Thanksgiving at Home

This was our first Thanksgiving at home since Kaitlyn was a baby and Nathan’s first Thanksgiving at home.  The day began with waking to a driving rain pounding on the house.  We had a record rainfall for the day with over 3 1/2 inches falling.  It was a great day to stay indoors and roast a turkey.  So we finished our preparations for the holiday and for our company; Rick’s Mom and Dad.  As I read up on holiday preparations as a reminder and to obtain new ideas I felt a little behind .  There was no way to set the table two days in advance as suggested.  And I knew I was in trouble when I read that each guest should have a comfortable two feet between each place setting.  That just wasn’t going to happen…

How did we fit 9 people all around the same table in my little kitchen?  Originally we thought about having a Charlie Brown Thanksgiving outdoors, maybe without the popcorn though.  The fact that the first Thanksgiving was held outdoors made it sound like a promising idea.  And everyone could have their two feet of space!  But in the end, the weather can vary so much this late in the year that we needed a plan that would allow us to have a cozy meal indoors.  After tossing around a few ideas, and keeping in mind my one stipulation; “no dishwasher in the bedroom”, we decided to open our table’s butterfly leaf setting the table against the front of the cupboards but leaving room by the window for the kids to sit at but away from the side window so that they could all file in and someone could sit in that spot too.  Then we moved the dishwasher against the front of the cupboards and the refrigerator.  Then after we all filed in we could fold the highchair to squeeze it through from it’s waiting point in the hallway and then open it again so Nathan could sit by me at the table.  This works as long as no one has to leave the table during the meal and no one needs anything out of the cupboards, sink, fridge and you don’t need the back door for a fire escape.  We figured we’d all leap out of the big back window if we needed to (and we nearly did when I knocked over the lit candle!!!  Luckily the flame went out on its way overboard).  I think next time I will actually give up and vote for moving the dishwasher and microwave into my bedroom after all so that we will still have enough counter space for serving and we can more easily move around.  But it worked and it was very nice.   Curses that I ever envisioned myself with a dining room by my age and this stage of life.  My kids did get tired of waiting for Nathan to finish eating.  At our house, table diving is a sport and so they made their escape after the meal and waited for pie elsewhere while the adults talked and Nathan finished.

   

Lindsay made place cards this year by attaching the name tag to an apple decoration or a “brown flower” that the kids picked up on walks and tied it around the napkins with rafia.  She does a nice job with things like this and her writing is impeccable.  Goblets at our place settings were a 15th anniversary gift and the older girls felt grown up having one at their place. 

   

I love the season of autumn and love to decorate with the earthy tones in pumpkins, leaves, pinecones and nuts.  I found this pumpkin pitcher for a few dollars earlier in the month and thought it was perfect for a thanksgiving bouquet.  I filled out the bouquet with the brown centers from my butterfly bushes that Rick saved for me when he was cleaning out the yard.  They fit right in

   

Turkeys were a little expensive this year and there were no coupons to be found so we decided to try a turkey other than Butterball.  After reading through several cookbooks and seeing what Martha had to say about them on-line, Rick settled on making an herb butter for the turkey and roasting it in an oven bag.  We were not disappointed.  The 22 lb. turkey was tender, juicy and made the most wonderful gravy.  The savings was worth it.

For dessert we had 6 pies; a personal record!  Rick’s parents brought two pumpkin pies (one front left) and I made an apple pie (right rear) from apples we picked on the farm in September.  I also tried a new Pumpkin Cream Pie (center) from Martha using one of the little pumpkins we picked up a the farm in October.  It was delicious!!!  Moving beyond traditional autumn pies I do take requests since I think everyone should be pleased on Thanksgiving.  Lindsay requested my chocolate chip pie (front right) as she has the past few years and it makes her happy.  Haley fell in love with her Aunt Stacey’s Chocolate Mousse Pie last year (left rear) and was so happy when the recipe got posted last week so we made that one too.  Maybe not traditional but certainly delicious.  What to do with all the pies???  We adopted Aunt Stacey’s tradition of pie for breakfast on Friday morning.  Nobody complained.  What a delicious tradition that I think we will be holding on to after experiencing it first hand one year ago.  Haley announced on Friday after “breakfast” that she won’t be eating any more pie for a while.  I’m sure my scale will agree with her on that one.  No more desserts, at least until the Christmas cookies come out!

We hope everyone had a wonderful family filled Thanksgiving.  While we all have challenges in life to rise and meet we certainly have much to be grateful for at the same time.  I am thankful for the opportunity to think about and recognize those blessings in my own life and to teach my children to look beyond their troubles and see all of the good.  Our Father in Heaven loves each one of us and I can feel that he looks out for us as he sees our lives with a much broader view.  I am thankful to feel and know of His love for us.  That is what makes everything OK.  -Happy Thanksgiving!  

Sweet Potato

Wednesday I got all my potatoes down from the shelf up near the ceiling in order to roast my sweet potatoes and prepare my Idaho potatoes for the crock pot.  It didn’t take my Sandy cat long to find the potato basket down low.  I always find myself with lots of extra help in my kitchen. 

Of course I couldn’t put the basket away… then she kind of made a home in the midst of the potatoes and cuddled up.   

  

Aren’t the potatoes and onions a little lumpy for cuddling with?  Apparently not since I found her napping there a little while later… fast asleep!  I think she was enjoying the warm, fragrant kitchen on a chilly rainy November day.

Personal Chef (in training)

This year it was my wish to have a quiet Thanksgiving at home since it’s been several years since this has happened.  So preparations began last week as I began to make shopping lists and directed the cleaning schedule to make sure it was a little more hard core than the usual.  This week began with the never-ending cleaning schedule in the midst of 5 sick children, 4 of whom were home with me all day yesterday, and of course the baking!  Yesterday the pie crusts were made and tossed into the freezer.  (The cooler won’t work outdoors because it’s just plain too warm at 72 degrees).  Today some of the pie fillings were started and it was roll baking day!!!  Hip!  Hip!  Hooray!  My kids are sooooo excited and don’t care much about any other part of the meal (except for pie, possibly). 

                

Kaitlyn is always very interested in baking.  She finds it very appealing to butter the risen and rolled out dough with the pastry brush.  Then she helped roll the wedges of dough into crescents.  She told me that she was my “chef”.  It is fun to work together in the kitchen and to share some of our kitchen traditions that have been passed down through generations.  Kaitlyn is a good worker.  I bet a few of you might like to borrow a personal chef for your kitchens this week.

                               

Six dozen crescent rolls finished by 3 p.m.  We will be lucky if they last for two meals.  Nathan has never had one of these goodies in his life but he is my “bread boy” so he’s sure to be as impressed as his brother, dad and uncles are.

This is my Mom’s family recipe.  I actually have two different versions of the same recipe written down; one in my 10 year old sister’s handwriting on a card and one scratched down on a scrap of paper over the phone that I’ve kept over the past 15 years and I don’t follow either one exactly.  I mix the two together and change a couple of things here and there and the steps are different depending on if you are making the rolls all at once or are preparing the dough and baking the next day.  Cooking is an art, after all; hence my philosophy that recipes are merely suggestion.  My husband HATES that school of thought!  Can I say once again as I gather my kitchen notes together that a family cookbook is really in order.  One of these days… 

As I close may I just repeat what I’ve been saying daily for months… I’m thankful for my best friend… THE DISHWASHER!!!  I’m thankful for my people friends too but none of you would do what this does for me without complaint.  Happy preparations!

A Little Spooky

Over the long weekend Rick and I planned for a special brunch date (which turned out to be lunch since we couldn’t seem to break away from the kids early enough for breakfast foods).  After a quick, but peaceful meal where we could hold a conversation and a quick shopping trip for a couple of household items we made our way across town to the SPCA just after adoptions began for the daunting task of choosing a kitten to bring home.  There are always so many to choose from and this is very hard for me.  So hard!  After spending some time there Rick fell in love with this little guy, or maybe it was the other way around.  I asked to hold this kitten and immediately I could feel the attraction.   He is a cuddle bunny with a motor for a purr.  He was in a room filled with cats and while many of them ignored him he seemed at peace with them as he vied for friendly attention.  For a few minutes we thought he might be going home with another family but they said they were just visiting and that this was one sweet kitten, which we could already see for ourselves.  So we found his slip of paper, began the adoption process and brought him home to meet his new family.  Spooky seemed to be a name that suited him with his long two toned grey and black fur especially with arriving in the autumn just after Halloween.  We weren’t trying to keep with the “S” names this time but it just turned out that way.   He is about 4 months old.

After several days he seems to feel comfortable with the rhythm of life at our house.

He is the sweetest most gentle cat.

I asked if they knew anything about him other than that he was a “stray”.   He had a story…  He arrived at the SPCA overnight drop 2 months ago on September 16th at about 8 weeks of age.  He was one kitten out of 23 that were stuffed into 2 small carriers and left during the night.  By the time workers got there in the morning 3 of the kittens were already dead.  The kittens were all “super-sweet” however but this is not one of the happiest ways to start out obviously.  He must be one of the last of these kittens as we didn’t see too many in there that were his age.  There are a lot of older cats right now hoping to find a home… people moving or unable to afford a pet any longer.  We needed a kitten given that we have an older cat who will take to a kitten more readily and the fact that we have a lively household of 5 kids.  A cat’s gotta grow up with that or he’s not going to be too happy.

This kitten is fantastic with the children.  He is beautiful too with his long hair; black for the second half of it’s length and grey underneath. 

He enjoys playing with the kids but is not as hyper as Sandy can be.  Sandy is adjusting to sharing space, affection and attention with her new companion.

Spooky allows Kaitlyn to pick him up any which way without complaint.  We are working on this with her.  He is really patient.

He will snuggle with you at any given opportunity.  He just wants to be loved.

Spooky is playful but doesn’t like to jump too much.  He races after strings and is not used to the slippery hardwood.  It was so funny to see him sliding all over the place as he ran and played.

After a day where we had a little time to establish some trust Spooky survived his first bath.  His long fur held the scent of the SPCA a little too strongly for my taste or for the likes of my other two cats.  He is much smaller than he looks with all his fluffy fur.  Spooky does NOT like the blow dryer so we settled on towel drying, brushing and letting him air in the 70 degree breeze flowing in through the open window.  Hard to believe cousins were getting a foot of snow at that very same time!  

Tristan is happy to have “a little buddy” to add to the male count in this household.  Spooky loves being held and petted.  And we are loving him right back.  A home before the holidays!  Welcome Spooky.

Little Handsome Boy

Getting a picture of this handsome boy BEFORE church didn’t work into the schedule.  But he looks so cute in his suit that even with his little black shoes off already I wanted to snap a picture of Nathan.  Little boys grow so fast and this outfit won’t be worn too much longer, I’m sure.

  

It’s funny to see such a little tiny person walking around in a suit and tie.  I love it!

Go Fetch!

My cat, Miss Sandy, is front and center in all we do these days but I have a second cat as well.  Sometimes we call her our “Scaredy Cat” because she runs from many things and most situations.  I think mainly she is just shy but she is my personal devoted companion.  She loves me and has claimed me as her special person.  Regardless, you will not see a great deal of her but she does come out from my bedroom when the house is quieter and I’ve seen more of her out and about since Cindi left us.  One thing that Sara really enjoys when the day’s commotion settles is a good game of fetch, much like a dog, actually.  She started this game with a milk ring when she was just a kitten 12 years ago and has never tired of it.  And it’s a fun way for her to get some attention even when I’ve had sleeping babies in my arms. 

Sara scampers after the milk ring and brings it right back to me, sometimes into my hand.

Sandy cannot for the life of her figure out what is so great about a milk ring.

Sandy follows once again to see if she can figure out the attraction.

Step away from the milk ring.  It’s MINE!  Fetch is a great game.

Sigh of Relief

I took Kaitlyn and Tristan to see the Wizard of Oz this past Saturday.  (Lindsay had attended the night before with her grandparents and Aunt & Uncle so I could have a babysitter for Nathan).  It was a fantastic show… so much fun… and Kaitlyn was at a perfect age to enjoy this magically done musical.  Tristan couldn’t stop singing the Winkie March for two days solid.  Of course it was fun to see Haley on stage too.  We all wished we could go see it again.   But with all that said, I’m glad that it’s over.  I may have a husband back now… and Kaitlyn missed her Dad TERRIBLY, not to mention the other children.  (Kaitlyn’s imaginary friend Charlotte comes visiting from inside the mirror this time every year and they have long conversations about missing Dad).  Maybe best of all is the fact that I don’t have to wake up at 6:30 a.m. to do somebody else’s hair in bouncy ringlets that barely stay long enough for me to finish the job before hairspraying it to death.  Bordering rediculous, it was sort of crazy trying to manage getting all the kids ready and getting them to school after Haley and her Dad left when I’d spent an entire hour with a curling iron on one kids hair.  Haley HATED having her hair done on top of that.  And neither of us was thrilled to be facing that task at such an early hour.  We both felt we had far better things to do with our time.  We were not good company for each other.   Rick looked at the whole scene as a preliminary warm up for getting up earlier for seminary starting next year (for 16 or 17 years straight, I might add).   I adopted a line from the movie “Eloise”; “But what could be more important than her hair”?  Haley passed the time with homework packets since she was out of school all week… mostly geometry or reading a novel, both of which she could sit still for without grumbling. 

 

She was very pretty but next time I hope the “do” is simpler… maybe a wig??? 

SCPA opens new theater with Wizard of OZ

This short clip of the Wizard of Oz was taken by FOX 19 during our first performance. The pyro explosion always took the audience by surprise! In fact, I almost enjoyed watching every show from the back of the audience, waiting to see them all jump!

Haley can be seen just to the left of the stairs in a yellow skirt and blue blouse.

We ended up selling out all 5 performances in our 750-seat theater, including the standing-room-only tickets we were allowed to sell!

Small Packages

“The best things come in small packages” so states the old proverb.

Small package…

Big Smile…

Pretty Feet!

Happiness from head to toe!  Thank you Sophie!!!  We love you!

Halloween Cuties

Blue Ballerina Girl

Jungle Bird                                Werewolf

 

Banchee                                      Cute Clown 

My Children were resourceful at putting together their own costumes again this year.  Most of their pieces came out of the costume/dress-up box in the attic with the exception of Tristan who didn’t like his choices apparently.  He gathered his personal spending money and bought himself a mask and a set of teeth from “The Pumpkin Patch” at school for a total of $1.50 and was happy.  The clown costume on Nathan is one that I made in 1998 when Haley was a year old and it’s been worn for 9 Halloweens full of parties and trick-or-treating since then; fitting each child when they have been 1 and 2 years old.  I chose the clown costume originally because my grandma had made me a red and white striped flannel clown costume with wonderful homemade red pom-poms down the front when I was about that age.  I’m sure somebody must have a picture of that somewhere but I remember seeing that costume for many years after that on my siblings so I have fond memories of little clowns at Halloween.  I have loved putting a new version of this costume on my own five little clowns.  

Happy Halloween time!

The Wicked Witch Flies at SCPA

This video accompanies the Cincinnati Enquirer article about SCPA's production of the Wizard of Oz. How about that new 750-seat theater!!!

SCPA opens new theater with 'Oz'

SCPA opens new theater with 'Oz'

The link above is to a Cincinnati Enquirer article about our first major production at the new SCPA. I am the vocal director for the Wizard of Oz this year... and this is one of the first times in a number of years when I am not playing keyboard in the orchestra pit. I get to watch the show! :)

Haley is a munchkin schoolchild in the show. She is actually one of the tallest munchkins - but she doesn't seem to mind and she is really enjoying being in the show, dancing and singing.

In addition to the flying in the show, we are also using pyro... i.e. indoor fireworks when the witch appears. Pretty cool if you ask me... but I will let you know how the K-3 students react to the really loud bangs!

October

In October I work with my younger kids using the theme of Halloween and Autumn.  This is such a fun month.

We decorated the house and enjoyed "discovering” the funny and the spooky.

The beginning of the month still let us outdoors without coats on; maybe a sweatshirt during morning hours.  It still felt good to put your bare feet in the sand.

 

We discovered outdoors the last fruits and flowers of our labors for this year.

Along with stories we learned and recited many autumn and Halloween finger plays concerning skeletons, bats, pumpkins, ghosts and apples.  Nathan learned to say “BOO!”

We got out some fun Halloween music to move and dance to with ribbons.  Of course the kitten couldn’t resist this activity.  Halloween stories were fun to listen to on tape, as well.

   

Kaitlyn began writing in earnest this month.  Her letters just started flowing out on paper and she is picking out beginning sounds and ending sounds to correctly identify their letters in all sorts of words.   She is trying hard to read!

Painting was a big hit.  Don’t worry!  Crayola is non toxic AND washable.

Nathan enjoyed working on the nesting and stacking cups.

In October we play dress up, use our imaginations and dream about the things we might be when we grow up someday.  This play also helps us with the practical everyday matter of dressing and undressing ourselves.

We talk about feelings in the month of October.  We read books about feelings and made the faces associated with those feelings like:

Happy and…………………………………………………………….Surprised

 

Angry ………………………………………. And sad… as we learned to say goodbye all over again this month.

We covered geography AND science by learning body parts….. perfect for the month of Halloween.

Elbows                                       Ears

Tongues                                   Toes

Teeth……. just to name a few that Nathan is learning.  Kaitlyn is reading about and learning about skeletons, arteries and veins, lungs, muscles and hearts.

We made silly faces with our potato heads to help learn about body parts.

Nathan really got into this activity and we had a good laugh at some of these taters.

We reserved the potato head glasses for our own funny faces!  I remember sticking these on my cat, Ginger, as a child.  These glasses are never for the potato head.

We make funny face pictures using old magazines, scissors and glue and continue work on Kaitlyn’s alphabet book as well.  Here she is gluing in ribbon and writing the letter R.  The ribbon is special since it came on a package from the “stitch fairy”, the likes of which I didn’t know existed until this month.

Of course we baked and ate Ghost Cupcakes!  YUMMY!

Nathan and Kaitlyn really get into the chocolate buttercream frosting.  More silly faces!

As we learn about the calendar; month, date, year and season and sing our days of the week song we count down to the last day of the month… Halloween!  A great way to practice counting, number recognition, identifying color patterns and predicting what colors and numbers will come next.

There were some fun costume parties to attend with treats to be gathered.

And imaginations to be used in telling adventure stories of the witch who lived at the castle and Robin-Hood (often called Red Riding Hood) who was the hero and the lost princess Pea with her magical unicorns and… more!

October has been a full month of fun.  I love being with my children.