No Shopping, Just Decorating

November 26th, 2011

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My kids ask a lot of questions…Lately Thade has been asking more and more questions about my childhood. He is curious about what holidays were like since we are well into the Christmas season. This week when we were celebrating Thanksgiving he had a lot of questions about Black Friday, when did it start, what is it all about, etc. I had to google it to get all of the answers for him. I couldn’t remember exactly when it started, and I didn’t want to go into such graphic detail about competitive consumerism (which I am not a fan of). I decided to tell him that instead of celebrating that day, we’ll take a day out of my childhood and celebrate the way that we celebrated the day after Thanksgiving.

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When I was little we spent a few Thanksgivings in Kansas City. My (father’s side)Grandparents lived there, we would have a big dinner, and go and see the Plaza lights. The day after Thanksgiving we would have another delicious meal with my (mother’s side) Grandparents, spend time with cousins, go to my Great-Grandmother’s house for Coconut Cream Pie, and start the Christmas decorating around our house. It was always a fun day, and I miss those stress free sweet days.

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I’m bringing it back! As a parent of three young children I want to teach them what is really important, and spending time with family is the most important gift we have. Thade asked why I wouldn’t go shopping, and I told him I just couldn’t, I just don’t feel the need too. I have this strange feeling of contentment, and Wal-Mart just doesn’t do it for me. Now, I assure you, there will be presents, but I won’t be shopping for them, it’s Dad’s job. I will be taking care of the handmade items and photo albums, and trying my best to keep the stress out of the holidays.

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And you know what… I didn’t miss out on anything at all,

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I had a beautiful,

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stress free, relaxing day.

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James put one some non-Christmas music, and I had a blast decorating the tree.

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I didn’t spend a single penny, and I had a fantastic day. I actually enjoyed decorating for Christmas (which I never do), and the house looks really pretty too. I even put a tree up in all of our bedrooms.

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Agnes loves the simple white tree in her room. She kept saying “how pretty”. She was the most excited to see the Christmas lights go up.

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We even have a little Kansas themed tree in our room. My mom made it for me a few years ago. It is really cute, and has the prettiest lights at night.

The tree I am most proud of is the tree in the boys room. They had such a great time decorating it all by themselves. We hung several wreaths in their room too, and added in a small Santa to finish off the decorating.

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Their tree is full of handmade ornaments. They picked up everyone, and told the story of when the ornament was made, and placed it carefully on their little tree.

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Those sweet little moments are what’s it all about.

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What a great kick-off to a happy holiday season.

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Thanksgiving Day!

November 24th, 2011

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! After four days of getting the meal and the house together, I am ready to get going. I woke up extra early this morning at 5:00 a.m. to get started on the baking.

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It was great too. I got an hour and a half of kitchen time before the kiddos were up for the day.

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It was really fun starting off the day with a bunch of baking too.

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Today’s To Do List is pretty simple, I’ll be putting the finishing touches on all of the dishes and enjoying some time with the family too. I can’t wait, Thanksgiving is the best!

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Wishing everyone the very best this Thanksgiving. Happy Thanksgiving to all!

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Turkey Time!

November 21st, 2011

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Thanksgiving has to be one of my favorite holidays (right next to Halloween)! I love to cook, and cook extra big for the holiday. I also like to stay home, so I love to treat my out-of-town guests to an extra tasty meal.

Getting it all together can be a bit tricky. There is a lot of planning involved. I start back in Spring making a Turkey a month. I know it sounds silly, but there is a method to my madness. I only have the one oven, and lots of dishes to prepare. Starting earlier in the year helps me get my timing down, and we can eat for a week on those turkey leftovers. I also test out any new recipes way in advance. I’ll bake a few extra pumpkin pies during the Summer and Autumn months too, trust me, you do not want to have a pumpkin pie failure on Thanksgiving.

I luck out though, James loves Thanksgiving, so he doesn’t mind having a mock-Thanksgiving dinner a few times a year. The turkey freezes well too, and you can make a crazy amount of Turkey stock to use for other dishes.

This week the kids are out of school, so I am getting as much as I can done in advance. I only have this morning to myself, so I am starting the most time consuming dish Fresh Croissants. I’ll start thawing the turkey tomorrow, and finish any shopping too.

I’ll do a quick clean of the downstairs living areas and bathroom too before any guests arrive. I’ll also prep any dishes that I can the day before. I’m excited though, I can’t wait to get started!

So what is your favorite part of Thanksgiving?

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Halloween Parades and Parties

October 31st, 2011

This year the boys Halloween Parties and Parades were scheduled at the exact same time. I was really bummed that I wouldn’t be able to make it to both. This is Dylan’s last year at his preschool, and Thade’s last year at his Attendance Center, so I was one grumpy momma. James and I decided for one parent to go to one, and the other parent go to the other. He got to go to Dylan’s and I went to Thade’s.

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