I debated for a couple days whether to share this experience or not, and finally decided I ought to. Please keep in mind I’m not bragging or trying to gain favor or brownie points or “good for you” applause. It’s just something that happened and has made an impact.

When my dd and I were out shopping Saturday, we were pulling out of a shopping center parking lot. We had just bought some groceries and were coming home. I saw a man sitting on a rock facing a large sign. At first I thought he might be waiting on someone or fixing the sign. But as I got closer, he appeared to be homeless. He was dirty, ragged, and thin. And he looked very cold.

A thought popped into my head like a brick in my lap…Go see if he wants something to eat.

I ignored the thought. I’ve never stopped and done something like that. I put change in Salvation Army buckets and stuff like that, but never stopped to help a homeless person out. So I kept driving.

Then the thought popped back into my head like a load of bricks on my lap….Go back and see if he wants something to eat.

Ok, fine, I’ll go back. I turned into the next entrance of the shopping center and pulled up to the man. My dd asked what I was doing; I told her I felt I needed to do something real quick.

I rolled down the window and asked, “Are you ok?”

The man turned and looked at me for a second. For a second I wondered if he was mental and was gonna do soemthing crazy.

“Yeah, I’m ok.”

“Do you need anything?”

He paused for a couple more seconds. I would have loved to know what was going on inside his head. “There’s a Burger King up the street. I could use a couple bucks to get something to eat.”

“I’ve got a bagel and a couple oranges. Would that work?”

“Yeah, that’d be great!” At this point he stood up and took a couple steps toward me.

I grabbed a few dollars and stepped out of the car. I handed him the money and walked to the back to open it up. He followed me. He saw and heard my baby “talking.”

“Oh, you got a little one in there?”

“Yep, I’ve got 3 actually.”

“Aww, they’re so cute at that age.”

Then we talked about the weather for a minute as I opened the bag of oranges and the big deli bagel I had bought. I handed him my bagel and 2 oranges.

“Thanks so much for all this.”

“Yeah, no problem.”

He walked back to his rock with lunch and a few bucks for dinner and I got back in the car. My dd said, “Good Mommy.”

I drove home in my new car. I drove home to a warm house. To my loving family. To a refrigerator full of food. To my warm bed. And my warm clothes. To a tree decorated with lights and a pile of gifts.

I was truly humbled Saturday. I have so much and I gave so little. I wish I had thought about buying him a warm pair of gloves or a sweater.

Think of those around you. Keep your eyes open to someone who may need you. I assure you, if you look, you’ll find someone. And you’ll be more blessed than they will if you help. It’s Christmas.

Remember the Christmas swap idea I wrote about awhile back? My sil found a couple families that we could donate something to (the cousins donate to instead of each other). She assigned us a 9-yr-old boy whose mom had been in an accident and been injured so she hadn’t worked in 6 wks, and wouldn’t for another 6. Rough time to be missing a paycheck and paying hospital bills.

So yesterday dd and I went shopping for the boy. I found a toy that you put little cars in and push a button and the cars fly out. Then we also got a giant inflatable ball and a bag of candy. So now it’s all on its way!

It’s been really nice to do something for somebody who actually needed it.

I got sent this email. I’m tellin’ ya, someone seriously had a lot of time and creativity on their hands!

Coke might look cool, too, ‘cuz of the red can. Project for next year

Remember that pumpkin cake I mentioned a couple days ago? It’s really, really good. Really good. I found it on Allrecipes, so it’s not mine, but I thought I’d share. ‘Cuz it’s really good!   Great holiday cake. I had a nice ginormous little piece and another very huge small one again before bed.

• 2 c sugar
• 1 1/4 c vegetable oil
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2 c pumpkin puree (I used fresh)
• 4 eggs
• 2 c flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 2 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 2 tsp cinnamon
• (I added a dash of cloves and a couple of nutmeg)
• 1 c chopped walnuts, optional (I didn’t use these)

1. Preheat oven to 350F.
2. Mix sugar, oil, vanilla, pumpkin and eggs until very well blended (I’d say 3-4 minutes on med.)
3. In separate bowl, mix dry ingredients.
4. Mix flour mixture into the pumpkin mixture.
5. Pour into a greased cake pan. (I used a 8×12 and a 9×13 probably would have worked better.)
6. Bake 30 minutes or until toothpick comes out clean (since my pan was a little small for the batter, mine took a good bit longer).

Here’s the recipe for the cream cheese icing I used.

• 8 oz softened cream cheese (I used the low fat kind)
• 1/4 c softened butter
• 1 c powdered sugar
• 1/2 tsp vanilla

1. Just mix the ingredients together very thoroughly and spread it on the cake, once it’s cooled…it’ll come out super creamy.

I hope everyone had a great Turkey Day and you enjoyed gorging!   The 2 pecan pies I made got overcooked a big, so I certainly couldn’t serve them to all of the family (Paul’s side) that came. Dh doesn’t like pecan pies, so it’s up to me and dd to finish them off…oh, the horror

Since I had leftover pumpkin from the pies and bread I made, yesterday dh requested pumpkin cake. It was so good!

Now I plan out our Christmas menu. We’ll probably go to dh’s parent’s house (we always do), but I still always make stuff to take and stuff for our family to keep home. This year I’m going to make cranberry jello (with the nuts and orange stuff in it)….that’s as far as I’ve gotten…I’m such a slacker

I make wassail or cranberry cider, so I’ll do a poll and see what everyone wants. I’m sure dh will want an apple pie or 2. And then there’s Christmas day morning; we invite dh’s parents over to our house for that and I try to always make a nice, big spread to kick off the day. I’ve got some ideas for that, too…mini bagel buffet, croissants, scones, fruit salad, eggs, pancakes, sausage….I just need to figure out what might go well together that I haven’t done in the past (it’s different every year). I’m open to ideas!

So today life is getting back to normal…normal weekend, then everyone goes back to their schedules next week.

I just want to wish everyone a happy and wonderful Thanksgiving.

I know I’ve said it before, but I’m so thankful for my life. My husband, kids, home, friends, extended family, etc. I’m thankful I know where these gifts come from and for the joy of that.  I could go on and on, but I think you get the point

Yesterday I made 2 loaves of pumpkin/chocolate chip bread, pumpkin muffins, 2 pumpkin pies, 2 pecan pies and an apple pie. Today I have rolls and sweet potatoes to do, so it shouldn’t take long.

Tomorrow dh wants a pumpkin cake w/cream cheese icing, so the feast won’t end today.

Again, have a great day!!!

I have 4 siblings. I have 11 nieces and nephews. If everyone bought for everyone, it would get pricey. So what our family does is have the kids swap names for gifts. But last night one of my sisters called me with a different idea.

She suggested we anonymously sponsor a poor family or two and let all 14 of our kids buy for those kids instead of each other. I thought it was a great idea; my kids don’t “need” a thing. They’re plenty spoiled, and I know my nieces and nephews have what they need as well, and more.

So I’m really excited about this new project. One sil knows people who may need it; she said one family at church in particular couldn’t afford a full Thanksgiving dinner (they were planning on eating regular dinner–it gotten taken care of though). My 2 younger kids won’t know what the deal is, but my oldest will remember.

I’ll keep updating this as it continues.

Who knows, maybe we’ll start it as tradition.

So we were just sitting around last night right before kids’ bedtimes and dh pulled out his latest new toy, LCD Christmas tree lights. He plugged them in and they were BRIGHT! After teasing him for a few minutes, I told him he might as well get out our tree and put the lights on, to see how they look (he got 5 strands). Didn’t take him long to go flyin’ out the door!    Our dd was right behind him; ds1 had to wait inside, since it was pretty cold and he was barefoot–kid hates socks.

Normally we wait until the day after Thanksgiving…I guess we’re a little more anxious than we thought. It probably has something to do with the early (for us) shopping we did over the weekend. He wants to put up a few more strands (he loves his tree loaded) then we’ll finish up with the decorations. We got the stocking stand up, too, since we don’t have a fireplace. I love the holidays

Wa-hoo, I’m done with my Christmas shopping!! Dh, the kids, my parents and dh’s are all done! Dh has his sister/bil left to do, but that shouldn’t take long. He likes to do his shopping on line; he hates the crowds this time of year.

I’m sure there might be something to buy or someone that pops up between now and Christmas, but the majority of it is finished…Oh, I do need to do stockings, but I already know what that’s gonna be and that’s last-minute anyway.

I usually do fruit, candy, a couple small toys for the kids, and cologne or socks for dh…But I’m curious…what do you do for stockings?

Today should be a good one.

We’re going to the mall to finish up our Christmas shopping then dh is taking the 2 older kids to Madagascar 2. The boy hasn’t been to a movie in the theater yet…we think he’s finally old enough (and settled enough) to sit through a movie. Plus, he loves the first one, so he should be attentive for this one. Wish dh luck

We don’t have too much shopping to do…the kids have things here and there to get, but we’ve done a lot the last 2 weeks. It’s nice to get it done early. We know what we’re doing for my parents, but we’re clueless for Paul’s…(so if you’re reading, feel free to send some ideas our way! Same for his sister and bil.)

We’re also helping put baskets together for the local food bank organization. They ask volunteers to sign up for baskets, and give a list of things they would like in them. Our church volunteered to host about 5 or 6 baskets. Someone signs up to be the host. Then the host (us) of each basket gets people to sign up to help with the basket, so we don’t have to do the whole thing. This weekend we have to get the various items rounded up and then we’ll put it together. We’re buying a clothes basket, a blanket to line it, and the turkey. We figured since we’re having Thanksgiving at Paul’s parent’s house, it saves us buying a turkey, so we’ll just donate the turkey we would have bought. (Not that we’re rich, but we don’t lack food or basic necessities. And since we have, it’s our duty to give.)

So that’s on our list today to do! It should be fun….it’s rare our whole family goes shopping at the same time.