A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving; Thanksgiving Specials

(Guest Blogger) Jasper Ramsey


Thanksgiving specials have always been a favorite of mine on Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving for me is a time for family, and with spending time with family comes watching Thanksgiving specials with family. Watching Thanksgiving specials on Direct TV package deals is a must this time of year.
'After singing "Over the River and Through the Woods to Grandmother's House We Go".
Charlie Brown: Well, there's only one thing wrong with that.
Linus van Pelt: What's that, Charlie Brown?
Charlie Brown: My Grandmother lives in a condominium."
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving has been a favorite Thanksgiving special of mine since I was a little girl, and it still remains a favorite of mine and my families today.
A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving is about when Peppermint Patty invites herself, and a group of her friends to Charlie Brown's house for a Thanksgiving celebration. Charlie Brown works with Linus, Snoopy, and Woodstock attempt to throw together a Thanksgiving celebration.
Some of the characters in A Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving includes the classic cast, Charlie Brown, Lucy van Pelt, Linus van Pelt, Sally Brown, and Woodstock. Also features in this movie is Franklin, Little Birdie, Marcie; and Patricia 'Peppermint Patty' Reichardt. This set of characters really help make this movie a Thanksgiving classic.
Thanksgiving specials have been around since I was a little girl, and will be around until my childrens children have children. Thanksgiving specials are loved among families, and have become a family tradition.

Thanksgiving

Our Thanksgiving weekend was anything but thankful-unless I considered feeling like I was dying and not actually dying, is something I should be thankful for.

That darn flu bug got me again. Right on Thanksgiving-well, the night before. That's not a good thing when you have a houseful of guests coming that evening. I didn't know what to do and didn't want to cancel since there wasn't time for anyone to make other arrangements, and I spent a fortune in food.

I was up most of the night fighting the aches and pains, and ate about a Christmas tree full of peppermint candy canes. I decided to just go ahead and still have the dinner and kept as far away from food as possible. I washed my hands so much that day and by dinner time, they were about raw!

I managed to put together a table setting that I thought was pretty- I looked far and wide for the centerpiece and spotted this one at Michaels. It spoke to me, telling me to please take it home-or, maybe the flu was already setting in, making me delusional. At any rate, I got it and love it.

And yes, there are plastic cups-I wanted to make clean up as easy as possible.

So, everyone came and I managed through it, eating jello while everyone else had turkey. I did save myself a plate and ate it the next day for lunch.

For those readers that have been around awhile, I did make it out the next morning for Black Friday shopping and to get my traditional globe from JcPenneys.

We thought at first that we didn't make it, because the doors we checked were all out, but someone got wind of a door that still had them. We ran there and got some of the few that were left.

That darn globe is the ONLY reason I get out of bed at 5:00am to go shopping.

Give a gift-or win one

A couple of weeks ago, Emily celebrated her sixth birthday. We threw a party for her, and it was alot of fun. She got a lot of cool things, like this cool camera.

Who knows, maybe she will be better than me!

With perfect timing, we were offered the chance to review a gift basket from Expressions Gift Factory! It came the day before her birthday, which was so cool!

I love when perfect timing happens.

Anyway, this company is a custom gift basket company, which is awesome because you can put together your own basket. I don't know how many times that I've seen baskets that have stuff in it that I didn't want.

Expressions Gift Factory is a new company that has four different basket themes to choose from; Cookie bouquet, Baby Lollipop bouquet, Candy bouquet and Bear in a Balloon. We picked the Cookie Bouquet.

You first choose your bucket design, which they have lots to pick from. Then, which bear. We picked the cheerleader bear-so cute! After that, you pick the cookie design.

So, if you know someone who is having a baby, birthday, sick, or just because, you can send them something nice and have fun doing it as well.

Now, here's the fun part:

One of you lucky readers get a chance to order one yourself!!!

Yep, thats right!!!

And you get $70 worth!!!

So, what's it take to win? I'm going to tell you, people...

Just visit their site and then come back and leave a comment telling me which one you would order if you won. That's all!

So, go on now and enter.

Oh, you want extra entries?

Okay.

Follow me and leave another entry.

Tweet about it and leave another entry with link.

Have fun and I hope you win!!!

Contest ends 12/10

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in bloggerland!

One of the best days of the year is Thanksgiving

(Guest Blogger post)

Terrence Mcneil
The thing about visiting my family on Thanksgiving is that I can always count on being able to see them both on that day. I lead a very busy and sometimes hectic life so there are times when I can't do more than text them. However, there are certain holidays during the year that enable me to take time off from the craziness and spend quality time with them. I just set my security choice system and then head off for a day of fun and loving times.
I always go to my mother's house first due to the fact that she only lives a few miles away. She always invites me to dinner and I bring my fiancé as he is the love of my life. My family adores him and it makes men happy. We watch television there and talk about fun things, eat dinner, and usually leave early because she sleeps early. Then we head to my father's house in Wasilla about 40 miles from Anchorage. This is fun because the scenery in Wasilla is far superior to the scenery in Anchorage and there is actually more fun times to be had at my father's. Not only do we play games and have dinner, we also have a lot of fun just talking about things that are interesting. This tradition is one that I dearly love.

Getting Ready for Winter With Lots of Work Around the House

Guest Blogger, Omar Schwartz

Here in the Midwest, we know plenty of tricks to cut down costs over the winter. Word on the street is that it's supposed to come early this year, so my family spent last weekend getting the house ready. Last year we purchased a backup generator that turned out to be a life-saver when our power went out for nearly a week, so we wanted to make sure it was in working order for sure.
Once we determined that the generator would still work this year, we spent some time adding insulation to different areas of the house. We have an older house, so it's really easy for drafts to get in and lower the temperature. After adding insulation, we also installed a storm door in front of our front door, kitchen door, and the back door. This should help us to keep some of that cold out as well.
After finishing everything, we were able to tell the difference already as the temperatures outside started to drop but it stayed warm inside. My daughter cooked a great dinner for us while my husband and I watched some satellite television that we got after looking at this Satalite tv comparison, and then the whole family sat down together to eat. After we'd finished eating, we all even played a board game together while listening to Christmas music. We're excited now for the holidays to come!

Happy Birthday, Emily

Dear Emily,

I can't believe that another year has passed again! You are now six and such a big girl. Starting kindergarten this year has been such a big leap for both of us. I've had to learn to let go, and you had to learn how to survive without me.

You've grown up so much over the year and even though we didn't win any card contests this year, and no tv appearances, it's been a fun year anyway.

You also got to have your first kid party this year-and after that crazy night with 8 screaming little girls, probably your last. :)

I'm just kidding. You had fun at your birthday, though maybe too much fun, because you woke up during the night and threw up 8 times.

A helpful tip for next year - please don't get up at 6:30 am the day of your birthday party because you are so excited.

As I watched you play with your new little friends, I don't worry about you being liked at school- a big fear of mine since you can be a wee bit bossy. I will still worry though, about your story telling habit and what your teacher will tell me next, like the day that you told her that I had a baby over the weekend.

You've changed your likes and dislikes over the year. I just love the fact that you love art like I did when I was your age, though your dad disagrees that being an artist is a good choice. He is just worried you'll be a "starving artist" and be living at home until you are 30.

I have to disagree, and look forward to see how your talent develops. Of course, you also want to learn how to play the guitar and be the next Taylor Swift. You already look like her, so who knows!

In the meantime, have fun being who you are and enjoy your day. Oh yeah, and stay away from those little boys in your class that keep tickling you and following you around in the morning while we wait for school to start! Argh!

Happy Birthday!

Love,

Mom

Get that Christmas shopping started

I don't know about you, but I'm SO behind on getting started on Christmas shopping. I haven't had a chance to even start looking, and I H.A.T.E. going to busy stores to try to find the perfect gift.

Thank goodness for CSN Stores. I can sit in the comfort of my home and surf through their site to find the perfect gifts. I usually shop for household items through them, but I realized that I could get kid stuff too!

They carry toys, kids backpacks, bikes, and even doll houses. Way cool, huh? Jordon and Jessica are still undecided, but Emily has already given me her Christmas list-of course. She is into drawing and any art activities right now, so we want to get her something to do her art on.

I really like this:

She would love this too.

She wants a bike as well.

While I take a break from "shopping" for the kids, CSN Stores has decided to let me have a little early "Christmas" fun by reviewing something from their site. Woo-Hoo!

What? You want me to tell you what it is? Now, you know I can't do that. Check back in a couple of weeks to find out-you won't be sorry!

The littlest grand baby

Little Avrie...

Thank goodness she finally started laughing before I lost my voice!

Don't forget about me

October seemed to be a blur, as it flew by so fast. Tons of photo shoots. Wedding. Halloween. Gone.

With November here, I need to slow down. We have Emily's birthday coming up next week and then Thanksgiving and I really want to take the time to enjoy it. I love being busy, but at the same time, I hate to have life pass by so quickly. I mean, come on, next thing you know-BOOM! YOUR DEAD. Then, you are all like, how did THAT happen??

And hopefully, the blogging world can be forgiving because I haven't been around much. I know the commenting has been down on both parts and I look forward to hopefully seeing that change.

Thanks, for those who stuck around and those that come back. I will visit your blogs-I promise! I've got to get over this hump I'm stuck in with being too busy to write and then having a brain fart when I do have the opportunity.

Now, I'm going to start designing a new header since mine is sooooo old. Forgive me!

My favorite season

Guest post written by Barbara Mackenzie

It's always so nice when it gets cold this time of the year because I just love to dress up in layers and feel that cold bite of the cold air on my face when I walk outside of my door. But that's before it starts snowing.
However, the other day once I tried to turn on the heat it wasn't working. Now, even though I love dressing in layers outdoors, I don't want to in my own apartment. So I called Philadelphia sears HVAC and got them to come out and replace my system.
Okay, so I do like to bundle up sometimes inside, especially when IÕm reading a funny book or watching The Office. I just switched out all my summer clothes for my warm clothes in my closet and so now I feel like I officially am ready for winter. Even though how many times my mom has told me that I should get rid of half of the clothes that I have, but that's what I tell her a hall closet is for.

TGIM-Thats right, MONDAY!

I've never been more happy to see a Monday as I was today. After a long Saturday, and walking 5000 miles on Sunday, I literally fell in bed last night.

As usual, my work was cut out for me shooting a wedding on Saturday. Don't ever let anyone tell you that a wedding photographer charges too much. Ever. Or, point me in their direction and I'll kick their butt-when I'm not so tired.

I always get lucky by having a nice couple, but when you are "in charge" of a whole lot of people, it gets pretty hectic. I also had to deal with the pastor that had her "rules" for photographers. Something I wasn't prepared for. Every time I asked her a question, she would start her reply with, "Well, all the other photographers do this... "

I was to the point of smacking her in the back of the head if she said it one more time. Sorry lady, I guess I missed that photographer boat.

Oh, did I mention that the hubby was forced to take Emily trick-or-treating while I was at the wedding? I was just as nervous about that as well. I had shown him that morning how to do her makeup, though it was probably a lost cause.

He didn't do too bad with getting her ready, except he put the wrong shirt on under her princess costume and the blush was a bit too heavy. I was taking her on Sunday to the neighboring town, so I didn't care too much.



Zach was a dinosaur and I didn't get to see him in person with it on, but his mom sent a cute photo of him.


Anyway, I got through the wedding and made it home-though I WAS an hour and a half later then scheduled.


Here is the awesome couple, btw...


We had to shoot these after 6 pm, and at this time of the year, it starts to get dark around then. Thank God for prime lens!

The next day I got a break, because the family shoot I had scheduled for that morning got rescheduled by the family. I slept in to prepare myself for trick-or-treating that evening. Emily and I ended up going by ourselves and we got through the whole neighborhood in record time! I didn't even get lost, which I am notorious for (thank goodness for GPS on my phone).


Now, on to my next task- I think I heard the pitter patter of little mouse feet in the bedroom last night.

ARGH!!!!!!!!!

Better late then never

My oldest has been changing what she wants to do with her life. We've gone through several majors for college with her, with the latest wanting to go into the medical field. Thank goodness she qualifies for grants, because it could get pretty expensive.

So, what about students whose family can't afford college? Maybe a scholarship is the route. I found a site that is full of useful information on finding scholarships, financial aid and even grants.

Schoolscholarships.org can help you find about all that and has an area on black scholarships and engineering scholarships.

My son is already fourteen and knows what he wants to be when he grows up. I know that he'll have to try to get a scholarship to go to school. Having a place to help us find out what we need to know is nice to have-especially when it doesn't cost us anything!

Baby proofing your home

With little Avrie was born, Jess had already had the house babyproofed with stairway gates, cabinet locks, and other stuff. You don't realize how many dangers there are in your home. My grand baby, Zach, gets into EVERYTHING. I've even had to baby proof my home with baby gates as well.

KidSafe is a great site to learn about how to baby proof your home. They also sell quality Baby gates, pet gates, and extra wide baby gates for those wide hallways or stairways. KidCo Gates are one the best baby gates that KidSafe markets. Upon searching the site, I found out about baby gates is, I didn't know that there was such a thing as pressure gates. So they really have everything that you need to baby proof your home.

Visit KidSafeInc.com today-you can follow updates from KidSafe on Facebook, Twitter, You Tube, and the KidSafe Blog.

CSN Stores have done it again

Awhile back, I told you that csn stores.com asked me to do a review and I couldn't tell you what it was.

Well........... Now, I can!

I ordered a coffee maker and an adorable stool. I'm using both in my new studio and I love them!

Let me tell you a little bit about the coffee maker first...

I got the Proctor-Silex 12 Cup Coffeemaker Automatic Drip . This coffee maker is the perfect size for the studio. Its easy to use and easy clean up. It's perfect to make a pot for clients and it's compact enough to not get in the way.

Now, on to the stool...

This stool is perfect for my photo props. You can find it here. I haven't finished it yet, but will show you a photo when done. I've been looking for a stool this size for little ones. I should have known that CSNStores.com would have it.

Ordering was easy as usual and the products came fast! With csn stores, almost everything has free shipping-that's why when I have a large product to order, I look on their site first. I've never had a problem with any orders, and I know if I did have to return something, I'm sure it would be easy.

CSN Stores is my favorite online shopping site-really, I'm not just saying it. So, before you hit any other online shopping sites, check them out first-you won't be disappointed!