My First Thanksgiving

I am joining my friend Paula in talking about Thanksgiving for the month of November.

My first time to host Thanksgiving was the year we moved into our house.  Elexis was seven months old and my extended family still celebrated Thanksgiving together.   We had only lived in our house for 8 months and was still trying to get everything unpacked (it was a little hard with being hugely pregnant, and then taking care of a newborn/infant).  I have a double oven perfect for baking and warming, and I have a 5 burner stove.  That is where my kitchen luxuries end.  I have a fairly small kitchen with only one real piece of counter space, and it's only about 4 foot long.  But we managed to fit about 35 people in my house.

I liked it, but at the time it was also fairly stressful.  I felt I was being pulled in about 20 different directions (which I probably was), and nursing a child at the same time.  My mom and dad smoked a turkey and of course everyone brought/made side dishes and desserts.  That is my favorite thing about Thanksgiving is seeing what everyone brought).  My contribution is always a pecan pie (recipe in another post).  I liked opening up my house to everyone and them all getting to see my it.  It was kind of like an open house Thanksgiving style.  One of these days, I hope to host again (maybe when I have grandchildren).

Hopefully my husband will have my hard drive up soon (it takes a while to recover all those pictures, but they are all slowly being recovered...yay!) and I can share pictures of that time.  Tomorrow I will share my recipe for my Pecan Pie.

Thanksgiving Tradition

Every year I watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  Some years I am able to watch it live, others I enjoy it DVRed.  My favorite characters are Snoopy (he's a classic), and of course Mickey.  I like hearing the marching bands and sometimes like to watch the singers lip sync.

One of these days I will make it to NYC to watch this in person.  There is such an energy surrounding it all.  My ideal would to be in a Hotel along the parade route so when I got cold (we know I am going to); I could go back up to my hotel room and watch it from the comfort of a heated room.

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I have joined Paula in blogging about Thanksgiving every day in November.  

November Challenge - Thanksgiving style

I am joining my very good friend Paula in talking about Thanksgiving this month (it's her favorite holiday).  I needed something to nudge me back into blogging every day!  Thanks Paula, it's just the push I needed.

I like Thanksgiving in theory and I love to cook, but to tell the truth; I haven't really celebrated Thanksgiving in a good while.  It's been at least 5 years since I have celebrated.  Before that it was just my immediate family and my parents.  My husband's mom goes out to eat, my real dad goes out to eat, my mom sometimes goes down to the lake and spends time with her sister.  For the past five years; my husband typically goes hunting (it's rifle season), my daughter usually goes with my mom, and I worked.  I worked at Starbucks and I always signed up for the double shift because the tips were just split between those who worked that day.  It brought in good money because people are very grateful you are open and tip very well.  It would be really busy in the morning (prior to everyone's food comas), but by noon it was dead and we had a chance to prepare for Black Friday.  After I quit SB; I worked as an infant hearing screener.  By then I was used to not celebrating, so I would volunteer to usually work two hospitals so people could spend time with their families that did celebrate Thanksgiving.

This may all sound really lonely, but I love spending the day with myself.  While I was in photography school; it was a great day to take pictures in the middle of roads because no one was out.    I am very thankful for the time I get to spend with myself.  It helps me recharge my batteries.

Over the course of this challenge, I will talk about when my family did have big celebrations, my typical childhood Thanksgivings, my favorite foods to both cook and eat, and lastly what I am thankful for.  Stick around because even I will be surprised at what I come up with...haha!

Yay - Halloween Week!

I have been baking and creating up a storm this week.  I love it!  My mom commissioned me to make something for her work.  Well that of course turned into a couple of things.  I also volunteered to make cupcakes (or a cake...my choice) for a cake walk.  Pinterest has so many great ideas.  Sometimes I follow a recipe exactly other times, I take their idea and put my spin on it.

Here are some pictures of the Halloween Puppy Chow I made.  Here is the original link.  This was my first time making puppy chow.  I will definitely make it again with different things.  My poor deprived sheltered daughter thought I really made dog food.  She had never had it or heard of it.  We quickly changed that!  She is a fan.

I really liked the texture of rice cereal (or did I use corn?...not sure now).  

Chocolate and peanut butter - I don't really like either one of them, but I know a lot of people who do.  

The two different kinds of mix.  Traditional powdered sugar and the brownie variation.

Finished product with candy corn and reese's pieces.  

And just because I love photographing candy...

If you are too lazy to visit the website (like I usually am); here is the recipe.

• 8 cups of square rice or corn cereal (I don't want to be sued for saying Chex)
• 1 1/2 cups of chocolate chips or melts (I used melts)
• 1/2 cup peanut butter
• 3/4 cup of powdered sugar (I did not measure this and I had a little excess I had to sift off)
• 3/4 cup brownie mix (luckily I made another recipe that called for brownie mix and I didn't use the whole bag so I had some left over)
• 2 large plastic bags (gallon sized worked for me)
• 2 1/2 cups of Reese's Pieces (I used one of those theatre boxes that cost a buck at Walmart)
• 2 1/2 cups of candy corn (again I didn't measure, just tossed half the bag in).

1.  Put your rice cereal in a bowl and get your bags ready.  Put powdered sugar in one and the brownie mix in the other.
2.  Microwave the melts (or chips) and peanut butter (I did 30 seconds on 50% power twice and mine were done)
3.  Pour the mixture over the cereal and gently fold until it's all coated.
4.  Divide the mixture between the two bags, seal and shake (good for frustration)
5.  Dump on a cookie sheet to cool (or put on plates like I did so I could take pictures of them)
6.  Mix the candy corn and Pieces in until it is all pretty and ready for it's closeup (or is that just me).

Optional step 7:  Take pictures of the left over candy corn for Facebook cover photo...ha!  Speaking of FB if you want to be my friend, email and I will give you the info.

This was really fun to make and I am going to make my 'second daughter' (Elexis' best friend) some for Halloween.

Life lately

Man last week was a blur.  This week is no better.  I feel the closer we get to the holidays, the quicker things go.

Right now my external hard drive that has all of my pictures on it; is dead.  Luckily my husband is an awesome IT guy and will hopefully restore it without having to send it off.  The stuff is still on the hard drive, I am just not able to access it.  Unfortunately, I will be waiting another week for him to get it restored because he is off in the woods being one with nature.

Yesterday my daughter performed in her first Sinfonia Orchestra concert.  She did awesome!  Next weekend is her Oklahoma Chamber Honor Orchestra concert.  I am really excited about that one.  She practiced all summer on her audition pieces to make that one.  Saturday, we went to Frontier City (which is OKC's version of Six Flags).  We had fun.  It sprinkled and rained on us pretty much the entire time.  Half the rides were closed, but we had free tickets so we might as well take advantage of them.  It was the last weekend they were going to be open.  After about four hours of walking around and getting wet, we decided to call it quits and go to the dollar movies and see Monster's University again.  Friday, I am glad that Elexis had the day off from school.  We had parent/student/teacher conference (will be a separate post).  Then, Elexis and I were off to find black pants for her concert Sunday, black boots for her costume, and lastly for her to get new glasses.  She hasn't had a new pair in two years so it was time.  What's funny is my kid is very tall and really mature.  People often mistake for an 18 or 19 year old (at least once or twice a week).  When she went to pick out her glasses, all the adult glasses were too big.  She wound up getting kid glasses which are perfect for her face.  Bonus for me; they are a whole lot cheaper.  That night we went to a fall festival at our friend's church.

This week is going to be busy too.  Today, Elexis has Chess Club after school.  I will pick her up from there and we are taking our friends to the airport, and then off to Sinfonia practice.  I will leave my house about 3 and not get back until about 8 tonight.  Phew...  Tomorrow, Elexis doesn't get out until 5 and then my mom's company is having a thing at a Pumpkin patch/Family Farm.  Parts of the place we are going was destroyed in the tornado.  They have been busy rebuilding all summer.  Side note: Our local drive in theater that was damaged, also opened up this weekend.  Yay!  We love the drive in.  Wednesday is church night.  Thursday is Halloween.  I am making cupcakes for our church's cake walk, and I am making a couple of things for my mom's office party.  Pictures will come with all that.  I also dress up as Minnie Mouse every year.  By the end of the night, my feet are usually killing me, but it's only for one day.  Friday my child will be rehearsing all day for The Honor Concert, and Saturday is the concert.  I am looking forward to a low key Sunday next weekend.

I still have a few blogs I need to catch up on.  And, I still have an award and a couple of tags post that I am working on.  I planned on getting to them on Friday, but with the great hard drive crash; I was more than a little preoccupied (crying hysterically curled into a ball...not really, but I did cry).

Sunday Stealing

1. as you get older, are you jazzed about your birthday?  I still get excited about my birthday!  Heck the more I have the longer I am living...

2. do people usually remember your birthday? With Facebook, it's hard to forget someone's birthday, but I have the luxury of having a birthday exactly two weeks after Christmas.  I also share a birthday with Elvis.

3. an ex-coworker used to begin 3 mos. before her birthday flat-out reminding us that it was coming up. it's amazing what no self-esteem does for you. anyway, do you know anyone who pre-announces their birthdays? Yes, and they will go as far as planning their own surprise party under their husband's name.

4. what was your best birthday? why? This past birthday where all the Musical Theatre kids sang to me was pretty awesome.  But I would have to go with #9.  Sleepover/skating party -- Awesome!!

5. what was your worst birthday? why?  Probably the one where my in-laws (brother and step-father in law) were so outright mean and nasty to me in my own house that I locked myself in the bathroom until everyone left.  Luckily my BIL is not that bad anymore and my SFIL has passed. 

6. name your best birthday gift.  #5 Smurf skates...enough said

7. name the best birthday gift you've gotten for someone else.  An opal ring for my baby sister.

8. as i age, i value SLEEP as a priceless commodity. i didn't get any for my birthday, however. what do you want this year for your birthday? A nice quiet low key birthday with no drama!  

A big bunch of randoms

I have some thoughts, not all of them could make a post on their own so I am just going to combine them.  I have a few award and tags that I am going to get up this week.  I am excited about doing them.

Bragging on my kid for a moment

I have an only child and she takes up a lot of my time so bear with me for celebrating her successes.  After the first nine weeks of school, her lowest grade is a 95.6.  I am one proud mama.  She is taking 4 pre-AP classes this year.  Her Algebra 1 class goes on her permanent high school transcript.  She is making a 98 in there.  So far so good as far as school goes.  She also found out yesterday that she is one of her teacher's favorite student.  That's always nice to hear.  We have student parent conferences on Friday.  I don't like them.  I want to talk to the teacher about my kid, not talk to my kid about what she has been doing.  We talk about that every day and I check her grades at least twice a week.  Sometimes I know her assignment grades before she does.  Her cello practices have been going good.  She has her first Sinfonia Orchestra concert on Sunday.  I am pretty excited for her.  We have to go find black pants for her though.  Her ones from last year are now capris because she grew all her inches in her legs.

A day of remembrance

Yesterday was the anniversary of my Father-in-law's passing.  He passed away 11 years ago.  We still talk about him a lot.  We know he would have loved being a grandfather to Elexis.  Before he passed away, he and Elexis would play marbles.  She was two.  She still vaguely remembers rolling the marbles under the couch.  Fortunately we got the marbles when he passed.  She also would stick the guitar pick in the hole of the guitar and grandpa would get fake mad at her and she would just laugh and laugh.  He could make my kid laugh harder than anyone I knew.  He was a great man.  One I was truly blessed to get the privilege of knowing.  He was a brick mason and a fantastic one at that.  When we were touring homes this weekend, my husband would judge every piece of brick work.  He would say "My dad would throw a screaming fit if one of his workers left joints like this" or "This would meet my dad's standards".  Our neighbor had my FIL brick him a mailbox.  I am so glad to get to look outside and see a part of my FIL everyday.  He passed away when he was 49 years old.  He died from skin cancer.  We are very diligent about wearing sunscreen and reapplying.  In 13 years, Elexis has only had one minor sunburn.  We are very good about screening our bodies for abnormal pigmentation or moles.  Unfortunately, my FIL's skin cancer grew on the inside.  One of his legs was 5 times bigger that the other one.  I made pants for him that would fit over the leg.  We really miss him a lot.

Dinner last night

I threw together something in the crockpot yesterday and it was a success.  I have no pictures of the meal but it was only three ingredients.  Pork chops, ranch dressing powder mix, and a can of cream of chicken.  Both of my extremely picky eaters loved it.  Usually I fix shake and bake pork chops because that is the only way the two of them can agree upon.  But, I took a chance and it was a success.  My husband said he liked it better than shake and bake.  Yay!  I am going to try more.  I am slowly trying to bring them out of their shells.

My last dentist appointment

Today I go get my final permanent crown.  It has been a long six weeks and I will not wait 2 1/2 years before going to the dentist again.  I will finally be able to eat crunchy stuff with my whole mouth again.  I am excited!  I do love our new dentist though.  I am sure he is loving us too...in fact we better be invited to the beach house I am sure he can build with as much money as we have paid... haha.

Here is a picture of my husband, his dad and Elexis.  This was before he lost all of his hair to chemo.  This picture sits on our mantle next to his urn.