and just like that...

...the shift has occurred again. 

goodbye, thanksgiving.

hello! Christmas!

haha.  nathan is in his socks.  :)

while i've hardly digested the thousands millions of calories i consumed over the weekend from our thanksgiving feastS,  the pilgrims have come down and have been replaced with the much anticipated nativity set.  

and while i tucked away the last of the pumpkins, bittersweet and bits of harvest, the peppermint wreath is already being made, bing is set on pandora, and we are decking the halls like the rest of the country. 

how crazy FUN is that?!

but let's back up the train a bit.

we had a lovely thanksgiving with both sides of our family this year.  

and while i'm on the subject, i would like to give a shout out to my moms for being such amazing cooks.  

with that said, i really, truly, SERIOUSLY need to step away from the comfort food buffet line.

what is wrong with me?  i've totally traded my mostly raw diet for anything cooked, baked or loaded with sugar.

SOMEONE HELP ME.

situations like the one below don't help, either.

instead of black friday shopping this year, my mom, sister and i, opted to do some holiday baking.

i can assure you that one of those pans of mixed nut bars(lower left) is already half gone.

we split the goodies that we made between the three of us, but still!

also, those walnut crescents in the upper left hand corner are my FAVE.  yikes. 

i'm totally in trouble with all of this taunting me in the basement freezer.

(that's where i do the laundry and the freezer is RIGHT next to the washer and dryer.  VERY convenient...and private...muahahaha!!!)

AND i'm not even going to explain henry and the bottle of sprinkles.  it pretty much sums up his existence.  :)

after school, we spent most of the day cleaning, packing away fall, and bringing up a few Christmas decorations.

that is, after i apologized to all of my children at least three times for losing my temper and yelling at them.

at the time, i did not know why it was so hard to round to the nearest hundred, sound out the long E sound, or put quotation marks around a quote.  

all day long i was edgy and i kept telling myself, "turn the volume down, mary!" (see?  quotation marks!).

because i wan't just yelling, i was YELLING!

thankfully, my children kindly forgave me and we proceeded with the Christmas cheer.  :)

this is the advent calendar i made last year.

i used an old cork board from the thrift store and covered it with fabric.

then i used some pretty ribbon to decorate it, and push pinned those little $1 boxes from michaels in.

the kids LOVE it.

i kinda do, too.

i tried my hand at chalkboard art today, and besides being time consuming, it was really easy!

check out how i did it, HERE.

i have been trying to find a home for my folk art carved wood chain(somebody seriously carved that thing out of a solid piece of wood), and the lyrics to O Holy Night came to mind.

Truly He taught us to love one another, 

His law is love and His gospel is peace. 

Chains shall he break, for the slave is our brother. 

And in his name all oppression shall cease. 

Sweet hymns of joy in grateful chorus raise we, 

With all our hearts we praise His holy name. 

Christ is the Lord! Then ever, ever praise we, 

His power and glory ever more proclaim! 

His power and glory ever more proclaim!

i think i may be a little addicted to chalkboards.  

especially when they deliver such a Wonderful message.

tomorrow we get to pick out our tree(nathan's home!), and dig up some more fun stuff from the basement.

it's always so fun to see what you have, remember your favorite things from years past, and find those that you have recently made or collected.

over and out, girlfriends.

when are you able to get together for a peppermint mocha and some cinnamon bread?

uh...i mean, veggies and tea.  ;)

xo, 

mary