Turkey Dinner

Carving the bird
Enjoying the relish tray

The little ones couldn't wait to get started.
Digging in
A toast - notice my boy who prefers milk to anything sparkly.
Horrible shot, but it is me and my honey.
The whole famdamly.

Easy Recipes

I made my yummy dinner rolls, but had success making 2 new easy recipes that I thought I would share.

Baked Yams and Potatoes

Chop even amounts of 1 inch square (bite size) chunks of yams and potatoes. Drizzle olive oil and 1 package of onion soup mix over top in ziplock bag. Shake till evenly seasoned.
Bake at 350* for 1 hour. YUM YUM!


EASY LIGHT Lemon Pie
1 small can of frozen lemonaide
1 can of condensed milk
1 8 oz of cool whip
2 graham cracker crusts

Mix first 3 ingredients and add to crusts. Easy, yummy and light! (I actually put the second pie in the freezer to help it set up more, but it always tasted great!)

Enjoy!

Turkey Bowl

After covering some of the turkey in a bacon bikini because of some over feather plucking the night before (serious chunks of skin were missing and I didn't want a dry bird), we put the turkey in the oven Thursday morning. The older boys had already left to go play in the church Turkey Bowl.

We left a little later to watch the boys play.
Doesn't she look excited to be at a park on the beautiful Thanksgiving morning? The weather was great and the rest of us were happy to be there.
Agent J had been playing for 2 hours when we got to the park.
This is my favorite part of watching him play. He kept trying to go after the QB. This particular QB is also the star player for the high school team near our home. My boy still never gave up and kept on trying.
RHM even found a kid game to play in. This was his first exposure to playing football. He scored a TD. I think he is hooked.
Sweetie loved her Dad more than me on Thanksgiving morning. They sure are cute!
My man - posing.

Playing around before we headed home.

Football and Thanksgiving go hand in hand.

Turkey Butcher - Wednesday night ***warning to those readers with a weak stomach

This Thanksgiving we bought a turkey from my friend Susan. I guess we will let Sweetie pick the bird this year.
Susan and her family raises turkeys and sells them this time of year. Now let's get down to business.
Notice Grandma protected Sweetie from actually chopping of the turkey's head. THANKS GRANDMA!
RHM was too busy playing the night away to participate in the butcher.
Agent J loved to help with the butcher. At the end of the night, my 12 yr old even butchered a turkey. Brave boy.
My honey, getting ready to pluck the the feathers out.Agent J even helped. Look at my meat butchering men. (This may sound gross, but I was so proud that my man and my oldest were doing this my our family. I felt like we were actually earning the right to eat the turkey on Thanksgiving. )
Trav is getting ready to take out all of the guts.

Our friend B with her boyfriend. She is holding a heart. Brave girl. I hope she doesn't break any hearts this Thanksgiving! (I couldn't resist.)
Trav cutting out the oil gland.
While Travis butchered, Mom and I ate dinner, watching the kids and waited patiently.
Time to weigh the bird.
Time to wrap the bird.
21.25 pounds
Sweetie made a new friend.
We bumped into other friends.
RHM played and played.

Princess stayed with her friends, but missed playing with the turkeys. She normally helps out more, but the friend in the red was rather grossed out.
Ah! My boy with the hatchet.
WARNING - graphic pictures ahead.
He is my brave boy who kills only for meat and not for sport.

My kids don't waste their turkey dinner after going through the turkey butcher. We definitely appreciate where our food comes from. We are thankful to Susan and Mike for raising the turkeys. I am thankful for Travis, my man, who killed and butchered our turkey this Thanksgiving. We are all thankful for the memories this tradition creates.

The day the Chipmunks died

Tuesday before Thanksgiving our beloved Theodore died. Alvin and Simon are missing him. Princess handled the loss of her first fish with great strength. The funeral was short as Princess did it all on her own. She is hoping Theodore made it to the ocean, like in Finding Nemo "all drains lead to the ocean". Travis, my brainy engineer, came home and told her all about sewing treatment plants and I think she is regretting her choice of disposal. Poor Princess.

Now, Alvin and Simon have decided to move on and change their names. I was hoping for Brooks and Dunn, but we are stuck with Elmo and Zoe from Sesame Street. I didn't know they were a singing group?

Turkey Trot 2009 - Friday

Turkey Trot day 2
Parade started for the 5-8th graders

Sweetie has a good story behind her being in this outfit/uniform,
but she picked out these flip flops and loves her mismatched shoes.
The outfit has a story and shoes - are a choice.

On with the parade...
My 5th grader is the 5th one from the left wearing suspenders to look like a "freaky geek" like the sign says.
I never did get a picture of her running, but Princess had fun even though she didn't place in the top 3.
My 6th grader had 2 banners for his class.

There is Agent J
acting like a baboon.

Turkey Trot is a fun day! Traditions give us something to look forward to. I love this school tradition.