Just a little bit about our Thanksgiving.......

Ok, so I changed the look of my blog again, thanks to my sister. She helped me after everything was done on Thanksgiving Day/night. I do love this new look, it's for Christmas, and I may even keep it for winter.

Our Thanksgiving was wonderful! The food was delicious, and the fellowship with our family was wonderful. We all missed dad, but all in all the day went very well. Mom looked great, and she really helped my sister with the dinner. The kids all played so nicely, they all get a long so well together. We sat by the fire, watched the "Cowboys", my hubby's favorite team! The turkey was moist and delicious, we had mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, two kinds of stuffing, one sausage with cranberry's and pecans, and one plain...which one do you think I went for? Yes, you are correct, the sausage with cranberry and pecans....yum!!! My sister made green beans with bacon, corn spoon bread, and then of course rolls. My sister-in-law Beth, made her delicious pumpkin bread, which I just love. Mom made the pies, of course, just like she always does. This time she put sugar in the apple pie, thanks mom! Lately, she wouldn't add sugar to her apple pie when dad was still here, but honestly, it never was very good that way:( She also made pumpkin pie, and I made my pecan pie, which I thought was too sweet, so I probably won't be making that pie anymore. My sister-in-law Beth, made these delicious mini chocolate cheesecakes, they were delicious, and I love cheesecake! But lately, I'm having a problem with sweet foods, ever since I've been watching my carbs, and sweet intake, I just don't care for sweet foods......which is very strange for me, since I've always been a sweet lover. Enough about that, afterwards what a treat, my sister set up a special activity for us.....decorating gingerbread houses!!! We used graham crackers already formed into houses (thanks Lois and Phil) and then we all went to town decorating our little houses. The kids absolutely LOVED it. It was a true highlight of our holiday. Hope your Thanksgiving was as special as ours! Enjoy the pictures.

All of us at the table..............

Michael, Grace and Davey...........

Becca and me with our gingerbread house.............

Hubby & Davey........................

Mom, Beth, and Lois.....and turkey...........

Davey and Mommy!!!!

Thanksgiving

I just love this picture....it reminds me of when we use to have our Thanksgiving dinners at our old house in Queens, NY. Actually, our dining room looked similar to this one, and the table setting the same too. Mom would be cooking for days. Mom always did the BEST job with preparing our Thanksgiving dinner. What memories I have of our Thanksgiving when I was a little girl. Our house was all decorated for Autumn. The dining room was huge, and the table was huge, too. Sometimes Mom would even let me stay home from school the day before just to help her set the table and prepare. And I mean we "set the table"....we didn't use paper plates, we used her best china, linens, and stemware, and we had like 15 guests, too! The table was always so beautiful! But the smell of Thanksgiving was in the air even the week before. Our church where my dad was the pastor, was all decorated for Thanksgiving, too. Everyone really made such a big fuss over the day. It was wonderful. Grandma, and Grandpa Behr, Aunt Gundel, Uncle Fred and the cousins would all come over that morning and join us in church. I remember waking up on Thanksgiving Day morning, and the smell of roasting turkey would be throughout the house!

Our church service was really festive, we sang all the Thanksgiving hymns, and the choir would sing a special song, and then Dad would preach his sermon. Then after church we would all hurry back to our house for the feast! And what a feast it was. Mom would be busy at the stove, Dad would be carving the turkey, us kids would be running around waiting to eat! Then it was time to sit down for dinner...and one special touch that mom made special every year were the place cards. On each place card was a Thanksgiving verse from the Bible. We would all take turns and read our special verse. I remember as a little girl taking my card and practicing the verse, so I would say it just right! After the dinner we were all so full, it was delicious. Then when evening set in, our relatives didn't run home, like some do now....they stay and we would light all the candles in the dining room, it was beautiful! Then out came all the pies...apple, pumpkin, mincemeat...and not just one of each...mom would bake from scratch, 3 of each. Then after the pies were done, still the relatives didn't run home, we all sat in the living room that Thanksgiving night and watched the "The Waltons, Thanksgiving Special"....it was one of the best times of my life. Everyone was happy to be there...no one was complaining. We all enjoyed each others company.

What happy memories from my childhood. We still follow the same traditions....decorate the house for Autumn, set a beautiful table with our best china and stemware. We still eat a delicious feast, and pies...mom still makes the pies, but only 1 each these day....3 each was way too many. We still keep the place card tradition, too. This Thanksgiving will be bittersweet for our family. It will be the first without our Dad/Opa. We will miss him dearly. Daddy loved Thanksgiving. Now he's celebrating Thanksgiving in Heaven with his loved ones, and his Heavenly Father. Dad is out of pain, and his eyesight is restore!!! Happy Thanksgiving Daddy!!! And Happy Thanksgiving to all my family and friends.

Another Post....wow!

So, I'm hoping you'll all be very happy with me since I'm posting again. This will probably be my last post before Thanksgiving, since life here will be busy. No, I'm not cooking Thanksgiving dinner, we are going to my sister's house...and she's doing all the WORK!!! Well, I'm bringing my famous Pecan Pie....love pecan pie! And yes, I mean work. I've had Thanksgiving here before. The first time was when Becca was in preschool, some 7 years ago. I had it all together then. The turkey came out great, all the sides came out delicious too. I was excited about it, didn't dread all the work. Now I dread everything..... I don't know what it is....life was so much more simpler than. I also had Thanksgiving here the year before Davey came. It wasn't very good. The turkey wasn't done on time. I don't know what happened that day, but I feel it was a disaster! I think everyone had a great time, we had 14 you know. I've cooked many a turkey before, but that year wasn't very good. I think my kitchen is way to small for a large crowd and me preparing Thanksgiving dinner. Everyone loves to gather in my kitchen, which is fine, but when I have tons to get done, please get out of my way :) So I'm very happy to be going to my sister's house this year....and every year to follow to be honest with you all.

Thanks to my sister who helped me with the changes in my blog. I had a hard time doing it. Thankfully, Davey was sleeping while we spent almost 1 hour on the phone going through the changes. I really think it looks good. Do you like the sign "Live, Laugh, Love"? I love that saying. I have a sampler of it in entrance way......"Live Well, Laugh Often, Love Much"...absolutely love that saying.....now if only I can do the laughing more often.....I use to laugh so much way back when...............

It's still very cold here, only 33 today. I do like it, again, it's the cozy feeling of winter setting in. So, to all my friends in "blogworld", have a wonderful, and blessed Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for.

My New Look....

So, I changed the look of my blog...how do you like it? I had wanted to change the background for some time now, but never had the time to do it, and honestly, didn't know how to do it. I love the color green. If you know me, my two favorite colors are green and red. Pink use to be one of my favorite colors, but that was years ago. Now if I can only personalize my blog like my sister's and Sue's blogs. They have these really neat pictures on their blogs...but I don't know where to download them from...help would be appreciated girls! Let me know. Scroll down, I had more time today and I wrote another post! Enjoy!

The Coldest Day so far...............

Well, as you can see life for me is a busy one. I try to blog, but can't do it everyday. Some of you out there blog every day! How on earth do you do it all? Anyway, today it's the coldest day here so far this Fall. I love the Autumn. I love everything about it, the changing of the leaves, the pumpkins, making pies, apple, pumpkin, you name it....with my own pie crust I might add! The coziness in the house with our pellet stove on. I do dislike it when the leaves fall, and we have to get out there and rake them all up....including our neighbors!!! Get out and rake your own leaves up - all they do is blow on my property, and I'm sick of it! Anyway, back to being happy.......I knew it would have been short lived......Like I said, today is one of the coldest days so far...and I just LOVE it. I feel the holidays, oops, sorry Dad, I mean Christmas in the air, I can wear all my pretty sweaters, and hide my fat arms, yeah I got these fat arms from my Grandma Santelli, and I even lost weight over the past 8 months, and these arms won't go down.....there I am again, going off track...just a day in the life of Liz....anyway, like I said before it's cold outside, and I do enjoy the cold. I know some of you enjoy the warmer temps, but if it's gonna be Thanksgiving, and especially Christmas, it must be chilly, or cold outside, and snow would be a real PLUS! But I do enjoy the heat in the summertime too...I enjoy all of my seasons. Go to Florida if you want a warm Thanksgiving or Christmas. We even had some snow this morning. Davey was so excited about it, he tried to catch some flakes on his tongue, don't think he got any, he's so cute!

I enjoy baking in the colder days, bread, cookies, you name it. I really can't bake much, cause then I'll eat it all....and it's not good for me. I enjoy making comfort food in the fall/winter months (I posted some delicious comfort food recipes earlier in the summer months I was thinking of Fall then, so go look at them) food can be so comforting on colds days, and I know my family really enjoys it all, too. Ok, it's gonna be a very cold week here in NJ, so go and put the fireplace on, light some candles, bake something hot and comforting for your family, and enjoy it all...I sure will, tonight I'm making Shepherds Pie...not sure if I shared the recipe with you already....maybe in tomorrow's post, if I have time.

Update and Being Thankful

Hi, I bet you're all wondering where I've been. Well life here has been very busy for me. The "stuff" with our daughter Becca has been getting better...thank you all for your prayers. You all would be very proud of me, yes I've been very consistent with her, and for NOW it's been better. There is power through prayer.

We are getting excited for Thanksgiving. We are going to my sister's house this year. It will be a bittersweet Thanksgiving for our family. This will be the first Thanksgiving without my Dad. Today actually is my parents wedding anniversary...I know it must be a very hard day for my mom. I spoke to her last night, she sounded ok. I usually have my parents over here for dinner on their wedding anniversary and make them a special meal. So it's kind of weird and sad not preparing a meal for them this year. But anyway, back to Thanksgiving. So, yes we're going to my sister's house this year for Thanksgiving, it should be very nice and relaxing for me. I haven't "done" Thanksgiving since Davey came some 4 1/2 years ago....no time....maybe next year I will prepare the Thanksgiving meal....if my sister lets me. Anyway, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving this year. When you get some time list the things you are thankful for. Here is my list:

I am thankful for my wonderful hubby, he puts up with me, and really loves me after all these years!
I am thankful for my wonderful (sometimes) kids. They are true miracles in my life.
I am thankful for a giving, caring, and loving Mom and Dad.
I am thankful for my brother and his family and for my sister and her family, even though I hardly say it.
I am thankful for my hubby's family....after all these years, we are truly FAMILY!!!
I am thankful for my church family - you all have been such blessings to our family!
I am thankful for all my girlfriends...you know who you are - ok Paul, you too!
I am thankful for my little kitty Pongo...he sleeps with me every night, and is so cute!
I am thankful for my love of cooking, and sharing my cooking/meals with others.
I am thankful for the wisdom of my doctor who helped me get my diabetes back on track...and helping me feel so much better this year!
I am thankful for starting this blog almost one year ago....to get my thoughts out, and to journal my days.
And most of all....I am thankful to my Heavenly Father who knows me inside and out, who never gives up on me. And for HIS loving faithfulness to me, even when I don't deserve it!

A little on the "light/Liz" side....
I am thankful for great hair...I really mean this one!
I am thankful for a small nose!
I am thankful (I think) for being TALL - better tall than short!
I am thankful (not really) for big feet......I take that back, no I'm not thankful for having big feet!
I am thankful for being full-figured....well I would like to be thin...but I never will be!
I am thankful for my Dog (no not really, anyone want a dog?)
And what I am mostly thankful for.....and this is a tribute to my Dad....I am thankful for "having a big mouth".....as my father would say...."Lizabeth, you talk so loud"....This one is for you Daddy!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Am I a good mom? Cause today I feel awful!

Ok, life here in our house has been tough the last couple of weeks. Things have been going on with our daughter Rebecca. She is a 12 year old girl, going through what 12 year olds go through, and I'm not liking it at all!!! I feel that mostly its my fault cause I didn't put a stop to it months ago. So today I finally had it, and put my big foot down!!! I won't go into the things Becca has been doing, and if I told you, you would probably say, "that's nothing!" But in my little world, it's a big SOMETHING!!! Today Rebecca was suppose to go roller skating with her friends, under the supervision of my friend Donna. Like a usual morning, Becca's attitude showed, freshly, and that's normal around here, and we just put up with it.....and I had to put an end to it. I didn't want to punish her, but my hubby is the strong parent here, and now I understand that he is right, and we need to punish Becca, and keep to the punishment. You see, I am a real softy. I'm like my dad in that way. I say to Becca, "keep it up, and this will happen..." and nothing happens. My hubby has been saying this to me for years...and I would never listen to him...it's all my fault. I want to be my daughter friend, instead of her mom. Don't misunderstand me, I want Becca to be happy...she's basically is a "happy go lucky girl", but lately she has thought she could get away with doing things behind my back...and guess what? I found them all out! Thank you Lord for that still soft voice. So, now that we still have this "hold" on Becca, my parenting skills will change, and with the Lord's help, I will make a change and keep to the punishments that I give out. One of the punishments is taking her cell phone away (wish we never got it for her, it was a gift for getting straight A's)...awful for a 12 year old...her friends can't believe she's punished again...that's all she hears from them. I then tell her, "well if you would stop doing this and that, then you wouldn't be punished again". I hardly had to punish Becca when she was younger....now it's all the time. What has happened to my wonderful little girl? Thank God Becca still tells me things, and she is convicted to confess to me. I hope that never ends. So, now I have my little girl who is mad at me, and of course I feel badly. But if her attitude didn't show badly this morning, and if she would have listened to me when I asked her to do a chore, instead of saying yes she did it, and then I find out she didn't, then she would be going roller skating today, and I would have the afternoon alone! It just wasn't her attitude this morning...it was everything that I have learned that was going on with her for the past 3 months! Mother's intuition is very good here...or should I say the Lord!

Anyone out there with preteen/teen nightmares?

What's wrong with Trick or Treating?

Ok, so I have some time before we have to get ready and leave for my in laws house this morning. I wasn't going to do a post...cause I don't have the time. But I knew if I didn't write about this, then I (like most times these days) would forget! Yes, my family goes trick or treating! Yes, I'm happy to say that. I grew up in a strick, but very loving christian family. My father was a pastor/preacher for over 50 years! We went trick or treating when we were younger, except when it fell on a Sunday, and our mom took us the Saturday before...how embarrassing that was! Anyway, so many Christians are looking down on trick or treating, and looking down to us Christians who let our children celebrate the day. May I say Halloween is one of my favorite holidays!!! Yes, don't fall off your chair, please! I do not worship satan.....and I am not a spirit worshiper either. I do think it's what you make Halloween to represent...and if you think Halloween is about satan, and all his crew...then of course, that's in your mind, you can think what you want. I love the Lord with all my heart....but to be honest, I don't feel that Halloween is a Satan Worshiper Holiday like some of you believe. Ok, you have stuff to prove it, yeah, yeah, yeah, I don't want to hear it! What about all the other holidays we celebrate...Christmas is suppose to be for Christ's birth, and Santa, Christmas trees, presents, and that stuff is brought into the picture, Easter, Christ's Resurrection, and then the Easter Bunny, candy is brought into that. I don't let my kids dress up in "dark" costumes, and we don't bring "spooky things" into our house. We kind of celebrate the Fall. I love the Fall, and cooler weather, especially after the hot summer days. I love the fact that my kids get excited to dress up in their favor characters....and then go around with their friends trick or treat, it's all very innocent. And how wonderful is it, that people actually give treats to our children for FREE! No one does anything anymore for free. And in this day of age, when prices everywhere are sky rocketing, our neighbors give our children free candy and treats. Amazing! But then yes, I agree when people make it not so innocent, and they want to ruin the day. Mostly everything in this world is of satan lately, he has his hands in everything...not just Halloween. Look around you, he's everywhere, tempting us to do wrong...trying to get to our children with his evil ways. That is something we all should be worried about...not pointing your fingers at Christians who go trick or treating innocently with their children. What I say is in Love. Anyway, Happy Belated Halloween!