...Happy Thanksgiving...

Christmas in review 2010

Just after Santa came.

Christmas Morning.

A VERY excited Lil D....that Santa actually came and ate his cookies and chocolate milk!

Our breakfast table.

We had this breakfast strudel and sticky buns.

(I used egg beaters and turkey bacon and it was De.Lish)

And our dinner table.

This table runner was one of my gifts from my mom...it is beautiful!

For dinner we had this pork tenderloin, cinnamon sweet potatoes, "spring" salad (with Karla's sugared pecans) and roasted corn.

All Yum!

My favorite moments of the day:

Lil D enjoying the one gift he wanted the most...

"a blue ambulance with doors on the back that open and close"

seriously could have been his only gift and he would have been the happiest boy.

and reading with him with his new leapster tag.

It was such a wonderful weekend!

Of course, the weekend is now over

...SO...

Tomorrow...we shop!

I'm linkin to Tablescape Thursday at Between Naps on the Porch

Happy Easter...from the Thompsons...

yep...we woke up to a fresh batch of snow again today...

Where is my spring?

The snow didn't keep the Easter bunny away...just had to leave the eggs hidden inside.

2 of my sisters were here to celebrate Easter with us.

My older sister Vicki, made us these delicious quiche...they were SO good. And of course we had to have a smoothie too!

and after a day of snacking on candy even more food...

we had my step-brother, his wife and Mr. T's brother join us for dinner.

I found these great orange napkins at Home Goods the other night. They scream more summer then spring to me...but with the snow we are having...I'm pretty sure we will be skipping straight from winter to summer.

"cheesy potatoes" (as Lil D calls them)

in my bubble n brown baking dishes (LOVE them)

I got this bowl at home goods too...oh I love it!

with our potatoes and cesar salad, we had asparagus and ham...yum.

It was a really nice day...but my belly is full...and we have more painting to do tomorrow.

I hope you all had a wonderful Easter as well!

More china...maybe I should start collecting my own

I may not have seen my mom's china much growing up...but this china, on the other hand, brings back a lot of memories. This is one of my great-grandmother's china sets. I never knew her...but I had 25 years with my grandmother and by then this china was her's and I remember it well.

It's now in the care of my mother...so I played with it during this current trip home.

I just adore it. Maybe not because of the roses or color...

but because of the memories that bring joy to my heart and even a tear to my eye.

I miss the grandmother who let us set her table with these beautiful pieces.

I don't even drink coffee or tea...but I would take these sweet cups in a heartbeat.

and the serving bowls and platters...I could totally use with all my white plates and green table decor.

every bit of it...I just love!

Unlike my mom's set...this one is more then complete. I think there is almost 12 full settings. and with the crocheted tablecloth....on my grandma's dining room furniture...well...it's like we are in north Seattle on a Sunday evening sitting down for dinner with 2 of my favorite people ever. Maybe that is what outdated and discontinued china is for...the best memories ever!

I'm linking this one to Tablescape Thursday too!

Playing dress-up...with a table

My mom's mom passed away just over 7 years ago. My mom, being the only girl, acquired most of my grandma's stuff...especially of the kitchen/dining variety. This hutch is one of those items...filled of course with my Great-grandma's china that my Grandma had and used. My mom has since put her china in it as well.

(Whenever I picture my Grandma's house this is the piece of furniture I think of...there are too many memories to even begin sharing...it just makes me smile)

The other night (I'm visiting my mom for a few weeks) I decided to set my Grandma's dining table with my mom's china...

I fell in love!

Can you even believe how gorgeous this pattern is?

It's Noritake: Lorelei

We didn't get to see it much growing up...there being 7 kids in the home and all.

Pretty sure my older sister and I will be fighting over these someday

(hopefully not for 50 years or longer:)

I want it in my house!

The tablecloth was crocheted by my great-grandmother.

1/2 the glasses were my grandma's and the other half are my mom's.

All the silver flatware is also my grandmothers, as are the candlestick holders.

Tonight my older sister and I did some searching on the internet to find a few additional pieces for my mom's set (it was discontinued in 1980). She has 6 full place settings, with an additional 2 salad plates. We decided 8 place settings would be better then 6. We also wanted to find some serving dishes. I'm pretty sure we scored...

We found the bread and butter plates for $1.88 a piece on ebay (every where else they were around $10 a piece). We found the 2 dinner plates for $30 a piece (every where else they were around $50). But our biggest score was a 5 piece serving set consisting of 2 serving bowls, a serving platter, the sugar bowl and creamer dish all for $42.00. The average prices we found were around $45 or $50 for each piece and $25 to $30 for the sugar bowl and creamer. We also got a tidbit tray that is too cute for words for $15. We could have spent around $350 but got it all for $170...it was awesome. Everything is in excellent condition and I can't wait for it to arrive!

I'm seeing a dinner party in my mother's future!

(I also set the table with my great-grandma's...I'll post those pics tomorrow)

I'm linking to show and tell Wednesday

and

I'm linking to tablescape thursday

Happy 2010!

I hope you all had a fun New Year's Eve...we had a fun night...but I am tired (Lil D decided 6am would be a good time to get up this morning)...as for last night...we had some friends over AND my mom and sister we here too! Here's what we did and what it looked like:

I saw this decor over at Room Remix and well...you know I love green...and I already had silver on my table...so this was perfect. I didn't want to have to buy much...so I did my version of silver, lime green and purple...

I have all white dishes and have had the green goblets for a few years...I LOVE them. I found these cute green bead bauble napkin rings at Bed Bath and Beyond for $.99 each and the napkins were 4 for $6.99. I bought the silver chargers (they are totally plastic) on sale at Walmart the day after Christmas.

The table runner I got at Target the day after Christmas along with the silver bead strands (Joanns). I already had the lime green tea lights (trust me...they look yellow...they aren't)...and I found the purple candles and glass jars at the dollar store.

I think it probably would have looked better if I had a white table cloth to really have the wintry look completed...but I don't really like table cloths...so there you go:)

In total...the only things I bought yesterday were the napkin rings, napkins, 2 purple candles and 2 glass jars for a total of $24. Not too bad...AND...all will be reused often!

For the food:

Salmon with pesto butter from Boiled Hotdogs

Mixed greens with cranberries walnuts and goat cheese (I used feta)

Snow peas and cherry tomatoes

Lentil and Rice Pilaf with creamy yogart

The Salmon was absolutely delicious...LOVED that. The salad was a salad...nothing to write home about and next time I would skip their dressing and use one I already have and enjoy. The snow peas and cherry tomatoes were good...colorful...not quite the flavor I was looking for...I would use balsamic vinegar instead of the sesame oil next time. The lentil/rice pilaf was bland...you definitely NEED the yogart for the flavor. I liked the texture and would do a version of it again...maybe more cumin?...we'll see.

After dinner we headed back to our friends for dessert....

Chocolate Fondu

....delicious!

Favorite items...cinnamon bears and frozen pieces of cheesecake...YUM!

Thanks Baileys for a VERY fun night!

And thanks mom for letting us leave Lil D with you so we could stay out past bedtime for once in a blue moon:)

....and now....

it's 2010

Do you do resolutions?

I DON'T...

Can't stand them.

Maybe it's because I don't even attempt to keep them...

SO....

This year...I have decided to do

MONTHLY CHALLENGES

This past November I successfully challenged myself and completed 30 days of no eating out.

It was a short term goal and attainable...

So I have decided that this year I will do the same thing...a goal a month!

I'm very excited...more to come on each month's goal VERY soon...seeing how it's January 1 already!

If you aren't into resolutions...even if you are...maybe you will still want to join the challenge!