Mutant Turkey

I started preparing our Thanksgiving dinner the Sunday before by making the cranberry sauce. Oh cranberry sauce, you make my house smell like heaven.

Then on Wednesday Bryan prepared the brine and subsequently dunked the bird while I baked the sweet potatoes (pre-candying), made apple pie filling, made way too many crustless pumpkin pies (my favorite after-Thanksgiving breakfast), and made the rolls. They looked so pretty. It wasn't until the following day, shortly before we sat down to eat, that I discovered I'd forgotten to add the salt. Oh well.

Thankfully this year I did not drop the apple pie or shatter the pie dish (both of which happened on Christmas day in 2019, but apparently I never wrote about it since I can't find a blog post on the subject), so we actually got to eat it. We'll see what cooking error I unintentionally commit in 2021!

Each Thanksgiving the kids fight over who gets the drumsticks, so this year Bryan solved that problem  by buying an additional four turkey legs. He didn't tell the kids he had them, he simply asked who wanted a drumstick. Of course they all raised their hands, so Bryan put a drumstick on Sophie's plate, then one on Phoebe's plate, then one on Peter's plate, then one on Cooper's plate, all while the kids' eyes were growing wider and wider. They started asking things like, "How many legs does this turkey have?!" then, after Topher and I had legs too, "It has six legs! It's an insect!" They all thought the joke was hilarious when Bryan revealed why we had so many turkey legs. I had no idea drumsticks could be such a Thanksgiving highlight.

Also, this was the best turkey Bryan has ever made. It never dried out, not even in microwaved leftover form. It was so good my mouth is watering just writing about it.

Of course we also enjoyed pie, five kinds for seven people. The pie is long gone but Topher is still asking for it.

We ended the night with calls to family, which was a perfect way to complete Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Day Parade

We started our Thanksgiving by watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on YouTube. We quickly discovered this was not the best way to watch since they weren't playing the actual music from the parade or showing all of the balloons and floats. While Bryan shifted into tech mode and rigged up our antenna, the kids decided to stage their own Thanksgiving Day Parade. They had a little trouble getting the Grand Marshal to begin (and then I was nearly runover by the aforementioned Grand Marshal) but it went well overall. 

Give Thanks

I've definitely neglected the blog this week while I've contributed to and read posts from the #givethanks challenge on Facebook. For the sake of preserving them in this record, and as a form of counting my blessings, I'm going to copy and paste the posts here.

Saturday: I love the movie White Christmas, it's one of my favorites. Just yesterday, while making dinner, I was belting out the words, "If you're worried and you can't sleep, just count your blessings instead of sheep, and you'll fall asleep counting your blessings." As I sit at my computer, overthinking what to write for a gratitude post, I find that my list of possible post ideas is overwhelming. So tonight I'm thankful for having too many blessings to count them. And for recognizing the gift that that is. #givethanks

Sunday: I love words. I love to write them, read them, speak them, sing them, and even listen to them. I love finding just the right word to express my thoughts. I love hearing them in the language I understand and in those I don't. I love how they can inspire me, make me laugh, bring out my deepest feelings, and draw me closer to those I love. Words are a gift and I'm so thankful for them. #givethanks

Monday: Tonight I am thankful for bedtime; very, very thankful. #givethanks

Tuesday: I'm nearly always cold and have been for as long as I can remember. When our AC died this summer and we were without it for the entire month of June, I finally warmed up in our 90 degree house while the rest of my family melted. I keep myself moving most of the time because it helps me be not quite as cold. All this is to say that I'm so very thankful for warm blankets, cozy socks, big comforters, and a husband that's always a furnace and is willing to hold my freezing cold hands. #givethanks

Wednesday: Someone made the mistake recently of asking me what I'm currently reading. After I finished rattling off my giant list they were mildly speechless. I was raised by bibliophiles, for which I will be forever thankful. We always had books, ready and waiting to be read, and we were unabashedly encouraged to dive right into the those books. Now I'm raising my own book lovers. They jump at the opportunity to go to the library. Birthdays and Christmas (and Easter and Valentine's Day and Halloween and sometimes random days in the summer or any other season) wouldn't be complete without a new book. Given the hectic nature of this season of my life, most of my recent book consumption is by way of audiobook, which I absolutely love. When I meet others that also love books I know I've found my people. I am so thankful for books. #givethanks

Thursday: Each November for the last six years we've had a Thanksgiving Tree. It's taken various forms, from butcher paper on the wall to a cloth tree I found in the dollar aisles at Target. Some years we write many things that we're thankful for on leaves and add them to the tree, some years it's a bit neglected and barren.

This has been a hard year for pretty much everyone, our family included. With stress and anxiety levels increasing throughout 2020, I felt prompted that we needed to increase our focus on gratitude as a family. So right at the beginning of the month I asked Bryan to draw a tree on a spare poster board we had and I ordered some leaf shaped gift tags from Amazon. Throughout the month we've added leaves to our tree.

I'm overwhelmed that during this hard, hard year we have more leaves on our tree than ever before. I'm not always able to see the blessings and the silver linings when I'm in the midst of the storm, but looking for the learning moments and the tender mercies helps heal my heart and mind. I'm thankful for the science and the practice of gratitude. #givethanks

Pa Rum Pum Pum Pum

 

Big Sisters Are Awesome

 

Deck the Halls

On Saturday, in an effort to inspire them, I told the girls that they could put up their tiny Christmas tree if they cleaned their room.

It was effective.

So while in the rest of the house it's still Thanksgiving, in the girls' room it's Christmas!

Healing Power

Today our family watched President Nelson's message of hope. It was beautiful and made my heart happy. If you haven't watched it, I strongly recommend taking twelve minutes out of your day to do so. He talked about the healing power of gratitude, then challenged everyone listening to transform their social media pages into gratitude journals for the next seven days and to use the hashtag #givethanks. He also asked us to remember to be thankful in our prayers. Then he prayed for the entire world.

As a family we've focused on gratitude all month long. I've been mindful of the many blessings we've experienced, even during this very hard year. But, and this might seem silly, I'd never used a hashtag before. I had initially avoided it because everyone was using them (and we know that I don't like to do what everyone else is doing)  until I think it became a source of pride. But I wanted to take up the Prophet's challenge.

I sat in front of my computer for a long time before posting anything. I've really cut down on how much I post, it's usually just a picture of the kids a few times a year, so I'm out of practice when it comes to composing social media posts. After several false starts and a fair amount of deleting, I finally had a post, and it even included my very first hashtag. 

For the sake of record keeping, here it is:

You know those moments when you can step back from a conversation or situation and recognize the wonder you're experiencing?

Tonight, after the two younger kids had gone to bed, Bryan and I had a chat with the three older kids about history and politics and logical fallacies, and it was amazing. We often talk with our kids about what's happening in the world and the country, about literature and grammar, about silly memes and funny movies. Tonight they had especially insightful questions. And I had a moment in the middle of that discussion when I felt pure gratitude for these six people in my house that share my last name. They are truly remarkable. #givethanks

The Subject

Sophie has continued to be an early riser. She isn't supposed to get on the computer if the grownups are still asleep, but that doesn't seem to stop her from spending time reading the blog each morning. I do love that she's reading the blog, I just wish that she'd save it for when supervision is present.

All this blog reading prompted her to ask this today, "Mom, someday Topher is going to be as old as I am, then who will you write blog posts about?"

Yes, it's true, the littles tend to get more air time on the blog, but I do try to spread the love around. Maybe it's because the bigger kids don't always let me take their pictures? Or that they're downstairs doing school all day while I'm on the main floor with these two?

Giving Thanks

Sophie's writing assignment for the last two weeks has been writing and revising a thank you note. Today she turned in the final draft. She used her best handwriting and was very excited for me to share it on the blog.

I think she has lovely handwriting.

A Bedtime Helper

 

The Most Important Part of the Week

Yesterday morning, after we finished watching our ward broadcast and partaking of the sacrament at home, I noticed that Topher had gotten a cookie sheet from the cupboard. He carefully set his sippy cup on it, then placed a few math manipulatives and car tracks on the cookie sheet.

Me: What are you doing Topher?

Topher: I doing the sacrament.

One of the blessings of having church at home for the last eight months has been watching Peter prepare the sacrament, Bryan bless the sacrament, and Cooper pass the sacrament. I'm sure that if we were going to church in person Topher would be aware of the sacrament being passed, but I don't know that he would be as connected to it as he is now from watching it up close, week after week.

I love that we keep finding more blessings during this hard time.

2.5

Topher turned two and a half this week. For some reason two and a half has made me more nostalgic than his second birthday did. I spent a little time going through pictures of the other kids at this age, looking at who looks the same, who looks like another sibling, remembering their temperaments and personalities at that age. And then I compiled those pictures into an album that I shared with the four big kids. They've had fun this week looking at how adorable they all were.

And of course Peter's observation was that Bryan and I definitely look older. He's not wrong.

It Adds Up

When one has been consistently waking up too early from one's nap over the course of several days, one might use one's playtime to set up a cozy bed in a big comfy chair and then stare off into space, because exhaustion is cumulative.

Sisters and Brothers

 

A Little More Than a Trim

We've now been at home and social distancing so long that I've cut my hair for a second time. And, much like the first time, I really love the outcome. I guess this goes on the list of Things I Never Would Have Tried If Not For the Pandemic. Huh, I wonder what that list would actually look like...

Soak Up the Sun

Last week the afternoons warmed up to the high sixties and low seventies! For early November that's glorious! We took advantage of it by going on walks after naptime and playing outside for several hours on Saturday. It's supposed to rain most of next week, so I'm extra thankful that we enjoyed the beautiful weather.

Bright and Shining

We love our online school. The teachers do a great job of engaging the kids and tailoring to their needs. That's pretty impressive considering the classes are enormous. Phoebe and Sophie have about sixty kids in their classes and Peter and Cooper have more than a hundred kids in some of their classes.

Those class sizes make it extra impressive that Phoebe was the first student of the month for her class, or BRIGHT Student as they call it. This is what her teacher posted in their class announcements at the beginning of October.

I'm proud of her too. And I love that her teacher recognized so quickly how amazing Phoebe is. I wonder if her teacher knows that the name Phoebe means bright and shining. Our girl definitely has the right name.

Book Bird

"I'm a bird. This is my nest. It's so cozy!"

Halloween, Round 2

Phoebe excitedly planned our family Halloween party for months before the actual holiday. She had several activities planned and even delegated some of the responsibility to her siblings, a hard and generous move for our type A girl.

On Friday night she and I stayed up late and decorated for the next day.

We started the night with homemade pizza, jack-o-lantern clementines (courtesy of Phoebe), and the beginning of Hocus Pocus.

When we had had a sufficient amount of pizza, we paused the movie and got ready to trick or treat. This is when we took the picture that I posted on Monday.

Topher loved the excitement of it all. He thought the decorations were amazing. He started the day by saying "Happy Halloween!!!" to anyone that would listen. By the time we had the party he had shortened it and was saying "Hapaween!!!" which was adorable.

Here's a bit of detailing on the Bacon Man costume. Don't worry, it's not real bacon.

Bryan and Peter took turns handing out candy. They traded off which doors they stood at and would run ahead of us so they could be at the next door on time.

The temperature outside while we were doing this was in the high 30s, so not only did I enjoy running with the kids all over the house and watching how much fun they were having, I was also incredibly thankful to not be outside trick or treating in the cold.

After trick or treating we moved onto the games. Sophie was in charge of Pin the Tail on the Cat. She and I spent some time on Pinterest and found this cute printable. We used streamers for the tail.

Also, face masks are multifunctional.

Then we all took turns guessing the items in Cooper's mystery boxes. 

They included teeth (unpopped corn kernels), dry skin (onion peels), vampire vomit (cold lettuce in water), chunky ear wax (black beans in water), and witch's eyeballs (maraschino cherries). He did a good job making it gross but fun.

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Phoebe provided coloring pages while we waited for people to make their mystery box guesses.

Then we enjoyed Halloween candy while watching It's the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown, as is our annual custom.

We ended the night with these fun cupcakes Phoebe made and decorated and the rest of Hocus Pocus.

This Halloween was definitely different from what we've done in the past, but it was wonderful and so much fun. Phoebe is a natural party planner!

The holiday certainly had an impact on Topher. When I got him out of his bed yesterday morning he looked down at my shirt that I had just put on for the day and said, "Oh, I love your costume."