Weekly Wrap Up- Thanksgiving Edition

This week was a vacation week for school. The children enjoyed hanging around, playing board games, and staying in pajamas Monday and Tuesday. On Monday, we made a Thankful Tree.


On Tuesday, I cooked my first real Thanksgiving Dinner. You can read more about that here and here.



On Wednesday, after three days of rain and being in the house, I wanted out. We drove to the church and saw the Christmas decorations. Charles stayed and went to lunch with Jason, and the girls and I went out to lunch and to the Dollar Store to let Kathryne get some Christmas gifts for her friends.

Thursday was the big turkey day and my birthday. We went to my sister's for lunch and a rousing game of cousin's football. Then we headed to Mt. Holly, about 45 minutes away for supper with Jason's family. After the Thanksgiving meal, all of the grandchildren (ours and Jason's brother's) went home with Grandmommy for the night. Jason and I went to the movies to see New Moon and then out to Black Friday shopping.

Things get a little fuzzy after that. We didn't go to sleep at all, so I'm not quite sure where Thursday ended and Friday began. We did get most of the Christmas shopping done in one swoop! Friday night we picked up the kiddos, and I took some good cousin pictures. The older one in the midst is Jason's cousin- our kids' second cousin and is very beloved by our children, who don't get to see him often because he is in Virginia.



Today, we put up the tree and some decorations. This is a major accomplishment for us. We are usually MUCH later putting up a tree and didn't even have one last year. This year, due to popular family vote, we decided to have a tree. I always set up our Advent wreath and nativity scene the weekend after Thanksgiving, so we did it all today. The children love getting out the old favorite ornaments. Tonight Kathryne did Christmas story time around the tree with the little girls.

Playing Around With Pictures

 

I have been reading about how to do picture arrangements in photoshop, so I thought I'd try messing around with my pictures in Picasa. I had no idea I could do some of the same things! These are some more photos of the girls' dance program.

I Just Had to do it...

New Moon Movie and Twilight Pictures

The First Thanksgiving Dinner- Part Two

In case you missed Part One of this saga, you can read it here.

Jason came home today with the monster bird already cooked and carved. It was so yummy. I must say, our cook at church does an excellent turkey! I tackled cornbread dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes and gravy, and rolls.

Planning the strategy for how to cook everything was not easy. I have one reliable oven rack. I also have a small convection oven, but it often cooks too hot. I enlisted Kathryne as my helper. She chopped nuts, crumbled cornbread, and mixed the green bean casserole.

I must say, despite my fears (and with a little help) everything except the dressing turned out well. For my dressing I used some crazy recipe off the internet. I thought it sounded like the one my mom and Jason's mom makes, but it was not so much. And, my trouble was compounded by the fact that this funky new menu planner I tried using converted everything to foreign measurements. Who knows what 21/64 of a cup is? Or what a dram is? I think I'm dumping the menu planner!

We ate lots and have some leftovers. And the animals are going to have a nice treat when I go dump that dressing in the woods tomorrow. Even the pumpkin pie was good!

As we sat around the table, I gave each person five kernels of popcorn (symbolic of the five grains of corn the Pilgrims had to eat per day during the Starving Time.) We used each kernel to talk about something we were thankful for. Despite my lack of culinary skills, it was a good time. Not something I want to repeat often but a good time.

For decoration tonight, we had our Thankful tree, made earlier this week, on display.

The First Thanksgiving Dinner- Part One

No, this is not a story about the Pilgrims.

I have a confession. I have never cooked a Thanksgiving dinner. In all the years we've been married, we have eaten with Jason's extended family. In the past several years, we've also eaten a Thanksgiving lunch with my family. The hard part of this arrangement is that we spend Thanksgiving Day running around. The really nice thing is that I don't have to cook a big meal.

Don't get me wrong. We do contribute to each meal. At my sister's house, we usually provide macaroni and cheese- made by Jason. At Jason's family dinner, we bring rolls and occasionally a dessert- made by Jason. Do you see a pattern here?

Well, I have decided that this year will be different. I am cooking a real Thanksgiving dinner- turkey, dressing, green bean casserole, sweet potato casserole, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie. We are going to eat it tomorrow- Tuesday, since we'll be running across two states on Thursday.

I started today by thawing the turkey and baking the sweet potatoes and making the cornbread for the dressing. I also made the pumpkin pie. Let me just say that naked, raw turkey has got to be the most disgusting thing on the planet. No wonder they sell these things so cheap around the holidays. Anyone in their right mind would just go buy a precooked turkey (or at least one of those cute rotisserie chickens from the grocery store deli). That is what I decided after I got the monster thawed. I couldn't even get it's little metal leg bands off. And who knows what is inside the thing that is being held in by the metal bands!

Jason says we're not going to waste it. I told him it was only $5 with my Food Lion card. That's not really waste. He says he's taking it to the church to work with him tomorrow to cook it there. I say better him than me.

I'll work on the other stuff tomorrow. I'm in the process of planning now how many things I can cook in my oven at one time. See, my oven is a little unpredictable. Most days it works but only if you wiggle the temperature control just right and put everything smack dab on the middle rack. Usually my pitiful oven doesn't bother me. I'm seldom (if ever) cooking more than one thing at a time. But, tomorrow, I need it to work. I'll probably lay awake all night trying to plan the perfect timing for my meal.

Oh well. If nothing else, it will be an experience to remember. I'll let you know tomorrow how it turns out.

Weekly Wrap Up- November 20

This week was a "week before vacation" week. We had less school work this week- a field trip on Tuesday, oral book reports with friends on Friday, and a dress rehearsal and dance program in the midst.

We read lots this week from Pilgrim Stories Volume One. We finished it up and watched a Thanksgiving movie online from Discovery Education on Friday.


On Tuesday we took a great field trip to our local state park, home of Andrew Jackson. The children toured the museum and learned about colonial times and had the chance to play with and make colonial toys. We picnicked and then hiked around the lake. The weather turned out to be beautiful!



Tuesday evening, we went to Ashlyne's end of the year soccer celebration. I think I'm glad soccer is over for the season.



On Wednesday, we had all our usual afternoon activities- guitar for Charles and dance for the girls, then dinner and AWANA.

Thursday was, very thankfully a stay-at-home day.

On Friday, after we finished up our work at home, we met some other homeschooling friends to present oral book reports. Charles dressed up as Peter and presented Prince Caspian and Kathryne dressed up as a vet and presented The Making of a Woman Vet, a biography.

Friday evening was the girls praise dance recital. That will be the end of dance until the spring.

This week we will take most of the week off of school. I'm planning to continue reading the Pilgrim Stories, and we'll be making some Thanksgiving goodies.

To read more Weekly Wrap Ups, check out Weird, Unsocialized Homeschoolers.

The End of Soccer Season

The fall has flown by. Soccer season is over, Charles's second and Ashlyne's first. Charles has discovered some natural talent for soccer- especially goalie. Ashlyne enjoyed being on her Daddy's team, but otherwise, soccer was not her favorite thing. Charles's team celebrated Saturday with a cookie cake and trophies. Ashlyne's team celebrated last night with a game between parents and kids and trophies.