Advent, Week 1

I've been totally inspired by my sister's wonderful Advent posts this year!
So I've decided to mirror her weekly breakdown of Advent activities...here is week 1:

-:- 1. Decorate our Christmas tree -:- This was the first thing we did this season. We got a perfect little Scotch Pine and we love it.

-:- 2. Deck the Halls -:- Probably my favorite thing about decorating our home for the holidays is watching the cats as we drape potential prey over every part of the house. Wilbur gets a very intense look in his eye...prepares himself for the kill...



...and then catches me looking at him through a camera lens and twists his body awkwardly to casually sniff the radiator. Cheek.

-:- 3. Go see the Nutcracker Ballet -:- On our way to the show, Casy asked me why the Nutcracker was such a big deal. By the end of the show, he told me he knew each one of those songs, but didn't know they all came from that ballet! He said Home Alone is the Nutcracker!
We finished the night with some brick oven pizza and the OSU game.

-:- 4. Make our Advent wreath -:- One of my most favorite Christmas traditions.

-:- 5. Start reading the Christmas Carol -:-

-:- 6. Exchange ornaments on St. Nicolas Day -:- Um, in our shoes, with some Christmas candy too. Hello, gingerbread cream-filled Godiva bar. And thank you, husband.

-:- 7. Sponsor a child (or two!) for Christmas through the Salvation Army -:- We went toy shopping this weekend for our girls!

Love, T.

Happy Thanksgiving!

I love Thanksgiving in a major way.

I try to think about and acknowledge everything I'm grateful for each day
but it's so nice to have a holiday dedicated to giving thanks.

I think there's so much power in collective thanksgiving
and I love the thought of us all sending gratitude out into the world on a single day.

I have so much to be thankful for.

I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday
and that your days are full of warmth and joy.

Love, T.

Reasons Why I Am Grateful For Boys

Last weekend, my brother helped me rediscover climbing trees.

And then my husband helped me get back down.

Love, T.

Get In My Belly!

Remember our first garden? It seems like that garden was from a long time ago in a land far, far away.
We got a good amount of veggies out of that little plot of land, but compared to our garden this year, it was small potatoes (hah).

I mean, look at this beast.

I am in awe. And we love being out there, weeding and discovering little baby vegetables that will eventually have a place on our dinner table.

Last weekend we got our first small harvest. It made me unbearably happy.

And from the looks of things, we will have quite a few larger harvests as the season progresses!

Can. Not. Wait.

Love, T.

Happy Anniversary to Us!

One wonderful year down, 500 million wonderful years to go!

Or at least 74 more. I think 75 years of marriage is a decent goal.

We celebrated everything we had to celebrate with a picnic in the park.

It was still just a little cool outside, but really perfect for sitting in the grass with a sweater on, reading, knitting, and sleeping. We stayed out there for a few hours, breathing in the fresh air and relaxing.

All I could think about is how seriously blessed we are.

I can't imagine life without him.

Then, when we were fed and rested, we packed up and went back home for some birthday cake.

Recipe here.

It was scrumptious and it became more and more scrumptious as the week went on!

Highly recommended.

Love, T.

Dear Mr. Fath

There are a lot of things I love about my husband.

The way he laughs whenever someone says fart. Without fail. 

The way he cooks delicious things on Saturday morning.

I love that he knows so much about things like knots. And constructing things. And science.

And I love how dedicated he is to his students. Apparently, they love that about him too. The kids recently wrote letters to various people in the school to express their appreciation for them. Mr. Fath received several. Here are my favorites:

-:-

Dear Mr. Fath,

I appreciate how you make learning fun and how we can still make jokes in class and get everything done. Also I like how you come in every day to teach us science and make us better people. You are a highly respected teacher throughout the school and you are my favorite teacher.

Sincerely, 

PK

P.S. The winter solstice is coming up.

-:-

Dear Mr. Fath,

I appreciate the way you changed science into a good experience. For example when you "pourposley" put spelling mistakes and repeat questions more than once. In all seriousness it's funny. Also you give students a great learning experience. Lastly from what I heard kids really appreciate you helping out with wrestling. Thanks for coming to our school to teach.

Sincerely,

CB

-:-

Dear Mr. Fath,

I appreciate the way you changed the school for the better. You make learning fun every day. I also appreciate the way you come in early every day just to make sure that your students get the best learning experience possible. You are wildly respected for helping out the wrestling team to make our team better and help us win matches. The passion that you put into your work is unlike any other teacher. I also like the way you put the student body first by leading needlers' club.

Sincerely,

BP

-:-

Pretty awesome, right? What lucky kids they are to have a teacher like that. And what I lucky wife I am to have a husband like that.

Love, T.

Since December Got Here

We have listened to Christmas carols non-stop.

We've had buckets of egg nog.

We've folded paper stars and made an advent wreath.

We've each come up with twelve things to put in our advent calendar.

We've made homemade marshmallows (more on this later...)

We've watered our Christmas tree every day.

We've eaten chicken paprikash and halusky.

(a delicious meal prepared by my wonderful husband)

We've received a Christmas package (thank you, Grandma Shirley!)

We've joined the YMCA.

We've watched It's a Wonderful Life (with a glass of egg nog)

We've been happy. And we wish you and yours the same.

Love, T.

Thankful

Well, the Thanksgiving post I meant to write on Thanksgiving is a bit late. But, since Sunday is still part of the Thanksgiving weekend, and since there can never be enough thanks in the world, I think I can get away with it.

When Casy and I talked about what we were thankful for, we both said each other first and foremost. You can barf if you want. We understand. We're also so thankful for our family and friends...this includes you, reader. It also includes Claude and Wilbur.

I am thankful, as always, to have hobbies that I am passionate about and able to do often, like knitting and baking and taking pictures.

Casy is thankful for budgets. I think we're both pretty thankful for the lifestyle that living on a budget has brought us too.

I am thankful for the Harry Potter series for giving me something magical to daydream about and get lost in.

Casy is thankful for having a job that doesn't increase his blood pressure.

I am thankful for the first snowfall of the season happening on Thanksgiving.

Casy is thankful for our real Christmas tree. We splurged on a Balsam Fir for our first Christmas as a married couple. It smells divine.

I am thankful for morning coffee and the moments of quiet it brings.

And Casy is thankful for our troops. He said he hates how cliche that sounds, but it's something he thinks about a lot and sincerely means.

We enjoyed some delicious food, a beautiful snowfall, and a lovely long weekend...and we hope your Thanksgiving was as wonderful as ours.

Love, T.

OK? OK!

In October, we went to Oklahoma to celebrate our marriage with friends and family.

The weather was beautiful, with the wind blowing over the plains, pushing those clouds that I love and the rains that come with them. 

I was struck by how everyone is so connected, in the most wonderful ways, to their history and to each other.

And by how that manifests itself through events like this one.

Everyone chopped, mixed, and cooked,

baked, grilled, loaded, and unloaded...

 

...and they came to visit, bringing kindness, support, memories, and words of wisdom with them.

We are so blessed and so grateful for it all.

And especially for the family we're so lucky to be a part of.

They're amazing.

Thank you, Tony and Jill, for putting this all together and for making it so special. We love you!

Love, T.