Friday, November 27, 2009

Thanksgiving



We had a great Thanksgiving yesterday. In order to fit everyone, we (meaning Shawn) had to disassemble the dining room table and reassemble it in the kitchen. By doing that we were able to sit 10 adults in the kitchen and the 11 kids, (the ones that could actually sit at a table), in the dining room on a large folding table.

As you can see this created a huge problem with the chandelier. I should have given a door prize for whoever hit their head on it the most. But then again, that was probably me and I live here.

One thing I love about my friends is that when it comes to holiday eating, there is no skimping. We had stuffing with sausage, scalloped potatoes with sausage, apple bread, pumpkin pie, brownies, yams with marshmallows, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, green bean casserole, homemade rolls and wassail. It was all so good.

The turkey was ok. It was a little dry for me. I roasted it 20 minutes per pound like you are suppose to. But checked it at the 4 hour mark and the meat thermometer said it was already done. The problem was that my guests weren't suppose to come for another 2 hours! And even then we really didn't get things rolling until an hour after that. Fortunately for me, my friend knows how to make gravy and saved the day.

It was a really fun day. And I am thankful I have such good friends to share the day with. But more importantly, I am thankful I have such good friends to share the day with who can cook.

Thursday, November 26, 2009

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Stone Soup

One of my favorite fables of all time is a story called Stone Soup. A man walks into a poor village and asks for food. When he is refused at each door, he then says he can make soup out of stones. He puts the stones in the boiling water, tastes it and tells the villagers it would taste much better if there was a little bit of carrot. The same villager who had told him she had no food to share, offers up carrots for the soup. Soon other things are added from each of the villagers, until the soup is made hearty by all the contributions. And they soon realize that by pooling their resources, they can all be better fed.

So, I am having 22 people at my house for Thanksgiving. It will be the biggest Thanksgiving I have ever hosted. I have to say, I LOVE doing the holiday meals. The planning, the organizing, the cooking, and the baking. I love it all. I love the challenge of trying to get everything to the table hot. But it is all over so quickly. All that work of planning and cooking is scarfed down in about 20 minutes (if you're lucky).

So, I am changing gears this year. We are having a stone soup Thanksgiving. This year I am only making the appetizers, the rolls I make every year, and of course the turkey. Everyone else is bringing their signature dish. And some wine.

I am guessing that this Thanksgiving will be a lot more fun than previous ones. Everyone will have a part in making it great. And I can stop pretending I am Martha Stewart. I don't think I was fooling anyone anyway.


Sunday, November 15, 2009

Pizza PSA



Don't store pizzas on their side in the freezer.

Some Baseball Action Shots



Friday, November 13, 2009

Great. It's Contagious.

So, I was taking pictures of AJ all dusty and dirty from his first baseball game. Here is the picture:


I had put the camera away. But then Charlie came and got me and made the sign for "more".

So, I got the camera and when I got to the kitchen, I found Charlie standing like this:

Look familiar?


Then when I got home from getting Charlie from school today, Shawn and AJ were out in the front yard playing catch. We got Charlie his glove and he joined right in.





Look familiar?

Saturday, November 7, 2009

Something I Never Thought I Would See



AJ is a baseball uniform. Allow me to explain.

Today we had our community garage sale. So Shawn and I were up at 5:30, dragging things into the driveway for the sale. I then manned the sale while AJ and Shawn went to the soccer playoffs. We had a busy day planned.

The boys got home (They lost their first game, so they did not move on.), and Shawn mentions that AJ is now signed up for baseball. What? We hate baseball. It is in our family bylaws. We don't watch it. We don't talk about it. We know nothing about it. I would rather watch golf, and that is saying something. We have managed to steer clear of t-ball, little league and anything else baseball related for the bast 9 1/2 years.

I guess it was bound to happen eventually.

It seems that while they were at the soccer playoffs, and AJ was asked if he wanted to play baseball this season. Sure. Why not? A game today? Sure. Bring it on.

One of the things I don't like about baseball is that the games are so freaking long. I just don't have the attention span. And my complaints seemed warranted when the boys left a little before 2pm and did not return until 5pm. I began to seriously question this baseball decision. Was every game going to last 3 hours? There are 2 games a week!

When Shawn walked in the door after the game, I asked him what had taken them so long. He sighed, shook his head and with the look of a man condemned, replied: "double header".

GO TEAM!!!

Off to practice acting enthusiastic and looking supportive. . .

At least his Grandad will be happy.

Monday, November 2, 2009

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Happy Halloween

We had a very fun Halloween this year. We know two families that share the Halloween party duties each year. The first family hosts a party before we trick or treat. Then we all head over to the second family's house and start our trick or treating from there. And then we have another party after.

This year, we went to the pre-trick or treating party and then trick or treated with the usual gang. But, this year we also went to my friend's Mary's birthday party. So it was a very busy night.

My favorite part of the whole night was listening to the whispers of kids when Shawn walked by then dressed as Batman. They were all convinced he was the real deal. And the parents thought it was pretty cute when they saw him carrying Robin around.


Here are the boys all dressed up as super heros. I was not a super hero, I was an Indian Princess. All the women's super hero costumes came with a stripper pole. And that would have gotten heavy to carry around all night.



This is Robin surveying the land at the pre-trick or treating party. He was making sure all the citizens are safe.


Here are Batman and Robin discussing very important crime fighting stuff.



This was the closest we got to a family picture. The boys (especially the purple one) were eager to get to the trick or treating part of the night.

Just for a quick comparison, here are the boys last year: