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

our thankful tree

hello, darlings!

how have you all been?

i don't even know where in the world to begin.

i have had about a million posts in my head swirling around but nothing has made it over here.

do you ever write blog posts in your head when you are lying in bed at night?

or when you get a RARE quiet moment during the day?

i do it ALL the time, but they rarely make it to the big screen(haha!).

i know for a fact that the Lord has prompted me to tell you certain things that have been on my heart, but i have failed to do it.

i have sort of been using instagram as a mini blog, but it doesn't replace me sharing the thoughts that are constantly running through my head, the meaning behind each photo that i take, or the lessons that HE is teaching me along the way.

i could litralee write a blog post for each IG photo,

but i tend to get overwhelmed thinking about it and so i don't do anything at all.

fail.

well, not today!

i'm going to start right here. right now.

what we did today.

and maybe someday i'll rewind and share some other really special moments we've been having, too.

if you would like to follow me on instagram, my username is mary_krause.

so, today we made a thankful tree.

a simple and inexpensive way to count our blessings.

because you can never, ever give thanks too much.

i started with an antique cast iron urn and a fake branch that i bought at 50% off from hobby lobby.

i think it was $4.

i know there are oodles of free branches outside, but this one looked really real(hubby didn't know it was fake), and i can reuse it over and over again.  that's my justification.  :)

my girls balled up paper and shoved it around the stick in the urn and then we added river rock on top.

you could use a ball jar, galvanized pail or a pretty white pitcher, too.  anything goes!

then i took an old trixie belden novel we had been using for other projects, ripped out some pages, drew a leaf template and started cutting!

we hole punched each one and then tied string to some of them for variety.

it sure didn't take long for the attitude to change in our home once the kids and i started writing down our lists of gratitude.

there's definitely something that changes in the air when you turn your eyes off of what you feel you may be lacking and focus on the many blessings that we already have.

our tree is already SO full of leaves!

the kids just kept adding to it all day long and it did this mama's heart good to see them get excited about what God has given us.

it's only day one and the branches are bulging(there's more now than in the picture below).

that's a very good sign.  :)

i don't have time for big fancy projects, and this one definitely passes the, 'i-have-so-much-laundry-to-fold- my-head-is-going-to-pop-off-and-i-need-to-make-supper-and-you-need-to-erase-those-letters-again-and-redo-them' test for this mama.  for reals.

hope you make one, too.

you're gonna love it.

xo,

mary

p.s.  want to know what i am really thankful for tonight?  living in a country where i can VOTE!  i am SO stinkin' excited to vote tomorrow i can hardly stand it!  i hope that you do, too!

it pays to get up early...sometimes.

first things first.
thank you all so much for your love and encouragement about our home and story!
you all blessed my socks off and i am completely humbled by your kindness.
i had some major nerves about it, until i realized that it wasn't about me, it is all about Him.  will i EVER learn?  :)
God is so good!

so for today...

i'm not much of a morning person.

at all.

if you saw what i looked like in the morning, you would for sure run away.

#deadwomanwalking

it's not pretty, girls.

i mean, i think it's really unfair that some girls wake up and look fabulous!

not me.  i can't see until my contacts are in, and my hair is a WHOLE other story.

anyway...

i wish i was a morning girl because my life would be so much easier,

but it's something that i constantly struggle with.

yesterday, i was forced to get up at 6a.m., so that i could have jack to the dentist by 7:30a.m..

once i got my eyeballs in and showered up(coffee in hand), 

i realized that there are some pretty awesome reasons to be up before the sun...

sweet time with my sleepy boy.

he is such a trooper, i tell ya.

i love spending time with just one.  i can say yes to the gas station smoothie, and yes to the front seat.

things that are normally no's...and it's so fun for me to spoil just one.

i feel like i look old in this pic...

you wouldn't know it from this picture, 

but we are headed to one of our favorite junk places. the 'amish walmart'.

aka.  junk heaven!

on top of the amish ridge.

we are so blessed to live in this beautiful country. 

i literally cannot get enough of this view.  

it's on the way to church, on the way to town, and every time, i gasp in awe of the beauty of it all.

fall is definitely my fave.

could someone pass me a pumpkin latte, por favor?

we even spotted a few fun fall 'campy' treasures while on our detour coming home from the dentist.

i wish i would have taken pictures of what the amish store looks like for you guys, but they were unloading lumber and i didn't feel like i could since they are against photos of themselves. 

BELIEVE me, this place is dirty, and you have to dig, sometimes deep, AND a flashlight would be nice because the back pole shed gets....well....dark and icky.

i dug out this retro water cooler and the red plaid camping grill below.

i thought they would add some fun pops of fall color and camp spirit.

#sincerealcampinggivesmehives

i have never seen a grill like that before.  have you?

it's all metal and when you take the top off,  there is a little grill grate on top and a space for *tiny* firewood underneath. 

the holes on the bottom are where the ashes fall.

the best part?  

i got both for $5. yay!

so maybe getting up early isn't all that bad.

:)

xo,

mary

junk, recital, strawberries and more

heeeyyyy, kiddos!

i am so stinkin' pooped today!

nine hours in the hot sun, working on the yard will do that to ya.

i am feeling inner thigh muscles that i didn't even know existed!  #nojoke

and aloe is this girls BFF.  

red hair, freckles, fair skin=#redasalobster

this post was supposed to be up on monday, but well, you know...

...sometimes things are just happenin' and swirling all around you and, BAM! it's wednesday.

time flies when you're having fun, right?

so this is what my front yard looks like from the view of my sweet little calf.

he came to us when we lived at the farm, and so did the rest of this junk. :)

when we found out that we were officially losing our house, and the sale date was set, our awesome friends rallied in the midst of a snowy december and moved every square inch of our belongings from a huge shed on our property, to a friends barn up the road. 

my husband finally emptied the barn, hence the huge mess in my yard now.

i mean. it's only been two years?!? :)

i have a lot of 'things'.  

things that were going to be used in the restored 1800's log cabin that was going to be our home, and things left over from my career as a junking fool.  :)

i used to buy and sell vintage and antiques at a local flea market and also at a once a year barn sale.

my life has gotten so much busier in the recent years, that this has taken a backseat, and all of the things that i once loved so much, have become a burden.

simple is better for me now and i am going to have the garage sale of a lifetime!  :)

back to the weekend!

it was full.

but a good full.

on saturday, my daughters had their piano recital for the year and the morning of, my oldest decided that she wanted to make her skirt to wear that day.

*enter mom panic as i envisioned this not turning out...anticipating tears and a last minute wardrobe change*

#drama

i cringed prayed as i heard that old sewing machine pumping behind closed bedroom doors.

she didn't have a pattern, but had seen a few tutes online, so she felt pretty confident.

i was pleasantly surprised when she came out with this.

she also crocheted the flower earlier in the week for a fair entry.

of course, i had to have a little sister photo shoot.

the recital went well, and i cried{shocking!}.

my mom and best friend came with her littles.

she has six children, and the youngest four match the ages of my four.  #bestfriends

get togethers are never boring!

in fact, she had us over for tacos that night.

here is my amateur video of the girls playing at the recital.

i seriously need video editing classes.

and my phone was jumping around a little and focusing funny.

i'm just glad i got them uploaded...it only took two days.  :)

my beauties.

you can't see it here, but henry wore his holster and gun to the recital.

he is such a goofy kid. :)

on sunday after church, we headed to town and picked berries at my in laws.

they are on vaca, so the kids are taking turns picking for them, so the berries don't go to waste.

madelyn already cleaned, topped, and made her very first freezer jam.

sharing the kitchen isn't so bad after all.  ;)

like i mentioned earlier, my muscles are SORE!

my hubby's probably are, too.

he managed to build three raised beds yesterday among doing many other things.

i did a ton of yard work and we had nearly four yards of mulch delivered.

my friend and her kids came over and we moved the.whole.pile.

i think that's why i feel like i was hit by a bus.   #outofshape

today, we're going to go hunt down more rocks for landscaping, do a little crafting therapy, laundry, and then prayer meeting tonight.

piano lessons are over for the year and that makes this girl happy!

hope you are having a magnificent day!!!

blessings!

xo,

mary

even though it's wednesday...

a perfectly wonderful day

remember yesterday when i mentioned that i am now a great aunt?

yah.  that seems weird.

it's like another milestone that brings me to a whole new level of aging.

but guess what???

my sister is a GRANDMA!

and she is an amazing one at that.

but WOW! that has a different ring to it!  

grandma heidi.

i can't even handle the love and beauty in this photo.   i cry looking at it.

we waited so long to meet little aaron, and when the time came for him to make his entrance, we welcomed him into this world with{lots of} loving and open arms.

it was a thursday and my mom, sister and i were anxiously texting throughout the day to share what may have been progressing in mama's labor.

the kids could hardly focus on school for fear that they would miss a beat.

we went to bed that night and i heard my phone do it's little dingy thingy and i knew.

he was here!

babies are such a precious, precious blessing.

on friday, we woke up anxious to make our way to the hospital, special gifts in tow.

 

before we left, i surprised the kids by taking them to our local grocer and letting them pick out a donut.

our local bakery makes the best donuts, fresh and hot every day.

my favorite are the apple fritters, but i restrained myself.  ;)

decisions decisions...

 

with our crinkly, sweet smelling bags in tow, we headed for the nearby town where my husband works as a car salesman, and where the fresh new babe was comfortably tucked in mama's arms.

don't you just love the fresh smell of a newborn baby?

there's just nothing like it.

we had planned on going to the city wide garage sales {in the town where he was born} that day anyway{perfect!}, so we stopped at a few houses before we met nathan at the hospital.

*can i just say that i had the best idea{thank you, Lord} that i've had in a long time and decided to give each of the kiddos $5 of their own to spend wisely throughout the day.

 it eliminated SO MUCH hassle and "no's!" from me.

i am definitely doing that again{but not necessarily with $5, that is kinda a lot}.

i think it's hysterical what some of the kids picked out!*

ahem.  back to the baby.

this is what we saw walking into the hospital.

i almost cried.

because that's what i do.

i get overwhelmed with emotion and tear up.

like several times a day.

my nephew is a dad.

a new chapter has just been written.

friends...meet precious, gorgeous, healthy, loved 

aaron matthew

sigh.

isn't he the cutest thing you've ever seen?

we all had our turn at cuddling him, and then mama needed a break from a long and hard labor and delivery.

isn't she gorgeous?

this is my sister's son, brett.

aka proud papa. ;)

this picture makes me very happy.

and teary.

so after our grand adventure at the hospital, 

and locking my keys in the van at lunch,

we finished up our treasure hunting and headed home.

 

jack, jack, jack.  my little man.

do you want to know what he spent his money on?

*a power strip{that he immediately took home and hooked up in his room}

*a brand new ernest movie{remember ernest?}  yikes!

*plastic play dishes for the playhouse

*a truck

*scrapbooking paper

that equals pure bliss for jack. :)

maddie scored

*that rainbow glass in the above pic

*a vintage monopoly game{she had been on the prowl for monopoly}

*vintage strawberry shortcake sheet set

*shoes

*scrapbooking paper

 

elly bought

*lots of great fabric

*lace

*embroidery hoops

*a vintage sewing board

*scrapbooking paper

do we see a  pattern here?

and henry.  oh! sweet henry!

he, too, bought{and was the discoverer of} 

*another ernest movie{GREAT!}

#jimvarneyincarnate  #classclown

*some plastic playhouse dishes

and then i had to fork out the other $2 to him because he didn't find anything else worth his money, i guess.

 

and i scored some great finds!

i bought 

*a hammock{$10}

*two adirondack chairs{$3 a piece!}

*vintage globe{$.50}

*ironstone pitcher{i collect ironstone $4}

*5 vintage tablecloths{$3.50}

*antique flour shaker{$.50}

and other randomness that is found while sifting through others peoples 'junk'!  :)

view from the hammock

so that was our perfectly wonderful day.

new baby.

family time.

garage sales.

minimal tears and fighting.

it was grand!

wouldn't it be SO.MUCH.FUN if we could go together?  

yes, please!

hope this finds you having a wonderful day!

p.s. IT'S  FRIDAY!!!

xo,

mary