Cranberry, Pumpkin, and Apple Pie Thanksgiving

We’ve been enjoying ourselves in the kitchen these past couple of days.  Buck, Honeybee and I started off by reading Cranberry Thanksgiving and P is for Pilgrim.

First we baked these cute little Turkey Sugar Cookies.

We even had a little “unschooling” lesson on measurements, placing them 2” apart on the cookie sheet. 

Next we started on Grandmother’s Famous Cranberry Bread.  You can find this recipe in the back of Cranberry Thanksgiving. 

Buck enjoyed sifting the dry ingredients.

Honeybee stirred in the Craisins.  We went with these instead of using both raisins and cranberries.  We also doubled the butter…It is Thanksgiving!!

This bread turned out wonderful!!  No wonder Mr. Hoarce was trying to steal the recipe  

We are definitely adding this to our traditional menu.

~

Snuggle Bug made her traditional Pumpkin Pies ~

(We make two pies from this recipe)

and The House Cat sliced lots of apples to make her daddy’s favorite Apple Pies.

(We use prepared crusts)

Both of these turned out so yummy!

~

Granny and Papa came in last night and we enjoyed hanging out watching I Love Lucy re-runs. This morning we cooked a feast.

Granny seasoned up the turkey breast – Cajun style.

She actually picked up the dressing from Piggly Wiggly on her way.  I have to admit it was delicious!  She is a great cook but, likes their cornbread dressing more than her own.

By the way she makes the most delicious fruit salad.

Here’s the recipe ~

4 lg Oranges or 6 sm., remove all pulp then add 1/4 to 1/2 cup of sugar depending on the sweetness of the oranges. 

Add ~

2 Bananas, sliced

1 Can of Mandarin oranges, drained

1 Can (Oregon) Thompson grapes, drained

1 Can  Pineapple tidbits, drained

1 jar Maraschino cherries, drained

8 oz. carton Sour Cream

Mix all together and refrigerate.

~

Snuggle Bug did a beautiful job setting the table.

And here’s the result of all that hard work ~

Yummy!!

Dear Lord we are so thankful for ALL of the Many Blessings you continue to bestow upon us.

Our Thankful Tree

Today we made a Thankful Tree.  Each person had their hand traced and cut out.  These became our leaves.   I asked each person something they were thankful for and wrote it on their leaf.  It turned out really cute!  We all have so much to be thankful for!

 

Hearts for Home ~ Thanksgiving Week 2011

In today’s busy and aggressive society mothers at home are not given much encouragement to be committed to their role in being home. Here I encourage myself and others to commit to thinking about what 4-6 things we can do each week to bring our thoughts, prayers and actions to keeping our 'Hearts for Home'. ~

Happy Feast of Christ the King.  May He always reign as King of our hearts!

~

Tomorrow we are going to start our day a little differently.  The older girls and I are going to have a "Monday Morning Meeting" where we look at the upcoming week, talk about interests,  make notes and have a basic plan for the week. 
As I shared last week, I'm reading

A Little Way of Homeschooling, Thirteen Families Discover Catholic Unschooling.  I can relate to so many things I have read in this book.

Such as: "Education is not filling a bucket, but lighting a fire." W.B. Yates

I don't think I'm a radical Unschooler but, I am definitely drawn to pursuing my children's interests and fostering a love of learning.  I think I'm more like the families toward the end of the book who are a combination of one or more methods.

I've got books ordered from the library and am waiting on Homeschooling With Gentleness to come in the mail.  I look forward to see where God is taking us with all of this.

~

My honey will have knee surgery on Tuesday.  Please offer a little prayer for his speedy recovery.

~
We are looking forward to having Granny and Papa, my honey's parents, to stay with us for Thanksgiving.  The girls and I will bake apple and pumpkin pies to go along with our turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, macaroni and cheese (for Buck), corn casserole, green beans and crescent rolls. 

~

We will also meet with some homeschooling friends for Little Flowers this week.  This is great for Buck since he has some good "boy" play time then too.  Our Little Flowers group is small and sweet and the big girls enjoying helping out.  We also have group time where everyone comes together for recitations.  This can be anything from poetry to Latin to Classically Catholic Memory work.

~

I hope you all have a very blessed Thanksgiving week! 

Don't forget to pick up your Advent candles this week  :)


Visit Cherished Hearts at Home for more weekly inspiration for keeping our
'Hearts For Home'

Turkey Day Fun

These Oreo Turkey cookies were fun to make while the turkey baked.  Notice how Buck gave his' wings?  :)

How about a little bowling?

Who says you can't play with your food on Thanksgiving?

These oreo turkeys were a strike!

Hope your day was filled with family fun.

Thank you Lord for so many blessings!

Our Thanksgiving Menu 2009

~Turkey~

~Mama's Cornbread Stuffing~

Made the way her mama made it - scratch cornbread, onion, celery, eggs, chicken broth and lots of sage. YUM!

~Honey Glazed Ham~

~Sweet Potato Crunch~

One of my favorites :)

~Green Bean Casserole~

For my honey :)

~Squash Casserole~

Granny's recipe. A new addition this year.

~Mashed Potatoes and Gravy~

For The House Cat and Snuggle Bug

~Nae-Nae's Macaroni and Cheese~

For Buck and Honeybee

~Cranberry Sauce and Crescent Rolls~

For Dessert

Mama's Pecan Pie~

~Sour Cream Pound Cake~

~The House Cat's Apple Pie~

~Snuggle Bug's Pumpkin Pie~

Lemon Lush~

My stomach is growling and my mouth is watering as I work on this post! You know - the first Thanksgiving lasted for three days.....Looks like we'll need three days to eat all of this food!

P.S. I've spent WAY too much time today working on this and trying to get all of my pics and captions lined up. It's still not how I want it.... It all looks fine on the page I compose it. But, when I post it it looks like this :/

If anybody knows of a good book or link I can use to learn more about how this works PLEASE SHARE :)

My Thanksgiving Week Daybook Entry

For Today ~ Monday, November 23, 2009

Outside my window ~ The sky is grey and the ground is covered with a beautiful blanket of colorful leaves. Only a few pretty red leaves are left hanging onto the top of our Sugar Maple in the front yard.


I am hoping ~ To get outside with the kids and collect some of these beautiful leaves before they are all gone. I have this wonderful book checked out from the library. I hope to be able to do a little something from it. It's very informative. It tells you how to clean and prepare the leaves you bring in. I also read an article on decorating your home with them. It said to press them in a book and display in small glass beakers and vases. Very Beautiful :)

I am hearing ~ More stuffy nose sniffles and coughs :( We all just finished a round of antibiotics for strep throat and sinus infections. I sure was hoping that would get us through the end of the year.

I am praying for ~ The House Cat's nerve conduction study to go well tomorrow. I'm hoping it will give us the answers to why her arm is still bothering her after all this time. I'm also keeping a dear friend and her family in my prayers as she takes care of her aged father who was just diagnosed with pneumonia and 4th stage lung cancer.

I am thinking of ~ My time spent in our Good Shepherd Atrium yesterday. I just love working with little children. Seeing the wonder in their eyes as they listen to a lesson on The Land of Israel or The Annunciation is just so enduring. I tried to be a good girl and sit in a chair for my lessons... At one point I found myself down on a mat with a child helping them to paste the symbols on the land of Israel map. A sweet brown eyed 4 year old placed her hand on my shoulder and said, "Mrs. Lori, You're not supposed to be on the floor!" :) Too cute!

The House Cat came in and shared Advent songs with us at the end of class. I am so glad she's able to play her guitar again. The 3 year olds enjoyed learning these new songs and the 4 and 5 year olds picked right up on them from last year. I think their favorite was the Advent Wreath Song....Sitting with my brothers, sitting with my sisters, sitting by the advent wreath. Waiting with my brothers, waiting with my sisters, waiting by the advent wreath. Why are we waiting boys? Why are we waiting girls? Who are we waiting for? Stand up and sing. HE is the KING! He is the Lord of Lords! That's who we're waiting for, that's who we're waiting for!

Preparing for Thanksgiving ~ We are enjoying Reading ~Cranberry Thanksgiving, P is for Pilgrim, One Little, Two Little, Three Little Pilgrims, An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving, and Watching Mouse on the Mayflower, An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving,and William Bradford and The First Thanksgiving.


I'm also making our Thanksgiving shopping list. I'll share more on that later :) We will celebrate with my parent's this year. I'm so thankful to have them so close now.

I am planning on perusing Enchanted Learning's Site for activities for Buck and Honeybee. Last year we had fun with this.

Living the Liturgical Year ~ Today we celebrate St. Clement and Bl. Miguel Pro. We read a wonderful poem on Miguel Pro this morning from Cloud of Witnesses II. Once Upon a Time Saints had a great story on St. Clement, the second bishop of Rome. Tomorrow we remember St. Andrew Dung-Lac and Companions. Wednesday, it's Saint Catherine of Alexandria and Thursday - St. John Berchmans. Saturday we celebrate Saint Catherine Laboure. This will be a great day for a craft on The Miraculous Medal!

Then on Sunday ADVENT begins!

One of my favorite things ~ Music. All kinds. As long as God likes the message :) Right now I'm listening to I'd Need A Savior by Among the Thirsty.

I actually Enjoy ~ Clothing my family. Yes, that includes doing the laundry! I'm so thankful to be back in action there!

May God Bless You and Your Family This Week :) Love, Lori

Visit Peggy for more daybook fun!

New Thanksgiving Favorites

The Pilgrims' Thanksgiving From A To Z is a book I'll be adding to our library. A must have for Thanksgiving reading!












I just had to share this adorable video. Mouse on the Mayflower is so cute and informative about the pilgrims journey and the first Thanksgiving! We borrowed ours from the library but, I'll definitely be on the look out for a copy to buy.

I want to wish everyone a very Blessed Thanksgiving and share this acrostic poem written by The House Cat. (Sorry I don't have time to work on making it look better. Hope you can click on it and read it. Our children are such an inspiration!)



oops. I noticed after posting this that she had whited out a word on V. the missing word is raised. God Bless :)