Thanksgiving 2009

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had this year. All the kids (Nissa & Todd, Andie & Michael, Jake), all 5 grandmonsters (Katelyn, Paul, Aubrey, Hayden & Bailey) and Papa joined Claude and me for a wonderful and very full weekend. Everyone arrived by Wednesday evening, November 25th. Claude smoked a brisket during the day so everyone could have a really, really, really good sandwich for dinner. Bedrooms were assigned via eMail so everyone knew where to head when bedtime came. Our home felt full and warm with all the family tucked carefully in all the rooms. Thursday, Thanksgiving Day, started with Andie's Oatmeal Bake recipe for breakfast. We made 3 kinds - Banana Walnut, Blueberry and Cinnamon & Sugar. While breakfast was being prepared Claude, with Katelyn as his trusty assistant, got the turkey in the smoker. It would cook all day long.

We had time to visit with each other in a face-to-face format. I am truly grateful for eMail's and cell phones and Blogs and Facebook updates. But the very best is still a face-to-face visit. The picture below is Andie & Michael on the left and Todd & Nissa on the right at the breakfast table.

Grandmonsters played. Andie brought Hayden's Puzzibits and they occupied a lot of the morning for little hands as well as those pesky adults. Michael made Hayden's name and it graced the dining room all weekend. There were wooden Christmas ornaments to color with markers. We'll put a picture of each child in the ornament they colored and date it for their family Christmas tree this year.

Paul showed Papa what he had learned on his guitar since they last saw each other. Papa keeps a guitar at my home. This gives Paul a guitar to play without having to carry one back and forth from Michigan. Paul has really learned a lot of new runs and chords on the guitar. After working with Papa for a while Paul just walked around the house playing the guitar. It gave us the feel of being in a Mexican restaurant and having someone playing while they walked around.

Hayden did his T-Rex imitation. Please note that he has 2 fingers pointed on each of his arms he pulls up to be like T-Rex's little short arms. He is also walking on his toes. When he is Alisaurus (this could be spelled incorrectly) he has 3 fingers pointed while he walks on his toes. Both dinosaur imitations are accompanied by LOUD roaring noises.

The adults played dominoes and watched ball games. They tried to catch a nap only to find they made a perfect gargage and highway for toy cars.

After Papa arrived we had all the male members of our family take a seat in the living room. Each was given red sweat pants. The picture is of Jake receiving his red sweat pants. We called them their Thanksgiving Pants or Turkey Pants. In giving them, a reference was made to having something stretchy to wear to be comfortable on Thanksgiving day.

The history of the red sweat pants goes back early in our marriage. Claude bought a pair of red sweat pants. He wore them and wore them and wore them. When they would wear out he would buy another pair. He currently has 2 pair (one of which has GWRRA down the leg in white lettering). When the kids were younger, our family all sang in the choir at Church. Choir practice was in the evening. This meant we would go home, have dinner and naps if we could. Then we would head back to the Church in the evening to practice with the choir. Claude would have gotten into comfortable clothes (i.e. red sweat pants) while we were at home. The fear of his kids was he would not change before going to choir practice. They would be utterly mortified as he would walk into the Church in those red sweat pants, white socks and his dark shoes. We have made fun of him on many occasions because of his wearing red sweat pants all the time. So this Thanksgiving we thought it high time all the male members of our family started their own red sweat pant traditions by us providing them with the first pair. (Nissa just called to say they were back in Muskegon. She said the first thing Todd did when they got home was put on his red sweat pants and with a happy sigh say, "I have stretchy pants!") Bailey wanted to go outside. She is really and outdoors child. Paul was more than willing to accompany her. It is just great to live in a place safe enough to let them go out and roam and play without having to hover. Paul has tons of energy and carried Miss Bailey piggy back for a lot of their running up and down the hill. They checked out all the areas of the back yard with Bailey running to see how things were in different areas on the hill. Paul was right behind her to be sure she was okay. It was just precious to watch these little cousins enjoy each other. When they finished with the back yard, I watched Paul get down on all fours and Bailey climb up on his back, put her little arms around his neck and up Paul went on his hands and feet and ran up that hill like that. What a pair. Then I asked Paul if he thought there was enough air to fly a kite. He hurried into the toy room and found his kite and out to the empty lot he flew to try and get that kite into the air. Bailey was running along trying to jump up and catch the kite. Paul did get it to fly. Later, after they were inside, the wind came up like we might get a storm. I asked Paul if he brought his kite inside so it wouldn't get ruined or blown away with a storm. He hedged on a reply. I asked him if anything was the matter. I assured him it wouldn't be a problem for me. Then he managed to confess that while flying the kite it blew into one of the sycamore trees. He showed me out the breakfast room window and there, way up at the top and definitely out of reach, was Paul's kite.

For lunch we polished off the brisket and I made tuna salad for sandwiches to be sure there was enough sandwich fixin's. We had Thanksgiving dinner then about 5pm. In my Countryside Homemakers group, my neighbor, JoCarol Wilson, taught us how to make placemats out of old greeting cards. They were going to make them out of Christmas cards but I wanted to make a placemat for each of my grandmonsters. When we set the breakfast table for the 5 kidlings, we put their placemats out. Each was full of pictures of the grandchild. They ate on them all weekend long.

Then it was time for the blessing and to have a very filling meal. Someone took this cute picture of Hayden during the blessing. It may not be a reverent thing to do but what a treasure of a picture!!! He was so proud of how you are to put your little hands together. He said at St. John's pre-school some of the kids put their hands under the table and some put their hands on top of the table when they say prayers. But they all put their little hands together like this.

Then we did our best to make the wearing of the red stretchy sweat pants a good thing. Katelyn made the green bean casserole. We had Pecan Pie and Pumpkin Roll for dessert. We also had spiral cut ham. The left over turkey and ham would make great sandwiches for the next couple of days. After dinner we made sure we got Papa's hair cut. Hayden loves to help with this. This time he seemed to really notice that Papa has a bald head. He just kept patting the top of Papa's head. When Junie, Neffie and I were little girls, Papa loved for us to comb his hair. He had hair back then. In those days there were no car seat or seat belt rules. I remember on family vacations or road trips we would sometimes stand in the back seat and comb Papa's hair while he drove. There is also that funny story of when Mimi and Papa were first married. One day Mimi was combing Papa's hair and she put pin curls in it. He was dozing as she combed his hair and didn't realize what she did. They had someone come to the door, I believe it was the missionaries, for a visit. Papa woke up and answered the door not realizing he had a head full of pin curls. I think Papa was enjoying Hayden's little hand on top of his head just like in those days when his girls were little and would comb his hair for him.

Aubrey was wearing a little necklace she had crocheted out of black yarn. She must have talked with Papa about it. Next thing I knew they were in the basement. Aubrey knows I keep my crochet hooks and knitting needles in the footstool in my family room in the basement. She had Papa down there so she could find a crochet hook. Then we asked Papa his favorite colors. He said blue and pink. Okay, the blue didn't surprise me but the pink sure did. I took Aubrey back to my little storage dresser with the yarn and we picked out a nice varigated yarn with pinks and blues in it. Then Aubrey and Papa sat on the sofa in the family room and Aubrey made Papa a bracelet. Somewhere in all her talking she managed to get him to decided to take her for ice cream at Dairy Queen.

Aunt Nissa got to read stories to Miss Bailey.

Friday, November 27th started way early for a few of our group. Andie, Michael and Katelyn went into Georgetown at 4am for Black Friday sales. I came out and slept on the living room sofa when they left so I could hear the monitor and get to Hayden and Bailey if they woke up. They had some real success in their shopping. I have to say that if I were EVER to get up that early to go shopping I better come home with something in hand that I feel REALLY good about purchasing at a GREAT price. Andie and Michael are really good with the bargain hunting though. Michael had a system worked out for them getting through the checkout lanes and to the car and back to shop again. They used coupons in addition to the sales and really did well. I'm sure Miss Katelyn learned a lot about using your money to the best of its dollar value. We had cereal for breakfast. Then we enjoyed a leisurely morning getting showers and watching grandmonsters play and watching a few shows on TV. Then we all loaded up in 3 cars and headed to Georgetown to visit with Mimi. Papa was notified what time we aimed to arrive and he was at the nursing home waiting for us. This was a great opportunity to get some pictures with the kids and their families with Mimi and Papa. Mimi's face lit up when we all came strolling in across the room. She doesn't know any of us but she loves to have company. Claude didn't come in because he was full of cold and coughing. This is not a good thing to bring into a nursing home. Michael visited a few minutes and then had Claude drive him over to Kohl's to get a few more things he and Andie saw and later determined they needed. This is why Claude and Michael are not in this family picture. It was a really nice visit. Hayden and Bailey walked with me around the room to say hi to the other residents. Then we were off to Cici's Pizza for lunch and to play in the game room for a bit of an outing.

When we finished lunch, Nissa, Todd and Jake headed to Frankfort to Buffalo Trace Distillery. My Michigan family love the bourbon scented candles. The other two cars headed back to Sadieville in time for the mini-Marx's to have their quiet time.

While the Mini's rested I pulled out the gift bag craft for the ladies. Katelyn, Aubrey, and Paul were the first to learn how to make these cute little gift bags. When we had our Relief Society Presidency Retreat in October, Phyllis Beaman had this for a project for the ladies on Friday evening. I just loved making these little bags. On my way home from the Retreat I stopped at Michael's and bought a big tablet of paper and some brads and a couple of rolls of ribbon. A few weeks later while shopping at a Joann's Fabric I bought a 2 for 1 tablet of Christmas paper and a paper punch. When Nissa got home and Andie woke up we showed them how to make bags. We made bags all afternoon. It was great fun. Thank you Phyllis for this fun project! Michael also purchased a Monopoly Game and we enjoyed a round of Monopoly. Hayden and Bailey have invented a new game. We were introduced to this game in our living room. We brought all the bed pillows from upstairs and all the throw pillows from upstairs and put them on the living room floor. Then Bailey and Hayden busily arranged them into the circle full of pillows. This my friends is 'the lily pad'. Then you just run and jump around on top. Before I knew it Hayden was saying, "Watch what I can do Ma?" Then he climbed up on the sofa and pretty soon his tiny frame was flying through the air and landing in the middle of the pillows. What fun. When all the lily pad fun that could be had was done, we put all those pillows away.

Then we slowed the pace a bit and Uncle Jake watched dinosaur shows with Paul and Hayden. The Marx family has a series of BBC documentaries on the dinosaurs and throughout the weekend we all improved our knowledge of these magnificent creatures from eras gone by.

Paul and I ended the day with the mixing up of gingerbread batter. We had a goal in mind. It was to make a tree out of gingerbread cookies in the shape of stars. I bought the kit several years ago and have never made the little tree. Paul was ready to try it and eager for the sugar of the cookies and icing I am sure. The recipe on the instruction sheet inside said to make a double batch of the gingerbread recipe. May I just say that is a LOT of dough. And it really doesn't take a double batch. Paul did all the stirring of the batter and I did the kneading. We were both covered in flower and dough. The instructions also say not to grease the cookie sheets. That was a BIG mistake. As the cookies cooled they stuck right to that cookie sheet. We saved as many as we could and finally determined we would re-bake the broken ones the next day. This never happened. We just ran out of time. But it was great fun making that dough with my grandson. And Paul was really happy to take his cookies home with him to Michigan even if they never made it to tree shape.

Saturday was a stay at home, get laundry done before you have to return home kind of day. Grampa Claude started us off with bacon, eggs and Buffalo Trace pancakes. Yum. The guys watched ball, played dominoes or Monopoly, I'm not sure which because they were downstairs using the card table and I was upstairs. We got Paul's hair cut. We cut Aubrey and Katelyn's bangs. We gave Hayden a haircut. And the grandmonsters made Pitter Fudge. Thank you Bill and Tami once again for this fun recipe. I also bought the Left, Right, Center game and the kids and I played it a couple of times.

Lunch was tacos with hard or soft shells, Spanish rice, and 7 layer bean dip with tortillia chips. Thank you Rebecca Smith for the 7 layer bean dip recipe. Papa came out and had lunch with us. Then he took Katelyn, Paul and Aubrey in to Dairy Queen to make good on his deal with Aubrey. The mini-Marx's headed to their beds for quiet time.

Michael brought over his Corn Hole game that Andie gave him for his birthday. It is painted in Washington Redskin colors. In the evening we took the corn hole boards and bags out to the back yard just as it was starting to get dark. Michael gave us instructions and started us off with 2 teams and we had a little Corn Hole tournament in the back yard as night fell. It was great to be outside. If you've never played Corn Hole, it is similar to tossing bean bags except there is one hole and the bags are filled with corn. This is a big thing in Kentucky and I think it could become a tradition in our family. Thank you Michael for sharing your game with us. Todd and Michael were the ones who actually got the bag in that little hole. The rest of us could get it to land on the wooden frame. Claude brought home 2 cigarette stands that are to be placed on the streets in Sadieville. They needed to be painted in a fun way. We left both our cars out of the garage and he spray painted a base coat on these plastic cigarette stands. He moved the stands to the work room in the basement for the kids to paint once the base coat was dried. But we didn't get our cars back into the garage. Saturday evening Bailey figured out the garage was empty. She has never seen the garage with no cars in it. What a great place to play. The tractor was fair game to climb all over. She road her tricycle around and then ran in circles. It is amazing what a 2 year old can think of to do that is fun for them in an empty space. Andie brought up the scooter boards that Claude made for them. Bailey rode them and then gave WahWah a ride. Pretty soon Hayden figured out they were in the empty garage and he too found it a fun place to play. He showed us how he had been taught to play on the scooter board. Then Aubrey came out and showed Hayden how they taught them to use it at her school. Claude eventually even opened the door in the ceiling and lowered the stairs that go to the attic. Who ever knew what fun an empty garage could be.

This morning was departure morning. I made muffins and we had more cereal. Cars were packed up. Rooms were checked to see if anything was being left behind. Everyone was encouraged to take whatever food they could and would take with them. Then all going back to Michigan in Nissa's car gave and received hugs and kisses all around, loaded themselves into that full car and away they headed to Michigan.

I cut Andie's hair, Claude's hair, Bailey's bangs, trimmed Michael's hair and finished straightening out Hayden's hair. Whew!! I still have to cut Mimi's this week before we go on our trip. Hayden got a bath. Michael loaded the car. A little after noon the Marx mobile headed down the road to LaGrange. (This picture is Bailey putting hair clips in Claude's hair while I cut it.)

The house is quiet, things are back in order, the pictures are off the camera and I'm catching up on my computering. It has been a wonderful family weekend. How grateful I am for these moments in time. What a blessing to live close enough to be able to have these opportunities. How nice to have a family that loves each other, is patient with each others differences, and genuinely enjoys each others company. For my family I am forever grateful. I close this blog entry with a few pictures of snuggles this weekend.