Cook Christmas & Progressive Dinner

Saturday afternoon was Cook Christmas.

pretty tree

Grandma & Grandpa Cook

chatting

The Cooks

We had dinner catered at a country club then went back to my Aunt & Uncle's home nearby for desserts and conversation.

Natalie opening her card from Papa and Busha

Aunt Marge tearing up at her gift - an arial photo of the family farm

coasters that look like books on a shelf

Aunt Lorraine - also thrilled about the family farm photo

Sunday we had a progressive dinner with our small group. So fun! We piled into a 15-passenger church van so that we could ride together. The men were so thoughtful to decorate the inside of the van with pine branches, strings of lights, and a lighted tree stolen off of LaPreze's porch. :)

Oh yes. Zach and I commemorated Dan's "No Shave November" mustache by wearing a stick on of our own. We got a few good laughs out of these.

Ho-ho-ho?!

Love,

Sarah

A Long Week

This week has been long.

Too long.

My class made Christmas gifts for their families all week... oh my. I don't want to see another popsicle stick, puzzle piece, or speck of glitter until next Christmas. If you're a parent of one of the kids in my class, pretend to be surprised when you open it. :) Here's a few of them:

Wreath Ornament

-Poster board cut in a circle

-Puzzle from Goodwill spray painted green & glued with Elmer's to edges of poster board (two layers of puzzle pieces)

-red sequins for berries

-red ribbon tied in a bow & glued on

-red ribbon hot glued to the back

Snowman Ornament

(this is what it was supposed to look like)

-popsicle sticks held together by a perpendicular popsicle stick hot glued down

-face painted white

-hat painted black then let try

-glue on googley eyes

-glue on carrot nose made from foam paper cut into a triangle

-painted dots for a mouth

How one of them turned out... more like a masked bird. Ha ha!

Jingle Bell Necklace

-ribbon with jingle bell

-4-5 beads per side of the bell

-tie closed to make the necklace

-good thing I waited until Friday to make these because they could make a person go crazy

Luminary

-mason jar

-mix equal parts Elmer's glue and water in a small cup; stir together with a popsicle stick to form a watery glue/paint

-students use a finger to spread paste on jar then place a tissue paper square over top

-spread more pasted over top of squares to make sure all corners are stuck down

-let dry several hours

-spray paint with gold glitter paint

-wrap around a red ribbon and glue with hot glue

-place small tea light candle inside

Puzzle Piece Snowflake

-glue together popsicle sticks with hot glue gun

-spray paint puzzles from thrift store with three different colors & let them dry

-glue on pieces with Elmer's glue (10 piece minimum, 13 is optimal)

-spray paint with gold or sliver spray paint and toss on some silver glitter

-glue on an ornament hook with ribbon

Stockings

-staple together a red and green construction paper

-use a cereal box to create a stocking template that students trace

-cut out and glue red and green stockings together

-punch holes around the edges

-thread through white yarn (oh, they needed so much help with this step)

-tie closed at the top

-write students' names with glitter paint

Reindeer

"I'm grateful for ___________"

The best part of the week was today when I got to watch my students open their presents. I got each of them a book, pencil, candies, and a small toy. They were so excited to see a bag with their name on it under the mini Christmas Tree in our room! They could hardly wait until after snack time to open them. We pushed the desks back to the edges of the room and sat on the floor. Most of them just sprawled out on their tummies waiting for their name to be called open their gift.

Monster trucks!

These glasses were a hit!

If you need a good laugh, head down to the dollar store and buy some false mustaches for your students or children to stick on and wear. It's hilarious! They wore these ALL day! Even to lunch and recess. I forced them to remove them for P.E. and the other specials.

Mr. Cool

It's days like these that I love (as crazy as they are) because it builds friendship and camaraderie with my students that doesn't happen on most days. I can be more candid and relaxed with them. While I sat in the rocking chair and the students opened gifts, one of my little girls sat on my lap giggling and playing with her little ocean animal toys.

ocean animal toys and a blue tongue from Jolly Ranchers

This weekend will fly by --- it always does but even more so when there are Christmas events planned for every day. Tonight is Zach's work party/dinner at a steakhouse in Grand Rapids.

Tomorrow, we're off to Detroit for Cook Christmas. I made Yum-Yum. It lives up to it's name. :) I'll post the recipe some other time.

Sunday is a progressive dinner with our small group.

Monday is back to school then a Christmas Coffee night with some ladies from church.

Party animal.

Well, at least it's a weekend filled with things and people I love.

Love,

Sarah

A Few of my Favorite Things

1. Bath & Body Works, Fresh Lime Basil antibacterial hand soap

I use this in the kitchen for hand washing and it smells lovely. Just kitchen use. It's not really a bathroom soap, don't know why. It's so clean and kitchen-y smelling. Ranks up there in the family with lemon scent. This is just barely scented so you don't smell like the Bath & Body Works store after you use it. When they run those sales, I stock up!

2. Cake pops.

My friend, Robin, introduced me to these yummy little desserts this summer and my dessert making will never be the same again. I've made them several times since then. It was the favor for my table at the Ladies Christmas Tea at church. My theme was Happy Birthday, Baby Jesus - so there were birthday presents wrapped in the center of the table, cake pops on a cake stand, and party hats and noise maker things.

3. Black Tea with Honey & Lemon

Since I tend to lose my voice every week teaching, this has been my best friend.

4. The Pacific -HBO Series very similar to Band of Brothers

I like pretty much all kinds of movies. Certainly a good action flick now and then. Last winter I finally caved and watched the Band of Brothers series with Zach --- "Sure, I'll watch it with him. I'll probably not think it's that great but husbands like it when their wives watch action movies with them, right?!" ----Well, I was hooked and I begged to stay up later and watch more episodes, even if it meant dragging my butt to school/work in the morning. The Pacific is now very much the same routine, one episode is just not enough! Since I bought the series for Zach for Christmas, we own it and can watch as many as we please, whenever we like.

The Pacific follows two groups of young marines through their deployment in the Pacific - Guadalcanal, Pavuvu, and another tiny island in the Solomon Islands. There are a few awkward scenes I would suggest fast-forwarding through and they also drop the F-bomb quite a bit, and it's very gory, but the history I'm learning in the meantime makes up for it!

Who ever heard of Guadalcanal? Not this girl, for sure. Maybe I wasn't paying attention in US History in 10th grade.... Anyway, I'm learning way more about what went on in the Pacific Theater during WWII (which happens to be near where my Papa Thorne was stationed in the Navy during that time) so I'm enjoying it throughly.

Except the parts when bodies get blown up and blood spurts everywhere or medics are digging shrapnel out of some guys face.... then I have to close my eyes because I gag....

...Moving on, this is definitely a good buy for any adult history buff in your family.

5. Christmas Movies

The Grinch with Jim Carey

"Blast this Christmas music! It's joyful AND triumphant!"

Elf with Wil Ferrell

"The best way to spread Christmas cheer is singing loud for all to hear!"

Home Alone with McCauley Culkin

"Keep the change, ya filthy animal!"

Need I say more?

Love,

Sarah

Photo Card

Pine Wreath Monogram Christmas

Creating Christmas cards has never been this easy.

View the entire collection of cards.

Our First Thanksgiving

For some reason, it seems that hosting your first family Thanksgiving is like a rite of passage. Just like turning 16 and getting a drivers license or turning 21 and being able to drink alcohol, hosting a family holiday event moves you into the responsible adulthood category. I guess we're growing up. Ha ha. When we decided to have Thorne Thanksgiving at our house, we got a lot of "Wow, you're brave," type responses. Were we supposed to be afraid of this event?!?! Is it really that awful to have your family come over to your home for a day?!?! Should we be worried about what we got ourselves into?!?!

Now, the actual event was not scary. It was quite a bit of prep work and made for a long and tiring day, but it wasn't a day we had to "survive." It was a great day. Zach cooked & carved his first turkey and I cooked my first pumpkin pies. :) I think a lot of the fear that comes with hosting a family event is from two things: 1. when a family doesn't get along and the relationships are strained which makes for walking on eggshells the whole time or family fights. Not fun. The second thing is trying to meet the expectations - real or imagined or from memory - of what a great Thanksgiving looks like. Some families set the bar high and trying to cook a turkey "just like dad" or make pumpkin pie "as good as mom's" can cause incredible amounts of stress.

Were my pies perfect? No.

Did they taste okay? Yes.

Did anyone complain about them? No, they were just glad they didn't have to bake them.

One of two pumpkin pies from scratch

We really did have a great day. Everyone pitched in and brought a dish or two. It all tasted great! We missed the other half of the Thorne family but they got some much needed time with Papa and Grandma. (Papa's not doing well so I think he needed something to take his mind off his pain for awhile.) We got to sit around, talk, catch up, tell stories, play games and relax. And what's a Thanksgiving celebration without a game of backyard football! In the Thorne household this was pretty much a mandatory thing to do, especially since we have a big, flat, grassy yard! We split up teams and played a game. Mikey threw a TD pass on our team's first possession and caught one on our second possession that he'll probably talk about for the rest of his life. :) It was one of those days where I wish I could bottle up the smells and the feelings and open them up on a dreary, lonely, February day.

Uncle Dave (dad's brother) & Aunt Jody

Cal, Luke, Zach, & James, AKA "Cousins"

My ageless parents

Our First Thanksgiving smiles

Kyle & Katie - engaged

Travis is kneeling and STILL taller than Michael

carp faces

Dinner was great. Our menu looked like this:

Turkey - with secret seasonings that Zach wouldn't tell me. He researched for about a week about how to best cook a turkey. Love that boy!

Sausage & Sage stuffing - my first attempt at homemade stuffing. Pretty good. A little heavy on the sage though.

Corn Casserole - Aunt Jody's delicious dish

Green bean casserole - mom

garlic mashed potatoes - mom made a HUGE pan of these, and by HUGE I mean, she has a pan that's much bigger an a 13x9

mixed greens salad with tomatoes & feta - Aunt Jody's fancy salad

Dessert was the best. Aunt Jody brought pistachio pudding (so creamy & delicious!), I made pumpkin pies and an apple walnut spice cake, plus a few extras: chocolate ice cream, and carmels.

Okay. Enough about that. Let's just say there will be a few blog posts later on about several of the dishes I cooked up for Thanksgiving dinner.

Apple Walnut Spice cake with cream cheese frosting

My sister Amy is a sophomore at Concordia University in Ann Arbor. She plays basketball and she's an R.A. plus she plays her french horn in the band. Oh wait! And she goes to class! :) The girl is busy all the time.

Wednesday night, we (as in, my whole family) got to go to one of her basketball games. She plays on JV usually but varsity has been pulling her up with them quite a bit lately and Wednesday night was a varsity game at Alma College. She got asked to go with them but was unsure of playing time possibilities. Usually JVers get playing time in the 2-minute brigade (aka: the last two minutes of the half or of the game) or if the game is blowout. I was hoping for a blowout they would put Amy in and we would get to see her play. No such thing happened. Conco was down by 11 points at one point and made a comeback in the second half to win! It was an exciting game to watch and it was a bummer that Amy didn't get to play.

But don't worry. The Thorne family made an entrance! First of all, we were late.... surprise, surprise. We took up about 2 rows worth of bleachers, held up signs (the making of which caused us to be late), hooted and hollered the whole game. :) Whether she played or not, whether any family member plays or rides the bench, we were there to support her and she knew it. Take a look!

Amy's fan section

You can seen a sign that says, "Go Megan." That's for Amy's friend Megan whom we also love. My dad is holding up a program. Travis is holding a notebook.... that's because on the way to the game, Travis and Justin wrote a rap about going to this game. It was pretty sweet. After the game, the boys performed it for Amy and Megan. Zach, Justin, and dad did the beat and Travis spit out the rap. I have this entertaining scene on video and hopefully I can figure out how to post in on the blog here. You'll have to settle for a still photo for now.

rap practice

Amy & Megan

Amy and the boys - Kyle, Justin, Amy, Zach, Travis & Michael in the front

The Cheagle puppies are getting bigger and cuter! Their eyes are open, their little tails wag back and forth, and they are starting to play with each other. Out of the seven puppies, only 1 is spoken for so if you or anyone you know is interested in a puppy as a Christmas gift let me or my parents know. The adorable pups will be ready to go to loving homes right before Christmas! In this picture, you just have to imagine the little tan one saying, "You know you want me for Christmas!"

Wink! Wink! How can you resist!

My birthday was on Sunday. I went over to my parents house after church. Mom made chicken and dumplings. Mmmmm! It felt really different to celebrate a birthday with just my brothers and parents. Zach was working a parade in Virginia with his friend Josh and my sisters were all scattered. I guess after 24 years of life it's about time a few of my siblings couldn't make it. :) This year I will be exactly double my youngest brother, Michael's age. He turns 12 in February and I just turned 24. Crazy. Anyways, my parents got me the Three Wisemen set to add to our Willowtree Nativity Set! I also got The Band Perry's CD and a cozy new sweater.

24th Birthday with my brothers

My sister Rachel's birthday is coming up on November 30th so we celebrated her birthday after all the Thanksgiving festivities yesterday. My mom has this tradition of getting us 21 random gifts for our 21st birthday. It started when I was at Michigan State and I turned 21. Around my birthday I got this huge box in the mail from mom & siblings. It was stuffed full with all kinds of my favorite things and some random things: gum, hair ties, a jar of peanut butter, my favorite box of cereal, wine glasses, a coffee mug, CD, etc. We did the same thing for Katie. She got things like nursing scrubs and a wiffle ball and bat. Rachel was no different. She got pomegranates, dress clothes for her upcoming internships, headbands, and a whole bunch of other stuff. It's always great fun!

Font of Card: "I'm smiling because you're my sister..."

Inside of Card: "...and I'm laughing because there's nothing you can do about it!"

Rachel's 21st Birthday gifts

Siblings with Rachel - wow, there's a lot of us!

We have similar tastes -- and completely different color palettes.

Hope you've enjoyed all the photos and updates!

Love,

Sarah