Buchanan Maine-ia: Thanksgiving 2013

The month leading up to Thanksgiving, we kept up our tradition of a Thanksgiving Tree; each day, we each took a moment to write, on a leaf, something we were thankful for. I wish I had taken a picture of the empty, bare tree at the beginning of the month, to compare with how it looked by Thanksgiving. Nonetheless, it was a lot of fun, and a great way to keep the true spirit of Thanksgiving in our hearts throughout the month!

This year, the children seemed especially interested in helping prepare Thanksgiving Dinner. We had a lot of fun working together on it!

We brined the turkey in the kitchen sink, and when Grins went into the kitchen that morning to wash his hands, he gasped, "Why is there a giant chicken in our kitchen sink?!" It was so funny! They were interested in watching The Mr. prepare the bird - but Angel was quite sad about the whole ordeal. We decided that we'll cook Tofurky instead next year! :)

I had each child select a dish or two to be 'in charge' of. Angel selected the pumpkin pie cheesecake and pecan pie. Grins chose the stuffing and pumpkin pies. Wiggles helped with the mashed potatoes. And, of course, they all wanted to help with the candied yams! What's not to like about brown sugar, butter, pecans and marshmallows? It's practically dessert!

When most of the food was prepped, we went outside in the balmy 17 degree, windy weather for our annual "Turkey Trot". Most of the people we invited changed their minds when they saw the temperature - but one of the heartiest families we know came (though the mother later told me her children cried "Please don't make this a tradition!" during the whole frigid ride!) We took a little trot around the 5k Back Cove and I wish I'd had my camera! I took off running, while the Mr. got the kids set up on their bikes (I figured I'd be the slowest, so I didn't wait for them.) I kept anticipating they would pass me at any moment - and I started feeling particularly speedy when I neared the end and was still 'in the lead'! :) But I finished to find them all huddling in the warmth of the car. The Mr. said they were all too cold, so he had piled them all in the tiny bike trailer - but after pushing them part way against the intense wind, they finally turned back around. :( Needless to say, it was a Turkey Trot to remember! ;)

Then we returned home in time to pop everything into the oven and welcome some friends to dinner. We had some older ladies from church join us, as well as some friends we hadn't seen in quite awhile, and it was a lot of fun!