loafs of love...

This Christmas season I wanted to gift a little something that was thoughtful but  wouldn't break the bank.  I usually bake sweets more than anything, but sometimes a simple homemade bread is a nice change from the puppy chow and sugar cookies.  I was gifted a sourdough bread starter and made a few loaves.  David and I decided it would be a nice gift to handful of teachers, neighbors, family, and friends.  It takes about three days to make the bread and it is quite the process...but what is they say..."the good things take time."

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one week out...

To say my boys are train obsessed is an understatement.  Another train was just delievered by the UPS man and we are on our way to the Adventure Science Museum for Ethan's second train exhibit this week!  Apparently, we just had to have the Polar Express Train since that is Ethan's favorite movie.  

I am spending this last week before Christmas prepping for Christmas Week.  We tend to celebrate for a week...a few days at home in Nashville and then a few days in Atlanta.  This year it is my goal to have my Christmas Eve/Day groceries ordered online early so I can literally drive by to pick them up.  So in the next few days I am making my ingredients list and placing an order online to be picked up on Christmas Eve.  This is the first year we will be home just us on Christmas Eve...I am hoping for a nice night by the fire with some red wine with my love.  That is why Santa has been working on wrapping early (does Santa wrap for you?).  Big debate every year at our house!

This past Saturday we hosted my extended familys Christmas.  It was my first year to host and it went really well.  My mom is one of eight children so you can imagine how many uncles, aunts, and cousins we have to celebrate with!  I kept my Grandmother in mind and served her favorite red wine (the only alcohol she drank once a year) and my mom's traditonal foods.  A favorite cousin flew in from Texas with her three kids and we all managed a group photo!  It was a holly jolly good time.  

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bits of red...

Bits of red are popping up all over our house.  Thanks to Pinterest I keep finding new ideas

to bring Christmas cheer into our home...so back to the craft store I go!  We took the boys

to see Santa, made a gingerbread house, and saw the Nutcracker this past weekend. 

We are in the spirit!  

Our 1957 Train around our tree

baby its cold outside!  Wish it would just snow!

my Christmas cheer

my favorite holiday decoration...garland on the stairs

Saturday morning I bundled up in the freezing temps and shopped with three great friends

at Tinsel and Twine.  It's a shops that are set up in barns and tents at the beloved Gentry Farms.  

It is Nashville Country meets Etsy kind of thing.  It was awesome.  They had the cutest 

Santa set with a real tree, big lights, outside of a barn... remind me about this next year!

It was there an old golden retriever came running up to me that was running loose 

around the farm.  It always think of my beloved Alex at Christmas and him sleeping 

by our tree.  I know this was his way of saying he misses me too.  

I don't know about you but my list gets longer each year...

I found this free printable to keep me organized.  Find it here

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Promo code please...

I must admit...I hate the Black Friday crowds.... butI loved the online sales! I managed to mark two people off my list during my lunch break today shopping online . I somehow sent my poor husband to the mall to grab Christmas sweaters for the boys while I shopped my little heart out online up until midnight.

My most impressive sales were Gap
Kate Spade, Tiny Prints, and Mini Boden.

What was yours?



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give thanks...part I

Today we are hosting Thanksgiving Dinner at our home with my side of the family.

This is David's first attempt at a turkey{he choose to insert a pineapple into the turkey}
 and my first attempt at a traditional, homemade chess pie.  We are trying out this coctail as the turkey roasts if my blog post makes no sense that would be why.  

If I could give thanks for one thing this year it would be having
both my mom and dad at my table sitting beside my boys.

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