Thanksgiving Anticipation

This year for Thanksgiving I am in charge of the cooking. Many people would say "and", well my "and" is I have never cooked a turkey in my 24 years (wink wink) of life. (hey I have seen a few 24 yr olds I look better than).

I am scared!!

Anyone who knows me well knows I do NOT cook.

Jeremy and I ate out for pretty much all the first few years of our marriage. After the kids were old enough to eat, I had to start teaching myself to cook. I think the meals I cook now are getting better. Jeremy has seemed a little bit more excited to eat my food this past year.

Back to the present, I've always been in charge of the green bean casserole. How hard is that though? I have always used the Campbell soup recipe. This year I am gonna follow a recipe from scratch that should be fabulous. Knock on wood! Along with that I am making all the holiday fixin's. (Yes, in Texas this is a word!)

I am gonna miss my mom's home cooking. I have her recipes but it won't taste the same I am sure. I am gonna miss my sister's home made pies. They are delicious! I will miss the company I am used to having, but we won't be alone. Jeremy's family will be joining us.

We will be having turkey (of course), potatoes, creamed cauliflower, glazed carrots, stuffing, cranberry gelatin salad (this is a very yummy family recipe), green bean casserole, candied yams (not my fav, but at Jeremy's request), rolls, homemade gravy, package gravy and maybe some extra veggies for the non-meat eaters, and lots of desserts.

So far it looks promising. I did all my grocery shopping on Saturday except for a few fresh items. I hate shopping in a crowded grocery store. Tomorrow I will make my pumpkin cheesecake, buy my favorite carmel apple walnut pie, and the fresh stuff. Wednesday I will prepare everything I can ahead of time, so that Thursday goes smoothly.

Of course all this is preparation for black Friday, there will be enough food for the kids, Jeremy, and his family to eat all day, so I can shop,shop,shop.

I love to eat, so this is one of my favorite holidays.

They're Watching Us

Jeremy and I love to play games. We have reworked a lot of multiple player games so we can play with just two people. Sundays are our day when we can just be together and play. Occasionally we have to play Candyland or Chutes and Ladders to keep the girls happy.

I love all forms of card games. My favorite is Hand and Foot. I force Jeremy to play it with me on a regular basis. Lately he has been beating the socks off of me, but that doesn't stop me from wanting to play over and over again.

Sunday, Jeremy went upstairs to put the girls to bed and found this scene.

They were mimicking our card playing with their Strawberry Shortcake cards. It was very cute. It is one of those reminders that they are always watching every thing we do.

So Happy to be Me

If I ever have a bad day, I just look at these little faces and realized that I am truely blessed. I can't think of any thing I would rather be doing right now than spending my time with my girls. (and Jeremy too!) Last year was very hard because the girls are so close in age. This year has been so much fun and I don't think looking back I would have changed things. I am grateful to have the daily adventures and am honored to be followed by my entourage.

Mine plus 2

M is in a co-op preschool. The ladies felt sorry for me because of all my little ones and decided I didn't need to have preschool at my house. I was sad at first but when I saw how much I could accomplish with just two little ones I was amazed.

Well one momma is preggers. She is sick, sick, sick. I volunteered to be the teacher when pregnant mom feels she is not up to it. Today was my first day. We have had small numbers due to sickness that has been going around. ( not pregnancy, the flu) I only had two extra besides my normal three and holy cow it was crazy.

TWO WHOLE HOURS!!!

Luckily my project took a lot of time. The smart kiddos had no problem writing the letter we were studying "T" and the number "5." I thought for sure the number five would take ten minutes at least to learn to write. Nope! Luckily my mother-in-law has bought my girls some fun learning games in the past and I was able to "entertain" for the last half hour.

Man I am gonna have to be more structured. I mean plan EVERY minute. The kids are too quick for me.