A Thanksgiving Feast was served in Taylor's classroom today. It was also a lesson in manners. The girls had to wear dresses, the boy's collared shirts or suits. They were escorted in and the young gentlemen "were supposed" to walk the young ladies to their seats and pull the chairs out for them.
Taylor's sweet teacher cooked the turkey for us. Of course, the pumpkin pie was gobbled up in minutes. As soon as the well-manner children finished their dessert, they begged their teacher to change back into their normal uniforms of jeans and tee-shirts. Oh well, we got to see them cleaned up good for a moment.

Sensational Settings was the name of the benefit that I attended yesterday with a dear friend in Tucson. Forty interior design firms each decorated a table for this festive event. Their imaginations ran wild and it showed in their creative endeavors. My favorite table was displayed for a mortgage lender. You can see all of the dollar bills tucked in their baked goods. They even decopaged the table with dollar-bill tissue paper. The centerpiece was a Kitchen Aid mixer and they put glass votive jars and candles in real bread. The tea bags read "honest-tea" and integri-tea".
My second favorite was the "No Adults Allowed" table. She used a small battery-operated train to go around her cookie-jar centerpiece, game boards
cut in half and puzzles as placemats, game pieces scattered around the table, a checkerboard as a charger, and real cookies glued on dowels in the cookie jar. On the backs of each chair were a santa's hat and a wooden hanger with a sign that read "No Adults Allowed". That was definitely the cutest kid's table that I have ever seen.
Another fun perk of the day was finding a table displayed by a new home accessory boutique that was only a few blocks away and was open! As soon as we left the benefit, we stopped by the boutique and made a few purchases. She had wonderful dried greenery and black and ivory table accessories that matched my black and ivory harlequin dinner plates. How lucky was that?
Last, but not least, were the outdoor tables. This designer creatively used putting green turf as a tablecloth, croquet mallets in the centerpiece and Talavera pottery which is so popular here in the Southwest. I highly recommend this event.

Happy Veterans Day!
We were so thrilled that Taylor's Girl Scout troup was invited to march in the Veteran's Day Parade. We are a very patriotic family. My father served in WWII and my father-in-law in the Vietnam War. We were happy that she was able to honor them. Parents did not march with them so I was happy that one of the leaders was able to snap a few photos.

Happy Thanksgiving!
I'm wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving now by showing you my kitchen table because I'm quite certain that before Thanksgiving arrives, I will be decking the halls, walls, mantles and tables. I can't wait to dig into my many Christmas boxes and start decorating. I love my Southern Living plate that allows me to change out ribbons. At the home party that I attended, we were told that you could use dry erase markers to write on the plates. I've been writing on several other plates, including my "You Are Special Today" plate with those markers and the writing just wipes right off. I love that! I think I'll go and get our family "thankful" tree ready. I'll try to show you it soon.

There was lots of primping going on today at my house. Nine tweens were busy having facials, manicures, pedicures, decorating mirrors, striking poses with their mirrors and swinging at a lipstick pinata.
I kept trying to remind them that it was "spa day" and that they were suppossed to be relaxing, but I quickly lost that battle.

There was lots of giggling going on when I used my 12-year old son to demonstrate how to apply their green mask. He says I'm paying him for that one. They were all laughing so hard their cucumbers fell off of their faces. Now that was funny.
They all had a wonderful time, especially the birthday girl. I've informed my family that this was the last "at home birthday party" that I'm throwing. I can hear all of my bestest friends laughing right now. Sure, uh huh. I want you all to remind me that I said this next year, okay??

The Invitations Are Out. My sister made these adorable invitations for the big birthday party. The flower petals are actually artificial finger nails. The girls will be having manicures, pedicures and facials at the party. I've hired two teenage girls to do the honors. I hope they have time to do my nails!

Here's my littliest one ready to go trick-or-treating with her two friends. They are so excited! She wanted to be a veterinarian this year. That's also what she wants to be when she grows up. A friend surprised us with a "real" stethiscope to borrow for the evening.


The amount of candy that they brought home in such a short amount of time was surprising to say the least. We will have to hide some!
I'm off to substitute teach this afternoon and deliver Taylor's birthday party invitations. Have a wonderful day!