4 inches

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My oldest daughter played Margot in Anne Frank this weekend. This was her first school play and she loved every minute of it. We were not allowed to take pictures or video so I don’t have any pictures of her to show off 😦

The play was obviously very serious and the ending was very moving. There were many people weeping at the end. I was so impressed with everything about the production. One of the things that struck me the most was what the theater teacher said before the performance.

He asked the audience to turn off all cell phones for the entire length of the play. He reminded us that the play was about real people and real events. The events were those that we should always remember so they would not be repeated. Then he said, “Your world is so much bigger than those four inches. Be present. Allow yourself to feel and experience this story. Don’t limit yourself to what goes on in those 4 inches.” I really loved that!

I love to plan parties and have a reason to celebrate different things. One of the things that bothers me the most when hosting a get-together is seeing people sit around on their phones. They play games on their phones when they could be playing games with the people present in real life. They “talk” to people who aren’t there, but ignore the ones in the same room with them. How much damage is happening to our relationships because of our obsession over our phones?

This Thanksgiving, I think we should focus on putting down that 4 inch phone (or however big it is) and be truly present with the people who are with us.

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What I Bring For Thanksgiving

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On Thanksgiving, we go to both sides of the family. We go to my family’s lunch earlier and then head over to my in-laws’ a little later in the evening. I try to make big batches of the same food for both houses so I’m not cooking several different foods for both places.

I’m bringing corn casserole. This is a family favorite on both sides.

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I’m also bringing spicy broccoli casserole. I love spicy food and this is low carb. Since we have diabetics on both sides, I like to contribute several dishes that won’t raise blood sugar levels.

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I also bring tiramisu. This was the first dessert I ever made my husband and I’ve brought it to every Thanksgiving since our engagement.

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The girls usually like to make desserts as well. I’ll share any other recipes we end up bringing.

My First Cricut Project

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I bought my Cricut three weeks ago and just finally completed my first project this past weekend. We were having a cowboy theme Sunday at church so I wanted to make David a shirt for the occasion. I got all the fabric at Wal-Mart in fabric section. I used Heat n Bond to put the little cowboy on the shirt. The Cricut program is really easy to use. I found the perfect little cowboy and added David’s name.  Then I just followed the directions on the program.

I did find that the backing of the Heat n Bond had to be pulled off the fabric before sending it through the machine or it would mess up the whole thing.

I love the way it turned out and can’t wait to create even more projects with my new machine!

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Thanksgiving {Free Printable}

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We’re counting down to Thanksgiving around here. Last night at dinner, we each shared one thing for which we have to be thankful. We have a book we write them in, but I created a free printable that I think would be great to use daily or at Thanksgiving dinner. I put mine in a frame and put out a wet erase marker. I was surprised and delighted to see that almost everyone who visits our home has written something on it, and I didn’t even have to ask them to do it.

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It’s my hope that this Thanksgiving season will truly be filled with more gratitude and thanksgiving for all the blessings we’ve been given!

Election Day {Dinner}

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The public schools in our county were closed today. We still did school today, but with an emphasis on the election. I had the children watch a YouTube video that explained the electoral college. Then, they had to color a United States map with their predicted electoral votes.  image

We also studied the requirements to be president. We talked about voting in the past and voting in other countries. They learned that the right to vote is a privilege that not everyone has.

We decorated the kitchen with patriotic decorations.

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Dinner was lasagna with red sauce.

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There was a red, white, and blue cake for dessert.

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I hope that this election day is a memorable one for my children. I hope that they learned something; most of all, I hope they know that voting is a privilege that they should take seriously.

Easy Breakfast

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Some mornings I just need to make something fast so we can get started on our day. This morning, I made Easy Cinnamon Sugar Crescents. I had all the ingredients I needed already on hand. It’s simply a tube of crescent rolls and Land O Lakes cinnamon sugar butter. I rolled out the crescent rolls. I spread the butter all over them.

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Then I rolled them up and baked them in a preheated oven for about 10 minutes. Voila. Breakfast done.

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The “Glad” Game

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In Pollyanna, the main character (Pollyanna) plays the “glad game”. She is always looking at every scenario with the outlook that there is always something to be glad about. We started playing the game too. We aren’t as good as it as we should be, but we’re working on it. It’s so easy to be discouraged or disappointed in this world. It’s easy to become bitter and for the good to seem rare. It’s not really that rare; we just don’t look for it like we should. So, for this Thanksgiving month, I’d like to challenge everyone out there to play the “Glad Game” with us. Look for the good. Find something to be glad about. Reflect on all that you have to be thankful for. image

Grateful

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In 23 days we will be celebrating Thanksgiving. The actual day of Thanksgiving is usually a very hectic one for my family. We usually go to both sides of the family for lunch then dinner. I always have high hopes that we can truly think of the many, many things for which we have to be thankful, but on the actual day it seems too busy to have time for reflection.

I am hopeful that I can make the days leading up to Thanksgiving a more reflective time. We have a book that I keep at the table during November that we each write something that we are grateful for.

image.jpeg I also would love to think of a way to make some little gifts for people we are grateful to have in our lives. I just got a Cricut. I haven’t had a single moment to play with it, but watch out when I do! Hopefully, I’ll make some cute things to give to our friends and family.

Pollyanna {Review}

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We just finished Pollyanna for school. I never read this book as a child, so it was as new to me as to the girls. I can say that I truly loved this book!

The author did a great job making the reader understand the personality of each of the characters.  Pollyanna’s character reminded me of a more optimistic and unfortunate Junie B. Jones. I love reading aloud and always do different voices for the different characters. The way this book is written lends itself very well to being read aloud.

While this story is about a little girl, I feel like any child could enjoy this book. There were so many lessons in this book. I felt like we had lots of teachable moments throughout the book. There is a bit of a mystery in Pollyanna, which is fun. There are tragic moments as well. There were parts of the book that had such beautifully written passages that I had to stop and weep a little before I could go on. I know that may sound over-the-top, but I think that if you go and read Pollyanna as an adult it would touch your heart way more than if were read it only as a child. I know my children were touched, but they could not fully fathom some of the more adult-feelings in this book.

I want everyone I know to read this book. I actually am giving it to our pastor and one of my nieces. I’m including a prism with each book. I also have hung a couple of prisms in our school room to remind of us some of the lessons we learned from Pollyanna.  I won’t tell you why I included the prisms, but I hope you’ll read the book and find out on your own!

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