Dear me. Thanksgiving now seems so long ago that it is hardly bloggable. We've had such a whirlwind week and next week will be just the same, perhaps even worse!
I'm wrapping up my physical therapy, which is fantastic. Oh, I will miss the massages (even though they hurt), but my schedule will be so happy to have me back.
Chris was home with the kids this past week and they all had a good time. Without me. I had to work. Do you feel sorry for me yet?
Well, don't.
I ate pumpkin pie (made from pumpkins that I roasted) this week. I also ate sweet potato casserole made from sweet potatoes I grew in my back yard. They were smothered in homemade marshmallows. I kid you not. You need to try these stat, by the way. The men in my family who hate marshmallows all loved these!

The kids and I were in charge of decorating our Thanksgiving table this year. It's been a few years since my last turn and normally, I go all out with the table decor. This year, though, I really wanted to include the kids, keep it simple, keep it super-cheap, but still keep it stylish.
That was a tall order.
We plopped a few little pumpkins on top of some candle sticks I already had and connected the whole thing with garlands of paper circles, sewn together with brown thread. Truthfully, once the circles were cut, the sewing only took twenty minutes or so.


There were paper leaves down the middle of the table,




and glittery paper napkin rings.


The best part was the time spent with my favorite small hands in the world - my children's, of course.



Oh. And? My nephew. Who wants to see the baby?


And from there, we jumped headlong into Christmas preparations and celebrations.





I want to share something really special with you - a little preview of sorts. I had the privilege of taking my dear friend's maternity portraits on Friday. There are lots of images that I want to tweak just a little bit, and many that are too personal to share on the internet, but here is my absolute favorite shot, as-is:



With any luck, there will be more of these posted soon!

Hold On...

I will have things to say soon. We had an amazing holiday, just as always.
I even made homemade marshmallows for our sweet potato casserole.
I promise a post stuffed to the gills with pictures soon (maybe this weekend?), but tonight, we are busy.


We have no hope that we will finish the tree tonight.
We will simply be happy if we can get the lights on it.

Love and kisses,
me.

Happy Birthday, Gramps

Today was my grandpa's birthday. It's also the anniversary of the week he collapsed, which ultimately led to his death earlier this year.
We took his ashes to the Florida National Cemetery today. I don't fully know why it wasn't done earlier. I guess it just wasn't time.
I don't know what I expected. It's been nearly a year since his passing and we certainly mourned him. But family gatherings (there are many) have begun to feel normal again. I still get a little emotional from time to time when something reminds me of him. Sometimes it's a wistful smile and sometimes it's a tear.
I don't want to say I thought I was "over it" or anything unfeeling as that. I just feel like I've come to terms with his absence.
So much so that I didn't really prepare my children (or myself) for what today would bring.
My grandpa, like most of your grandpas, was a veteran. He was honored with ceremony and a flag was presented to my grandma. The flag ceremony was so moving. So, so moving. From a distance, far behind us, taps rang out in the misty, cloudy afternoon. My grandpa's brother, a retired minister, spoke some words of Scripture and led us in prayers and a hymn.
Emma wept with abandon and so did I. I couldn't even choke out the first verse of "Abide With Me." My grandma was less the stoic matriarch and more the sunken, bereaved widow than I have ever seen her.
We drove out, past the crisp, neat rows of white headstones and the rain began to fall in earnest. My little nephew slept on, unaware.
We all stopped and shared a bolstering meal.
And I baked a cake - a birthday cake.
When there is a birthday in our family, we all gather for cake and an awful rendition of "Happy Birthday." Many of us are musicians and most of us sing rather well, but there is something fun in singing wildly off-key as a group. My grandpa loved this tradition. He would laugh and laugh, joining in with his own recognizable baritone.
So we sang and ate cake and celebrated his birthday one last time as we said our last goodbyes. Why now? Why so late? I guess it was finally the right time.

Interesting

I seem to be turning into such a sporadic blogger. Hrmph. I certainly didn't meant for that to happen. I have generally blogged at the end of the day to just make sense of things and feel like I'd emptied my head before attempting to sleep, but lately, my days are such a jumble that there is no sense to be made. I'm definitely not being the Girl Who Does It All right now. I'm just the Girl Who Is Trying Hard.
But I'm okay with that.
It just doesn't make for interesting reading.
We had some more car trouble (big surprise) at the end of last week and I got to borrow my baby brother's truck for a while. I really love driving his truck. It's big and nasty and not-at-all shiny. It rumbles and roars and while it takes you where you ask it to, you are jostled and tossed at the whim of the road. But not in an abrupt, sharp way. Just sort of gently moving. Dudes give you The Nod when you pull up at stoplights. This is no pretty suburbanite truck - no. This is a truck. And if you can pop out of that truck wearing a mini skirt, a secretary cardigan, high heels and cat-eye eyeliner, well, you have surprised everyone. And that's pretty fun.
Chris and I had a date on Saturday, and by that I mean all day on Saturday. I got a haircut (Emma did too) and my parents picked up the kids from us in Tampa. We did some Christmas shopping (mostly looking) and watched a movie at the new theatre, at which they serve bistro-style dinners and have a wine list. Seriously - I had popcorn and a nice, cold glass of Riesling. Delish.
That certainly gave me a nice pause in the middle of this crazy time of life. It's so nice to spend a whole day with your honey. And I mean it.
Now I just have to find the will to re-enter life tomorrow. It's my last scheduled week of physical therapy, I have pumpkin to roast for my pies, the kids have table decorations to make, we have family stuff and friend stuff and getting-ready-for-Christmas stuff and just stuff-stuff to do.
I just would rather go back to the movies.

Daily Bliss: living room time with my kids - just hanging out
Wake-up Playlist: Minstrel Number from the White Christmas soundtrack (I guess I'm readier for Christmas than I thought!)

Even More Portraits

My brother's house has some really great window light. And my brother Jon has a new Great Dane puppy (His name is Huckleberry! How great is that?). And I needed another portrait or two for my window light portrait assignment.
A convergence of good things.
This one's totally for Winnipeg, my other favorite Great Dane. She would love Huckleberry.






I had lots of fun editing the ones of Mindy and Nolan in Photoshop during class today - just learning the power of what can be done there, even with a good picture.

A couple of things:
My class is almost done. In fact, I'm not entirely sure we will have another assignment, per se. So far, I am registered for the Digital Photography II class. So far. You guys really encouraged me and I thank you. I'm not sure how it'll all work out, but for now, I'm in.
Also, I'm loving the eyeliner tips! I'm going to try all of them! And yes...even purple. Probably.

Daily Bliss: Andrew's symphonic band played at Downtown Disney today and I got to sit on the front row. I am so proud of him! He looked so grown up in his cummerbund and tuxedo pants, and they sounded pretty great too.
Wake-Up Playlist: Debussy, Reverie

Update..

Nolan's surgery went very well. They repaired the major hernia and found one more tiny one that they were also able to repair. He's in recovery now and his Mama and Daddy are breathing a sigh of relief.
Thanks for all your prayers.

Collecting

I'm collecting prayers tonight for my tiny nephew.
He goes in for surgery tomorrow morning to repair a hernia (there may be more than one), which I understand is common for preemies. However, common should not be confused with simple.
He's been such a little Superman so far. I'm sure he will come through this amazingly strong, but still...
Would you?
He's scheduled for 7:00 AM tomorrow.