Thanksgiving Menu {52 Lists}

We are happy to be having a very quiet Thanksgiving this year. It will be the last holiday we spend in our current home, the home we have had for the past 9 years, and the only home our children have ever known.

I plan to have the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on the television, as I usually do when I am in the kitchen cooking. It helps to keep the children occupied.

Our menu is small and simple this year:

Gardein Turk'y Cutlets
Mashed Potatoes
Gravy
Stuffing
Green Bean Casserole
Sweet Potatoes
Jellied Cranberry Sauce
Apple Pie
Pumpkin Pie (which I will be sharing with my dad)


I also want to make Pumpkin Chocolate Chip bread for breakfast, since it is a special day.


To drink, I haven't decided between sparkling cider or apple cider. My children and husband do not drink carbonated beverages (and I very seldom do, unless I am sick), but I do like sparkling cider on special occasions.


My goal lately has been to simplify holidays meals in order to spend more quality time with my family. Many of the menu items above are either pre-made or easily put together (instant mashed potatoes, unless my husband feels like making the mashed potatoes from scratch this year). The desserts I will make the day before and try not to eat before Thanksgiving dinner. I also purchased Thanksgiving-themed paper plates and napkins to make things more festive for the children. I am hoping that it will end up being a wonderful holiday for my little family.

Linking Up With:

We're Moving!

This is why I have been mostly silent. If we're friends on social media, you may already know that someone has signed a lease to rent our house. The new tenants move in on December 19th, so we are moving out on December 10th, allowing a week to really clean the house. With the holidays coming up, I am doing my best to make this move go as smoothly as possible.

Our new house will not be ready until mid-January so we are moving in with my parents. Four adults, three children, and a cat living in a 3 bedroom, 2 bathroom 1460 sq. ft. house will be an interesting experiment.

I don't know when I will be back posting regularly. I am trying to do a bit of packing each day, on top of homeschooling (which we are very behind on) and running a household. It's a very busy time and the blog is being pushed to the bottom of my priorities list.

If I don't have a chance to say it later, Happy Holidays!

Happy Halloween!

Our Halloween festivities are usually stretched out over a few days. Saturday, we attended the Trunk or Treat at our church. Before the Trunk or Treat began, the teens in the church had planned carnival games for the children. Each classroom was set up for each game or activity, such as bowling, fishing, and face painting. Before we went in, I tried to get a picture of all three of my children together in their themed costumes. We are studying medieval times this year in history, so Bridget wanted to be a medieval princess, George was a knight, and Liam was a dragon (a costume George used two years ago). Because there were other children arriving at the church, it was near impossible to keep the boys attention and to look at the camera. 

They had this backdrop inside the church for photos. Again, those boys of mine... I give up.

One of the many games they played. I am glad that they had activities planned this year for the little ones. 

On Sunday, we took a break from Halloween and attended church (which also happened to be the children's primary program). Monday, being Halloween, we finally carved our pumpkin. We had gotten it on Saturday morning at the pumpkin patch, but were too busy to carve it until the last minute. We did it during Liam's nap. I did the carving, of course, and the children had no interest in touching the "guts", so I removed those as well. The children did help removing the pieces for the face once I had carved them. It took a little bit of work but they finally did it. 

Our Halloween meal this year was quickly thrown together because I have a minor cold. I went the easy route with mummies, eyeballs, brains, and blood. Bridget hates when I call them by these names, and insisted on correcting me every time. I guess the gross names make things a little unappetizing for her.

Happy Halloween!

A Trip to the Pumpkin Patch

On Saturday, we stopped by one of the local pumpkin patches for some family fun. There was a lot to do and see, though we made our trip a quick one because we had a busy day ahead of us. We took pictures with the various cutouts, visited the farm animals (a young piglet was my favorite), and picked out a pumpkin to carve for Halloween. You will have to excuse the pictures, as they were all captured with my phone.

This may sound really bad, but I did not realize that my 7 year old was already 4 feet tall. I still remember her as my little baby. 

Bridget, age 7

George is not far behind Bridget in height. He is also growing way too fast. 

George, age 4

It was difficult to get a picture of Liam, as he was far more interested in everything else around him. He did take a second to lean up against the sign. He still wouldn't look at me.

Liam, age 2

Then it was time to pick out our pumpkin. Liam must have grabbed a dozen pumpkins and didn't quite know what to do with them. I was pretty impressed with his strength.  The few pumpkins he was not able to lift, he rolled. He's a very resourceful toddler.

We are enjoying this autumn season. The weather was crisp and cool in the morning, though it did reach 80 degrees that afternoon.