harvest blessings

welcome, november!

i had to bring out the big guns today, friends.

my BIG coffee mug wrapped in warmth with a cozy sweater made by my daughter, elly.

i love it!

we had some friends over last night and we had such a great time with them.

we all went to bed really late, 

hence the ginormous coffee mug this a.m.  :)

{we watched the movie elf the other day...so funny!}

they have six kids.

we have four.

our kids are all very good friends and their ages are almost identical.

i cannot express what a b.l.e.s.s.i.n.g. it is to have such wonderful, God given relationships.

they are the kind of friends that you can talk the night away with,

and the time seems to pass far too quickly.

we snacked on candy and drank lots of coffee.

we talked, laughed, even cried a little, and there was lots of activity in between.

trying on dress up clothes.

shooting little beads from little boy pirate ship cannons.

{picking up hundreds of little beads}

two pots of coffee.

two quarts of apple cider.

lots of knitting.

piano playing.

movie watching.

internet surfing for home decor.  eeep!

ikea, restoration hardware, and country living magazines were all present.

it was awesome.

since our family does not celebrate halloween, i decided to have a harvest themed evening.

a time to thank the Lord for the many blessings that He continually lavishes on us.

a time to be thankful for His love and sacrifice, family, food, the little things, our home, and of course, friends.

we have never celebrated  halloween, and our kids have never went trick or treating.

they don't know what they are missing, and we don't think that they are missing much, at all.

the kids and i spent about an hour making buntings and little monogrammed flags for place settings.

we had some old fashioned candy from the market and a vintage table cloth i picked up from the thrift.

so simple!  so fun!

did i ever mention i love a quick, cheap free project? :)

i cannot keep my hands outta the yogurt covered raisins! :)

amazing sesame seed candies!  love them!

of course, i forgot to take pictures when the company was actually here.

i don't know what i was thinking, except that maybe i couldn't hear myself think.

10 kids=a lotta happy noise!

we all slept in a little today and it was slow going at first, but we perked up.  

thank the Lord for afternoon cinch tea breaks.

now i have to go and start thinking about what i am going to make for supper...already...again.  oy!

any suggestions? 

i hope you have a wonderful day, friends!

we'll talk again soon...with coffee{or tea}, of course. :)

blessings,

heading over to amy's for more coffee and chats.

heading over here, too. :)