25 Days To Christmas With The Ferrell Boys & Me

The boys and I have cleared away all the Thanksgiving decorations in an effort to prepare the house for Christmas.

We are so excited.  :)

I thought it would be fun to share with you the way we count down to Christmas at the Ferrell household on a daily basis.  I'll be posting every day and sharing with you our daily activities and Christmas traditions.  Maybe I'll give you some ideas for traditions at your own home.

Day 1:  Finally It's December 1st!

Day 2:  Christmas Lights

Day 3:  Christmas Countdown:  Day 3

Day 4:  Finally!  Ornaments for the Tree!

Day 5:  Elfin Mischief on Day 5


Keep checking back to read more about the Christmas activities and traditions of . . .

                                   the Ferrell boys and me!

Five on Friday # 10

I'm linking up with some other blogs to share

Five on Friday with the Ferrell boys and me!

[ 1 ]     Turkey Trot

My first 5K race was on Saturday, November 23rd!  Zach and I were the only ones from our family that participated, but it was great to do it together.

This was the first year the school had this event so the participation was a little small . . .  and I'm sure the misting rain didn't help!

Zach came in 2nd overall and 1st for the school age group.

Here are the top runners finishing the race.  Zach was so proud. 

While Zach ran the 5K and finished in 2nd place  . . . I was bringing up the rear with a lovely police escort!  I am so thankful that my friend Becci walked with me so I wasn't all alone walking!

It was a great experience and I'll probably do it again sometime.

[ 2 ]     Holiday Countdown Continues

I haven't mentioned the Holiday Countdown that I'm doing in conjunction with Satori Design for Living much in my blog, but rest assured I've been steadily working on the items she's been posting on her countdown lists.

Shane and I finally planted the paperwhite bulbs.  Shane enjoyed adding the water to the pots.

I used a method of planting the bulbs where you don't use dirt to plant them, but use rocks instead.    

We planted the Amaryllis bulbs in dirt and place some of the containers in the front dining room window with the paperwhite bulbs.

You can follow along with me on this Holiday Countdown by visiting Shauna at her site, Satori Design for Living, where she gives a more detailed recap of the Countdown.

[ 3 ]     Fireplace

Daddy has continued working on my fireplace.  He's built the mantle and has added the "legs" to the front.

He is going to start working on the piece that goes right above the tile between the two "legs".  It's coming along nicely I think.  And it has added so much to the living room!  Dave comments on how great the living room looks now with the fireplace almost finished. My daddy is awesome!

[ 4 ]     Surgery

I had the laser surgery done on the varicose veins in my right leg on Wednesday.  My friend Laycee was kind enough to take me for the surgery while my parents watched the boys.  I have no pictures from this surgery since I purposely left my camera at home this time!  But I do have a lovely picture of my swollen ankle and foot on Thursday following the surgery:

Gee whiz!  I need a pedicure!  No black Friday shopping for me!
At least not until Friday night!  Ha!

[ 5 ]     Thanksgiving

Dave had to work Thanksgiving day so we planned to celebrate with our family and our extended family on Saturday as we have done for the past 3 years.  I'm going to post about our Thanksgiving a little later in a separate post.  :)

In anticipation of our family coming to stay with us, the boys and I made some salt dough leaf bowls for Grandma and Nana.

Yes, they made a mess, but we had a great time doing it! 

 Unfortunately . . . we didn't get the bowls painted so these may end up under the Christmas tree as presents!  You can find directions for making the salt dough leaf bowls at the Meaningful Momma blog.

So there's my Five on Friday!  Hope you've enjoyed this quick look into this very busy past week with . . .

                               the Ferrell boys and me!

Wordless Wednesday

. . . . . 

the Ferrell boys and me!

. . . . .

Monthly Menu Plan: December

I've mentioned in a couple of previous posts that I like to plan my menus for my family on a monthly basis.  Some people think that menu planning is hard, but it's actually an action that makes your life so much easier.  I used to plan on a weekly basis, but it seemed like just when I would get through planning the week's menu, it was time to start back planning for the next week.  Planning for an entire month really doesn't take very long to do AND it gives me so much free time for the rest of the month.

I have a method for planning monthly.

First I copy and print the month's calendar that I'm planning.

Then I notate on the calendar any activities for that month where we won't be eating at home such as special events at our church or school where food will be provided.

Then I fill in the calendar with my meals.  I have a list of meals that I make every month at least one time. Such as tacos, chicken fajitas, crockpot roast, hamburgers, breakfast for supper, etc.  Once I put the standard monthly meals on the calendar, I then hit my cookbooks and pinterest for some new recipe ideas to fill in for the rest of the days.

I have a method for filling in the days based on the type of meat or method of cooking for each week.

Mondays -     Usually a chicken dish
Tuesday -      Usually a hamburger dish
Wednesday - Usually a crockpot dish
Thursday -     No specific type of food for this day . . . 
Friday -         Usually a grilling dish
Saturday -     No specific type of food for this day.  
Sunday -        Usually Spaghetti, Breakfast for supper,                                             and Velveeta Box Meals on Sunday nights that Dave is working

Here's my menu calendar for December.  Click on the image and it should bring it up for better viewing.

I usually plan kid-friendly meals on the nights that Dave is working and then plan more hearty meals on the nights that Dave is home for supper.

I'm also very flexibly with this plan.  Sometimes I just don't feel like cooking and on those nights we order Pizza from Mike's regardless of what I've planned on the calendar.

I still go to the grocery store every other day.  Usually it's to refill the boys' snack foods or drinks cause they seem to go through their snack food and drinks so fast!  But having this menu is awesome because now I just look to see what we're having and check to make sure I have all the ingredients and go from there.  The boys love it cause they can see what night I'm making their favorite meals.

So there you have it!  Menu Planning Made Easy with  . . .

                                 the Ferrell boys and me!

I'm linking up to these awesome parties!  Come visit me there!

Annual School Christmas Bazaar

I always look forward to our school's annual Christmas Bazaar. There are many talented people in our community that contribute to this bazaar.  I'm going to highlight a few of my favorite items . . . a few items that I think are "Pin-Worthy!"

First the wreaths . . . so many to choose from and all just beautiful!

My friend Hannah M. made 3 of the wreaths for sale, and I was tempted to buy one except . . .  I bought one of her wreaths last year at the bazaar and I don't really need to replace it just yet!   This is my favorite that she made for this year:

It has a green wreath form as its base with the burlap and ribbon tucked in and around.

She also made this more rustic wreath using a grape vine wreath as the base:

And Hannah's third wreath . . . also lovely . . . using a green wreath as the base:

Her sister, Angie C., contributed this wreath which was also a favorite of mine:

Angie's wreath sold before I could inspect it closely so I'm not sure what she used as a base for the wreath.

Our K-4 teacher, Angie D. made this awesome coffee filter wreath which seemed to fascinate everyone before it quickly sold:

Besides the many wreaths (There were lots more cute wreaths at the bazaar than what I highlighted), there was this cute candle/log centerpiece that Cynthia D. made:

Very rustic.  :)

The most unique craft items at the bazaar were these hand-painted floor mats by our 6th grade teacher, Sheila V.  :

She painted two for her contribution to the bazaar . . .

And she painted two for her sister's contribution to the bazaar . . .

The moose one was my favorite.  I missed getting a picture of the other mat she painted.  These mats were cheap $2 kitchen floor mats that she flipped over and painted the underside rubber part with the Christmas design leaving the carpet-top as the bottom of the mats.  They sold very fast.  

Of course, another of my favorite items that was donated happened to be made by my sweet daddy.  It was a wooden basketball popping toy.  

He donated two of them and they both sold.  :)

Here's an action picture of it being used . . . ball in mid-flight using the plastic spoon for the launching of the ball.

My daddy and my Aunt Carolyn each donated two homemade pecan pies for the bazaar too.  

One of the bazaar items that I bought for myself was this super cute Ole Miss burlap football door hanger that was donated by Shane's K5 teacher:

I love the painted Colonel Reb on it!  Doesn't it just make you want to say "Hotty Toddy!"  

I also bought this cute metal picture holder that my friend Angie C. made for the bazaar:

Angie said she made it from tin roofing sheets.  The little felt flowers and snowflakes have magnets glued to them so you can move them around to hold the pictures.

That wraps up my favorite items at the Christmas Bazaar.  I didn't highlight the food items donated, but there was homemade salsa, muscadine jelly, and bar-b-que sauce along with lots of homemade baked goods.

If you didn't make it to our school's annual Christmas Bazaar, then you now see that you missed out on some very cute Christmas items made by local folks.  This was only a small portion of what was at the bazaar . . . just some of my favorite items . . . but there was lots more than these I've highlighted . . . and it all sold!  I was working the check-out table so I missed getting some of the stuff I wanted.  I'm sad about that, but Dave was pretty happy when I came home empty-handed Thursday night.  Of course, I made up for it on Friday at the Thanksgiving luncheon at the school . . . the bazaar is open during that time as well so I was able to get the burlap football and the metal picture holder.  

So that wraps up another fun event at the boys' school which is an annual event that makes up part of the Thanksgiving/Christmas holiday season for . . . 

                               the Ferrell boys and me!

I'm linking up to these awesome parties!  Come visit me there!

Five on Friday #9

I'm linking up with some other blogs to share

Five on Friday with the Ferrell boys and me!

[ 1 ]     Field Trip:

The boy's school went on a field trip Tuesday to see the play, "Junie B. Jones Jingle Bells, Batman Smells!"

The boys were so excited.  

I usually go on all the field trips, so the teachers were very surprised when I told them that I wasn't going.

I took pictures of all the boys that morning just before they left on the bus.  They are growing up so fast.  Zach got that Ole Miss sweatshirt last weekend at the game, and he has worn it every day to school over his clothes instead of carrying a jacket!  I can only imagine what the teachers are thinking about my child wearing the same thing every day!  ha!

[ 2 ]     Ole Miss football game:

Some good friends of ours gave me and the boys some tickets to the Ole Miss vs. Troy football game last weekend.

  It was Zach's 2nd college football game and Alex's 1st college football game. . . in other words . . . A Very Big Deal!

Alex really enjoyed the game and cracked me up with the crazy red and blue wig!

It was a very special game for me because my sister, Michelle, went with us to the game since Dave had to work and couldn't go. 

 It was the first time she had been back to Ole Miss since 1995!  We drove around after the game totally amazed at how much Oxford had changed from when we were going to school there.

[ 3 ]     Porcupine cones:

One of my Fall decorating touches includes using pine cones, and I asked Shane if he wanted to help me gather some pine cones.  While I got busy doing something else and forgot about gathering the pine cones, Shane didn't forget at all.  He came up to me and asked when we were going to go get the "porcupine cones."  :)

[ 4 ]     Christmas Bazaar:

The boys' school has an annual Christmas Bazaar and Zach's class was in charge of it this year.  There were so many cute hand made items for sale this year.  

I donated 5 pans of cinnamon rolls which joined the other delicious baked goods for sale . . .

2 of my crocheted swirly scarves (the pink one and the black one ) . . . 

a crocheted hoody/scarf combo thing . . . 

and some Christmas left over scrap pieces from one of my projects.  The snowmen and santas that I pulled off these stocking holders . . .

My friend Robin took them and made some really cute Christmas tree ornaments by adding ribbon to them.  Unfortunately, I have no pictures of them after Robin fixed them.  :)  But fortunately, the beautified Christmas ornaments sold pretty quickly.  :)

[ 5 ]     PW Cinnamon rolls:

I love Pioneer Woman.  I've been following her blog and watching her cooking shows and buying her cookbooks and cooking her recipes for a while now.  My Amish friendship bread that I was making for the bazaar didn't work out.  Some little gnats or fruit flies found my starter very appealing so I chunked it.  What to do?
Make some PW cinnamon rolls of course!

In her recipe, she puts maple flavoring and a little bit of coffee in the icing.  I  have made the cinnamon rolls before, but I always used the regular powdered sugar/milk icing on the rolls.  This time I followed her recipe completely including her maple flavored/coffee icing . . . Oh my!  They were divine!  Her recipe made 6 round pans of cinnamon rolls, but I couldn't donate them without tasting them first so . . . I did . . . taste them . . . several times!  

I donated 5 pans of rolls and brought a piece of a pan of rolls for people to taste.  Once they tasted the sample cinnamon roll, then they immediately reached for a pan to buy!  They were THAT good!  Here's a link to Ree's cinnamon roll recipe. 

So there's my Five on Friday!  Hope you've enjoyed this quick look into this very busy past week with . . .

                       the Ferrell boys and me!