Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving went well, or as well as can be expected with small kids. ;) I actually got them dressed in their special outfits, and even put bows in their hair. They looked precious. (Emma's dress was one of my awesome SunThrift finds, Bridget's was a gift from my Uncle Bob, and the bows were two of several I got on eBay; I also got a headband that can be used with any clip-on hair bows for Bridey, and it's awesome, but I tried to go without it; unfortunately her hair is not quite thick enough to hold the weight yet, so I was picking it up and putting it back in all night. In the future I will use the headband.)

We went over to my mom's house, after picking up the ice, and I arrived in time to help some by getting all the drinks in buckets of ice, slicing the jellied cranberries and putting the whole-berry sauce in a bowl (those were my contributions, as well as some Martinelli's Sparkling Cider), and to help stir the potatoes (my mom actually used a recipe for mashed potatoes, which she had *shock* never made before, my Grandma Katie always brought them and when we had them at home, which was rare, she used instant; unfortunately the recipe was weird and they had to be cooked down so we didn't end up with potato soup) and the gravy while everyone else was otherwise occupied, and to help my cousin finish the green beans (my mom's kitchen is crowded at the best of times, and five women in there at once made getting the green beans out of the saucepan with no burns or other disasters a two-woman job.) My sisters were both unable to make it; one had planned to but came down sick, the other spent this year's Thanksgiving with her other side (I know my terminology is amusing here; that means her dad's family. She's my half-sister, technically.)

We finally sat down to eat and Emma was EXCITED! Also being her contrary two-year-old self, she at first declined to fold her hands for the prayer, but when my mom reminded her that we don't eat until we pray, she decided to comply. Little stinker! She told us in the car that she didn't want turkey, but she would eat chicken, so we warned everybody to refer to the turkey as "big chicken" to Emma. She ate a ton, at least as much as my mom. Her favorites were the turkey ("Want more that big chicken!"), the potatoes, the green beans (which had an orange glaze), the roll (with three servings of butter) and the Jell-o (she liked the orange with carrots and pineapple okay, but she loved my own personal Thanksgiving favorite, besides the cranberries, the Grandma Norma's Jell-o, so named for my cousins' deceased grandma whose recipe it was, which has sour cream, walnuts, apples, and whole-berry cranberry sauce in it. Once again I asked Grandma Katie for the recipe, once again she said okay, we'll see if I actually get it this year! This is my fourth attempt!)

Bridget kept me so busy feeding her, I hardly got to touch my food for a while. She ate an entire jar of Beech-Nut Turkey Rice Dinner baby food, then half of a jar of sweet potatoes. By the time she was 3/4 done with the first jar, though, my Aunt Linda, who was sitting on her other side, was done with her food, so I passed the spoon to her and got to eat some. Dessert followed when the table was cleared; in the mean time, the girls played on the floor. Then we had pie, which was also a hit with Emma (although Abba startled her putting whipped cream on, she was thrilled when she discovered what it was, she loves whipped cream.) She was the first one ready at the table for dessert! Then the girls played some more; then people started leaving. It was chilly once all the body heat departed, so we got the girls in their matching holiday sweaters (I got them on sale for $6.68 each at Target, score!) Then they rode Star the horsey with Grandma's help (actually, Emma did first and then Bridget, after playing some more, went to join her) and finally we went home, where Bridget cried because her tummy was so full, Jeff conked out almost immediately, and Emma slept earlier than is her custom because she was also very full. (I was hungry again a few hours later, but had to settle for leftovers from dinner a few nights previous because my mom invited us over for leftovers the next night instead of sending them home with us.)

More pictures to follow!