One Thousand Gifts - #69 to #85

godly teachers at my children's school
parent teacher conferences
a week off from school
no snow (last year snow prevented us from travelling at Thanksgiving)
unbelievably beautiful cloud formations that I saw last week
safe travel to visit my parents

parents that are healthy in mind and body despite their age (hi Mom!)
visiting a fantastic bookstore, again.
a date night with my hubby
my children didn't use any electronic devices on both 3 hour ferry rides
a hotel with a fitness room and pool
a very quick interaction with border officials now that we have our green cards
the return of gingerbread lattes at Starbucks
our guinea pigs survived in our absence even without "pet sitting"
returning to regular routines, even laundry and dishes and grocery shopping
a quiet WalMart on a Monday morning

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Happy Thanksgiving

Over the river and through the woods to Grandfather's house we go! My family and I are headed out to visit family up north. :)Pin It

Paper flowers & a blue wall

Hubby and I painted one wall of the living room a robin's egg blue. That was a few months ago. I've had a blank wall ever since. I don't want to put anything up until we finally have a mantle. (we have a fireplace and no mantle on this wall). I saw these paper flowers and decided they would be the perfect thing to liven up the empty wall.Isn't it interesting how the blue looks different in the 2 photos taken at the same time? Anyway, Destiny's blog has great instructions on making the paper bag flowers. I added a book page flower in the centre. Here's a close up. I used a paper punch to cut out the flower from a book. Then I folded it up to give it more of a 3-D effect. I glued a flat-backed pearl in the centre (found at Michael's). This is a VERY frugal craft. The only cost was the pearls since I already had a lot of brown lunch bags.

I'm linking up with Chic & Crafty at The Frugal Girls and A Crafty Soiree at Yesterday on Tuesday.Pin It

Veteran's Day and Remembrance Day

image source: Canadian War Museum

I wrote a post about Veteran's Day and Remembrance Day last year and it was pretty good. :) Since I'm lazy, I'm reposting it.
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One Thousand Gifts - #57 to 68

57. listening to my 8 year old read animal stories to his brother and me, making the drive to school more fun!
58. the beautiful and numerous colours that hydrangeas turn in the fall.59. dahlias from my garden on my windowsill in November!
60. Trunk or Treat at a nearby church
61. being Mary Poppins for a day (see my Halloween post)
62. after long last, finding a toothpick holder for my kitchen, yes it is the little things that bring a smile!
63. finally reading One Thousand Gifts - the book!
64. pumpkin bread/muffins made from Trader Joe's mix
65. flannel sheets
66. the gift of an extra hour due to time change
67. clothes - even though washing, sorting, ironing (occasionally), hanging, and purging is a lot of work.
68. a cloudy, overcast, dreary day that turns sunny in the afternoon.Pin It

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.
My son taking on various identities.Pin It

Fall decor

I know that some people (especially stores) are getting ready for Christmas (now that Halloween is over) but I still want to enjoy fall and Thanksgiving, OK? I realized that I haven't posted about a fall sign that I made last year! I have a little shelf by the front door and I change the things on it for each season or holiday.

The letters came from JoAnn's and are paper mache. They are about $2 each and sometimes go on sale. I painted the letters brown first then I glued scrapbook paper on the fronts and then I put a coat of Mod Podge on top. I added some ribbons to a few, a faux sunflower, some silk leaves, and a few buttons.The wheat bouquet I found at Goodwill. I added the satin ribbon.
I found the Thanksgiving couple at local craft fair.

I'm linking up with Chic & Crafty at The Thrifty Girls.Pin It

Halloween Recap

My 8 year old son declared that he is too old for "cute" costumes and thus, wanted to be a skeleton this year. The head that came with this costume is truly scary so I was glad he didn't want to wear it.My younger son didn't have anything specific in mind so when I found a giraffe costume at the thrift store for a steal, he said he would happily wear it. This year is probably the last year either of my children will be an animal for Halloween. Sniff, sniff!
Here is my costume:
I found a photo of someone dressed as Mary Poppins on Pinterest and I began my quest. The black jacket, black skirt, white blouse, "sensible" shoes, umbrella, magic purse, and hat were ALL found at thrift stores! The red bow was taken from a cheap headband.

We went to a "trunk or treat" this year at a large church close to our house. I was very impressed with all the decorated cars and trucks.They also had a bouncy house, mini golf, carnival games, and hot dogs and other food to purchase. A great outreach to the local community.

At one point in the evening, I was sitting down on a bench in a hallway and a lot of people went by. It was fun seeing people walk by, look at me, and then say "are you...." or "Mary Poppins?" Fun!Pin It