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How to Host a Friendsgiving Your BFFs Won’t Forget
When it comes to entertaining for Thanksgiving, I’m either one extreme or the other – it’s either Chinet paper plates and plastic tablecloths, or a full-on beautiful fall tablescape with formal place settings. When I’m helping my grandma host, we typically go for the former (because we’re usually feeding 30+!) But when I’m able to host a smaller gathering of family or friends, I am all about gorgeous table settings and beautiful centerpieces. Fall is such a fun time to doll-up your home decorations and truly wow your guests! This holiday season, Friendsgiving is great opportunity to try out new styles and make entertaining more fun and personal. One decor…
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Meal Planning through Thanksgiving
It’s Thanksgiving week!! For those of us who love to cook and entertain, it’s like our Super Bowl! And at the same time – for those of us who like to operate with a meal plan, it can feel like we’re drowning without our structure and routine! Meal planning through the Thanksgiving holiday can certainly feel like the wheels have fallen off! Between travel, all that cooking for the big day, and then the mountains of leftovers, it’s easy to feel like you’re out of control of your dinnertime – but fear not! Here are a few tips to help get you (and me!) through this week! Plan to not…
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Green Bean Casserole (Gluten Free!)
Green bean casserole has always been one of my favorites on Thanksgiving. Fun fact – it was also the topic of my informative speech during public speaking class in college – how to make a green bean casserole – ha! But once I started getting funny about cream of whatever soups (trying to avoid MSG), I thought my relationship with green bean casserole was over. Until I found Alton Brown’s Best Ever Green Bean Casserole, that is. What I love most about his recipe is the homemade cream of mushroom sauce that makes the casserole. I’ve made this several times, first exactly as he wrote it, then I tweaked it…
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5 Simple Tips to Dominate Thanksgiving Dinner!
Hosting Thanksgiving is exciting for some, and stressful for others. I’ve found that the key to keeping it low-stress (regardless of the size of the gathering or how many dishes you’re preparing), is having a plan! Doing the things that can be done ahead of time prior to Thanksgiving day will go a long way towards lightening the load! Here are my 5 tips to help you dominate Thanksgiving dinner! Tip 1 – Decide What Kind of Gathering You’ll Host– Size: Small and intimate or large and feisty?– How Formal: Will you be eating on paper plates or the special China?– Who’s Cooking: Is it a pot-luck or are you…
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Acts of Service Day – A New Family Tradition
One of the neatest things about starting a family is getting to start our own family traditions. Last year we spent a day where we focused on others and doing small acts of kindness around our town. While it wasn’t without the challenges you’d imagine with a 3 and 5 year old, it was a wonderful, feel-good family day… and the beginning of a new tradition. So this year I was determined, in the midst of the craziness of the holiday season and the birthday celebration of my youngest, to carve out a day where me and the boys could spread kindness and holiday cheer in our community. For me, the connection…
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A Family Day of Kindness
This past Saturday I put my family on mission. We spent the entire day out in the community spreading kindness and doing for others – we had a Family Day of Kindness. For the last six months or so I’ve been tossing around the idea of giving the kids this sort of opportunity. After reading a blog post by a mom who did this with her children to celebrate her birthday, the notion was laid on my heart. And while December is crazy for everyone, it was important that this experience be part of my kids’ Christmas season because this is what Christmas is all about. And so we did it. We…
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Day 21 to 24 – Hostages, sleds, dates and angels
Our elf has been having loads of fun! One more night and then the big guy arrives!
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Day 18, 19 & 20 – Balloons, Briefs and Marshmallow Messages
The latest misadventures of Max… Aside from the fact that Becket is obsessed with balloons and went nuts to get the “buh-ga” (his 18-month-old word for balloon), we’ve been successfully creating magic each morning without dramatics over the favorite toy that’s off limits for the day. Just 5 days left this year! Click here to see what else our elf has done this year.
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It’s Ugly Christmas Sweater Time!
So this year, Blake and I both had company Christmas parties with an ugly Christmas sweater theme. I go big or go home, so it had to be perfect. And so when I stumbled upon a couple’s sweater concept that included one end of the a reindeer barfing holiday cheer, and the other end crapping it, I knew I couldn’t go wrong. And so you have our ugly sweaters… I picked up the sweat shirts at Wal-Mart. I cut out the reindeer from a canvas brown fabric in 8 pieces (head, torso, bottom, tail and 4 legs). The antlers and feet are felt. I initially thought I would iron on…
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Day 15, 16 & 17 – Toilet Paper, Guitars & Reindeer Cars
The last couple days of Max shenanigans looked like this… We’ve been running into some trouble with Beckett – when Max is within his reach, he wants him… and sometimes grabs him, which is problematic because Brogan’s worried he’ll lose his magic. We’ve tried to explain that when little brothers don’t know any better, it’s alright, and obviously Max has not lost his magic yet. The explanation works for now. Click here to see what else our elf has done this year.
