Teatime Tuesday~Gearing Up For Thanksgiving

Happy Tuesday!!!

&

Happy November!!!

Time is flying by like a storm these days. Here in our parts we have been blessed with cooler weather and rain this week! It's always exciting when we get rain and cool weather after having such a long dry, hot season. Today I enjoyed a nice bowl of oatmeal with tea and cream. I also rearranged some of my decor and brought out a few of our Thanksgiving decorations to cozy up the place. I am also gearing up for Thanksgiving. Looks like it will be just the three of us again this year...Which I love! There's no one more I'd want to spend the holidays with than my dear Mr. Darling and Freckles. We would love it if our boy could be with us too...But just not enough time off for him and his job. We miss him very much! But also grateful he will have his girl with him to spend the holidays with and he could also spend it with his grandparents if he wanted.

No matter, our Thanksgiving will be splendid!

I brought out my wooden pilgrims...They are near and dear to my heart. I made and painted them many years ago when our son was about two years old...I was in a MOPS group through church and this was a project we made together. They have adorned our 

Thanksgiving table for almost 20 years now!

I can't believe it has been that long ago...It really blows my mind!

They will be with us for the remainder of our days for sure. I envision us around the Thanksgiving table old and gray with our children and their spouses and our grandchildren with these wooden pilgrims there. That would be so cool.

I made a little collage of some of my favorite chick flick films for ya! Many of them are great tear jerkers. I love a good lighthearted movie or a sweet romance. Since Autumn is the perfect time to cuddle up in a quilt and watch a flick with a nice hot cup of cocoa and caramel popcorn...I thought I'd start you off with a few of my favorite suggestions. Enjoy!

And.....I found these sweet Thankful cards on Pinterest...In which I am planning to use for our Thanksgiving....Thought I'd share with you. You can print them out and hand them out to your family members, have them write down what they are thankful for and share them around the Thanksgiving table. It's a nice way to share what your thankful for and have a bit of conversation together. Making memories and making new traditions is a good thing!

Thanks for popping in today! 

have a delightful week ahead!!!

My Heart Is Full~Thanksgiving 2014

It has been a while since I posted last. I was getting over the flu and cough and got busy with life. Now Thanksgiving came upon us and has passed us by with just a blink of an eye. Time has flown by like the wind this last year. It really is hard to believe that Christmas is already coming up. I wanted to take a moment and reflect on the thing I am so thankful for. The list is long. Which is very good. It has been a rough year, if you have been following along you would know how hard it has been. Yet, even with the hard stuff and the pain I have endured this year with the loss of my Gramma....God has continued to be steadfast with His love and has given me so much grace. He has provided for us to make it through this year with very little as we have worked on the church plant and getting through Mr. Darling's exams and finally his ordination. What a blessing...All the years and hard work my husband sacrificed has finally came to light! We have been tested, we have been excluded, slandered, judged and hurt by others this year...But God's word comforts us that there is something so much more waiting for us. We turn the other cheek and trudge through the dark trenches and await God's promise and pray that all we do gives glory to our Maker. God has in turn blessed us with a wonderful group of fellow believers in our church. They have opened their hearts and have been so willing and eager to make this mission work out...We feel loved by the flock...And pray they feel our love towards them as well. We have been blessed with a nice place to worship on Sunday mornings...As well as fellowship between our brothers and sisters in Christ..We have been blessed by others giving without wanting anything in return...My heart is full.

I am thankful for all these blessings and for my family, who has stood by our side through all of these years, Thankful to those who have encouraged us and lifted up our spirits or gave us help in our greatest times of need. I am thankful to my hard working husband, who loves the Lord and loves us unconditionally, who is always there as a cheerleader, cheering us on when we are down. For our son who is making his way on his own. He is missed daily, but always in touch. We are thankful he had the opportunity to come home even if it were just for a couple days. It meant the world to us that he was here to celebrate a huge milestone in our walk. I am thankful for my daughter, a sweet, tender spirit, who is always there for me, who shares the world with me. 

We enjoy each others company and friendship...

My heart is full.

Mi Familia

I have so many things to be grateful for. This is the time of year where we reflect on those things. I am grateful everyday for these things. Since it is that time of Season however, I take a little extra time to ponder and praise God for the wonderful gifts He has given my family. It has been a rough road if you have been a reader for some time, you know my story. This last year and 1/2 have been quite eventful in many ways...Some bad and some very wonderful. This last 9 month have been hard for me since the passing of my beloved Gramma. I have been struggling with depression and fighting my way out of it. I can tell I am slowly coming back....Though it is taking some time. The other hard thing I deal with is the distance between our son and our family since he had moved to Washington. I am very proud of him for making it out on his own and working a full time job, getting his first apartment with his best friend from childhood...But it is the distance that is hard. It has been 9 months since I last saw him at my Gramma's funeral. The good thing is he is very close to us and we talk or text often. It just rips my heart out to know I can't just give him a hug or stop by or have him over for dinner....It is the distance. It was a blessing that he was able to fly out for my hubby's ordination service. He was able to get a couple days off work. This Momma was so thrilled and blessed beyond measure to finally hold him again and give him Mama kisses. His little sister cried when he came up to the door to greet her...and the tears were worse when he had to go home. She loves her big brother and misses him dearly. The visit was short...Too short for my liking, but it was sweet. We stayed up with him till after 2AM the first night just talking and hanging out with him and Mr. Darling's Mom who also flew in for the occasion. 

My heart was full...Just having us all here under one roof. I sat in the middle of my two babies and held them close for a while. It was just what I needed... Mi Familia!!!! I am so thankful that we had the opportunity to fly him here to be with us to share a very important milestone for our family. It was so nice to have meals together, to visit with each other, to laugh together and capture a few images through the lens, just for memories. My family...Mi Familia!!!  

They mean the world to me! I am so blessed.

It is unfortunate that we will not be spending Thanksgiving and Christmas together with our son, But, looking forward to making a trip up his way for vacation in the Summer. Another long 8 months or so before we are all together again as a family. I am already counting the days. 

Thanksgiving

It's already here...It's Thanksgiving.
 I can't believe how quickly this year has flown by.
 I have many things to be thankful for this Thanksgiving day and everyday.
*****

 As I ponder and reflect on the things I am most thankful for. I have to say first and foremost I am grateful and thankful for my Heavenly Father, my God who gave me life and saved me from the darkness. I am a sinner and do not deserve any of this life. But He has forgiven me and has blessed me with plenty and not want. I am thankful for my dear husband who is my best friend, who keeps me on track and is there for me through everything, good and bad. He is my constant, my supporter, my number one fan, my true love, loving me with all his heart. I am thankful for my two children..For always being there through this journey The good Lord has brought us through, even when it seemed mundane, yet it has strengthened us and our family unit. There are many times I could not have made it through without those three gifts. I am grateful to my dear friend Susan who has opened her home to our boy, giving him a roof and a room to stay in and for being there for him like a second mama, when I can't physically be there. I am thankful for my family, for those who have lovingly been there and have supported us through the thick of it all and for those who are still by our side. I am thankful for our church family, friends, new home, and this wonderful opportunity the Lord is opening up to us here, to work, to serve and to grow. Words cannot even express my thankful Heart. All glory be to God!
*******

Mr. Darling, Freckles and I celebrated a day early. We made all the fixens and enjoyed a little Thanksgiving feast together. It is however very strange, something is surely missing and that would be our son. He won't be coming home for the holidays this year. I am thankful he will be spending it with his girlfriend and her family. We will be going to a church families home for Thanksgiving as well. I had to make us a feast of our own because, we love to have those leftovers...MMMMMM, toasted bread with turkey, smothered in a bit of mayo and cranberry sauce. Oh my, yes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We enjoyed it. And as one of our traditions, we read scripture of thanksgiving around the table. I keep these leaves with scripture verses on them for each of us to look up and read...We each take turns until we have looked up all the verses. It is pretty special and reminds us that we should be thankful to God with all our hearts for Him, for He is worthy of our praises.

 

Dear readers, family and friends. I wish you the most blessed Thanksgiving Day with your loved ones. May you be filled with the love and embrace of your family and friends and mostly may your heart swell with Love, Thanksgiving and gratitude to God above.

Thankful Garland

 

 

I worked in the sewing room this week and actually pulled out some crafty stuff to work on. One thing on my to do list was this Thankful garland. I used green burlap and painted Thankful on it, then cut up a vintage sheet to make garland for each side....Hung it up in my dining room with my Pilgrims. I made those in MOPS 19 years ago. WOW...Did I just say that right? YUP, 19 years ago when my boy was just a baby. whew....Time sure does fly by in a flash.

 

We are also enjoying the Autumn air...Finally. I am so loving all the leaves falling from the trees. I'm going to leave them in my yard for a while before raking them up, because they are so pretty lying on the ground. I even had sun walking through them. Loving the crunch beneath my feet...
Hope y'all are enjoying your week.