freaking hat for my 4 month old. It was $12. Yes that is ridiculous. On the morning of our photo shoot I checked the weather. Clear skies - check. High today- 49 degrees. What?? Um...that sounds cold.

The sweet and talented photographer we'd booked called about two hours before we were scheduled to leave. The kids would have a hard time with the cold she warned. She would go ahead and shoot us but it wasn't possible to edit out red cheeks and runny noses. We might get 20 decent minutes before the kids fell apart. Knowing it would be hard enough to get a good shot of our clan on a perfect day, I took her advice and we re-scheduled.

Then, in a stroke of brilliance, it came to me. Our little family had planned a trip to Savannah over Thanksgiving - we got fancy and rented a beach house because, well, ain't nobody got room for this family at the inn. It would be the perfect place to get an amazing shot for a Christmas card. We'd ask Mom or Dad to take pictures of us on the beach. The beach is always gorgeous, there would be tons of natural light, we already had our perfect outfits. The plan was foul-proof.

The morning after Thanksgiving, I dressed up my little dolls kids, we roped my Dad into playing Annie Leibovitz and shuffled out to the beach. The cold blasted everyone the moment we stepped outside. It was very cold. Possibly even 49 degrees cold.  (If you're not from Georgia, don't hate. That's truly very cold to us.) And it was windy. Like, heeeeeyy you're at the beach! kind of windy.

We never made it past the boardwalk. I quickly realized we were not likely to get the perfect shot. We would be lucky to get any shots at all. Sweet B was not happy about the wind and refused to throw even a single blessed smile in the camera's direction. Blue Eyes was more interested in looking for turtles in the dunes than taking artistic direction. The Squirt was a complete sport about everything, but the Titanic was sinking and one lifeboat wasn't going to save us.

I had every intention of maintaining my sense of humor- what with our four infantile children and all- but it was blown out the window along with my perfect Christmas card by the gale force winds. At one point I might have grabbed the camera from my father and huffed, "I should have known this was a stupid idea." Yes I can get dramatic quickly when my hopes are being dashed.

After trolling through the camera later on that afternoon I admitted to myself that coordinated outfits and synchronized smiles aren't entirely reflective of this season of our lives.

Life right now is crazy, messy, chaotic. But the beauty of this season pushes at the seams of my heart til it threatens to burst sometimes too. It's a weird balance of crazy and joy.

The next morning we went for Round 2. Only this time we stayed in our PJs, grabbed some coffee (and/or milk) and snuggled in on the couch for a while. We set the camera up and hit record.  The Squirt told me everything he wanted for Christmas. Sweet B made faces at the New Kid. Blue Eyes showed off his ninja moves. There was an argument or two. Coffee was spilled. There was a timeout for a diaper change. What we ended up with was an accurate slice of life these days and we managed to grab a still shot from the video that was "Christmas card worthy".

Our outfits aren't coordinated and no one is looking at the camera, but it's currently my favorite picture of our clan.

 Merry Christmas from our perfectly imperfect family to yours. 

P.S. Yes, I've posted about family photo shoots gone wrong before. 

Why I'm Giving Up on Advent

"Long lay the world, in sin and error pining, 

'til He appeared and the soul felt its worth."

~O Holy Night~

It's here y'all. Angels We Have Heard on High and O Holy Night and Away in a Manger. In the words of Olaf, "all good things, all good things."

In past years I have tried to really "work" the Advent season. I read some beautiful blogs that always encourage keepers of the home to embrace the true meaning of Christmas and keep Christ at the center. I love that. In the spirit of giving us all tangible ways to do that, there is the Jesse Tree and Upside Down Christmas and Light 'Em Up and so many other things - and y'all, these things are AWESOME.

But in this season, with four kids under 6, it can feel like pressure.

Growing up, I don't ever remember my mom doing anything "Advent-y" with us. (And mom, if you did, I'm so sorry I've forgotten.) We never attended a very liturgical church, so as an adult I still can't explain the 4 purple candle tradition. Or wait, is it four pink candles?

While we didn't do anything very "Advent-y" when I was a child, I understood that Christmas was about Jesus and well, in my family we loved us some Jesus. We talked about Jesus January through November. By the time Christmas rolled around, we got it. We loved Jesus and Christmas was his birthday, so it made sense to have a big celebration.

In my mind it's a bit like my kids' birthdays. Everyone in the family loves our kids and shows them love year-round. When their birthday comes around we don't have to remind everyone how special that kid is, or why we need to have a party for them. Everyone gets it - we love this kid, therefore we tell them how special they are and we celebrate them. I think it should be kind of the same with Jesus.

This year I'm letting go of the need to "do" more with the kids. We will read the Christmas story a bit more than other Bible stories this month. We will talk about the why behind our traditions. But this year there won't be lists of ways to make it amazing or extra service projects or specific scriptures to read on specific days.

Hope, Love, Joy, Peace.

This is what the Advent candles represent. Yes, I just looked it up. To remind us that before Christ came there was darkness and when He came, He brought Hope, Love, Joy and Peace.

Instead of doing more to show my kids what Christmas and Jesus are all about, I think I am going to focus on being present with my kids. I think they'd like that a lot more actually than me stressing over some crazy craft.

I do want my kids to see that their Mom places her Hope in Christ and not herself. For me right now that looks like acknowledging my failures (i.e. when I yell at my kids, lose my cool with my kids, use a bad word around my kids....etc.) and asking for their forgiveness when I need it. Messing up is actually a great way to share the Gospel with my kids.

I do want my kids to see that their Mom can Love them because she was first Loved by Him. This looks a lot like just being kind most of the time. Remembering they are people I am raising, not tasks I am managing.

I want my kids to see that knowing Christ brings unshakeable Joy into my world. Again,  for me right now this is mainly not throwing a temper tantrum just because they do.

I want to make it obvious that my heart is not troubled by the chaos around me because I have Peace within me. I think you can probably guess my application of this one by now.

If I can live that out this month, I have a feeling my kids will catch on to the meaning of Christmas. With or without pink and purple candles.

The Holidays

It is FREEZING here today. I think unless you live in California or Florida, it's freezing wherever you are today too. Maybe that means your kids are out of school and you have no clue what to do all day. We're going to the gym and then we'll be home. ALL DAY. Call us. Come over. We would LOVE to see you.

December came and went and all those posts I promised you never happened. Here's a run down on the past month. Warning: lots of pictures.

Christmas was wonderful this year. The kids are at AWESOME ages. They anticipated Christmas Day so much, they understood the Christmas story and what we were truly celebrating, they reacted with glee to each gift they opened and each special thing we did on Christmas Day.  Even without any Santa Claus shenanigans, Christmas is magical around here. I think we nailed the kids' gifts. Each kid had a stocking, which we opened before a breakfast of Gigi's cinnamon rolls, and then one gift under the tree (we went with a weapon theme this year - Nerf crossbow, nunchucks and Sais). We also gave a (very) small family gift to the kids (Candyland) and had their big surprise gift ready to go in the playroom.

The Squirt has been asking for bunk beds in his room since we took a trip last year and he slept in one for the first time. Since Ben should be ready for a big boy bed sometime in the next year, we went ahead and bit the bullet and bought all the kids twins beds.

We spent Christmas Eve setting them up in the playroom and then put wrapping paper over the doors so the kids would be surprised when they went in.

Their reaction was perfect.

We spent an hour or so playing around with the new toys and the new beds and then headed over to my parent's place for more chaos with my parents and the cousins. That meant that when we got home, late on Christmas evening, it was time to disassemble the beds and move them into the kids'  bedrooms before that long, wonderful day was over.

We were also given an amazing gift from B Daddy's grandmother for Christmas, two antique iron bed frames that are literally EXACTLY what I have been searching for for Sweet B's room for the past year.

Right now only one is set up, but eventually the plan is to have two twin beds in Sweet B's room. That way we could theoretically move all the kids into one room and have a guest room. If anyone was ever crazy enough to want to come stay with us for a night or two. Anyone? Anyone?

After Christmas we did a few family things that were out of the ordinary for us. We went downtown and rode the ferris wheel near Centennial Park. We took the kids to Legoland and to the local nature center. We slept in and stayed up, we roasted s'mores inside and went out to eat way more than usual. It was lovely.

I look super tired. Most likely I was.

Atlanta by night.

Little treehuggers

Then this was New Year's Eve:

That's right. We did Nothing. Exactly what I love doing on New Year's. New Year's Eve is SO overrated, right? Unless you're the type of person who likes standing in the freezing cold in Times Square for hours upon hours (which I did once in college - it was not fun) or you like paying way too much to get rip-roaring drunk with a bunch of strangers at fancy party...I don't see how anyone really finds this 'holiday' all that exciting.

But ringing in a New Year with my love on our couch? Perfectly my speed.

Now we're coming down from the chaos and getting back to normal. B Daddy was home for two entire weeks and while I absolutely loved it, it was hard not being on MY schedule every day. I'm looking forward to getting back to Bible study and Dance Battle Build, to having my early mornings alone with my coffee and hopefully to blogging more often.

Thanks for reading - I love you all!

Belated Christmas

Today I finally filled up the memory card on my camera which means I was forced to download all the pictures from Christmas at last. And so, a month after the fact I'd like to share my favorite moments from Christmas with you.

Anyone else only just now getting around to seeing their pictures?

Present Over Perfect

I know I said I'd be saying adios in order to get my crazy Christmas house in order, but I came across this article in my dark and still quiet time this morning and thought you might need the reminder (as I did)...

Relationship over rushing. People over pressure. Meaning over mania. ...You've been entrusted with one life, made up of days and hours and minutes. You are spending them according to your values, whether you admit it or not....

Read the rest on Shauna's blog. Merry Christmas friends!

Christmas is Coming!!

I thought I was on top of things. I already have like 15 presents wrapped. And a decorated tree. And my in-laws' gifts purchased. But somehow a thousand things are on my to-do list already this Monday morning so this is my cry of, "Uncle!" Something's gotta give this week and it's the blog dear friends.

Today I'll be grocery shopping, sending out the last batch of Christmas cards, buying a gift for the babysitter and starting my final homemade gift (which promises total awesomeness if I'm actually able to finish it). Tomorrow there's wrapping and baking and a doctor's appointment and then from Wednesday on it's a blur of social engagements and oh yeah, Christmas day.

I have loved all of our little morning chats this year so much. I hope your Christmas is very merry and hope you stick around for more in 2012!

Bringing Christmas Cheer

My sister has been doing this activity from Lil Light O Mine with her daughters to help them get in the Giving vs. Getting spirit this Christmas season. Yesterday we were the recipients of an awesome note from the Squirt fan club (number of members - 1. Cousin Kate.) telling the Squirt how much she liked coming over to his house and having him chase her. Honestly!

I love all the ideas Lil Light O Mine has. They are simple, doable things that help teach kids the joy of giving. So we decided to jump on the bandwagon and bring some Christmas cheer to our local children's hospital. (Which just so happens to be where Aunt Anna works.)

The Squirt and I mixed up some peppermint bark, dipped some buckeyes and then went to town decorating Bakerella's gingerbread heads (which turned out SO cute I squealed. For real.) to take to the nurses at the CHOA ER, who have been earthly angels to this family on two occasions already in our short time with kids.

It was really fun to talk to Squirt about what nurses do and why we were making goodies for them. He totally understood by the time we got to the hospital why we were there and what we were doing. Not to mention it was really fun to see Aunt Anna at work and see all the fancy ER equipment.

If you're looking for some fun (and easy. Seriously. You do not have to decorate cookies...) ways to spread Christmas cheer in your neck of the woods, check out Lil Light O Mine's Light 'Em Up Idea List. There are tons of great ideas even if you don't have kids!

Handmade Christmas Ideas

It's killing me that I am making a bunch of gifts this year and can't share the awesomeness with you guys in advance. (Approximately half my followers are also family members and will be on the receiving end of my craftiness.) So I wanted to share some of my favorite things I've seen across blogland that I will not be making myself this year. All B Daddy wants is a finished slipcover and he's not even getting that...

For a neighbor

Source

For a friend

Source

For a mother in law

Source

For a grandparent

Source

For a little boy

Source

For a little girl

Source

For a co-worker :)

Source

Are you giving any homemade gifts this year? Is your shopping done already? (If so, I hate you.) I'd say I'm about 40% there. If you don't count all the half-finished projects. If you do...I'm probably sitting at about 10%.

Random Ramblings

I feel like I haven't blogged in forever. Has it been a while? I've been busy...and so have you I know. Because Thanksgiving is THURSDAY! Yeah for family time and fried turkey and football and the Georgia Bulldogs being the SEC East Champs. (Not that that last one has anything to do with Thanksgiving, but I am thankful for championship game to look forward to this year.)

So Saturday was our 6th wedding anniversary. Whoa. Did you know the median length of a marriage in the United States these days is 11 years? That is crazy. I feel like B Daddy and I haven't even hit our stride yet. We had the chance to go to Athens, where we met and were married, and were able to go out while my parents watched Sweet B (the Squirt was with B Daddy's parents.) Praise the Lord for willing and able grandparents - what a gift it was to go out to dinner and a movie all alone!

Us 6 years ago

Us now

And I made B Daddy a gift - here's a little peek. I'll be back later on with a tutorial. It only cost me $0.59! Talk about affordable.

In other news, we went for our 20 week ultrasound this week for Baby #3. What a miracle. Every time. We saw 10 toes, 4 heart chambers, 2 kidneys, 1 diaphragm, a zillion vertebrae and those little bits that happen to make this baby male or female. I'll spill the beans tomorrow once I can get some of the ultrasound pics uploaded. I swear I'd be a rock star blogger if loading pictures was less of a hassle.

I am just loving this week. My turkey is thawing in the refrigerator and I'll be making pie crust for a completely from scratch apple pie tomorrow... life is good.

Thanksgiving Traditions

How is it possible that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK? Did that sneak up on anyone else this year? Y'all know by now that it is my favorite holiday. I love that there are only three things on the agenda: cook, eat, watch football.

This year my in-laws are traveling to Texas which sounded about as appealing to us as a root canal considering the not-yet 2 1/2 year old, not-yet one year old and achy-like-an-old-man preggo B Daddy would have to drive there and back for a total of 28 hours in the car. Not happening.

We'll spend the day with my parents and sister's family. They've asked us to fry a turkey (any other fried turkey addicts out there?!) and make an apple something for dessert. My mom and sister will handle the stuffing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, macaroni and cheese and the ever important cranberries out of a can.

Besides the food, family and football, we don't have many established Thanksgiving traditions. I have been looking for a book about the first Thanksgiving (aka Pilgrims & Indians) that I can start reading to the kids each year. Since the Squirt still doesn't sit still for a book and Sweet B is rather oblivious, I figure I can pick one up on post-Thanksgiving sale and start that tradition next year??

Do any of you have Thanksgiving traditions I need to know about? Any food dishes that absolutely make or break your Thanksgiving dinner? Dish up!!

Thankful for Veterans

I didn't grow up in a military family and didn't really have friends who did. To this 1980s child, war was a thing that happened far away and in the movies. I had a soldier pen pal in 2nd grade who flew bombers over the Middle East. I wrote a few letters and sent a few care packages to soldiers serving overseas post 9/11. For the most part though, a soldier's sacrifice is hard to wrap my brain around and warfare is something that happens far far away.

Today I want to say thank you to the soldiers I have known. Both of my grandfathers - who served overseas in World War II and the Korean War. Thank you for leaving your families and the comfort of the known to defend the defenseless and offer your strength to those in need of it.

To my amazing in-laws Bill and Debbie who served for many many years and sacrificed time with their young children and the stability of living in one place in order to proudly serve in the Air Force both here and abroad, thank you so much. The values you passed along to my husband, so many of which were demonstrated through your service in the military have been and will continue to be a great blessing to our family.

And to all the military wives I have the privilege to know - I see you patiently enduring the home front. Getting the kids off to school by yourself, finding a friend to cover for "Donuts with Dad", Skyping late at night and early in the morning so your husbands can connect with your kids. You are the cornerstone of your family during these years...thank you for a sacrifice that so often goes unnoticed. 

It is something I think about far too little but am truly grateful for - to have never known war in my hometown because of soldiers willing to fight thousands of miles from theirs. Thank you for your courage, your honor, your sacrifice, your selflessness. Happy Veteran's Day.