Thanksgiving Week Wrap Up

Oh boy did Hubby and I had a wonderfully relaxing week away! It had been a very long time since we went away, just the two of us.

Let's see...where did I leave off? Thanksgiving Day. We fixed a yummy little feast for ourselves. We were able to find two turkey thighs and half of a turkey breast to roast. Just right for the two of us. I even found some raisins to add to my helping of stuffing. (My mom's recipe for stuffing had raisins -- I love it, Hubby does not.)

After we ate our meal, we grabbed a couple of beach towels and we out to sit on the beach to watch the sun go down. We had to walk a couple of houses down to get to the beach since hurricane Matthew did a number on the walkway from the house to the beach.

It was a beautiful evening and I may have snapped a picture or eight of the sunset.

But I'll only post two.

See the flock of pelicans?

While we sat on the beach we talked about the things we were thankful for in the past year. We are both thankful for a good marriage and our kids and grandkids.

We finished off the week knocking out a bunch of Netflix shows. We watched The Crown and Gilmore Girls and a few movies. I have officially become a fan of Netflix.

We went back and forth about coming home on Saturday or Sunday. Saturday finally won.

Sunday we went to church. We love the preaching. So Biblical and relevant and not fluff. We are slowly becoming friends with a couple that is a lot closer to our age than the majority of the people in the church.

After lunch, actually brunch at a nice restaurant downtown, we braved the car dealership lots. We are looking to buy a new car to replace mine that has 211,000ish miles on it and is starting to have problems that cost too much to want to spend. We were just going to look to see if they had the 2017 models out thinking the dealerships were closed. Turns out they were open so we took a couple of cars for a test drive.

(Why are cars such a pain to buy? So much blah, blah, blah from the sales people.)

We did manage to decide which car we want to buy, so that's a good thing. Next up: Negotiating. Yippee.

Today I am thankful for...

...Community Bible Study tonight
...grocery delivery to my front door (!)
...our week away
...clean laundry
...my son

Thanksgiving Eve

Today was a hang around the beach house day. Well, almost. We took a drive to the end of the island and walked on the beach for a while and I picked up as many shells as my hands could hold. They are washed off and drying in the kitchen and will get added to a dish of shells I have at home.

I sat outside on the deck and read for a while and listened to the waves.

Yes, I was reading about quilting. I'm a nerd.

We watched some more Netflix stuff.

I made a cherry pie for our Thanksgiving dinner. I couldn't find a rolling pin (I mean, people who come here to hang out at the beach don't make pies??), so I improvised by using a glass. I am not sure how it turned out, probably a bit thick and not Blue Ribbon at the 4-H Fair worthy. Sorry, Mom. But I bet it will taste yummy.

Also, I feel the need to confess my feelings of betrayal regarding the pie crust recipe. My whole life-long I have used my maternal grandmother's recipe. Until a couple of months ago. For some reason, that I will probably never fully understand, I tried my daughter's mother-in-law's pie crust recipe. (She owns and is the chief cook at a lovely tea room restaurant and makes the most delicious pies.) Here's where my feelings of betrayal come in ..... I like her pie crust recipe better than my grandma's. (Typed with a cringing look on my face.) Sorry, Grandma.

Today I am thankful for...

...the quietness of the beach (not packed like in the summer)
...a phone call from my sweet sister-in-law
...the sound of the waves
...the stars in the night sky
...my daughter

A Little Shopping, A Little Exploring

We ventured out to do a little exploring today and while we were doing that, we did a little Christmas shopping.  

We went to a town called Southport. It looks like a fun little oceanside town with lots of interesting shops and restaurants. We were able to find a few things on our shopping list and drove around a little to see what the town was made of. 

Our evening included pizza and more Netflix. I've knocked out eight episodes of Gilmore Girls and Hubby and I have watched several episodes of The Crown. 

Today I am thankful for...

...the joy of buying gifts for our family and the anticipation of giving the gifts to them

...this amazing sunset

...seeing dolphins (I'm pretty sure) out in the ocean
...Hubby being able to talk with his best friend on the phone
...finding canned tart cherries so I can make a cherry pie for Thanksgiving
...Hubby

Finally!

Okay, okay back to my thankful stuff...

I spent last Friday (all day) and Saturday morning intensely playing with my sweet little girl. We had so much fun together. We played with PlayDoh, read books, read books, read books, sang songs, looked at pictures on my phone, played a game on my phone, played with the puppy, had snacks...

Saturday I flew back home, not getting back to South Carolina until almost 11:30pm. Hubby picked me up at the airport and even brought me some iced tea to drink on the way home. It hit the spot! True love.

Hubby and I had planned to take this week off and spend it together. We took quite a while trying to decide where we wanted to go. There are so many places within driving distance to choose from! Some friends had offered us use of their mountain cabin and we thought that sounded just blissful! Thanksgiving week in the Blue Ridge Mountains! But then wildfires in the mountains started looking worse and worse, even smokiness in the air where we live. We decided to cancel our plans for the mountains and start thinking about Plan B. My goal for the week was lots of nothing to do, so a touristy place just didn't sit right. I texted my sister to see if their beach house was available thinking it was likely not. 

It was available! 

It's nice and quiet here. Just what we wanted. 

Right before the sun set tonight, I stepped outside to look at the ocean and snapped a few pictures. The light was just right.

Enjoy.

Today's activities included grocery shopping, wandering through an antique store and exploring the wonders of Netflix. (Yep, we're one of those people who don't have Netflix.) Perfect day.

Today I am thankful for...
...pictures and videos of Lydia to share with Hubby and to remind me of our sweet time together
...sounds of the ocean
...video chatting with our son (yesterday) and watching our 7 week old grandson working so hard on tummy-time and holding his head up
...lots of sleep
...time alone with Hubby

Pretend, PlayDoh, Hats, Singing and Sewing

Twenty month old little girls are so very busy and so much fun! 

I had a friend next to me while I ate breakfast this morning. Lydia had some bites of my eggs (because Grammy's are better) and we each had a piece of pumpkin bread. Lydia shared her bread with her baby doll. (All her idea.)

I took a gamble and brought some PlayDoh for Lydia to play with. Once we established, "No Lydia, don't put it in your mouth", she had a blast and sat at the kitchen counter and played with it for more than an hour! I would make balls and she would squish them. Over and over and over and over again.

We played with toys, we sang songs, she wore this awesome hat her great-aunt made, we Skyped with Pops.

I've been working on teaching her the motions to "Away in the Manger". I taught her mommy that when she was the same age. It's part of our family home movie history. This little girl is as sweet as her mommy as we do the motions. I admit to having tears streaming down my face as I watched Lydia learn and showed her mommy how well she did!

Daughter and I got a lot accomplished. Daughter cooked several things for freezer meals, she sewed a fourth Christmas stocking, we worked on a few other sewing projects together.

Working together brough back memories of working on projects with my mom when my kids were little. Good memories. I miss doing those things with my mom. More tears.

Today I am thankful for...

...sweet memories with my granddaughter
...big running hugs from a twenty month old
...memories of my mom
...God's abundant grace

And Then I Skipped Two Days

Welp, didn't mean to do that. I posted on Sunday and then missed the next two days. Oops.

Monday night we had Community Bible study and when we got home, I spent most of the evening packing and getting ready for a trip to my daughter's for a few days. Then Tuesday was filled with traveling and ended with some fun time with my granddaughter.

I am at my daughter's for a few days to help her do some things to get ready for Baby Girl #2 who is due in only three weeks! On the agenda is cooking some food for the freezer, some cleaning, some sewing, some errands and some playing with a 20 month old.

Today's errands included a doctor's appoinment for Mommy. Grammy and this sweetie hung out in the waiting room. Here she is pointing at and asking me if she can touch a plant that was in the corner of the waiting room.

This little girl has somehow transformed into a full-fledged toddler since I last saw her in October. So many words, so much silliness!

Today I am thankful for...

...a safe flight
...warmish weather in the Midwest
...so many hugs from a little one
...the quietness of the farm
...lots of time chatting with Daughter

A Wall Hanging

I thought I'd show a picture of the wall hanging quilt I made for Grandson's room.

It's a Missouri Star, a nod to the state he was born in.

Even though all those triangle points gave me fits, I finally got it right and really like how it turned out. it's about 26" square. I only did quilting in the white background. The orange binding frames it nicely.

Today I am thankful for...

...my mom teaching me how to sew when I was 9 years old
...PJs on at 7pm, popcorn and a movie with Hubby
...the challenge in the sermon this morning to be more generous