preparing for Thanksgiving

Here's what's been happening at our house lately as we prepare for Thanksgiving.

I can always count on plenty of "help" in the kitchen from these two!

We've been busy baking and eating stuff like chocolate chip pumpkin bread!

And plenty of silly playing!

This is how Braden lines up his vehicles . . .

while Addyson reads.

Addyson and Braden have been busy coloring and also helping me make turkeys out of their hands and feet for our Thankful banner.

Last night we had our family's Thanksgiving meal - 

We successfully ate a whole meal with a tablecloth and candles . . . and nothing was caught on fire or pulled on the floor. The kids enjoyed their paper plates with turkeys on them instead of the nice plates. Everyone helped with supper - Ryan grilled steak and we had green bean casserole, bread, and jigglers. Addyson and Braden were super excited to help me cut out the jigglers into shapes - they picked triangles and circles and A's and B's (for their names). And we finished up with some chocolate chip pecan pie. Because it just isn't Thanksgiving without it! I must admit that I am a terrible pie crust maker. I have tried off and on to make pie crust from scratch and it is never pretty. I think Ryan and I's worst fight ever was the first Thanksgiving we were married when we tried to make pie. So I decided it wasn't worth that and I basically resorted to the boughten refrigerated kind. And then Pioneer Woman had a pie crust tutorial on their website  . . . and I thought that looks simple enough that I could give it another try. Mine tasted super yummy and I got it rolled out after only a few unpleasant words, but it was not the prettiest crust you have ever seen. Oh well, still tastes good. I'll have to work on that another time I guess! Maybe someday I can bake a pie I can be proud of!

Braden had a few leftovers on his plate so we thought we would share with Chloe (in the giving spirit of Thanksgiving of course). The kids wanted to tell her "Happy Thanksgiving". So cute - and Chloe thought it was pretty good too!

And here's one last smile for you!

We hope you have a wonderful week and find lots of things to be thankful for!