Saturday, November 27, 2010

WEEK-END HAPPENINGS

Happy Saturday to all of you! Hope everyone is enjoying their nice long week-end. I know I am. Thanksgiving was SUCH a nice time. It took a little longer than I thought to set up our table as we ended up having to move furniture to accommodate our big dining room table in the new house, but that’s OK. I am thankful that it DID fit, and that the new house has a formal dining room to begin with, even if it is smaller, lol .










The turkey was yummy and the potatoes weren’t lumpy, (I cheated this year and made instant garlic potatoes (yum, yum, yum) instead of peeling a bijillion potatoes ~ Mel wasn’t here and that is her job, haha) the gravy was smooth (from a jar, soo about easy this year) the stuffing was sooo yummy (so I ate too much of it ~ can we say heartburn) and the pumpkin pie was perfect, in spite of the fact that I dumped pumpkin pie filling EVERYWHERE when I was making it as I filled the pies too full and then the cookie sheet I always put them on to bake didn’t fit in my new oven right…sigh…But I have to tell you about our BIG event…Right after we had read praise scriptures which I put inside the name tags, (even little Blake did very well with this) and we held hands and thanked the Lord for all of His wonderful blessings, we sat down, passed the food and filled our plates and had just begun to enjoy our dinners when suddenly our smoke detecter went off. Now you have to know that Jeff had just installed one the week before after he realized the new house did not have one. Looking around and of course not seeing a fire anywhere ( and we had not noticed ANY smoke) we figured maybe the oven had been smoking from spilled juice or something (though nothing had spilled that I had recalled) my husband got up and went around the corner of the dining room and quickly exclaimed, “WOW…OH my goodness!” so my brother-in-law quickly followed him into the kitchen and from their cries I knew something major was happening, so I of course flew to the kitchen as well to see the last of the flames being put out!! I could hardly believe it….a FULL BLOWN FIRE. I had a small scented candle I had placed on the counter and somehow in the carving of the turkey and the final preparations it had gotten pushed too close to a flower arrangement and it eventually caught on fire. This in turn ignited the counter and wall, a section of the curtains and our new blinds on the window! It was all a pretty small area, but still! We quickly opened the windows and then believe it or not simply set down and finished our dinner…I am sooo thankful that it wasn’t any worse than it was. It could have been really bad…I am soo thankful my hubby had just installed that smoke detecter…and I am soo thankful no one was hurt in the putting out of the fire or that the smoke really didn’t get very bad at all, I am soo thankful that really the damage was VERY manageable in that we are talking some new blinds, new curtains, and a little patch on the wall (that for now can be hidden by another flower arrangement) that we can sand and re-paint after Christmas. Now the counter has a couple of small spots too (also hidden by the new arrangement)….but truthfully I have been wanting to replace this counter with some granite anyway. We had granite at our old house for the last 7 years and I had soo loved it. (it wouldn’t have burned like this). We did soo much with this house when we moved in that we had decided to leave the counter for a couple of years or so ~ but now we might have to speed that up a little….All in all just another reason to thank Him, and an important lesson learned….I will blow out ALL candles in the kitchen (if I even light them again EVER) BEFORE anything else is placed on the counter. The rest of our day went pretty smooth after that, haha. We enjoyed wonderful conversation, gifted my step dad on his 86th birthday, and everyone eventually signed our new Thanksgiving tablecloth that was the new tradition we started this year. I heard about this idea from a wonderful blog that I read, and it was such a good idea that I could hardly wait to begin it. I took an old white table cloth that I have had for years (it is HUGE and really quite pretty) and got gold and black marker pens and everyone who came wrote a small little something on the table cloth as to what they were thankful for and then signed their names and the date. We will do this year after year until there isn’t any room left. What a wonderful way to look back over the years and see first hand what everyone was most thankful for. Now my mom wasn’t able to write hers as her handwriting is till kind of shaky, and she really didn’t feel comfortable with it, but she dictated to me and I wrote for her…I hope everyone had as nice a day as we did ~ minus the fire of course….


Friday we spent the ENTIRE day digging out our Christmas boxes and treasures and trying to find new places for everything in our new house. In the end, LOTS of things got packed back up and I will have to pass them down to our kids or sell them or give them away or something. Just wasn’t room, but that is OK…I have soo much, and everything looks wonderful in our new home. I will post some pictures later. Today we will put up our tree and finish the outdoor lights.

Today is my oldest son Joe’s 38th birthday! Yes, you heard me right…I have a 38 year old son; doesn’t seem possible even to me, haha. I had Joe very shortly after my 18th birthday so he really does have a young mom I have always told him, lol. How I love this man. He has blessed my life in soo many ways over his lifetime I don’t think I could ever really express it properly. He is generous and loving and supportive and talented and I thank God every single day for gifting me with the privilege of being his mother. HAPPY BIRTHDAY Joseph and may the Lord bless you, and keep you, and make His face to shine upon you, NOW AND ALWAYS….Love you soo….






22 comments:

  1. OH MY GOSH! You had a full-blown fire!!!!! I can't believe it!

    I'm so thankful that you got to have that table in your new house, I know that was at the top of your list!

    Our Thanksgiving was good... a bit cold since the heater was broken! Ha ha

    Oh, & by the way - We'll take any decor you want to pass over! You know we LOVE decorating for the holidays!

    Talk to you soon!

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  2. Oh my goodness Debbie! A fire? Wow, so glad that there was not too much damage and that everyone was okay. Wow, I can't get over it!

    Glad that your Thanksgiving was so nice, I love your new tradition, I think it's awesome! Your table looked so pretty too, I love your centerpiece!

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  3. Your table set up is so nice!! :) I love the scripture written in the name card. Very lovely thanksgiving!!

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  4. and the fire made it even more special and memorable..I guess..lol

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  5. Wow, a fire!! So glad nothing was really burned badly and you still got to have a nice Thanksgiving. I had granite too and then we moved. I still miss it just because I love rolling my bread out on it. I wouldn't mind just putting a bit more in just for that.
    It sound like a really nice day. So glad you shared about it. You look so young, it is hard to believe you have a 38 year old son.
    I hope you have a lovely rest of the weekend, and I am praying for your knees.
    Thank you so much for coming into my life. You are such a blessing.

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  6. Gorgeous table and Gorgeous heart!
    Blessings,
    andrea

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  7. Woow Debbie! Soo glad your alarm went off and the evening was filled with thanks and JOY !! God is soo good! I look forward to your pics :) we did alot of decorating today and will do the tree tomorrow. I just love this time of year!

    So thankful for you my friend!

    Love you

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  8. Well this is a Thanksgiving that will be remember forever!!!

    Love your table..you took such wonderful pictures. We did name cards with questions in them for everyone to answer and then give one blessings for the year. Your table cloth turned out great...maybe I will do that one day.

    So glad you still had a wonderful time and you did make memories!!

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  9. Oh the table is beautiful! What a Thanksgivng to remember. I love candles and always worry about that happening. Thanking the Lord with you that all turned out well.

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  10. sounds like your day was much more eventful than mine. I'm so glad that the fire was quickly attended to and that the damage was manageable. When we consider how bad it might have gotten, well, aren't we glad for smoke detectors and God's protection (not necessarily in that order)?

    Our house is as decorated as it is going to be, and I look forward to turning my eyes and heart toward Bethlehem and making the pilgrimage to the manger.

    Loved the tablecloth idea; I saw it over at Joanne's as well. Maybe next year I'll incorporate this!

    peace~elaine

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  11. Oh Debbie, I am so sorry about the fire, but thankful no one was hurt, and that you had minimal damage. I am so amazed at how you handled everything,... that once the fire was out you just went bak to dinner! Awesome!
    I really like the idea of having the tablecloth signed, what memories, and if it is okay I would like to try this at our next dinner.
    May I wish your son Joseph a very happy birthday, We have a Joseph too. and I too was 18 when my first child was born so we are both young grannies. LOL
    Blessings to you dear friend.
    Much love, Sue

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  12. Wow-a fire!!! Glad your crew was able to be together & God kept you safe. Your energy is amazing!!!
    And, I've wanted to do that tablecloth thing for years ... I think I'll go find one this week and maybe we will start at Christmas!!
    Sending hugs,
    Lisa

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  13. I love this post...such a wonderful beautiful family you have dear friend. I also love your new tradition of writing what you are thankful for on the Thanksgiving table cloth...just beautiful. Your house looks so warms, cozy and inviting...JUST LIKE YOU!

    Forgive me if I haven't been commenting a lot lately, I've been doing a lot of reading.

    And the picture of the both of you in your Header...I love it. My prayers are always being said for you. I look forward to coming by and reading and seeing more pictures during this special Christmas season.

    I love you my friend,
    Alleluiabelle

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  14. Hi sweet friend, Loved reading your post and so very thankful that you didn't have more damage from the fire. Your home is so warm and inviting-wish we lived closer so we could hang out together. I also read about the tablecloth and wanted to do one but I didn't host T-day this year. I love your table setting and place cards. Hugs to you today, stay in and stay warm.
    Love, Noreen

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  15. Ok - all I can say is "NO WAY"....

    No way - did you almost burn the kitchen down on Thanksgiving:) You know, I have been wanting granite countertops since the day we moved in....maybe???!!....no, I better not.

    No way - did you really just go back to eating your dinner!! Love that.

    No way - can you really have a 38 year old! Impossible. You look marvelous, friend.

    And I love your Christmas blog look - and that picture of you and your sweetie!! Happy Monday, friend. Hugs, Jennifer

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  16. Debbie,
    What a precious celebration! Thanks so much for showing your table, too. It's beautiful!

    So glad your fire didn't do more damage! Oh my.

    Your home looks quite lovely, and I won't even tell you how old I'll be when my youngest child is 38. LOL

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  17. Hi Debbie,
    It was so nice of you to come by
    and visit my blog today. Yours
    is very warm and sweet and filled
    with love. You have a beautiful
    family and home. I will be back
    tomorrow when I have more time
    to visit longer and read more of
    your posts.
    Blessings to you,
    Sandy
    (Psalm 116)

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  18. What a beautiful Thanksgiving Debbie, minus the fire, of course! The table looked so pretty, and I love the tablecloth idea. I should have done that, but I will get one fore next year and we will start then.

    Thanks for sharing your weekend, it brings Thanksgiving to a good close.

    Hugs!

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  19. Debbie...You just won my heart. I am SO like you! I would be grateful for the burnt counter too..."Thanks God! Now I get a new counter," hehee...

    And I had my first son right after my 18th birthday too...scary. Young mom raises baby...hopes for the best.

    I love your table setting, and especially the idea to write thankful thoughts on the tablecloth.

    You rock!!! So glad God hooked us up...

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  20. Sweet idea of the scriptures inside the name tags and the thankful tablecloth! So scary about the fire, but so thankful it was not worse and nobody was hurt! My dad and his wife had a fire a few years ago from a candle they had lit in the bathroom and left unattended while they were in the next room. Crazy the danger of just a little candle! I absolutely love that you guys continued on with your dinner after it was put out -- why let a fire ruin a good meal, right?

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  21. So glad you had a wonderful Thanksgiving...despite the fire! Oh, my! What a scene that must have been. Glad everyone was safe and the disruption was minimal so that you could enjoy the rest of the day.

    Your table is beautiful and the idea of the tablecloth is priceless. I love it. Thank you for sharing it. I am tucking that away for the future. What awesome memories.

    Be blessed today sweet friend. You are a treasure!

    Love in Christ,
    Stacy

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  22. Oh my goodness, isn't that something that your hubby had just installed the fire alarms? Praise God that it was contained and nobody got hurt.

    Your home looks beautiful and the table so inviting. I'm thankful that your Thanksgiving wasn't ruined by the mishap.

    Blessings and love,
    Debbie

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I am so glad that you would take the time to comment on my thoughts and feelings, it is such a blessing to me!