capture2011 :: no. 236 :: 11.28.11 :: grace in so many ways

for me and ben, this has been the year of welcoming nieces and nephews, both biological and not! the newest is grace ann, second daughter to my brother dave and his wife lauren, and younger sister to the lovely hannah. grace arrived on sunday night, a few days after her thanksgiving due date, and she came fast (like two hours after they got to the hospital fast). we are praising God for His wonderful blessings, and i just can't wait to get to know her better.

it's the holiday season!

capture2011 :: no. 233 :: 11.24.2011 :: thanksgiving table

we spent the day at my parents' house, and it was a wonderful time. so, so, so much to thank God for. "grace upon grace."


capture2011 :: no. 234 :: 11.26.2011 :: i'm in here!

can you find me? ;)

capture2011 :: no. 235 :: 11.26.2011 :: ornamental

we have a small, fake, crooked Christmas tree that i decorated on friday. ben's parents and my parents were really good about saving all our homemade ornaments and labeling them with years (some of them have pictures, too), and i got really nostalgic as i pulled out popsicle-stick snowmen and reindeer made from clothespins. those trees with matching ornaments in only one or two colors are so beautiful, but i like our patchy tree decorated with homey, sentimental ornaments. ben does, too.

capture2011 :: no. 232 :: 11.23.11 :: sugar and spice

i am a pumpkin pie junkie, and i am very ritualistic about my thanksgiving pumpkin pie fix. maybe i'm a bit over the top, but i know what i like. don't we all?

first, pumpkin pie must be made with libby's canned pumpkin and the recipe from the can. and no substituting pumpkin pie spice for the mixture of cinnamon, ginger, and cloves. i infinitely prefer this recipe to pies made from fresh pumpkin or from baker's square (although theirs isn't bad). clearly, i have a very refined palate. ;)

i double the recipe and pour it into two pillsbury deep-dish pie crusts. there is usually a bit left over to pour into a tiny casserole and bake along with the pies, which means i can have a little dish of pumpkin pie filling all to myself. ben thinks i am crazy. i think i'm in heaven.

finally, pumpkin pie must be served cold. this is non-negotiable. whipped cream, reddi-wip, or cool whip are also highly recommended, but i don't discriminate there.

what are your thanksgiving food rituals?

all at once

here's a big helping of photos for ya!

capture2011 :: no. 228 :: 11.18.2011 :: tried and true

i made these for ben a few years ago, and it makes me really happy that they are useful to him.

capture2011 :: no. 229 :: 11.18.2011 :: ice cream in bed

nothing more to say here!

capture2011 :: no. 230 :: 11.19.2011 :: accumulation!

and this was early in the day. we got a few more inches i think.

capture2011 :: no. 231 :: 11.21.2011 :: stocking up

a rare coupon and a good sale got me thinking months ahead in buying gifts from c&b. yes, that means you, kristen! :)

capture2011 :: no. 227 :: 11.13.11 :: sunday afternoon nap

capture2011 :: no. 226 :: 11.13.11 :: kena and molly

my parents' dogs. they were mooching pretty hard on ben's muddy buddies. but who can blame them? it's also called puppy chow!

capture2011 :: no. 225 :: 11.12.11 :: muddy buddies

we make ours with almond butter. quite delish.

capture2011 :: no. 224 :: 11.12.11 :: breakfast with beth

have you ever eaten here? it was kind of a fancy breakfast. which is why i think beth and i both might have preferred our old standby, perkins. :)

a night on the town

capture2011 :: no. 222 :: 11.11.2011 :: bach

some friends couldn't use their tickets to the saint paul chamber orchestra for last night, so they generously offered them to us. it was a smaller group of musicians (is that what a concerto is? i have no idea), but there was a harpsichord, violins, violas, a "violino piccolo" (new to me), cellos, and a bass. some songs included flutes, oboes, a bassoon, and french horns. the music was really lovely. the concert was fun, but i think we realized that we are not very cultured. i like action movies. a lot.

p.s. new bond for fall 2012? yeeehaaaw!


capture2011 :: no. 223 :: 11.11.2011 :: gussied up and making faces

i think we (i) also realized that we are not as young as we used to be. we dressed up a bit and intended to go out for dessert afterward. but after the show ended at the late hour of 10pm, we opted to get our caffe latte to go. i know i at least was too tired to stay out late. actually, half my dessert is still in the fridge, so i'm gonna go polish off that sucker. happy saturday! hope you are having a fun weekend!

capture2011 :: no. 221 :: 11.9.11 :: encore pink

a week off

hello, faithful blog readers!

here it is, sunday night, and i haven't blogged any of my pictures from last week. it was a busy one full of good things. here are just a few of them.

capture2011 :: no. 216 :: 10.31.2011 :: our first halloween

well, our first halloween handing out candy at our not-so-new house. the last two years we've been at evening church. i'm rather back and forth about halloween, but i decided to hand out candy in an effort to meet the neighborhood kids. i tried to buy candy that wouldn't tempt me too much, but as you can see above, we pretty much ate all the dots before the night even started. :)

 capture2011 :: no. 217 :: 11.3.2011 :: afternoon walk

i've been doing a ton of reading research, so i went for a mid-afternoon walk to stretch my legs. again, experimenting with wide apertures, and realizing that leaves on the forest floor all become the same kind of purple-gray color. which i actually really like.


 capture2011 :: no. 218 :: 11.4.2011 :: favorite things party

this weekend, my small group friend cindy and i hosted a favorite things party together. have you ever been to one? each guest brings five of a favorite thing (we went with items from $3 to $6), and through a method of drawing names each guest gives away their things and leaves with five new things brought by five different people. i brought bar keepers friend. seriously: run to menards (or williams-sonoma if you are fancy!) and pick up a can. it is my favorite favorite favorite cleaning supply. magic really.

 capture2011 :: no. 219 :: 11.4.2011 :: keeping up

ben and i babysat hannah on friday night. she is so fun and busy and loves to move around a lot. baby sister's due date is just a few weeks away!

 capture2011 :: no. 220 :: 11.4.2011 :: story time

just one big smile from me. so sweet.