Five on Friday | Planning for Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is almost here! Plans are under way . . . 

{one}

This year we will have 25 around our Thanksgiving table! 

I am so excited that our whole family will be here to celebrate together! We will put several tables together end to end so that we can all sit at one looong table. 

This table was from Thanksgiving 2022

{two}

Earlier this week I picked up two new plates that were on clearance at HomeGoods. I keep adding to my collection of brown transferware. I am not sad about it. When I use brown transferware on my Thanksgiving table, I use a variety of patterns and they all seem to work together. 

{three}

I have a very small collection of fall/Thanksgiving mugs, but I love the ones I have. Becki of Field Lilies blog said that she would like to see the turkey one a little closer, so I zoomed in. 

{four}

It is our tradition to use place cards for Thanksgiving dinner. One year I was running short on time and considered forgoing them, but then I was told that the grands have games that they play with their place cards each year. Well, a Gran cannot certainly not ruin such a happy tradition, so I found time to make them! 

This year, I am going to resurrect a version of these printables found in an issue of Martha Stewart Living magazine. You used to be able to download them from her website, but that link has since been removed. Fortunately, I have the original page from the magazine that I can photocopy. 

Thanksgiving 2011

{five}

We will have our Thankful Tree this year!

A Thankful Tree is a simple tree (I am not an artist, so it is truly simple) made of brown craft paper. I cut out a gazillion leaves from cardstock, and everyone writes something that they are thankful for on a leaf/leaves. When we were raising our children, we had a Thankful Tree every year, from the beginning of November until sometime after Thanksgiving. 

Now, we are in a different stage of life and we don't always have one. But this is Kati's year to come for Thanksgiving and all of the children/grandchildren will be here and I want all of the grands to remember this special tradition, so we will hang the Thankful Tree up before they all arrive. 

When I went to Hobby Lobby to purchase card stock in autumn colors, alas, there was none. I came home and found something even better on Amazon: a package of 120 fall leaf card stock cutouts! No tracing or cutting . . . I simply need to punch them out. And they were delivered to my door the next day. Win! 

Punched out three sheets of leaves while I sipped my morning coffee.

Thankful Tree ~ 2023

It is a good thing to give thanks unto the LORD,
and to sing praises unto thy name, O most High:
To shew forth thy lovingkindness in the morning,
and thy faithfulness every night.

Psalm 92:1, 2

Five on Friday | Welcome, November!

When I lose my blogging mojo, I find that a Five on Friday is a good way to just hop back into Blogland without a lot of explanations or fanfare. So here we go . . .

{one}

I happily welcomed November! It is one of my favorite months. It's cozy and comforting and filled with thanksgiving. 

{two}

When November arrives, I start playing my Thanksgiving playlist on Spotify. Around the house. In the car. While I am cooking. While we are eating Thanksgiving dinner, of course. I try to include a little something for everybody. For the little ones, there is Alvin and the Chipmunks' rendition of "Over the River and Through the Woods" and Steve Green's "Give Thanks to the Lord" from one of his Hide 'Em In Your Heart albums. There is a Crowder song for my daughter. Some Michael Card for my son. There are traditional songs like "Come, Ye Thankful People, Come" (which I remember learning in elementary school) and newer songs like Matt Boswell's "O Give Thanks." 

If you have a Spotify account, you can click on the image of my playlist below to listen. 

{three}

I also welcome November with fall foods. This week I made some pumpkin butter (recipe ~ here ~) which is so yummy on hot biscuits or toast. It's easy to make and it fills the house with the spicy aroma of fall. 

{four}

For this week's Bible study, I went November-y with cranberry streusel muffins. The streusel topping is the same one that I use in ~ this ~ recipe, but the muffin itself is a bit different. Maybe you'd like to try them? 

CRANBERRY-OAT MUFFINS

INGREDIENTS:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar

1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 cup fresh (or frozen) cranberries
1/4 cup butter

1 cup milk
1 egg


DIRECTIONS:

Heat oven to 425 degrees. Butter muffin cups.

In a bowl, combine dry ingredients and blend well.

Toss the cranberries with 1 tablespoon of dry ingredients and set aside.

Melt butter. Off heat, stir in milk and egg.

Stir butter mixture into dry ingredients and, when well-mixed, stir in cranberries.

Fill muffin cups. (At this point I added ~ this ~ streusel.)
Bake 15 to 20 minutes until lightly browned and toothpick inserted into muffin comes out clean. Let stand 5 minutes before removing from pan. 

{five}

This past year, our ladies' Sunday School class has chosen a Bible verse each month to memorize. I have created iPhone wallpaper for some of those verses to aid in our memorization. It is helpful to have that little reminder each time you pick up your phone! Here is November's wallpaper:

Happy November, my friends! 

Gathering the Moments | September 2025

September was the beginning of Ron's retirement!

September was also work! At home. Unsalaried. Self-motivated. 

Ron's first project was completing the patio that he had begun this past summer. He allowed Bekah and me to lay the last two bricks . . . and then immediately began laying the brick sidewalk connecting the patio to our driveway. 

September was Labor Day, so we grilled burgers and cooked corn-on-the-cob . . . 

. . . and then had affogatos at a little gelato shop near us. (We may have started a new tradition!) 

September was the beginning of Bekah's senior year. 

September found me gathering bunches of limelight hydrangeas wearing their autumn blush and placing them here and there. To me, they are the perfect early autumn decoration, reflecting the subtle change of seasons. 

September was days spent with my mom. It was an outpatient procedure and a quick recovery. It was a huge victory for a friend who has been struggling. It was continued struggle for a family member. It was leaning on the Lord and asking for His help in it all. 

September was more projects! 

When your newly retired husband says, "Let's paint the living room before our guests arrive," you say "Yes!" So a couple of weeks was dedicated to painting the living room a color in Benjamin Moore's Historical Collection: Copley Gray. I absolutely love this color which the website describes as "a versatile grayish neutral with a soft green cast." 

More projects? Yes. We put a pad under the rug we bought on Marketplace this past summer. We restyled the bookshelves. Ron purchased and assembled a table and chairs for the patio. He created a new space for the birdbath, started a border around the patio, and mulched both spaces. He washed the northern sides of our house and garage. 

One thing always leads to another, doesn't it? 

I asked Ron if he was ready to go back to work so he could get some rest. He replied, "No. This is fun!" 

September was a day trip for me and my friend Barbara. What a happy day it was! A bakery, antique stores, book stores, coffee shops, indulgent burgers, birthday gifts, strolls through two charming towns, sunshine, and lots of catching up! 

September  was planning a luncheon at our church for the young-at-heart. 

September was also a WEDDING at our church! Our son-in-law Andrew's cousin's daughter . . . who is also our pastor's daughter . . . who is also Bekah's friend . . . married a young man who is also a member of our church. (Did you follow that?) Bekah played the piano for the wedding, and our granddaughter Ellie was the flower girl.

So . . . Kati and family came to Maryland for the wedding week. Andrew's parents also came for the wedding, and joined us for dinner one evening.

And with all of the visiting and all of the preparations and all of the festivities, guess who took very few photos? 🙋🏻‍♀️🤦🏻‍♀️

But it was such a delightful week! We enjoyed getting reacquainted with Andrew's parents, Mark and Beckie. We played oodles of games of Old Maid, Go Fish, and Crazy 8's with the littles! We made coffee runs (of course we did!) and the girls got pedis (Kati polished Ellie's nails when we got home). We all went to the rehearsal dinner, such a joyful time of celebration! 

And the Big Day was glorious and Christ-honoring from beginning to end! 

Thanks to my friend Barbara (a different Barbara) for this photo!

September was saying good-bye for now, but looking ahead to Thanksgiving! 

September was lingering memories . . . 

. . . and Ron diving into another project: painting the dining room! 

All the paths of the LORD are mercy and truth,
To such as keep His covenant and His testimonies.

Psalm 25:10

Beginning a New Chapter

Ron is retiring 
and yesterday was his last day at the office!  

In my last post, I shared some pictures that were taken at a family gathering and I promised to come back and tell you more about that gathering. 

It was a retirement celebration for Ron! 

Even though it was a few weeks before his official retirement, we decided to celebrate when all of the children and grandchildren would be here. Kati and family arrived on Thursday, Ryan and family arrived on Friday, and on Saturday, August 9th, we all gathered (children and grandchildren, Ron's siblings and spouses, and my mom and sister) to celebrate. 

(Some photos by me, some by my sister-in-law Pat, and some by Bekah's friend Julie who we hired to do the family photos.)

Ron told stories about his work life, sharing how God has directed his path through the years. (Proverbs 3:4, 5) 

Bekah led us in a game of "Name That Tune," using many of the songs on Ron's Spotify playlist. 🎶

Ryan, Nora, and Eve entertained us! 

We even had a chance to sing along! Click ~ here ~ if you want to sing along with us! 

Side story about the cake: 
Ron picked it up for me on the morning of the party. When he brought it home, I opened the box to take a peek and  << oh no >> the cake said "Happy Retirement R-O-N-N-Y." Oh my goodness. 

Sarah said, "I think we can fix this." So Sarah guided and Bekah did the hands-on part and some watched and gave moral support. . . and they created an "I-E" out of that "Y" and you'd never know that a mistake had been made! Great job, girls! 

Whew! 

Now, back to the party. Cake is served!

You might see a few blue smiles here! (Oops . . . before the photographer arrived to do the family photos! Teeth had to be re-brushed and a few garments had to be spot-cleaned.) 

Little girls comparing their June bugs. 🪲😊

So much cuteness! 

Earlier this week, Ron's company honored him with a lovely luncheon, gifts, funny stories, and words of appreciation. They invited local family, as well as co-workers from the present and the past. It was heart-warming!

So now Ron is retired and we begin a new chapter of life. It seemed to get here faster than either of us anticipated, but we look forward to what is ahead. 

Thank you, Ron, for being a faithful provider for our family for all of these years! God has been good to us and has always met our needs!