Thanksgiving is on its way!

as the last few hours of October dwindle away, i wanted to share a special Thanksgiving calendar that i made today, and teach anyone who would like to make one, how to make one.

yup, a tutorial. my first tutorial.

A Thanksgiving Countdown Calendar.

I wanted to have a special way to mark down each day before Thanksgiving with the kids, but more than just a paper chain, I wanted to have something that could be used to connect my kids to focusing on having a thankful heart as we approach the holiday. i decided to use a tree because Thanksgiving and Fall go hand and hand. How my calendar works is that you have a leaf stick for every day counting down for Thanksgiving. Each day you take one leaf down to mark that you are getting one day closer to Thanksgiving (in case anyone didn't understand how a countdown or advent calendar works) however, with the blank end of the popsicle stick write down something or someone you are thankful for.
You can choose to review the fallen leaves everyday, or on Thanksgiving. I am super excited for a way to teach my young ones about who and what we are thankful for.
You can reuse this calendar each year- you might want to make a couple of extra leaf sticks (for years where there are more days to countdown) and for each year you can either paint your stick, or add construction paper to cover what you wrote the year before- or keep them and talk about them each year!

For this project you need:

Various colors of felt- i used orange, red, brown, and yellow.

Fabric for your calendar (you could really use anything- even felt if you so desire)

Ribbon (to hang the calendar)

Popsicle sticks

Cardboard, Canvas, or Poster board for the back of you calendar (in the tutorial i used poster board)

Glue (i used and recommend a hot glue gun)

Scissors

your sewing machine

Step 1: Lay your Calendar Fabric over Poster board (or whatever you are using for backing) and determine the size you want your calendar to be.

Step 2: trim off any extra cardboard or poster board (obvisously you won't need to trim the canvas)

it is a very good idea at this point to iron your fabric (i really should have down that a bit more)

Step 3: now that you have the backing for your calendar let's make the leaves! this is really, really easy.
Cut out your leaves:
i did:
7 red, 7 six, 7 orange, and 5 brown (since my tree was brown)
i just cut this little petal leaf- you can use whatever leaf that you fancy.

attach your leaves to your sticks:

Assemble your materials.
Apply a little glue to the end of a stick.
Lay your leaf on the glue and press, do this for all of your leafs.

Step 4: Make and attach the tree to the fabric for your calendar.

It helps to fold your fabric lengthwise and press, and then fold again and press- this will give you a cross in the middle of the fabric, giving you a way to center your tree.

Assemble your tree on the fabric.
keep your baby away from your sewing project.
pin your branches in place.
you want to sew the branches first so that you can slip your popsicles into the branches. make sure you leave the tops of the branches open so the leaves have a place to go. here is where i made my first error- my branches needed to be a little wider so that the leaves would fit more securely. my brances were 1 1/2 inches by 5 inches- i recommend at least 2 by 5.
lay your trunk over the branches and sew it in place, not sewing the top of the trunk.
my trunk was 2 1/2 by 7 inches.
sew a line 2 inches down on the top of the trunk, creating a pocket for more leaves.
Step 5: Attach your calendar to your backing- either your canvas, cardboard or poster board. Pull the edges tightly around your backing and use your glue to secure the fabric to your board.
It is really important that you pull the calendar very tightly to the back of the board to avoid any pillowing of your fabric.

Step 6: Add ribbon to the top of the calendar so you can hang it proudly.

Step 7: Arrange your leaves in a pleasing manner.
Step 8: An optional step- I created a little pocket on my calendar so that i could have a place to put the fallen leaves. I took a small piece of felt and sewed up 3 of the sides and added a couple of my extra leaves to it.
Step 9: Hang and enjoy!

up and running.

that's right, my trusty old laptop is currently on, running and perched on my lap. how is that possible? because my wonderful, smart, outstanding, talented and fantastic sister in law worked her magic and did what her brother (that would be sam) could not and made it start.

she and i were laughing at some mac vs. pc jokes... seeing how now sam is a mac user and suddenly could no longer work my pc.

oh well. crisis is over and my computer has been returned to me. until sam realizes that it is working again and wants to continue his windows 7 install, further frustrating me and changing up parts to my computer that i don't need changed.

he sure does like to help.

thank you jess! i am happy to be back on.

soup tonight!

i really wish i could get the picture uploaded for all of you to see, but for some reason i can't send the picture from my phone to my email. so everyone needs to use their imagination as i paint you a very beautiful soup picture....

disclaimer:

i did not make this soup, instead if was my dinner last night.

also- when i was told the title of this soup, and what was going in it, i thought "disgusting" and i was trying to figure out how i was going to best disguise my disgust and navigate around the bowl to give the impression of eating.

without actually eating.

but believe it or not (well believe it, because it's true) i took a spoonful and....

amazing.

i cannot believe i haven't had this soup before. it is so easy, and unbelievably tasty. i haven't done the nutritional information on it, but this must be low in calories and fat and high in fiber- which means an amazing find for anyone on weight watchers.

are you ready? i mean, you really have to be ready for this.

pumpkin lentil soup.

ok, those of you who just gagged in your mouth, come back to your computer and read the recipe- which might make you gag a little more, but trust me, this is amazing.

you will need:

an open mind

and a crock pot.

**you can chop up 1 large onion and saute it in butter and then add it to the soup with the rest of the ingredients- but that is disgusting, well at least- i think onions are disgusting.

ok, onion discretion aside, here we go:

1 large can pumpkin

5-8 (really more like 8) low sodium chicken broth cans

1 c. lentils

2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

1/8 tsp marjoram

1/4 tsp thyme

1/2 -1 jar La Victoria Salsa

**that's how mine was made, you can also you 1 jar of Green Chile Salsa if you'd prefer

salt to taste.

Put all of that into a crock pot and give it a stir.

Cook on low for 5-6 hours (turning to hot if you get towards the end of 5 hours and it's not quite ready)

oh, it's ready when it's hot.

serve with:

bacon bits (yup)

and homemade croutons (2 ways: take french bread and cube it, cook it in a pan with butter, salt, pepper and maybe a little garlic; or turn your oven to broil, slice up a baguette sliver style and lay on a baking sheet- broil until toasted- don't burn.)

drop the bacon bits and croutons into your bowl, add the soup, little salt and pepper and enjoy.

really- you will enjoy this.

**this was made in a big crock pot- if you have a smaller one, i'd reduce the ingredients by 1/3.

let me know if you make this and what you think....

and now to make you hungry, you will soon be reading posts about:

frozen peppermint cookie bites

oh yeah

and the best pumpkin cookies i have yet (Ashley W. this is a different recipe).

also, i made pancakes last week, and after remembering how yummy and quick they are, have decided to find 7 new pancake recipes and share them with you.

tonight i am making Spiced Apple Pancakes, served with Potato and Apple Pancakes.

pictures, recipes, and feedback to come....

bummer man, he delivers.

i am a little frustrated, not a lot frustrated- just a little. why? last night (thursday) while i was out shopping and enjoying a great dinner at cheesecake factory (my mouth is watering just remembering) sam decided it was the perfect time to install (or rather update) my computer with the brand new windows 7 (which he was able to get for just 30 bucks through his school).
great right? my husband is so sweet to make sure i've got the best and smoothest processing system.
sure.
now if only my computer would work.
it doesn't. sam did everything right, but when you go to do basic stuff (like, turning on the computer) it loads up, goes to my desktop and immediately crashes and restarts.
windows is really helpful- we need to go into the computer and uninstall the problem.
ummm- how do you do that when your computer turns on and then immediately locks up.
windows 7 was just so helpful too.
wait. nope they weren't.
it was like a mac commerical. but more frustrating because it was real.
so, i am without my laptop, my faithful companion. it rests incapable of anything more than telling me it doesn't work.
so for the mean time i am using sam's mac (which i don't really like that much) or i have our old desktop (which is really just a glorified stereo).
but i am nervous. we are waiting for the windows 7 disc (as opposed to the download sam did- apparently we downloaded a "corrupt file") and i am just holding my breath that when my computer turns back on that everything will be there.
for instance- all pictures i have taken since i received the laptop.
and oh, all my family budget info, and my stories.
tomorrow we are buying an external hard drive.
hopefully it won't be purchased in vain.
so i have been sewing. the little light from my sewing machine is on right now. but i am a little tired, and have a major sugar high (which is now causing me to crash) because my good friend krystin makes killer homemade caramel corn.
so stick with me while i wait for this problem to be solved.
i'll be around.

everything's okay.

i think my last post made things sound worse than they really are. really, i am not about to fall apart at the seams. don't get me wrong- there have been days like that, but my last post was really just exasperation over a small little task that was thwarting my smooth suave abilities.

which, i did eventually master- and all baby shower invitations were done.

only to find out that because i had such a strong desire to make my invitations personable and slightly fun (and trust me, they are actually rather lame) with a little ribbon, well that extra creativity cost me an extra .20 cents per envelope.

and there were 25 to mail.

i almost took all the envelopes back from the post office worker. well, i actually did grab them back and stuffed them in my purse. i mean an extra 5 whole dollars?

and then i thought about the work of opening up all 25 envelopes, and removing all 25 ribbons, and then figuring out how i was going to secure the invitations to the paper without the ribbon for all 25 and then considering i had to then tape or sticker close every opened invitation.

needless to say i handed the invites back and mailed them off.

i have another baby shower to plan for the month after this one, and that friend's invitations will be printed on the finest dollar store stationary i can find, placed in high quality business type envelopes and for an extra touch sealed with a stamp or sticker.

i am learning.

but when it comes to the mess of life and the work my kids bring, well that is just life. and every so often i have to just temporarily freak out in my brain and then bring myself back to reality.

and back to the Lord.

and when i turn myself over to my weakness and ask for Someone else to be my strength, i find that i can do better.

and a big part has been prioritizing at night. for the last couple of weeks even though we don't have tv i've been sucked into my laptop watching shows online.

nothing wrong with that.

or i've been watching movies on the tv.

again- nothing wrong with that.

but i have been super frustrated that due to my absolute brain shut off i am absolutely behind on everything i would love to be doing.

don't even ask how gift making is going.

but for the last 3 night, i've put the computer down, turned off the tv (i mean, after sam and i have watched our alloted episodes of the west wing- we are a tad behind in time) and turn up the music.

and then i try to create.

and i've actually been motivated to stay up till 1 am every night.

i should have pictures to post soon. i mean anyone who crafts at all knows that the prep work required for any project 85% longer than the actual creating.

so don't worry about me, i mean please still pray for me, i do have 3 little one's that are 3 and under (and for today and the next 2 days i am watching little anna) and they constantly knock on the door to my sanity, trying to coax it out and then run a wild crazed muck with it.

and then when i drag my poor sanity back, try and dust it off, mend any wounds and slowly heave it back into place....

well, i get pretty tired.

well, back to my last episode of west wing for the evening, then a little yoga (to burn off the cookie in my tummy and the half cookie i will be eating when i put my computer down) and then sewing.

a moment of weakness

i will admit to almost having a full on meltdown about an hour ago. almost being the key word. i stopped myself. i felt my face start to get hot and the tears begging to come, and i stopped myself.

why oh why you ask?

just the same old. the fact that it's after 12 and i am up blogging should say something.

i am just finding myself frustrated by the same things, basically the fact that nothing is getting done.

now wait a second mary, aren't you raising 3 little children?

yes.

and trying to home-school two of them?

yes.

and trying to start up a mom's ministry at church?

yes.

and cooking, cleaning (ummmm....), exercising, and all the many other things?

yes.

but it just doesn't feel like it matters. starting across from me is a rotting pumpkin. it's been rotting for days. but can i move it the 15 feet from my table to the garbage? or the 30 feet to the outside? sure if you got off the blog and did that.

the printer's in our living room on my coffee table because i was going to print out baby shower invitations. well the printer is out of black ink. we bought black ink. suddenly it is my fault because mason took our ink and left it somewhere (most likely the trash) regardless of the fact that when sam bought it he could (should) have put it straight into the printer.

there's paper everywhere. i screwed up the invitations about 6 times.

and the shoddy attempt i did at them is sitting in a pile on the table.

i only did the 14 that have to be handed out at church tomorrow.

and all i want to do after a 2 plus hour debacle of baby shower invitations? sew. only so i can feel like i have accomplished something for myself today. so why am i blogging and not sewing. for the simple fact that the time it would take me to clean up the mess that has somehow grown around my sewing table (which was recently moved) would take so long and take all the fun out of it.

sigh. and yet still here i sit, wasting time- and wasting all of your time.

and my house is just a mess. and i can hear someone making noise.

i am tempted to simply close my eyes, and ignore the mess around me. i have all day tomorrow. everyone but me is sick, so we will be staying in tomorrow.

and yes, the baby is crying.

i'm back. even though you didn't know i was gone. it was very tempting to fall asleep, i mean- the room is dark, our wondrous fan is on, it's 12:30 am, and my sweet cuddly boy was purring next to my body.

but i left every light on in rest of the house, and had to make sure there aren't to many bad things for campbell to get into when he wakes up in just a few hours.

i guess the moral of this little story isn't really known.

i am frustrated. mainly because my days start great, and end not great. i can't keep my mojo moving throughout the day. i try so hard to focus on the kids all throughout the day, and just try and coast till dinner time- and then all the crazy comes out, and between getting everyone fed and to bed- the house comes completely undone. sam wants to watch tv, which pulls me in (and we don't even have tv) and then i become completely useless.

i really wish i had something profoundly encouraging to share.

but i don't.

i just have to try again tomorrow.

and i am leaving out a ton. there are bunch of other things making me frustrated right now.

i'm trying to not bore everyone.

trying.

uh-oh.

the five things going through my mind wednesday night when i was being pulled over.

-yup, getting pulled over.

1) oh my goodness, i'm getting pulled over and sam is following me in the van. yup, i'm getting pulled over by a cop and sam is driving the kids home in the van behind me. i've given him nothing but pain and grief for 7 years over the number of speeding tickets he's had, and he is going to witness me getting a speeding ticket because...

2) oh holy crap, was i just going 45 in a 35? yes, i was going 45 in a 35... oh for how long?

3) and how much of driving was in the shoulder? it's been rainy and windy here and i was trying to avoid all the fallen leaves and might have been hugging the shoulder.

4) oh dear, just how long had the cop been following me with his lights on? because my rear-view mirror was messed up and when i finally went to switch it that is when i noticed the terrifying blue and red lights behind me.

5) how long was this going to take? my mcflurry's were melting the cup holder.

oh man. what a disaster. we had just left Bible study and had picked up our kids from sam's parents. sam was generous enough to let me drive the cool car (our camry) and i took off- because our special treats of mcflurry's were melting and i needed to get them in the freezer.

i was speeding, i am sure of it. and i was driving into the shoulder. and i was paying no attention to what was happening behind me.

it was just the worst feeling, and i was so flabbergasted when i got pulled over- mainly because i knew that sam was going to see all of this in just a few minutes.

imagine my relief when the officer came to my window, smiled at me, and asked if i knew why he pulled me over.

i totally played dumb and flabbergasted and confused.

because i was dumb, flabbergasted and confused.

and i told the officer just how confused i was, flashing a smile of course.

he reassured me that i was driving just fine (what???) and that i had a headlight out.

oh thank the Lord.

i cannot believe i didn't get a ticket. and neither could sam, because he said he saw how fast i was going- and he saw just how quickly the officer flipped around to go after me.

i don't know how or why or what, but thankfully the officer told me to get the headlight fixed and sent me on my way.

much to my multiple speeding ticket husband's chagrin.