Happy Thanksgiving from My Home to Yours!

Happy Thanksgiving!

It's always crazy here at the Knowles house,

and especially so on Thanksgiving.

We were expecting 19 people!

However, my two oldest grandsons 

were sick with the flu,

so they had to stay home with their daddy.

Boo!

My own dad got married yesterday in Maryland.

I couldn't make it up on there on short notice,

especially with the holiday flight crunch,

but I'm thankful for my lovely new stepmother!

I REALLY MISS MY OWN SWEET MOM!

She passed away last year and

leaves a big hole in all our hearts,

especially during holidays.

I'm glad I've still got all 10 of my kids

either living nearby or at home with me.

Seven of my crazy kids!

My fifth daughter (in the back on the photo above),
basically took over the decorating and a lot of the cooking
to make everything very special.
She made this beautiful holiday table "runner"
with fancy wide ribbon and pine cones.

She made the bread and stuffing in the photos below.
Everyone did something, so I only had to
roast the turkeys and cook the ham!

Braided egg bread

Ham, apple and raisin stuffing

I stopped eating nearly all sugar two months ago.
(I only eat very small amounts
as natural ingredients in other foods.)
I was trying to make sugar free cranberry sauce with
whole cranberries and stevia, but it was still so tart
that I had to add a whole lot of sugar free Cool Whip,
which turned it into cranberry mousse.
It was still pretty sour! I won't bother with that again.
If I want cranberry mousse, I'll use a tiny bit of
sugar free cranberry juice with Cool Whip. 

My sixth daughter (who helped her siblings cook)
and my third son (who made the wassail).

"Let's each share three things we're thankful for..."

My seventh daughter sure gets
the "Live Laugh Love" concept on the box behind her.
But she's not all giggle.
This girl seriously knows how to clean house!
I don't know what I would have done without her!

My oldest son helped a lot with set up and cleaning.

Sister smiles!
(My second daughter brought chocolate trifle,
and my fourth daughter brought green bean casserole.)

My sister-in-law with my oldest daughter,
who provided homemade mashed potatoes.

My third daughter,
who made sweet potato casserole
and pineapple cream pie -
and brought along her kitty Luna.

My son-in-law with his little guy

My second son, who prefers to stay
 behind the camera most of the time.

My two oldest daughters
hold my two youngest grandsons.
I love the Gobble Gobble Gobble shirt.

Blue Bunny no sugar added bunny tracks ice cream
 with sugar free Cool Whip.
(It still contains the sugar that is naturally in milk,
but this was a special occasion.
I almost broke down and ate some sugary chocolate trifle,
but decided to stick to my plan. Yummy! Yay me!)

After dinner, I went for a nice long walk around the neighborhood with my fourth daughter, catching up on her news before she left. Now most of the kids are out at a movie with their big sisters. Even though the four oldest girls have moved out already, they still love to hang out with the younger ones. I count my blessings!

That was my day! Now I'm ready for a nap!

I hope you all had a lovely Thanksgiving!

You might like the most recent posts on two of my other blogs:

• What Love Looks Like: Reaching Out to the Homeless
• My Cottage Dreams (Why Not Now?)

Grace and peace,
Virginia Knowles
www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com

Grateful Grace #4: Leu Gardens in the Autumn

On Thursday, I went to Leu Gardens in Orlando with my youngest daughter to meet up with my oldest daughter and three of my grandsons. (There are 37 photos in this post, so it may take a little while to load. Thank you for your patience.)

Bamboo 

 The Leu House Museum

Peter Otfinoski sculptures

 Rose garden

All beautiful!

More?

Leu Gardens

Longwood Gardens in Pennsylvania

Sarah P. Duke Gardens in North Carolina

Cypress Gardens in Florida

The pictures in this post were shot with a 

Canon Powershot ELPH 135

and edited with Picasa -

not fancy, but they do the job!

Grateful Grace #3: It's a Wonderful Life???

For some reason as I was waking up this morning, I got to thinking of the movie It's a Wonderful Life. In this Christmas classic, George Bailey is on the brink of suicide until an angel shows him the impact his lifetime of kindness has had on his family and community.

This in turn made me think of all of the wonderful people in my life who have been so kind to me. I can go back and thank many of them, but there are those who are a only brightened spot in the hazy recesses of my memories. Whoever and whenever, they weren't serving for recognition, but because they saw a need and an opportunity to contribute toward the greater good in some small or big way. They make a difference. You make a difference. I wrote about this in my poem Your Kindness Gave Me Courage.

I try to do the same. Sometimes it is in such mundane ways - like remembering to pick up a pack of colored pencils for a child's project, or thanking a store worker by name, or sending a web link with helpful information to a friend, or bringing a bottle of cold water over to a sick lady in the urgent care clinic's waiting room while I'm sitting there waiting with one of my own kids. Sometimes it's a much bigger deal.

So anyway, as I was thinking of writing a Grateful Grace blog post on this concept, I thought of that obvious title, "It's a Wonderful Life!" and then I thought again. If I didn't already know the context, frankly, I'd be a bit put off by it. Too much Pollyanna-rose-colored-glassy-stuff. 

You see, I'm in one of those long seasons of life where everything seems (much more than) a bit of a struggle. To be honest, I often feel resentful if I read a blog post by someone whose life seems to be going oh so smoothly because they have it all oh so together. And of course they have all the answers. Do this and you'll have the perfect family and the beautiful home - just like them. Blerg.

But then I realize that probably some people feel the same way about me when they read my blog. Because they don't know everything. They don't know my drama, my heartache. I try to be honest and authentic in sharing my life stories, but there's only so much you can say. (You can read more about that here: On Mommy Blogging: Image, Identity, Authenticity and Freedom.)

Hence the question marks at the end of my blog post title.

Because at times, life can suck.

I do the best I can to find the deeper meaning and savor the sweeter moments, to keep learning and growing. I do my best to get up and try again when I feel inadequate or when the rug gets pulled from under my feet by circumstances. I do my best to admit my need and ask for help from God and others when I'd really rather they think I can do it all, do it all well, and do it all by myself. I do my best to recycle my tough experiences into compassion for others. All that is what keeps me going.

It's not always a wonderful life in terms of what happens to be happening at the moment.

But it is a wonderful life in that it is filled with a sense of wonder in the midst of it all.

Beauty.

Friendship.

Caring.

Quirkiness.

Sacrifice.

Integrity.

Reverence.

Curiosity.

Insight.

Heritage.

Bittersweet.

So here's the "wonderful life" challenge for all of us.

Seek out whatever is lovely and good in your life, and dwell there. (The grace of God is a wonderful place to start.) Then use that positive power to start working out whatever isn't already working for you.

Think about the people who have made a difference in your life, and thank them whenever you can. It might just make them want to do something kind for someone else, too.

Look for opportunities to "pay it forward" and be a blessing to others. Some will be carefully planned, others random and spontaneous. Always be ready with a smile and a kind word, even for strangers. It may be the only genuine cheer they have all day and you just might tip their teeter-totter life in the right direction.

Have wonderful life, will you? It's sort of contagious like that.

Virginia

P.S. Why the marigolds at the top of this post? Because they're pretty. My purple mums are still in recovery, and I bought these cheery flowers to fill my garden with fresh autumn color. And I splurged and bought myself a new real camera (I needed a flash for my tableau pictures that my iPod couldn't handle - and photography brings me joy!), and I think the effect is rather stunning, if I may say so myself.

P.P.S. The other posts in this series: Grateful Grace #1: Thankfulness and Grateful Grace #2: "Broken Hallelujah" and the Story Behind the Song

P.P.P.S. Oh, more!

• Hidden Treasures from the Dark Places

• Hope, Joy, and Pineapple Coconut Bundt Cake
• Knowing That She Hath Wings
• Hypothetical
• Sanctuary
• "What I Have Found" by John R. Leax
• When Life is Not a Bowl of Cherries

Grateful Grace #2: "Broken Hallelujah" and the Story Behind the Song

Friends,

Here's a song for those days (or weeks or months or years) when nothing seems to be going right. Yeah, I've had them, too. This is what puts the smile back on my face.

"Broken Hallelujah"

by The Afters

I can barely stand right now.
Everything is crashing down,

And I wonder where You are.

I try to find the words to pray.

I don't always know what to say,

But You're the one that can hear my heart.

Even though I don't know what your plan is,

I know You're making beauty from these ashes.

I've seen joy and I've seen pain.

On my knees, I call Your name.

Here's my broken hallelujah.

With nothing left to hold onto,

I raise these empty hands to You.

Here's my broken hallelujah.

You know the things that have brought me here.

You know the story of every tear.

‘Cause You've been here from the very start.

Even though I don't know what your plan is,

I know You're making beauty from these ashes.

I've seen joy and I've seen pain.

On my knees, I call Your name.

Here's my broken hallelujah.

With nothing left to hold onto,

I raise these empty hands to You.

Here's my broken hallelujah.

When all is taken away,
  don't let my heart be changed.

Let me always sing Hallelujah

When I feel afraid, don't let my hope be erased

Let me always sing Hallelujah.

Let me always sing Hallelujah.

I will always sing

I will always sing

Here's my broken hallelujah.

The Story Behind the Song "Broken Hallelujah" by the Afters


Grace and peace,
Virginia Knowles
www.VirginiaKnowles.blogspot.com