Thanksgiving Thankfulness

I pray that you all had as wonderful a Thanksgiving as our family did...we are so blessed to have a large family that loves each other, warm houses for which to celebrate, PLENTY of food and good health.  This year, there will not be as many presents to buy nor as many parties to attend as we are slowing down and remembering what the season is all about.  We don't want to spend another holiday season being busy 24/7 and then look back in January and wonder what we did to celebrate the REAL reason for the season.

We had 17 people at my mom's Thanksgiving afternoon.  Despite the rain and cold weather, everyone made it safely and we all had a great time.

My cousin Alexia with the newest cousin, Isabel, who is 8 weeks old.   You will be seeing Izzy in ALL of the pictures!

Allie, Will, Cole, Spencer and Izzy just hanging out.

 

A little technical difficulties with the lights.  Brad bought this 12 foot Christmas tree the year we moved into this house and every year, he has "issues" with it...at least he had lots of help this year!

Of course, Kobe had to be the first "ornament"!  Ha!

Everyone went home Saturday and now the house is much too quiet.  Cole is rehearsing like crazy for The Christmas Story which opens at The Rep on Friday, December 3rd.  Spencer is going to basketball practice at crazy hours (8:00 till 10:30 p.m. Saturday and Sunday) and they have a game in Conway tonight.  That's just one more reason we will keep our social life to a minimum this Christmas so the boys can enjoy some downtime when they are home.

Hope you all have a great week.

Love, Marilyn

Work Day!

It's Saturday and everyone is still sleeping except for me!  My mom and I have a big day ahead of us because we are cleaning out her storage shed to make room for my Gigi's "goodies" a/k/a stuff from the past 64 years!  It's just like us to purge a building so that we can bring in more treasures that need to be purged.  Anyway, we'll have fun and I'm excited to be able to spend the entire day with her.

The boys had a great time last night and so did Brad and I.  I made a mad dash (insert frantic) for the bus yesterday after a last-minute phone call from Coach Hogue who informed me that the basketball bus was leaving ONE HOUR sooner than we had anticipated.  Made it, Spencer rode it, had a great time, no problem with the feeds and he was home by 11:30p.m.  Whew!

After the craziness with Spencer subsided, I made a leisurely drive down to The Rep and dropped Cole off at at 4:00.  Brad met us there and he and I walked down to LuLav for a fantabulous meal and quiet talk time!  Oh my gosh, it was just what we needed!  Don't know why we don't do that more often.

So, everyone is still sleeping which is great.  Cole doesn't have to be at rehearsal until 10:00 and Spencer has the entire day free and he is already planning on chillin and watching college football.

Hope ya'll have a great weekend!



Being a Parent is Hard!

Brad and I have talked a lot lately about how much harder to parent it is the older your children get...someone told me it gets easier and if I ever find out who it was, they will get an earful!

So, Spencer is the manager for the varsity basketball team for AB.  He has been at practice every day from 3:30 to 5:30 or 6:00 and he ABSOLUTELY LOVES IT!  Thank you Coach Hogue for asking Spencer to participate.  Now, my biggest answered prayer (which is also a huge fear of mine) is coming to fruition...Spencer will be riding the bus, with the basketball team, to Augusta, AR for the basketball games tonight.  He is sooooo excited because he gets to ride the bus and because Brad and I aren't going!  I'm praying for a safe trip, a good game and no problem with his pump for his feeds.  How did my mom ever do it as a single parent?

Cole's rehearsal schedule for The Christmas Story has been crazy...every night until 10:00 but he NEVER complains, which is how we know he loves it.  Rehearsal this weekend is 8 hours each day.  Thankfully, the boys are out of school the entire week for Thanksgiving so Cole can catch up on some much-needed sleep.

I love my Bible verse from this morning's lesson.  It was just what I needed to hear.

"Now glory be to God!  By his mighty power at work within us, he is able to accomplish infinitely more than we would ever dare to ask or hope."
~Ephesians 3:20 

 

Weekend Projects Reveal

I have never thought of myself as a girly girl but the older I get, the more I realize I AM a true girly girl at heart.  And since there are no girls in my house to lavish all my blingy love on, I choose to thrust it upon my friends and family. ;)

I have decided to make all of my Christmas presents this year so here are a few projects that were completed this past weekend during my arts & crafts extravaganza!

I love picture frames!  All types, sizes, styles...give me a picture frame and I am happy.  So...I decided to make some for my friends.

I started with an unfinished frame from Hobby Lobby.

If I was going to paint it, a little sanding would be necessary but since I am covering it with paper, no prep is required.

I used a piece of scrapbook paper.  I can't get enough of all the different designs they have and the size of the paper is a perfect fit for this size frame.  I covered the frame and the paper in Mod Podge.  If you're not familiar with this product, let me just say it is THE BOMB!  I am constantly looking for an excuse to use this stuff!

Once the paper is attached to the frame, smooth all the wrinkles out.  I printed out the words I wanted to use and traced them on to the paper with carbon paper.  I've seen many different techniques to transfer the letters but this is the one that has worked best for me.  After going over the letters with a paint pen, I topped it off with another layer of Mod Podge (just to give it a little sheen), attached a 2 1/2" curly wooden letter that I decorated and voila!  The perfect present.

I made three of these yesterday and I'm sure will make more this week.  An inexpensive but personal gift.

I also ADORE plates and I love using them to decorate.  I found some cute plates at Tuesday Morning for $2.00/each and decided to try my hand at painting on them. 

Cutsy red striped plate...I haven't decided if I'm giving this one as a gift or keeping it for myself!

I thought this gold charger was so cute.  I think it adds dimension how the gold shows through the white of the snowman.

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Looks like it will be another busy week around here but next week, the boys are out for the entire week for Thanksgiving!  Can I get a woot woot?!

Have a great day!

Arts & Crafts Saturday

I can't tell you how long it has been since I got to spend the day, the whole day, doing only what I wanted which is arts and crafts!  I'm thinking years since it has happened.  So, I made up for it in a BIG way when I commandered the dining room table and left all my goodies out to finish today.  Just trying to send a message to the boys of the home that that is what is on my agenda today as well.

I hope to post some good pics of some of the projects I'm working on.

After all my "hard" work yesterday, my friend Carol and her son Collin came over last night for dinner.  Spencer hung out with them yesterday so it was great that they stayed after they brought him home.  She brought along a chick movie for us and a guy movie for the boys (you know, car chases, guns, grenades & no kissing!).  While we were watching the movie, Rusty crawled in my lap and got comfy.  I wanted to tell him that a 90 pound dog does not qualify as a lap dog but he's too sweet...so dad took a pic!

Sweet baby.

The Lord has blessed us with beautiful weather today.  Hope you all enjoy your Sunday.



Hello Friday

Whew, I am so glad that we are quickly approaching the weekend, for which we have nothing planned!  I see arts & crafts in my future!

While Cole was at rehearsal last night, Spencer was at karate and he received his camo belt.  We are so proud of him.  Karate has been so good for him, not only physically but it has definately given him more confidence.  Way to go Spencer!

Rehearsal for The Christmas Story is officially a "go".  5:00 to 10:00 every night during the week and six to eight hours each Saturday and Sunday.  We know he loves it because even though he is exhausted when we pick him up, he has a smile on his face.  I think that's love!

Spencer and I are headed to my mom's today to visit and work on the Thanksgiving menu.  I'm sooooooo glad Thanksgiving is at her house this year! 

Hope you all have a great weekend!  I hope I get to post pictures next week of some fun things I've been working on...stay tuned.



Driving, driving, driving...

So, you know how I said I was a homebody at heart and that I couldn't wait for the Hoedown to be over with so I could stay home...well, this is all I saw yesterday.

The road from my house to get into town.

9:00 Cole had an interview to promote The Christmas Story

10:30 Drop Cole off at school

11:15 Spencer had a speaking engagement as ACH Ambassador

12:30 Take Spencer home

12:31 Breathe

2:30 Check Cole out of school for photo shoot for TCS

5:00 Parent meeting at The Rep for TCS

6:14 Inhale sandwich from Subway before Cole is finished w/rehearsal

7:30 Arrive home

7:31 Collapse into pjs and go to bed

Crazy!  But I'm so thankful to be able to be home and take the boys where they need to be.

Today wasn't as bad and although Cole had another interview, Spencer had physical therapy at ACH and basketball practice at AB, it was a pretty quiet day.  Cole and I made a quick trip to Kroger after school to pick up some things...he still thinks he is 5.

Goofy boy!

Hope you all had a great day!

Back to Life

How nice it is to be sitting at my desk, opening mail, filing things, answering e-mail...all those "normal" things I have not been able to do for the last week since I have been all caught up in the Hoedown.  The big event was Saturday night and even though we don't know "numbers" yet, I would say it was a huge success!  I think everyone had a great time and we are so grateful to each person that came out to support a fabulous organization.

Monty was the only unhappy camper at the Hoedown.  He was not too fond of being in his stall while everyone was milling around.  He's a pasture horse at heart!

As the Hoedown ends, the boys' extracuricular activities are gearing up.  Spencer is going to be helping with the varsity basketball team at AB so he will be going to practice each day from 3:30 to 5:30.  Cole's play at The Rep is preparing to start rehearsal and he has three interviews (to promote the play) and one photo shoot this week.  You may now refer to me as the Ewing's driver because that's all I will be doing for the next seven weeks.

I'll leave you with this picture for the day...Macks (our newest canine addition) somehow caught a squirrel this morning.  Did you know that a dog will not drop his "catch" even if you are running through the yard with a broom in your hand screaming at him at the top of your lungs?!  Thankfully, Brad was home and dealt with it.  Spencer said it was a not-so-pretty-picture so see me running by his window, in my pjs, chasing the dog with a broom.  Nice.

Hope ya'll have a great week!

Razorback Fun

We were so blessed to be able to go to the Razorback game Saturday in Fayetteville and to be able sit inside the glassed in area (I have no idea what this section was called!).  For a girl who doesn't care for sporting events, I sure did have a good time and the boys, well, I don't even have to tell you how much fun they had!  So much food to eat, so many people to watch and so little time.  Anne & Steve were there with Seth and three of his friends so Spencer and Cole sat with them which meant I had no one to tell me what was going on in the game!  Brad knew the couple that was sitting beside us so he was visiting with them while I was texting Spencer asking him questions.  Fun, fun, fun.

We drove home after the game and got in around 1:45 a.m.  Oh, I'm too old to be doing that because I had to get up early and work on Hoedown stuff yesterday.  But the boys had a great time so it was worth it.

As many of you know, the Ewing's have kind of had a tough time this past 14 months.  But God has really opened my eyes lately to all the THOUSANDS of blessings we have in our life.  I just can't tell you how thankful and fortunate we are and even in the midst of all our trouble, we are SOOOOOO much better off than most people.  I loved my Bible reading this morning by Rev. Lavon Post.  He said, "One thing that I have noticed in life is that God sometimes allows some storms just before sending one of His beautiful blessings.  After the blessing has come, it is even more appreciated because of the storms that preceded it.  So if your life has been a little stormy lately, please don't despair and please don't beat yourself up, wondering why God is made at you.  He's not mad at you, He's just getting ready to send you a spectacularly beautiful blessing."  Thank you God for preparing me for Your many blessings.

Hope ya'll have a great week.