Count Your Many Blessings, Name Them One By One.

I love the colors of autumn.  I'm loving this season to stop and take time to count our many blessings!  I created this "Subway Art" collage yesterday.  I plan on printing and framing it this week to add to our Thanksgiving decor.

Which brings me back to the Thanksgiving Blessing Tree I told you about...  I wanted a metal tree like the one I linked, but couldn't bear to shell out $150 + shipping for one!  So, Jeremy and I started brainstorming how to make one.  That ended up with a trip through Lowes that ended in the torch aisle.  I was pretty convinced he just needed an excuse to buy a torch, as indicated by my Facebook Places check-in, but in the end had to eat my words, cause he was right.  :)

So, equipped with 25' of copper wire and a shiny new torch, we formed the shape of our autumn tree.  Flame, sparks, and molten metal.  Needless to say, Jeremy was in heaven!

Once the tree was pieced together and cooled, we grabbed the paper scraps leftover from the "Give Thanks" banner and started on the leaves.

 

Justus traced leaves and Jeremy cut them out.

Lexi helped cut ribbons and threaded them through the holes.

Here are a few close ups shots of some of the leaves:

 
The things we are thankful for ranged from:

• The normal:  God, family members, friends, our home, our pets, etc.
• To the thought-provoking: grace, date nights, our First Family, work, rainbow (not a double-rainbow, though I was tempted for humor's sake!), etc.
• To the practical:  clothes, food, transportation, iPhone, trees, sun, TV, DSi, coffee, etc.
• To the simply funny:  Justus was thankful for hair (I wish I could tell you if this is a vanity "I have good hair" thing or just a simple "Hey, I have hair!" thing), Lexi for Tutus, and Jeremy for bacon!

I have some extra leaves and ribbons, so I hope to add to the tree as things come to mind and to save some for Chris and Steph to participate when they arrive next week!

And here is the finished product!  I wish this picture did it justice... the shine of the copper and the discoloration from the heat and the soldered joints make it look so much prettier in real life.  I'm pretty stoked about having this piece and making leaves and hanging them part of our yearly Thanksgiving tradition!

The Williams Family Cupcake Showdown

So, my friends keep talking about Sprinkles cupcakes and how incredible they are.  When I heard about these cupcakes, I was convinced that they had to be something very special becase of the wistful tone in all my friends' voices as they described the goodness that is Sprinkles.  I happen to follow some posts about Downtown Houston that led me to the MMM Cupcake Truck , which had to be sampled for Virginia's birthday lunch.  We chose three types of cupcakes and found all three to be quite delicious, so my curiousity was sparked!  I had to know, "who makes the better cupcake?" and The Williams Family Cupcake Showdown was born.

The Roundup
We piled the family in the car this chilly Saturday morning and headed out on a pilgrimmage to Sprinkles.  This was our maiden voyage to the hot spot near the Galleria.  The store is cute cute cute!

We picked up a Chocolate with chocolate frosting, Red Velvet, Pumpkin and Chocolate Marshmallow.  (In order to keep the matchup fair, I asked the MMM Cupcake Truck what would be on the menu so that we could buy similar flavors at each place.)  The service was quick, efficient and friendly.  This is definitely an upscale cupcake shop... after all, it's roots are in Beverly Hills!  Four cupcakes + one not-so-hot coffee later, the check came out to $18.25.

My trusty iPhone made one of the leaves on my Thanksgiving Blessing Tree because I don't know how I'd live without the thing!  It came through again as we went from there in search of the MMM Cupcake Truck, which was parked by the Menil Art Museum yesterday.

We GPS'd it over there and bought a Chocolate with chocolate frosting, Red Velvet, Pumkin and, since they didn't make S'Mores :( , a Cookies and Cream (which is delightful, by the way!)  Four cupcakes later, I paid $10.00 by debit card over the MMM Cupcake Truck's iPhone Square (a handy little device that Jeremy already has and I may or may not need to get and a completely brilliant tool for this small business).  We were all very impressed with how nice the

Now, we that we were armed and dangerous with enough sugary treats to keep a kindergarten class hyper for a week, we turned back home to see the two face off and judge for ourselves.

The Contenders

Sprinkles



MMM Cupcake Truck

 

The Showdown 



The entire family was in agreement that the MMM Cupcake Truck had the better Chocolate with chocolate frosting.  The votes were unanimous.  I liked the addition of chocolate chips in the cake batter.  Jeremy thought he tasted a hint of cinnamon, which Justus echoed.  Lexi is a four-year-old chocolate connoisseur and agreed that the truck had the better moist chocolate cupcake.

 

In the Pumpkin category, it was literally a split decision.  Not the decision itself, we were all unanimous in agreeing that Sprinkles had the better frosting and MMM Cupcake Truck had the better cake!   A perfect Pumpkin cupcake would require the marriage of the two bakeries.



In the Red Velvet event, the winner was handed to Sprinkles.  The cake was about the same... very similar, in fact.  I think it came down to a preference for Sprinkle's less cream cheese-y frosting.



This may not be a fair comparison... as I mentioned, we planned on comparing a S'Mores cupcake to a Chocolate Marshmallow, but the S'Mores were unavailable, so I called an audible and picked up a Cookies and Cream.  Guess, we'll call this the Freestyle category.  Also, if I'm honest, by the time we got to this part of the competition, Jeremy and I couldn't take any more sugar and the kids were pretty set on eating the cupcakes they picked out.  So, Lexi ate the Chocolate Marshmallow and Justus had the Cookies and Cream.   I tasted both and would have to select the Cookies and Cream, but that may be a preference for Oreos (including a whole Oreo at the bottom of the cup!?!) over marshmallows in general.  Jeremy abstained from this round.  Winner goes to the MMM Cupcake Truck for the Freestyle Competition.



The Conclusion

Sprinkles has a lot going for it: cuteness overall in presentation and packaging, the cupcakes were delicious, the frosting (aside from the chocolate flavor) was preferred, and we definitely felt like we were doing something fancy, so the posh experience is a plus.

But we're going to have to hand the winner to the MMM Cupcake Truck for this Showdown.  The cake was overall more moist and flavorful.  We liked the unexpected extras too, like the chocolate chips and the Oreo lined cupcake cup.  I don't know the owner's name, but he's extremely friendly.  And we certainly felt adventurous tracking down the truck!

We made a memory and I'm afraid I may have nearly made my kids sick on sugar, but I'm pretty sure you can tell by their faces that they were completely delighted by the whole experience.



Happy, but a little overloaded on sweets.



Covered in frosting and cake and lovin' every minute of it!

Thursdays that feel like Fridays are the Best Kind!

I love Thursdays that feel like Fridays... especially when it's been a crazy nonstop week at work!  My shoulders are all tensed up from the stress here this week, which makes the weekend even more appealing.  The never-ending To Do List coupled with constant demands and interruptions is enough to make this girl feel like a zombie!

After work (as well as a little therapeutic run), I will be joining some of my co-workers to say fairwell to my friend, Dana #2 and her hubby, Adam, as they leave Houston for a new adventure in Colorado.  I'm a little sad, but excited for them!  We promised that the other would always remain Dana #2, so I'm good with that.

The boys have Rudolph rehearsal tonight.  My reindeer are too cute!

Tomorrow, there will be sleeping in and running and my favorite, date night.  This time it's a charity event for SEARCH Homeless Services Picnic in the Park.  This is a neat organization that I've had the privilege of  being involved with through the XYZ Network at Chevron.  They provide all different kinds of resources to Houston's homeless.  Did you know that 10,000 people are homeless in Houston on any given day?  That is an incredible and unacceptable number.

Saturday = another run.  Gotta prep for our Warrior Dash!  Yes, we are crazy.  I'm aware.  But we get one of these when we do it...

And who doesn't need a Warrior Helmet, tell me!?!

So, then maybe a friend is coming to have dinner and check out our new crib (of which I will post pictures of soon.  Promise!)  And also, we are going out for brunch, cause half-price is an excellent idea that I've been considering for two weeks.



Looking forward to more about the Simple Life in Bible Class on Sunday, Ronnie's sermon (as usual), and hosting First Family.  We're starting a new series on Love and Respect.  I've heard some good things!

Other than that, I'll be snuggling my babies and daydreaming with my handyman and maybe getting started on that Blessing Tree I've been dying to make.

And with that... let's get this party started.

Life is GOOD! Taking time to be grateful...

Thanksgiving has found a new joy for me this year.  I think it's the simplicity of it this year.  We've had some crrrrrazy Thanksgiving's over the years.  And last year, we decided to skip the thing all together and spend the day in the Magic Kingdom.  I am truly looking forward to spending time with precious family (including my little bro, his wife and their sweet baby Ray), watching Thanksgiving Day parades, making a delicious turkey dinner and being off of work!  We're even going to play in the "snow" at the Pavillions.

I'm figuring out how to create my own Thanksgiving Blessing Tree.  I've given everyone the heads up and Justus has even submitted his list of things he is thankful for:  God, Family, Friends, Shelter, and Food/Drink.  He's Mr. No-Nonsense.  Lexi's list will likely have Polly Pockets and Tutus and Miss Kellianne, when I can get her to hold still long enough to dictate it.  I'm dying to get crackin' on it!

I got a little crafty the other day and created this "Give Thanks" banner for my dining room.  Every time I walk through the foyer, I smile.  I'm extra happy about this craft because each person in my family helped with a little bit of it.  Justus helped me choose paper and sort it when I got home.  Lexi ran printed letters from the printer in the study to me in the dining room (quite excitedly, I might add!).  Jeremy even got in on the action late in the evening after a dinner at friends' when he realized that a hot glue gun is indeed a power tool!