A Nutty Thanksgiving....

In our house over the past 4 or 5 years Thanksgiving and The Nutcracker are all rolled into one...production for Nutcracker has been going on for over a month and the show is the week after Thanksgiving.

Luckily we have Thanksgiving dinner at Papa's house...because our house is filled with costumes, yards of tulle, lots of glitter, stray rat heads (for the show of course, we got rid of the real ones last year!) and many other odds and ends.

We have been at the studio for hours and hours, rehearsing, fitting costumes, creating angel skirts, organizing baby mice costumes, fluffing up tutus....so much to be done so our dancers look their best.

Here is our costume room - and this is only about one third of the costumes! 

There are baskets being prepared for auction at the Nutcracker Sweet Shoppe - themed of course for the dances of the show!

But, amidst all of this, with the girlies help we were able to do our part of the Thanksgiving feast.  As is our tradition everyone brings a little something, so we didn't have too much to do...

apples to go in with the yams.  Madison made them this year layering canned yams, chopped apples, butter and brown sugar.  After that is cooked for about 45 minutes at 350 then of course the mini marshmallows go on top for a bit of toasting and Voila! the best yams ever!

Lane made 'Stacy' rolls for all of us to enjoy...

a wonderful recipe that we can never get enough of!

Papa and Willie stood by cheering us on!

One mishap this year - no pecan pie!  We planned on using the pecans from our tree, but, even after drying them in the oven they were too wet - too much rain lately I guess.  Maybe we will make pecan pie after Nutcracker!

Family getting together is just so wonderful...that's what it's all about (well besides the Hokey Pokey that is!)

Thanks to Apple we were even able to see the faces of the family that was celebrating in Texas!

We got out my mom's fancy peach blossom dishes and set the table in an entirely non-traditional way!

Pretty, don't you think?

So even with visions of Sugar Plums and Nutcrackers in our heads we had a very special Thanksgiving.

I hope that all of yours were filled with yummy food, friends, family and lots of love just like ours was!


xoxo       Elizabeth

Art Time Drawing Class

We are getting to know some wonderful artists - Van Gogh, Norman Rockwell, Frank Llyod Wright, Cezzane....

And we are doing some exciting art work!

Some shading exercises...

understanding positive and negative space....

studying patterns and doing some Halloween tessellations!

I am enjoying my journey into teaching!

xoxo     Elizabeth

Happy All Hallow's Eve

So happy that we still get to carve pumpkins with our girlies!

Hope you get lots of Treats and no Tricks at all!!!


xoxo         Elizabeth

Progress...

Step by step, slowly but surely, the garden has grown!

We have been enjoying cooking up our own green beans...

watching the flowers grow....

and bringing them into the house to enjoy.

Since we have been enjoying the Summer garden so much...we decided to plant a Fall garden!  This is my first experience planting at this time of year....

and things seem to be going very well.  We put in broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, swiss chard, brussel sprouts, celery and onions.  The celery and onions are on their way out - I planted them right where the dog loves to cut across the garden....I don't think they are going to make it.

Our watering system is a gift from my neighbor Jessie.  When she was alive she taught me how to shape the beds so that you just lay the hose down in one spot and the entire vegetable bed fills up!  When the plants are small they also need to be watered from the top, but once they establish their roots they get all they need from filling the little canals.  Jessie used to come over and tell me that it was time to work in the yard!  I would take little Madison and Lane and out we would go to the vegetable garden (or where ever in the yard Jessie thought we should work!)  Lane would hold onto my skirt, Madison would grab a kid sized garden tool and we would dig and weed and water.  Jessie in her eighties could work circles around me!  What wonderful memories this new garden is bringing back to me!

The garden has grown even more since I took these pics...the broccoli is past my knees!  The tomatoes have taken over their portion of the garden....and yesterday I actually saw a red tomato!

Once you start planting all of these wonderful things the space seems very small...next year I may have to take over more of the yard!  Our plans to get the whole backyard under control are progressing and I look forward to sharing our new outdoor space with you sometime in the Spring!

There is still time...go plant something!


xoxo      Elizabeth

Becoming Real...

Turning 18...voting...becoming ‘real’ as someone close to us has coined it....

What a crazy time to be doing all of this.

It is such a privilege to vote...and such a burden as well.  In this technological world with fast information it is so hard to filter, what is real, what is not...what are the facts...and ultimately - what do I believe?

Personally, I am disappointed in politics....the mud slinging, the spinning, the division - so I would like to say to my daughter, a wonderful young woman, who will be turning 18;  and to all of you wonderful young people out there turning 18, as well, who are getting this privilege of voting...let it all be about something else.

Let it be about the fact that as a nation we are a hardworking people, not afraid to go after a dream.  Let it be about the fact that as a nation we are a sincere people wanting to do good in this world.  Let it be about the fact that as a nation we are an accepting people, interested in the exciting differences we all bring to the table.  Let it be about the fact that as a nation we are a strong people willing to stand up for what we believe and the right to believe it.

Only as a nation are we as strong as we can be.  Only as a nation can we preserve this amazing ideal that we live.  Only as a nation can we learn, move forward and make a great future for you, your children and your children’s children.

So, as you reach this great milestone, this privilege, this burden - let it be about you...and the person to your left...and the person to your right...about the person to their left and to their right.  Let it be about hard work, let it be about sincerity, strength, acceptance...and most of all let it be about belief, belief in ourselves and in this nation of ours.

Go out and use your one vote to the best of your ability....cast it in the belief that this nation is an amazing one that it is our privilege to live in.

With all my love and high hopes for an amazing future to my voting girlie...


xoxo        Mom (Elizabeth)