I Love Lent!

Happy Lent! We just got home from church, and I am pumped! (Will, on the other hand, fell asleep on the two minute car ride home and had to be roused for the selfie you see above.) I love Lent because Lent is all about Love. Specifically for me, Lent helps me focus on God's love in my life and how I can share his love with others by fasting (giving up and taking up), charity (giving more to others), and prayer (speaking with God).

Are you participating in Lent this year? As a family, we are going to complete the Food for the Poor Lenten Devotional (online version here) each night during our reading time in the hopes of starting a lasting habit. I am giving up my biggest idol, the thing that I know takes up too much time and attention in my life, so as of last night, I deleted the Facebook, Instagram, and Bloglovin' apps from my phone. Instead of scrolling through my phone, I am going to try to memorize the daily verse from the devotional. Any time I think about checking my phone, I am going to get into plank position and read/say the verse five times. Hopefully, I'll have many more Bible verses commited to memory and have rocking abs in 40 days. I am also hoping to expand my Treat Yo Spouse idea into Treat Yo Neighbor by trying to give little treats to people anonymously (ok, somewhat anonymously since now you know), especially if I feel anger or resentment to someone. The only treat I can think of so far is paying for someone else's Starbucks in the drive thru, so I am going to start there and try to brainstorm some others. I'd love to hear if you have any other good ideas of ways to anonymously treat strangers.

Also, I'm always interested in how other people and families celebrate any holiday or season but especially Lent. I loved seeing that one of my favorite bloggers, Jen, is participating in Lent for the first time, and this post about How to Win at Lent particularly interested me. I am going to try a link-up for the first time, so if you are interested in reading about how other people are participating in Lent with their families, check out the blogs below. And again, Happy Lent!

Equipping Catholic Families

Campfires and Cleats

Truly Rich Mom

A Slice of Smith Life  

Home to 4 Kiddos

Timing

On New Year's Eve, with a house full of loved ones enjoying food and drink, while my mom and I were getting ready to give William a bath, put him to bed, and then enjoy some more food, drink, and games before celebrating the New Year with the East coast at 11:00 pm and then going to bed (because that's how we roll now), I realized that we were out of propane.  I realized we were out of propane when I placed my naked baby in a bath of cold water. (Parent of the Year!) For you city folk out there, no propane means, no heat, no hot water, no oven or stove, and no dryer. So instead of food, drink, games, and an early celebration, Jason got on the phone with the propane company, and I started packing up supplies so that we could all go sleep at my parent's house. Oh! And I had to kick all of my loved ones out. I was beyond frustrated, but you know what, our tank was completely filled that night. (I don't even want to know what an entire tank of propane plus the emergency fill fee costs. Jason, please don't tell me.) And on Sunday, just five days later, when twelve inches of snow and Arctic weather came, and no propane truck would have been able to make it to us and we probably wouldn't have been able to make it the two miles to my parent's house, we had a full tank of propane and no worries that we would run out. Perfect timing!

Also, I plan on recreating the New Year's Eve baby sleep over celebration extravaganza (Maggie, Alex, and Piper had planned to spend the night but, as you now know, were sent home.) with food, drink, and games. So really, it's a win win. Maybe a Golden Globes baby sleep over celebration extravaganza or a Super Bowl baby sleep over celebration extravaganza or a Friday night where everyone just happens to be off and free baby sleep over extravaganza? Whatever night we decide on, I'll make sure Jason checks the propane the day before.

A Perfect Way to Start the Week

Happy Epiphany! Christmas is officially over, and I am officially back to blogging. Yesterday, while I was putting away all the Christmas decorations and considering (for a very brief moment) replacing them with Valentine's Day ones to fill in all the newly clutter-free (and color-free) spaces, Jason was waiting for the snow to stop so he could go shovel our driveway in anticipation of heading in to work in the morning. After over twelve hours and twelve inches of snowfall, when he finally headed out to get started, he wasn't out there more than half an hour before our neighbor came by on his four wheeler with a snowplow attachment to help out. While one neighbor was clearing our driveway, another one started plowing our street. That night, we thanked God for our home on a private road, on the top of a hill, covered in twelve inches of snow, and surrounded by such giving people.

When I wrote about my four goals before 2014, I mentioned that the TED Radio Hour on NPR is a great place to hear meaningful TED talks.  I was listening to their show all about giving yesterday, and many of the ideas resonated with me. Although the Christmas season is officially over, the season of giving can last as long as we keep it up. I highly recommend taking the time to listen to the talks for some inspiration to keep your spirit merry and bright now that all the decorations and songs are gone. You can click on the picture below to stream or download the show.

Also, if you are interested, tickets for the TEDxGatewayArch conference on January 11th at the Sheldon are still on sale.

Happy Monday! I hope your week is filled with many opportunities to give and receive.

Ornamentation

My first Christmas at the Tedesco house, I was thrilled to see that Jason had a medallion ornament with his fourth grade (I think?) picture on his parent's tree that almost matched the one from my parent's tree. I don't think I had seen any pictures of him from when he was school-aged before I saw that ornament. Wouldn't it be great to have a tree dedicated to just photo ornaments from years past? I am going to try to make some photo ornaments each year for the next few years so that I will have a nice supply for a picture tree. We always just had one Christmas tree growing up, but my mom blew my mind this year by getting not one, not two, but three! trees. Since seeing how festive each tree looks in her house, I've been pondering the idea of getting more than one tree in a few years. (Not this year because we have a busy boy crawling all over the house and our one tree will be placed in our front den with the pocket door safely closed during the day.)  Unpacking ornaments to decorate the tree has always been one of my favorite Christmas traditions. Ornaments that my mom made when we were kids, ornaments that we made when we were kids (Chris made an amazing cyclops gingerbread man when he was five.), ornaments from vacations, our yearly ornaments from my Grandma Dee, they all bring back special memories. One of my favorite types of ornaments are photo ornaments.  I can't think of the last time I looked at a photo album, but I know that every year at Christmas, I cherish seeing my favorite people in our photo ornaments. Pinterest had lots of great ideas for DIY photo ornaments, but I found this site had the best ideas for capturing memories each year. I've already ordered some snowflakes and can't wait to get started making memories.

Also, a few years ago, I got the idea to take all of our photo booth pictures from the last few weddings we had attended and use them in some beautiful snowflake ornaments I bought at Kohl's to give as stocking stuffers to my mom and Jason's mom. The great thing about photo booth pictures are that we are always dressed up for them, the black and white is pretty flattering, and the little pictures are the perfect size for ornaments. Below are two that I gifted my mom and dad for their trees.  We have the one of me biting Jason's leg on our tree because that's a memory I definitely want to relive every year.

 

Wrap It Up

One of the things that I remember most from my first Christmas at the Tedesco house was Jason's mom's signature wrapping style.  Every single edge of wrapping paper was secured with scotch tape so that the same amount of effort that went in to wrapping the present had to go in to opening it too. With every present I successfully opened, I felt not only gratitude but also a sense of accomplishment.

Now that I am a mom, I've been thinking about developing my own signature wrapping style. I know some families use a different wrapping paper for each family member at Christmas, and I've seen other people get real fancy with lace. I think I've found something much simpler. For Father's Day, I used wrapping paper scattered with Happy Birthday in different fonts, but of course, I took the time to write "Father's" over every "Birth" in a black Sharpie. Then, when Maggie's birthday came around, I pulled the Sharpie out again to personalize her paper with an inside joke about our new favorite board book.  So when my sister and I were perusing the wrapping section at Target looking for Christmas tags last weekend, I was immediately drawn to this craft paper, and I think it's going to be my new signature style. Perfect for personalizing with Sharpies and stamps and paint and whatever else I have around at the time, every bow and ribbon will always match, and I'll never need tags. I bought every roll they had.

Also, although I love shopping for and wrapping presents, I look forward to the day when I'm a great grandma and can assign shopping and wrapping duties to the grandkids. Thanks for the PJs, Grandma Cil!

I Love Lamp...

...these glass lamp bases, to be exact.  I originally bought them because I wanted something light and neutral with my gray walls and dark wood furniture. But I just keep stuffing them up. Earlier this year, I filled them with pine cones and now ornaments. The bottom is open, so all I have to do is flip the lamp over and fill it up. I'm all for easy holiday decorations.

I bought my lamp bases from Target a few years ago, and they aren't available anymore. However, this version from IKEA is another great option. I really love them when they are empty, and I think they are pretty cute filled. So, if you are in the market for new lamps, I'd highly recommend these.

Also, we are getting an IKEA in St. Louis! (if you hadn't already heard)

Be-Your-Own Bathroom Attendant

Even thought it's been four days since Thanksgiving, I still haven't put everything away from our big shindig. But I did get out all the Christmas decorations... so there you go. One of the things I still need to put away is the be-your-own bathroom attendant supplies. I've never actually used any supplies at restrooms where there are real live bathroom attendants because I just felt awkward, but I have been at weddings and other events where there were supplies set up in the bathroom that came in handy. And I thought, "Hey, I could do that for my guests."

The be-your-own bathroom attendant idea really evolved from when we had guests stay over for Thanksgiving last year, and I set up a hospitality basket in each room with some (hopefully) useful items. This year, I set up the items in the guest bathrooms in our house because... well, you never know. And I believe that being a good hostess (like a good teacher) is all about anticipation and preparation.

You can see all the supplies I included below (purchased from the travel size section and checkout line at Target). When I created the hospitality baskets for the guest rooms, I also put in chocolates, water bottles, a candle, and a lighter. Once you have the basic supplies, this takes about two minutes to set up.  After the party, I just stow the unused items in the linen closet and put the perishable items like mints, gum, and TUMS on my grocery list the next time I have a party. Easy peasy! And you'll be the hostess with the mostess!

Also, speaking of hospitality, isn't that one of the best understated things about traveling... those little extra things that make you feel a bit more comfortable when away from home. Although I love where we live, I keep telling Jason that if his company ever offers him a position in Belgium or Brazil (the two countries the company that bought out his company are headquartered), he should take it, especially if it's Belgium.  In my dream, we will live in Antwerp, and I will get to go to Wasbar to do my laundry and practice my German (or Dutch or French). Check out the sweet little video below about the coolest laundromat ever. 

See the full story about this hospitable place at Messy Nessy Chic.

Cheese Tray Turkey, as Promised

Some mild cheddar and colby jack cheeses, Oldani salami, and Flipside Pretzel crackers for the feathers. Two peppercorns for the eyes, half a pistachio shell for the beak, and toothpicks for the legs (basically whatever I could find in the pantry because I forgot about these parts) and a folded fourth of a piece of salami for the waddle (Is that what it's called, mom?), and that's how you make a cheese tray turkey.  This baby is now cooling in the downstair's fridge. Now for some more cooking and cleaning. Thanksgiving is coming! Huzzah!

Also, thanks to A Beautiful Mess for the idea and my mom for picking up the salami from Spirito's in Collinsville. Oh...and Lola for dutifully standing by my side while I carefully placed each piece of cheese and salami.

Prepare the Way

When we were registering for our wedding, I never registered for china because I always hoped I would get a set (or two? or three?) passed down to me eventually, and my mom made that true right away by gifting me this breakfast china from Villeroy and Boch.  Setting it out this morning for our feast tomorrow brought back so many memories. My parents bought it when we were living in Germany between 1989 and 1991, (and toted it through many military moves) and I can remember eating many decadent breakfasts of soft boiled eggs and bacon and ketchup sandwiches on it. I love how the back of the plate indicates it was made in West Germany. When my parents made the decision to buy this china, they had enough income to live on but not much extra. However, they were still happy to make a few sacrifices to invest in this set. 

As of this morning, all 38 places have been set for all the people who will be feasting at our house tomorrow, and I will spend the rest of my day preparing by cleaning and prepping food. I have been singing the same three lines over the last four or five days, "Prepare the way of the Lord. Prepare the way of the Lord. And all people will see the salvation of our God." I know that tomorrow is a secular holiday, but, just as many people have decided to adopt Christian holidays and make them secular, I have decided to adopt Thanksgiving as a feast for the Lord, continuing a tradition that my parents and grandparents and great grandparents started for me. And there you have it. I am thankful for my Faith and my family and the traditions that both have placed in my life. But most of all, I am thankful for sacrifice. The sacrifices my parents have made. The strength of the Lord that helps me to sacrifice. And the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus Christ made for me. 

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving! 

Also, if you need a place to come, we will still have room and plenty of food at our house! The more the merrier.

Prepping Thanksgiving for the Kids!

One of the nice things about having a bunch of people over for Thanksgiving is that the food prep is split up, and I don't end up cooking much more than I would on any normal day. Most of my prep work comes from just getting the house ready to welcome everyone, and one of my favorite things to do is to figure out seating and set the tables. After tallying it up, I think we are going to have eight elementary school-aged kids (and three babies!) at Thanksgiving this year, which means a designated kid's table.

Every Easter, I still reminisce with my brother and sister about how when we were kids, my Great Aunt Geraldine set a fist-sized chocolate egg (Maggie remembers they tasted "like Three Musketeers but so much better.") with each of our names piped in pastel icing to indicate our place at the kid's table in the basement. Maggie brought that memory up again a few weeks ago when we were talking about how to create fun memories for our nieces and nephews this Thanksgiving. She decided to spearhead a few games (that will involve candy, of course), and I am going to set an activity table up for them. Last year, I found these great table cloths on clearance at Target two days before Thanksgiving, and when I saw them this year, I bought three just in case they never come back. (BUT THEN, I saw a similar product at Wal-Mart, so hopefully, they will be here for years to come.) After filling some mason jars with lentils (because I had them lazing about in my pantry after Tony Horton convinced me they should be part of my diet) and putting some crayons in, WALLAH, the kids table is practically done.

Also, I am planning on creating a cheese-tray turkey (inspired by the one below from A Beautiful Mess) to put at the center of the kid's table so they have something to snack on while they color. I plan on adding some crackers and some salami from Spritito's to my plate to round it out. It's looks fairly easy, right?  Wish me luck!