Thanksgiving Week

I'm sure everyone is getting ready for Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is a big holiday for our family because instead of all the extended family gathering together at Christmas time, we all get together and celebrate Thanksgiving together. Every year, Thanksgiving starts on Thursday and ends late Sunday night for us. It's a fun-filled four days. Each family member pitches in and creates a special dish to share. On the list to get baked this weekend?
Cookies (4 batches)
Pumpkin roll
Pumpkin pies
Pecan pies
Chips/crackers/snacks
Rolls
Turkey
Cranberry salad
Stuffing
Sweet potatoes
Green bean casserole

I can't wait to taste all the goodies!

Politeness

If people ask me,
I always tell them:
"Quite well, thank you, I'm very glad to say."
If people ask me,
I always answer,
"Quite well, thank you, how are you today?"
I always answer,
I always tell them,
If they ask me
Politely . . .
BUT SOMETIMES
                               I wish
                                              that they wouldn't.




- A. A. Milne

Persimmon Pudding

Yes, you read the title right. I did a double take when I saw persimmon pudding advertised at a family owned pie and egg shop, but thought nothing of it.
That is, until Mom brought it home for dessert. When I think of persimmons, I usually think back to the time when I was about nine years old, and picked a persimmon off a tree and stuck it into my mouth. I instantly regretted the decision, because the persimmon was not ripe. Unripe persimmons taste AWFUL! I never ate a persimmon after that.
So, Mom brings persimmon pudding home and dishes out a spoonful to us all to eat, declaring that all of us have to try at least one bite. Apprehensively, I stick the spoon into my mouth to take the one bite I have to take . . . and find that it tastes delicious! We still have some leftover, so I think I'll eat some more this afternoon . . . and encourage you to try some too!

Bob

Last week, Ian was driving us home from Walmart.  When coming out of the parking lot, he saw a man crossing the street, and Ian said, "Hey, that's Bob!"
Esther took this literally, so she rolled down her window and yelled as we passed the man, "G'bye Bob!"
'Bob' started and turned to stare at us with a frown as we passed him. That was when Esther realized Ian didn't really know that guy.
Let me just tell you that some yelling ensued on the way home. (I want to assure you, however, that no one got hurt :D)

The Thanksgiving Story

As it is November, our family is starting to get in the Thanksgiving spirit. Recently, Dad read to us a book about the first Thanksgiving. As it is a familiar story, Dad would often pause in the midst of a passage and wait for us to supply the missing word. So it would go something like this -
Dad: While the settlers were exploring the woods, they came upon an Indian. His name was -
Us Kids: Samoset!
Dad: Samoset told the Pilgrims that the Indians wanted to make friends with the white people. He also told them there was another Indian who knew more English than he did. This Indian's name was -
Us Kids: Squanto!
After we'd got the name right (it was so easy because the story was so well known) Dad would continue reading. After reading a couple passages like this, it became a race to be the first person to get the name right. One incident went so . . .
Dad: Because the Indians and settlers wanted to be at peace, it was necessary to sign a peace treaty. William Bradford and Chief -
Esther (excitedly jumping up and down because she knew the answer) MASSACHUSETTS!

Reading the book came to a complete stop for a full five minutes because of all the laughter. Chief Massasoit, please accept our sincere apology for getting your name wrong. We assure you it won't happen again (maybe).

Bonfires and Birthdays

A couple weeks ago our family decided to have a hot dog and s'mores roast. Mmmmmmmhmmm. Boy, was THAT amazing. There is something special about cooking food over a fire outside. It was a cold night but that was okay, we just hunched over some more and took on the odor of smoke;) After finishing our sticky snack -Havalah called them "smarshsmellows"- the older kids each carted on their back a younger kid and we raced up and down the sidewalk whooping and hollering. It was fun. (= Because that last part took up so much exertion, we all ended up laying on our backs looking up at the stars. But kids can never be still and before long a rough, tough, fend-for-yourself, game of wrestling came on. I barely made it out of their alive. *whew* Thinking about all the energy I expended that night makes me exhausted.

This past Saturday, Seth had his 12th birthday!!! He wasn't here, so, we celebrated it without him. Hehe. Naw, we're not that cruel, we waited until Sunday night when he came home. Because most of us are trying to stay away from dairy now, Seth requested chili and blackberry cobbler. We managed to make both of those items without using any dairy! Yay!
Although I enjoy a good chili, I must say the cobbler was AMAZING.
Seth is turning into quite a good looking young man, and although many young ladies may be swooning over him at the moment, I'm very happy to say that "His gate is still closed".*

I really haven't covered everything that has happened in the past couple of weeks but there shall be more posts to follow soon after.


*Inside joke;)