Preparation Days

Some shots from Tuesday:  1. Bronwyn, tearing up a Lands' End catalog (doing her part to fight commercialism)

 2. I didn't mention that another part of my Thanksgiving plan was to have pretty simple meals and have the kids prepare them in the days before the holiday.  Here is Will, working on Sausage Kale Soup with the last of the kale from our garden.  (It was delicious!)

 3.  Cranberry Sauce happened.  (Just fresh cranberries, water and sugar.  Well, I substituted some of the sugar with maple syrup and added a pinch of salt.)

 4.  Candied Sweet Potatoes happened. (Just chunks of peeled sweet potatoes cooked in butter, brown sugar and water)

5. In the evening the three eldest boys went with their dad to their First Lego League Team Meeting.  At home, the rest of us enjoyed a cozy fire in the basement.  Calvin was inspired by our new electric pencil sharpener to sharpen every pencil and colored pencil he could find.

 6. The girls danced to Johnny Cash (Big River) while Elijah and Bronwyn played with plastic animal figurines.

 7. We ended the day with Netflix streaming of Charlie Brown: The Mayflower Voyagers.

 Some shots from Wednesday:  The four youngest of the family.

We got snow!  The kids spent most of the afternoon outside in it after their morning chores and schoolwork were done.  

Yes, pies happened yesterday.  I didn't take any photos.  I have 4 (!) pies in my kitchen today.  This is very RARE.  I ended up with two apple and two pumpkin, but we skipped the pecan.  The turkey is still sitting in it's brine.  It's time for me to get going and cook it!  I'll be back after the festivities are over.  Have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!