Thanksgiving Story, Update, and a Card

Reminder: You have a few more days to post on the blog candy thread---I will be picking the winner on Monday night (or Tuesday morning if I don't stay up till midnight!) Good luck!

Today was a crazy day full of twists and turns but ending up the same way every Thanksgiving does---me being so very thankful to God for all the blessings he has bestowed upon me and my family. I am so blessed to have three (strong willed) and healthy children, a loving husband and wonderful families in Pennsylvania and Houston who love us (and miss us!)

As some of you know, this thanksgiving my husband had to work. Not a big deal as we are traveling to his parents on the weekend to have our official thanksgiving so I figured it would just be a nice low-key day. I was planning on just making Macaroni & Cheese for dinner (gasp!) because that is all the kids want to eat anyway. But last night (feeling a twinge of mother-guilt) I ran out (with the rest of Texas!) and bought a precooked turkey breast, some mashed potatoes and veggies for dinner. (I am a good mommy!)

We were all set to have our lazy day of putting up the Christmas tree, movies and moms fake "home-cooked" meal when my husband called from the hospital and said they were having a luncheon for the staff who had to work and for the soldiers families that were stuck in the hospital over the holiday.

Hmmmm....we also had an ulterior motive for going as well. As some of you may remember, my son had fallen down over a week ago and cut his hand. Earlier this week we noticed a lump and some swelling. This would be the perfect opportunity to excise that whatever in his hand. Here is the picture of what his palm looked like a few days ago:


So we got to the hospital and decided to do the "ugly little deed" before heading down to lunch. We took my son into another room where my job was to lay across him and keep him from watching the needles or the small knife. In no time flat, my husband had him numb and managed to make a tiny tiny cut----and when he did...he felt a scraping sound--yep....Ben had a piece of glass stuck in his palm. hmmmm....Didn't mom diagnose that a few days ago? Moms know best. Thanks to everyone who has asked about him. He did so well....Yeah, he screamed his head off at first but after it was done he was so happy (and relieved!) that he was the sweetest boy for the rest of the day.

We all headed down to lunch together. Ben was cradling his newly bandaged hand. As we walked down the hallway past soldiers who lost limbs in Iraq and had burns and other serious injuries....the irony of my son cradling his hand was evident to me and to my husband. But to my son----he had a major injury too. Just made us even more thankful for all we have as a family and as a country.

We had a great lunch and then headed home for the day. Tonight I managed to burn the turkey breast (just a bit)...figured it would be OK to stick it in at 450 degrees with the scalloped potatoes. FYI--Not a good idea! The meal's saving grace was a loaf of pumpkin bread a neighbor dropped off for us....we pretty much ate that for dinner.

I actually did manage to get a stamping project done this evening--just because I had this idea and it was killing me to see how it turned out. I wanted to use a design I created awhile ago that I loved but I thought it would be beautiful with a monogram. This card is a vertical gate-fold with a belly band. I love how the monogram slides off!

The design of this is so simple. Cut 8.5 by 11 piece of cardstock lengthwise at 4.25 inches. Fold the two small ends toward each other so they meet in the middle. The belly band is a piece of cardstock that meets in the middle. Whatever you choose to decorate the band with hides the seam of the band. I chose a monogram letter for this card's band and I used my nestabilities to create the scalloped and circle mats for the stamped image. This card is standard size and is very simple to create.

For this example I used my new Papertrey Ink stamps: Spiral Bouquet, Ambassador Monogram and Borders & Corners Monogram sets. I think these three new releases work so well together and I am having so much fun playing with them.

The inside view: I used the same pattern that I stamped on the front and also carried over the scalloped edge design. I wanted keep the inside very simple so there would be ample space to write a note.

Hope you all had a wonderful day! I am so thankful for all of you! Tomorrow is one week of blogging for me and I have already hit 1000 views. I am so shocked!!!

Thanks so much for making me a part of your day. I will be celebrating Thanksgiving this weekend with my in laws so I won't be posting for a few days...but I will be back (with more blog candy to share!)

Hugs!