A Place Like This......

Thanksgiving

 This Thanksgiving was just wonderful. My business partner Per Svangren and his family flew in from Sweden to experience an American Thanksgiving. We had about 3 days of constant cooking and fun.

One of my favorite family traditions is our gratitude circle. Big and small goes around the table before we eat and says something long or short about what they are thankful for. Along with cooking for and with the family this moment of Thanksgiving sets the tone for the rest of the day.

After all of the eating we took a long walk, ate some pie, and played music for a long time.

I am so thankful for all of the many blessings that I and my family have. I hope you and your family enjoyed your thanksgiving celebrations and traditions. Here are some photos of our day together. Thanks for stopping by and come back soon.

             

           

            

         

      

          

      

       

     

     

Tree House Building....Part 1

         

Treehouse building isn't easy or for the faint of heart. Long before the recycled barns and discarded wood planks were gathered a lot of dreaming was done.

        

Little boy "O" started mentioning a treehouse at the age of 5. He started drawing about them at age 6. Age 7 brought us an abundant amount of serious graph paper designs and by age 8 he started blotting out the land and acquired treehouse books from various friends and family to read at night under the covers.

         

          

       

        

        

      

      

Last summer we finally started on the treehouse. It has been a most rewarding process and one that has included all of the family members and many friends. On fridays I will highlight our building process. It was soon to be finished but the weather has turned extremely cold. We hope to get back to it as soon as the temperature rises a bit. Until then we will just look at our progress and be thankful for such wonderful memories that were shared by all.

.........And now the journey begins......where to build the treehouse ?.......to be continued

    

     

What you and I can do.....or what we can do

                 

It is a very cold morning here in Tennessee. Unusually cold. So I thought I would sit down at my desk and write a while. Recently I've been getting a lot of mail about saving the planet and how anyone and everyone can do their share. I thought I would pass some of these findings along in the hopes that we all can get on this band wagon together. What we have done and what we do today will be passed along to our children. When our children see us caring for the planet and have a consciouness about how we use things they will follow in our footsteps.

The first piece of information I would like to pass along to you is a contest to get the kids thinking.  They are the hope of our future and with todays crisis, it isn't too soon to put the solutions in motion.             

We Can Change the World Challenge

         

Deadline: March 15, 2009

Middle school students across the United States are invited to submit their solutions to environmental problems in their communities for the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, a national sustainability education initiative.

The Siemens Foundation, Discovery Education, and the National Science Teachers Association have partnered for this initiative to educate, empower, and engage students, teachers, and communities to become "agents of change" in improving their community.

Student teams from sixth through eighth grade, under the mentorship of a teacher or adult supervisor, can register for the Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge. Teams of two to three students will identify an environmental issue in their community, research the issue using scientific investigation, and create a replicable green solution using Web-based curriculum tools. The mentors of the first hundred teams to register and complete a project for challenge will receive a Planet Earth series DVD set.

See the We Can Change the World Challenge Web site, for complete competition information and program resources. The initiative will expand to elementary schools in 2009 and to high schools in 2010.

SIMPLE MOM

             

Almost 1 trillion plastic bags are annually consumed on the planet. They will probably sit in our landfills for about a million years. One blog I read daily is Simple Mom and she among many have a great idea of using reuseable bags. You can find them everywhere now but if you want to be really trendy have a look at her blog post about reuseable bags. Not only does it have an incredible assortment of chic ego friendly bags but if you enter before November 22nd you might even be able to win one of your very own.

Have a look here and let me know what you think:

http://simplemom.net/reusable-bags-an-easy-colorful-and-free-way-to-go-green/

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

              

Where have I been and what am I doing ?

For whatever reason I have a serious case of nesting going on. It all started when the stuga bed arrived and I had this need to put it together immediately. Finwood did a great job. I didn't have the right wrench so I will have to finish it this weekend.

         

         

         

       

Then I found a box of items that use to hang on my kitchen wall . I packed them all nicely away when we painted and then I couldn't remember where I had put the box. Low and behold I found it lurking in a corner in the basement.

           

           

            

We are also getting ready for the holidays and crafting galore is taking place. Many sorts of needles and a new little kitten to help. :)

           

               

               

          

         If the children aren't moving than the cat is. If the cat is still the child is moving. So hard to get good photos with cats and kids. :) Until tomorrow then. 

In Remembrance

For all of the men and women who have courageously served our country, I personally thank you. For those of you who haven't returned, we place a flag in your memory.

         

         

            

          

            

From my chair .................

We have had the most glorious weather with all of the golden hues of Autumn. I've been taking so many photos and I thought I would share a few from the place I sit.

             

            

         From this lovely end of summer to......

        

              Golden Hues of Autumn  

             

            

       

     

                        

                                                        

Yes We Can !........Oh Yes We Did !

Yesterday was a day and an evening filled with firsts.

• It was the first presidential election my eldest daugther voted in.
• It was the first time I felt nervous about an election.
• It was the first time in my life that I saw the American people take to the streets....in joy.

…..just some thoughts to share after a wonderfully triumphant night.  I have high hopes that this election is the start of a positive and exciting process in getting our country back on track to be a healthier, fairer, more peaceful and safer place to live.  We can bask in the victory knowing that we exercised our inalienable right to vote, that many of us did our part in helping with the campaign and that we shared our thoughts with each other.  The legacy we leave “our” children is promising and will be far better than it has been - for that we can be proud.  This election has affected me in ways that I didn’t realize it would and I look forward to what the next four years will bring. 

 

Following are some of the events of last night starting with the acceptance speech of President-elect Obama.

                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olm9h0UnCpw

                        

It was a gorgeous fall day and hope was in the air......................

                          

                      

                    

                     Friends and family gathered and waited..............

                      

                     Gillian kept track of the poll closings throughout the U.S.

                       

    Ethan ate Obama pie while he waited.....we all did !! Thanks Aunt Ruth.

                      

 We waited for over an hour with nothing changing in the standings. It was "too close to call" in major battle states. Then the most incredible thing happened. The T.V. announcer said,"The west coast polls are closing in 10 seconds". The very next thing he said was "California is declaring that Obama has taken the state of California." The very next vision we had on T.V. was of Grant Park in Chicago with these words " President Elect Obama"

                 

                  

                  

                  

                  

                                             YES WE CAN!

 

 

Yesterday was a day and an evening filled with firsts.

• It was the first presidential election my eldest daugther voted in.
• It was the first time I felt nervous about an election.
• It was the first time in my life that I saw the American people take to the streets....in joy.

…..just some thoughts to share after a wonderfully triumphant night.  I have high hopes that this election is the start of a positive and exciting process in getting our country back on track to be a healthier, fairer, more peaceful and safer place to live.  We can bask in the victory knowing that we exercised our inalienable right to vote, that many of us did our part in helping with the campaign and that we shared our thoughts with each other.  The legacy we leave “our” children is promising and will be far better than it has been - for that we can be proud.  This election has affected me in ways that I didn’t realize it would and I look forward to what the next four years will bring. 

 

Following are some of the events of last night starting with the acceptance speech of President-elect Obama.

                        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Olm9h0UnCpw

                        

It was a gorgeous fall day and hope was in the air......................

                          

                      

                    

                     Friends and family gathered and waited..............

                      

                     Gillian kept track of the poll closings throughout the U.S.

                       

    Ethan ate Obama pie while he waited.....we all did !! Thanks Aunt Ruth.

                      

 We waited for over an hour with nothing changing in the standings. It was "too close to call" in major battle states. Then the most incredible thing happened. The T.V. announcer said,"The west coast polls are closing in 10 seconds". The very next thing he said was "California is declaring that Obama has taken the state of California." The very next vision we had on T.V. was of Grant Park in Chicago with these words " President Elect Obama"

                 

                  

                  

                  

                  

                                             YES WE CAN!

Taking out october...Halloween !

Every year we go to the Orr's for our traditional halloween feasting frolic. This year was no different and even had some new events ......like Cindy Wilson rolling down the street in a remote control coffin dressed as a witch, mom's wearing tiaras, and the real hitter was Ruth Hickens in a prom dress.  A great time was had by all. A huge thank you to the Orr's !!!! It was a great Boo fest. 

                           

                               

                           

                              

                            

       

                              

                              

                             

                             

                             

                          

                           

                        

Ahhhh ......Sundays

  We had such a crazy week which culminated with Halloween....more on that tomorrow. One of the best moments of the week,however, was yesterday.....Sunday.  We officially declared it veg and do nothing day. The weather was so beautiful and we started nesting for winter. Here are some photos of our most wonderful day, complete with outdoor cooking. A family favorite.