Thanksgiving Chickens Adventure
After getting to the 400-mile place, Uncle Kenny and Aunt Lizzy's house, we begged and begged. Finally he let us go see his CHICKENS! When we go thtere, all 15 chickens were asleep. When we went back, mom said it was time for bed. We couldn't sleep so we got lucky...mom let us stay up for a couple more minutes!

The next morning, we got dressed. Uncle Kenny said that we could go out, feed the chickens and see if there are any eggs. They layed three eggs and I got to feed the chickens two times! Uncle Kenny told us we could feed the chickens scraps later on, when the rain cleared. I was having a great day!

I also got to make a turkey. I also payed the piano. I also made a craft. I also made a friend named Miss Pretty Pretty (a brown araucana).

The End.

I can tell you for sure that there were a few more visits out to see/feed the chickens (those chickens had their very own thanksgiving meal scrap plate), and much more talk about how they were doing.

Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

if rowan is this excited about thanksgiving, i can't wait to see his anticipation of christmas. we are busy and bustling around today...the kitchen hasn't had a moment of peace.  we have some baby backs in the smoker for dinner tonight to go along with a mexican lasagna, steak fries and steamed broccoli.

thanksgiving checklist:
 - turkey has been picked up and chilling in the fridge
 - two pumpkin pies baked and cooling, one apple pie cooking
 - stuffing assembled in the garbage bag
 - beer and wine chilling in the fridge
 - one visiting family here, one on the way
 - presents made and wrapped

and looky at what i get to snuggle with anytime i want (and give back to the proud mama and papa when she starts to fuss)...this is baby astrid millay, 3 1/2 weeks old.

every night, we are asked the same question by rowan: "how many sleeps until ramona gets here, and then how many sleeps until sadie and gabe get here?"

today, ramona and astrid and their parents (my brother andrew and his wife, laura) arrived safely here in our little neck of the woods. we enjoyed a big dinner at mom and dad's house across the street while sawyer found his wrestling match in ramona. the girl can body-slam like hulk hogan. they wrestled and played, giggled and ran around. tomorrow, the rest of the cousins arrive. sadie and gabe have a little baby brother, charlie...but last time rowan and sawyer saw him he was merely a baby blob. they probably won't remember him until he's old enough to wrestle either.

as i type, our three boys are snuggled up sleeping soundly ready for the big day before thanksgiving: when everyone is here, we get our turkey, and the house fills with smells of apple and pumpkin pies.

this evening, my mom and i shopped for all the ingredients for our thanksgiving meal (except for the turkey...we pick up the bird tomorrow or wednesday).

earlier in the day, i watched a segment on some news program about how to cut back the calories in your thanksgiving meal...something that i'm not too concerned about with the thanksgiving meal since it's only once a year that we get to eat it.  any way, from this segment i learned that the typical caloric intake in one thanksgiving meal is around 2100 calories. per plate. including dessert. then they gave some pointers on how to cut the calories. for instance:

• eat only white meat. if you insist on eating dark meat, don't eat the skin (i can't stand dark meat)
• give yourself only 1-2 tablespoons of gravy on your potatoes (i normally skip the gravy, but i'm going to try it this year, since it'll be made from a fresh bird)

there were others, but i got distracted and was gloating in my ability to only eat a 1400 calorie thanksgiving-day plate already instead of a 2100 calorie plate.

now, i'm off to make some butter and shortening crusts for the pumpkin and apple pies. and i'll leave you with the simplest recipe ever for something our family calls, "stained glass window cookies" (although it's a candy, and not a cookie!), my brother andrew's favorite (so it's always included in holiday get-togethers). The original recipe calls for sprinkles of coconut on top, but we're not coconut fans.

Stained Glass Window Cookies
1 12 oz. bag semi sweet chocolate chips
1 bag of colored marshmallows
1 stick of butter

Melt butter and chocolate chips together over low heat (or double boiler) until melted and blended. Remove from heat and let stand five minutes. Add entire bag of marshmallows and stir until completely covered.

Pour everything onto a large sheet of waxed paper. Using sides of the waxed paper, shape into a log. Tape waxed paper over top to hold shape and refrigerate until hardened (several hours).

blogging on a daily basis has become such a lesson in priorities. there are some days when i can get a post off by 10:00 a.m., and here i am on a sunday night at 9:14 and it's one of the first times i've been at the computer today. weekends have become busy around here!

i recently acquired my library copy of Bend the Rules Sewing. and i'm sorry to report that the library is not getting it back. unless i decide to just drop the $15 and buy it for myself. but $15 can get a lot of fabric, you know. and library books are free (until it's overdue, i know!).

speaking of fabric...i'm completely addicted to online tutorials. i want to make everything i find directions for...but i'm finding the practicality of my favorite tutorials to be null. like these adorable elf shoes....but who could wear them? however, i'm loving the soft-soled shoes and apron tutorials i'm finding!

this blog is doing a series on celebrating advent...my favorite time of year! looking at the advent wreath pictrues and reading about advent gets me so excited. kenny's favorite parts of advent are the hymns we get to sing. hymns that give you goosebumps and shivers...kind of like those gems we get to sing in easter.

and geez...how 'bout them steelers this week? i should offer my good friend mike tomlin some good heart-felt support after today's game.

i love the kinds of saturday mornings we had today. all three boys were happy to do whatever they wanted for OVER AN HOUR! kenny worked on the computer while i sewed away. i made major progress on the gifts and i'm SO EXCITED to give them away! the boys ran around, played together, danced together and made a huge mess. have i mentioned how much the daily housework is suffering just so i can support my sewing habit?

today, i leave you with rowan's latest potty line:

as he sat on a public restroom toilet the other day, i asked him if he was done and he paused before he answered and then said, "hmmm...i think i need a book."

to which i naturally replied, "a what?"

and he answered in a little pretentious, annoyed voice, "you don't know what a book is? you know, like when you're on the potty!"

i guess boys can learn pretty early.

sawyer is very attached to his beanie baby ghost that he received as a gift from a babysitter (hi, juli!) just last month. rowan has a beanie baby bat and the two of them act out many stories (a lot of the same ones over and over) with these two friends as the main characters.

yesterday, sawyer decided to tell an audience of me and a few other stuffed animals the story of "jesus and the ghost." this is pretty much word-for-word and in parentheses are my clarifications.

you can tell me what elements of the christian faith and what bible stories he's mashed all into this 25-second story:

Jesus and the Ghost
One day, Jesus went to his house [later i had to clarify whether or not "his" was referring to the ghost or to Jesus' house. it was Jesus' house he was talking about].

The ghost ate him up [apparently, the ghost was waiting for him in his house - this is why i had to clarify what house jesus was going into - the ghost had snuck in and waited for Jesus to come home].

Then Jesus tickled him in his belly [while in the ghost's belly, Jesus tickled him from the inside].

Jesus lived inside the ghost's second ponytail forever [it took me a long time to clarify, and you'll have to refer to the picture of sawyer holding his little ghost (yes, that's dirt or jelly or something on the ghost. i tell you - he plays with it constantly! it's like a security blanket!) below. the point on the top of the ghost's head is his ponytail, and naturally, the point at the bottom of the ghost - or is "tail" - is his second ponytail].

i have such a love-hate relationship with flu shots. the boys haven't consistently had one until this year. they all got their first in september...they all get a booster today (rowan has been counting down the days until his booster shot: "mommy, how many more sleeps until our second flu shot?" he hates them so much).

a few days after their flu shot in september, rowan and adam had the worst virus - high fevers, lethargy, snot/coughs. rowan's turned into his mild case of pneumonia. i'm crossing my fingers they don't pick up even the slightest low-grade fever from these "dead" vaccines. i don't know enough to knock them too hard. i just don't like getting shots for my boys.

isn't there a cherry-flavored pill they can get instead of shots for vaccines? it would make life so much easier on parents (and the nurses who give the shots!).

after reading my post a few days ago, kenny informed me that he's heard the two boys refer to him as "the big guy." so, we are liz and kenny: "big mama" and "the big guy." just to clear up any confusion.

i keep seeing countdowns-to-christmas on blogs everywhere (especially the handmade gifts and crafting blogs) and this morning i think we're down to 41 days. the majority of our gifts this year are handmade - the ones going to the littles, at least, and the majority of the little ones will be coming to our house in t-minus 7 days. which means i have that many days to figure out the menus for the days people are here, figure out the thanksgiving day menu, shop for all these menus, and...finish all the gifts we're making!

i hate to be so vague, and i'll be more specific with pictures eventually...but the parents of these kids read my blog, and i'd still like the gifts to be a surprise. but let's just say...we're running a bit behind. :)

last night, we lugged the other sewing machine up from the basement since my beloved sewing machine has been working overtime lately, and the newer (1970s) machine has some bells and whistles that my lovely green one doesn't have. like extra presser feet for specialty sewing. and wow! a much sharper sewing needle! i read recently that you should change your machine needle after every project. i can't even tell you how long my needle has been in my green machine. and what a difference it makes! it's like butter sewing through three layers of material with the sharp needle!

the boys even helped me with one of the gifts during adam's nap time yesterday. they're in love with this particular gift and ask to "play" with "it" after every new thing i add to it. i'm beginning to think this is their subtle way of asking for one of their own for christmas.

but, oh! i have a great idea for them. and i'll have all of advent to slowly and patiently (isn't that what Advent is about? waiting and patience?) work on their gifts. but i'll be able to blog about those gifts since they don't read my blog! :)

rowan has been saying the sweetest things to both kenny and i lately. we know how much he loves us because he tells us so several times a day.

a few months ago, when kenny was building our deck, the boys used to tell him that he was a great deck builder. they also told him they he was a great chicken coop builder. one day, rowan asked me if daddy built our house. he thinks very highly of his father's talents.

the other morning, rowan looked at me over his bowl of cereal and said, "mommy, even though you don't build decks, you're still the best!"

where does he come up with these one-liners?

we've got ourselves some new neighbors in these neck of the woods. today, two large moving vans and four movers walked furniture and boxes into the newly built, freshly painted home across the street. fortunately, we know that these neighbors will not be raising a loud ruckous on a nightly basis. these new neighbors are my parents.

a few hours ago, as we were putting the boys through their nightly bedtime ritual, my dad called and wanted to know how much we could see from our house into theirs. they have no curtains yet. i looked out our window and told him i could see him standing in their living room window. the house is still fairly far away, and there are several rows of trees that separate us, but since all the leaves are down, the trees don't cover much.  so he and i played the "can you see me now?" game as he darted from room to room. i advised that they get at least sheers up sometime if they want to use their bedroom as a dressing room eventually.

pictures to come, but we're a soggy, muddy mess here in these parts. and they've got boxes and stuff all over. but the house is lovely...furniture that filled a room in their old house looks so tiny in their new house. i think my mom is here to stay...leaving my dad to commute back and forth to work and stay in their semi-empty house down in the big city. and i think they'll be moving up here fulltime sooner than they had originally planned.

but don't tell them i said that. ;)