Autumn Activities

Wow! I can't believe it's been so long since my last blog. I'm still around. I've been working on the keeping connected front and planning to have some kind of get together or outing at least twice a month. I think of late it has been more often than that. I'll do a post later to catch up on Summer happenings (there were many), and here I'll just focus on more recent events.

Before Autumn even began I set a few plans in place of things the boys would enjoy. The list included visiting a pumpkin patch, taking a trip to Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo, hosting a Halloween party, hosting Thanksgiving dinner and putting up Christmas lights outside the house. I am happy to report that we have actually done the first part of the list and have the other two in our sights. I am also working on the Christmas Countdown and Cruising Through the Holidays.

Thankfulness

Besides the fact that I was a bit on the run down side yesterday, and that I was fizzling out at 7 p.m., our family's Thanksgiving was great.

I think the highlight of my morning, and maybe my week, was when my youngest son Daniel, while we were dancing to one of the songs on a Christmas video the boys were watching this morning, stopped and said, "Do you know what I'm thankful for? ...For you Mommy!" I told him I was thankful for him as well, and gave him a big hug as we continued our dance. He is a very cuddly loving boy, and I am so blessed to have him reminding me every day that I am loved.

Another highlight was Wednesday evening. The boys helped to prepare pumpkin pies for the Thanksgiving dinner. Each of them worked on each step, and as we doubled the recipe, each one completed a pie in the end. Raymond set the timer and they both waited for the first high heat to complete and then helped with peeling eggs, opening olive cans and loading the dishwasher while they waited for the pies to finish baking. They were so proud as they announced to all who came for dinner that hey had made the pumpkin pies.

My grandma came for dinner along with my mom. The first moments with Grandma were a bit rough as she didn't know where she was although she has shared many Thanksgiving dinners with us here. She didn't recognize my family until we sat down and spent some time talking about time we had spent together in the past. She asked if Raymond used to be called Ray Ray. Once she got into the moment she seemed to really enjoy the visit. I got a couple of great pictures of her, this one with my youngest son Daniel.

It was too warm in the house with the roaster, oven and stove top going to enjoy a fire all day, so I waited until the they were off right before dinner, I had already opened the window in the kitchen and we had a nice fire in the fireplace during dinner. My nephew Alex also came for dinner. He is also a regular for holiday celebrations. Joe did his usual after dinner entertainment and had Mom laughing so hard she was crying. I almost cried laughing at my mom laughing. It was great.

The evening was here before we knew it and it was time for guests to get home before it got dark. As I said before I was worn out very early. We spent the evening after guests left watching the traditional cartoon favorites and I did my traditional napping on the couch as they watched.

Only 40 Days

Daniel is already counting as he has learned to use the calendar and is counting the days until Christmas and his birthday (more than 3 months away).

I have finished my November/December budget that includes my Christmas budget too. I have started gift lists and have a few gifts already in hand and Thanksgiving meal planning and shopping has started.

Today I am focusing on the kitchen, getting the freezers stocked for the holidays and meals planned for the next seven weeks. Yes, I am planning out meals to make it through my Christmas Break which ends on the second day of 2009. I have stocked up on some items, and I don't have any freezer room left to play. I have 15 pounds of ground beef, six pounds of chicken breasts, 15 pounds of cookie dough, three pies, frozen burritos, a lasagna, about eight frozen individual meals for Daniel's lunches or to-go lunches, and fruits and vegetables.

Daniel has also let me know that we are just twelve days out from Thanksgiving, so the back refrigerator is getting cleaned out to hold the perishable ingredients as they wait to be prepared, traditional recipe dishes as they are assembled and the leftovers afterward. I am really hoping to do it on a much simpler scale, as the kids seem to enjoy their favorites without anything new added to the traditional menu, or much creative flair.