Our Last Minute Feast

Growing up in Canada where Thanksgiving is in OCTOBER (the way it should be!!), I have always had a tough time with American Thanksgiving. I LOVE turkey, but it's just too close to Christmas for me to get excited about cooking a big meal. So every year I debate about what to do. This year Mike and I decided that we would take a quick trip to Vegas with the kiddos.

On Wednesday Mike left for work and I proceded to arrange hotel etc. for Vegas. After booking and cancelling at Circus Circus (because they didn't have any non smoking rooms left), I called Mike to figure out what to do. Well, I didn't quite get the help I needed. Instead I got a "oh, I was going to call you..."

Turns out he had a client in town from Australia without anything to do on Thanksgiving, so...my wonderful husband invited him over to our house for dinner. So now, not only was I NOT going to Vegas, but I had a Thanksgiving meal to throw together and there was NO WAY I was going to the grocery store the night before Thanksgiving. After much sulking and complaining I started planning. I had cooked a turkey breast in the crockpot for Tyson's preschool feast and there was A LOT left over, but who wants to serve left overs to an important client?! I DO!! Here's how it all turned out:

THE TURKEY: I called my mom for tips on reheating the turkey and she told me to wrap it up in tin foil with some gravy and throw it in the oven for about an hour--it was the most moist and delicious turkey EVERY!!

THE STUFFING: I managed to make the stuffing in the crockpot. I mixed a recipe I found online with my regular recipe and it turned out pretty well. I over cooked it a tiny bit, but once I took off the burnt bits it tasted pretty close to my normal "in the bird" stuffing.

THE EXTRAS: I made some veggies, mashed potatoes (10lbs bag=84 cents), freezer rolls, pickle tray, and sliced ham.

DESSERT: I had a pie crust in the fridge, so I made my very first apple pie! It turned out yummy too:)

I did have to go to the store Thanksgiving morning to get some vanilla ice cream and Martilnelli's.

We ended up having a nice visit and I was actually really grateful to have a yummy turkey dinner...even though it was unplanned and very last minute:)

I couldn't wait!

It's still a week before Thanksgiving, but I HAD to decorate for Christmas! I'm glad I did:) Let's see what Mike thinks when he gets back from San Diego...

Got $15?

Here's how my 8 year-old decided to spend $15 that she has been saving for months! Not exactly what I would imagine, but apparently everyone has them (I mean, I know everyone MY age has one, but in 3rd grade?). I guess I shouldn't be surprised...she has a "thermos" on her Christmas List! Also, is there a way to brush your child's hair through photoshop (hee, hee)?!

How did we EVER manage?

Last week I realized our home phone wasn't working. I called AT&T and surprisingly enough, they weren't too helpful. I could pay $55 for someone to come look at it or...figure it out myself. So after trying every phone jack in the house Mike suggested we try a different phone. What a brilliant idea:)

I went to Target in search of the cheapest phone I could find...perfect--a $7 phone. Did you know they still make phones that have cords?! Sure enough, the phone worked!

Now came the funny part...living with a corded phone! My kids looked at it like it was from the "olden days". Jordan picked it up to use it and said "how do you turn this on?", Tyson just left it laying on the floor thinking it was hung up, and Kya had no idea how to talk on the phone without walking all over the house. For me it's just impractical...when do I have time to sit in one place and do nothing but talk on the phone?! It makes me think back to the "olden days" and my LONG phone conversations (mostly from my youth).

A cordless phone is just one of the very small luxuries we have today, which makes me think "how did we ever manage?"

(Me on the phone at college--notice the red cord?)

My Beach Wall

I've been envisioning this project for a while and finally got it all put together. I did end up getting REALLY cheap frames (to save money) and spray painted them to match my dining room, but they turned out great! They are right above our table, so we can eat and enjoy scenes of our family at one of our very favorite places....the beach:)

Happy Birthday Grandma Cindy!

If you need a good cry....

...watch The Locator!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8G8zIIHQKqo