Knit One Pearl . . . Snow!

During our Thanksgiving holiday we were visited by our relatives from New York City, Grandma Beverly and Aunt Rhonda. We had a wonderful visit with both Grandma and Aunt Rhonda and Grandma show Emma-Caroline how to knit a doll blanket. We also got a wonderful surprise of snow for Thanksgiving and celebrated in grand style by donning snow suits and heading out to take advantage of our small snow dusting. More I-phone photos to come from our visit with Grandma Beverly and Aunt Rhonda.

A Thanksgiving Table: A Bit of Rustic, Whimsy and Elegance

         When we moved into our mid century home three years ago, I decided that I wanted a very large farm style trestle table with comfortable chairs as a dining room table. I had had an antique Duncan Phyfe set in our former home, and although I loved it's history, it was rickety and very uncomfortable to sit at for long conversations over dinner.

 The table that I chose to be in our new home is a very sturdy and comfortable table that we eat at all year round, not just for special occasions. I can dress it up or go more rustic and less formal. It goes with everything and I truly enjoy sitting and conversing with family and friends for hours after a meal is finished.

 This year, for Thanksgiving, we are hosting dinner for our family and my mother and sister-in-law who are flying in today from New York City.  As our Thanksgiving feast will be for a party of six, I wanted our table to be less formal, but still festive with lots of natural elements such as pumpkins and found fall leaves. The girls also wanted to be involved in creating our table scape.

  I quickly obliged them fondly remembering my childhood days of helping to set the table and getting ready for dinner parties. Emma-Caroline made Thanksgiving dinner menus which we tied with jute twine and added a homemade hand print turkey (Sophie's idea) to add a touch of whimsy to the table. We also tied twine around our cranberry colored napkins and tucked the silverware in place.

  Although our table is rustic, we added a hint of formality with my mother's vineyard Noritake china placed on Pottery Barn chicken wire chargers with a second gold charger underneath to add just the right amount of sparkle and elegance while still keeping our table on the rustic side of things.

 With our table all dressed and ready, we are looking forward to a wonderful Thanksgiving Day  feast. We are grateful for all of our family and friends and we hope that you and your family have a very happy Thanksgiving Day as well!

An Advent Invitation

          When I was a child, Christmas was a bit different in the way in which it "showed up" during the holiday season. As I sit here tapping away at the keys of my computer, I can not recall a time when anyone I knew had a tree up before Thanksgiving much less their  house and yard adorned in holiday lights, garland and wreaths. The stores really didn't actually get gussied up in Christmas décor either until at least the week of Thanksgiving, and really if I am remembering it correctly, not until the day after. Santa Claus did not dare step toe in a mall or winter wonderland set up until December 1, and my family did not put up our Christmas tree until at least two weeks before Christmas, sometimes even later. I will stop and say here that this is not a post to bash any early Christmas decorating that occurs in this day and age. I definitely get my tree up right after Thanksgiving and enjoy having my home decorated for the holidays for the entire month of December. I began thinking about how things have changed from the time that I was a child until today after I had a conversation with one of my friends recently about how hard it is to slow down during the season of Advent. As Christians, we are asked to slow down, to stop, to watch, to wait and to prepare our hearts for the birth of the Christ child. But as our world speeds up in order to get to the end of Christmas season before it has even begun, it becomes increasingly harder to carve out that time of slowing down and preparing our hearts that we are asked to do at Advent.

 Growing up, I attended Catholic schools, although my family was non-Catholic. From first through twelfth grades, I attended mass with my classmates three times weekly. During the season of Advent, I remember sitting in the dimly lit church, watching as the candle was lit and listening and saying the prayers of preparing our hearts for the coming birth of Jesus at Christmas. The light of the candle was bright in contrast to the darkened church and drew my child's eye to it, calming my thoughts and preparing my heart as I prayed. Each week, that light grew brighter from the Advent wreath as another candle was lit signifying that the time of Christmas was drawing nearer and nearer. I remember my feelings of excitement and wonder and awe as I waited, and watched and prepared my heart for Jesus. I remember really knowing the true meaning of Christmas and being thankful each Christmas Day for the gift of Jesus. As an adult, I look back on those times and cherish the memories of that special time of waiting and preparing that I was given each year as a child during the season of Advent.

 In my reflection on my childhood memories of the season of Advent, I have felt a special nudging from God, an invitation really, to come and partake in the season that is waiting for all of us; the season of slowing down, of waiting of watching, and of preparing to receive the Christ child at Christmas. He invites us ALL, his children, to come and to be still and to know HIM, to allow HIM to fill our hearts with love and joy and peace. The invitation is open to us all! He wants to spend this time of Advent with YOU and he wants to open your heart to his light day by day so that you may experience the true joy and the true peace and the true love that IS Christmas. He wants to give you this gift and he invites you to join him. Come and experience his peace. Carve out that time that is so hard to do but is so necessary in order to truly receive his gift to you. Advent will begin on December 1, 2013. Your invitation to enjoy a time of slowing down, and waiting and watching and preparing is waiting for you. As Mary was asked and said, "yes" to being God's handmaiden in order to bring our savior Jesus into this world, will you say "yes" too to allowing yourself to receive his peace as you spend time with him? He invites you and is waiting for you. May God's peace fill you in this special season of Advent so that you may be filled with his love and joy as Christmas day draws near and you receive the true gift of Christmas in Jesus.

          
         

Living in the Season

I recently posted on Facebook about being saddened by the plethora of Christmas décor that have popped up on local area shopping centers and street lights. It seems that Halloween ends and BAM! Here's Christmas. I don't mean to sound all bah-hum-buggy or anything and perhaps Ole Ebenezer Scrooge himself may have even embraced the commercialism and capitalism of Christmas in his unchanged self; however, can we not just enjoy the season at hand? Fall has JUST happened here in East Tennessee. The leaves are amazingly beautiful and I want to truly be able to enjoy them in all their splendor without seeing a fake Christmas garland and wreath hanging on my local grocery store shopping center on November 1. I understand stores putting out their Christmas décor on the INSIDE of the store as they are trying to get a jump on the holiday season, but I don't understand why the outside of the stores need to be decorated at this point in the year. As the Lorax wisely said, "I speak for the trees." Let's enjoy the majestic beauty of the tress as they themselves are truly "living in the season."

Taking Away the Expectations

The past couple of years have been difficult for me to really engage in my writing here on my blog. I have lived in the moments of my life and have had every intention of writing a blog post to chronicle those happy or sad  times; however, as life clicks along and habit turns into a distant after thought, the best of intentions sometimes go to the way side. I have contemplated doing back posts about the things that we have done throughout the year, placing those events in the proper chronological month. That idea has quickly become more like a daunting task which further renders me lacking in real desire to write and publish a blog post. Hence, I am at the point I am at today, where I throw out the expectations I have of myself in keeping a blog and just blog because I feel that it's something I want to do at this given moment. As the days of the month of November seem to pass as quickly as the falling leaves, I am thankful that I have the opportunity to look back and reflect over some happy times we recently had to celebrate Halloween. Time continues to tick on despite any specific expectations we may have for any given thing. The important thing is simply to enjoy the moment and to find happiness in reflecting on those moments in life that may make you want to pick up the camera and snap a few shots.

Our All Hallow's Eve Celebration at church.

Halloween Night 2013

Lord, Make Me an Instrument of Your Peace

St. Francis of Assisi has always been a person who has sparked my interest ever since I was a young school girl. I can remember sitting in a school mass at St. Anne Church listening to one of the priests, perhaps Father Heimer, delivering a sermon about Francis' life, sharing that he had been a rich nobleman of his time who had given up all of his worldly possessions to lead a simple life dedicated to the service of God and others. I remember thinking to myself that that would be so hard to give up everything that you owned in order to be God's servant. Even at a young age, I knew the sacrifice Francis made in order to really dedicate his life to God. I also contemplated at a young age if I would be able to give up my worldly possessions in order to live as Francis lived. As a child, I had all that I needed, but I also lived amongst others who had lots more than me. I knew what it meant not to have material items in excess, what it meant to want something but to not have enough money to actually have that desired object. I also knew the feeling of self inflicted shame in knowing that I did not have what others had materialistically. As a child, the idea of giving up material wealth was almost ludicrous as I never knew what it meant to have material wealth. Yes, I had what I needed, but I was also very poor in relationship to all of those around me. At the same time, however, I was also very blessed to be placed in situations in which I was given the opportunity to serve others who actually did have less than me. The Catholic schools that I attended gave me the opportunity to see that I was indeed very fortunate and that others needed my help too. I felt a connection to those whom I served as I knew what actual want was, even though those whom I served were in want of what I already had, basic food and housing and clothing needs. 

 As I grew older and obtained the ability to earn money and to experience a time in my life in which I had enough  to have the things that I wanted outside of what I needed I lost my sense of knowing what true want was. At first it was awesome to be able to buy the things that I wanted any time I wanted something. But that awesome feeling soon faded and soon became a problem as I purchased more and more and more things that I thought would make me happy. My relationship with God was never compromised, but my overwhelming feeling that he was being encroached upon by my pursuit of material things caused me much pain and anguish.

 One day, not so long ago, it finally dawned on me that I had a materialism problem. For the first time in my life I realized I had way to much stuff, and that that stuff was strangling me. I began to purge my home of excess stuff. I also began to pray that God would help me as I sought to let go of my need to purchase items of want to make me happy. It has been a process, a long process of letting go of things and of letting God fill those voids in which I thought I needed things to make me happy.

 We recently celebrated the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi at our church with our Blessing of the Animals ceremony. In celebrating the life of Francis, I understand a little more of why he gave up all of his material possessions in order to better serve God. God does not ask that we give up all of the things that we have, but what he does ask is that we not let those things take us away from him and our ability to live fully into the persons he has called us to be.

 Through living simply, Francis discovered that he was rich in God's love in the world that God created around him. He discovered that God is everywhere and in everything in nature. He became a steward of animals and in bringing love, comfort and peace to others.

 As I continue to trust in God and let go of my need to be find happiness in material things, I pray that God will make me an instrument of his peace and will help me to serve others with a joy that only God can fill in my heart.

I also pray that God will show me how I can serve others in need of not only material needs but also spiritual needs. In trusting in God and allowing him to fill us up with his love we in turn are able to shine his light to others so that they may also receive God's peace and love.



Pearly White

When I was a little girl, my dad used to say, "show me those pearly whites!" and I would grin the biggest smile! I remember the first tooth I lost in kindergarten. I was ecstatic because I was going to be a part of the "Tooth Club." Oh the little things that brought so much joy! This past Monday, our sweet Sophie became a member of the "Tooth Club" with the loss of her first tooth. Big sister aided in pulling her loose tooth and in setting up a note for her new tooth fairy. Sophie was surprised the next day to find $ for her lost tooth and a note from her tooth fairy introducing herself as "Pearly White!" Well now isn't that just a coincidence! We are happy to have a new tooth fairy at the Avery House! Here's to many more lost teeth!

Welcoming Autumn

Autumn is finally upon us as the solstice ushers in cooler temperatures and falling leaves. I truly love all things fall, the crisp cooler weather, the bright blue skies, the amazing foliage, the pumpkins and mums and cool evenings by the fire. It's all wonderful and such a welcome time of year! We made a stop by Sweet Pea yesterday to purchase some mums and other fall items. It's always fun to see Miss Dee and to browse her whimsical garden and specialty shop, the Vols play the Gators today , so we were donning our orange yesterday . We took a quick photo op with Miss Dee just for good luck for the Vols. Hopefully the Vols will fare better than last weeks game against Oregon. If not, we still have the beautiful autumn to look forward to!

It's Great to be a Tennessee Vol!

It's football time in Tennessee once again, one of my favorite times of the year! Last Saturday, we took the girls to see the Vols play at Neyland Stadium. It was Sophie's first ever game and in her words she said, "Wow! There sure are a lot of people who like to wear orange around here!" You betcha, sweet girl! Returning to UT to watch the Tennessee Volunteers play at Neyland stadium always brings back wonderful memories. Watching the team run through the power "t" never gets old! We all had a wonderful time cheering our team on to victory against Western Kentucky! As always, it's great to be a Tennessee Vol!

Before kick-off we took the girls to the Humanities Plaza for some kid-sized fun and games.

We ran into Mrs. Dunlap, the girls' school principal who was there with her grandson and husband to enjoy the game.

The girls each had their cheeks painted with the Power T.

We sat in the Law school box seats and had a wonderful view of the game.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band in Power T formation. I love this part!

Taking a photo while watching the game.

General Neyland, Neyland Stadium's namesake.

Daddy-Daughter Trip

Howie informed me that he was going to take the girls to Atlanta about two weeks ago to go to a Braves/Mets game and to go to the American Girl Doll Store and perhaps the Children's Museum. He didn't invite me, so I concluded that this was a Daddy-Daughter trip. On Sunday, the three of them set out with Kanani and Emma-Caroline's just like me AG girl in tow. I received several photos as the trip went along which looked like loads of fun! Surprisingly I received no photos today from the baseball game. It was a rainy afternoon, but they still had a great time. I spent my days solo cleaning out toys and clothes in the girls rooms. I think we all felt like we had a great Labor Day weekend!