Thanksgiving Prep

The ShaggaBear household is getting ready for Thanksgiving. I may even get out my Thanksgiving decorations - all two of them - and set them out for the big day.

Abby came home from school yesterday wearing this:

sorry about the quality of this one... it was taken on my phone

How cute is that?? The boys had on black paper hats with the buckle in front. And they were singing (to the tune of "Frere Jacques"):

I am thankful
I am thankful
Yes I am
Yes I am
Thank you for my Mommy
Thank you for my Daddy
And my food
And my food

It's good to know their priorities are right! Food was mentioned twice!

Speaking of food, as most of you know, we have a large extended family (two sisters with lots of children and my parents) living within walking distance. Most holidays are spent at one of our four houses with people spilling out all over the place.

This year, my two sisters decided to go visit families in another state. So it's just us and my parents for Thanksgiving. And I decided I would give my mom a break and do all the cooking myself. Well, maybe I'll talk her into doing the gravy because I am terrible at making gravy.

I've been married almost 13 years, and I think this is the first time I'll be making a turkey by myself. Amazing!

I'm excited to try out some new recipes. I found most of them in a Good Housekeeping magazine I picked up on our trip out west. They sound pretty easy... we'll see how that goes. And, of course, I've been reading the Pioneer Woman and found some recipes on her cooking site.

So far, I've got my turkey brining in the frig. And the cranberry and apple sauce is done and also chilling in the frig. Later this afternoon, Abby and I will be donning our aprons and baking up some pies. Yummy!

Hopefully we won't run out of room in our frig. Guess we could just use the one down the street that won't be seeing any activity for the next four days. Hmmmm.