Holidays
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Reclaiming Thanksgiving
This is a guest blog post I wrote for She’s Intentional (Dainty Jewells). You can find the original post HERE. My husband, Andy, and I sat at the dinner table with my in-laws the other night and the subject of Thanksgiving came up. Being the lover-of-all-things-organized gal that I am, I grabbed my cell phone and instantly accessed my Thanksgiving planning list on my project management app (Man, I love technology!). Our family customarily eats the same dishes and desserts every year. While we are always game to try new things, venturing away from our food routines isn’t one of them. Let’s just say that I made the mistake one year of…
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Halloween at the Middle School
This Thursday is Halloween. And that always makes things interesting in middle school. The students where I work will show up decked out in an interesting assortment of Halloween costumes—some delightfully creative (like the girl who designed her “shadow” that followed her around all day) while others are…well, disturbing. It always makes me grin to see a kid who is too cool to handle the dead butterfly in science or mess up his hair in Phys Ed transform himself into a cube-shaped Enderman from Minecraft which, according to the general consensus here at school, is no longer “cool” to play. A few of the students announced today that they’ll be…
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Catching Up With Christmas (Am I the Only One Not Ready?)
The first week of December and the tree is up and decorated (Thank you, Felty Tribe)! Sara has the house decorated all Christmassy and I came home on Monday to Christmas lights hung up outside – “Husband of the Year Award” to Andy! I’ve started buying Christmas cookie ingredients for the endless cookie exchange and Christmas parties of the season. (Sideline curiosity: Why don’t we just make a ton of extra cookies to freeze for next year’s parties and add a little extra vanilla so no one notices the freezer-burn taste?) Yikes! I’m Not Ready Yet! The wrapping paper, clear tape, and gift tags have all been purchased but…I haven’t…
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Surviving Thanksgiving: What I’ve Learned to Value Most This Time of Year
Thanksgiving never meant a whole lot to me growing up. Coming from a fractured home life and a broken family, holidays just weren’t a big deal. As a result, I entered my adult years lacking a treasure trove of memories to draw on to make them special for my own little family.My boys would bring little paper turkeys home from school that they had traced from their tiny hands and cardboard pilgrim puppets that had either lost a glued-on eye or been smashed when they shoved them in their backpacks. To me, every bent and crinkled offering was a priceless work of art that I proudly displayed around the house. I…