Thanksgiving Prep & Some Memories for My Kids

Thanksgiving preparation is running apace, for sure! Yesterday we had some spot cleaning done on our carpets. 

Because Tammo the dogs love people so much and can get underfoot as he they "help," Craig and I took them upstairs to the overlook while Taylor cleaned.

The overlook is just that - an open space on the second floor. It looks over the living and dining rooms and functions as a space where people (especially the grands) can go and spread out. With all that open space, the adults can easily monitor the activities going on upstairs and make sure all is good. (*** See note below.)

While Taylor worked, Pep and I spent the time together in one of our favorite places - the overlook couch. She makes a great foot warmer!

The living room is now ready for Thanksgiving!

Since Teacher Daughter Lisa has the day off today, she invited Tammo to come over for a doggy sleepover and play with Nash last night. (Pepper was invited, too, but I knew she'd enjoy having some alone time just with me.)

Neither Mama nor Pepper play hard, but Tammo and Nash together? It goes up to the next level. When Nash and Mama visit us, Craig and I keep our shoes on - the boys go careening all over the house and if they step on your bare foot... chills!

I got a late night text last night from Lisa saying, "Nash is snoring, Tammo is conked out, and Molly is wagging her tail in her sleep. Tammo wore them all out!"

Tammo will be coming home later this morning and I am sure he will be one very happy dog. (Tired, too.)

Today's plan for Thanksgiving prep? First priority is to make two cherry pies. (A blog post with the recipe is here.) They are a tradition that goes back to 1955 in my family.

Then, I plan to set the dining room table. Because we are a smaller group this year, I may get out my mother's sterling silver tableware. If it's really tarnished, then I will use another set that I inherited from Craig's grandmother. It's not sterling so it doesn't tarnish, and actually I like it much better than my mom's set. It's old, too. I did some research a few years ago and it's from 1936.

I'll do a final check on the guest bedrooms and bathrooms, set out the platters and servers for the cheeseballs/appetizers table, tear up the bread for the stuffing, and maybe some laundry. Surely I will find other things that need to be done, too.

I can't wait until tomorrow! 

***A tongue in cheek note to my children who I know are reading this: I'm glad you are such good parents. Truly I am. It's reassuring to me because you all played "Arrow of Darkness" in the pitch black of our basement. And one of you snuck out your bedroom window and onto the roof during nap time, waving at cars until our neighbor let me know what you were doing. A couple of you accidentally put a hole in your bedroom wall and stuffed it full of Barbies. Then there was one of you who figured out how to spider up the wall in an L-bend corner of the hallway and hung up there by the ceiling, surprising startling terrifying me when I came around the corner and spied you up there. So, so glad for the good parents that you all are!

Love, Your Mom who once brought a horse into the house when she was 17 and should have known better.

I guess the apple doesn't fall far from the tree!! 

Final Prep - Family Arrives Today!

First Post of the Day

At last! Today is the day that people begin rolling in for the Thanksgiving holiday. Mountain Mama Jessica and her crew fly into Indy this afternoon and we will be going to pick them up. Frank, Teacher Daughter Lisa's friend, arrives from North Carolina later in the afternoon, but he's driving and won't need a ride home from the airport.

While Craig did finish hanging all our outdoor Christmas lights (they look wonderful!), I STILL haven't cleaned the fridge, but that's first on my list for today. 

The guest bedrooms are ready to go as Lisa vacuumed them after school yesterday for me. (I have a rotator cuff injury from playing tug with the dogs and can't vacuum for a while.)

All my sewing supplies and things are tucked away so that this room can go back to being a bedroom for a week.

A whole week?! It feels a little odd being unable to sit down and stitch away for that long.

Extra towels and washcloths have been set out on the overlook, and that pile of blankets? Those are for dogs to lie on. (We will have six dogs here, all of them big. But pets are always welcome. One year Mountain Mama Jessica brought a guinea pig!)

November is chilly in Indiana, so I put out an extra coat tree for all the coats and jackets that will be coming through my front door.

Craig and I are on the family spreadsheet for cooking dinner this evening and I will be putting a pork shoulder in the crock pot in just a few minutes. I'm making Craig's mom's recipe for pulled pork sandwiches. 

Phyllis's recipe is delicious, but not everyone likes celery in their pulled pork so I will leave that out. (And not so much onion, either.) This will simmer in the crock pot all day and the house will smell delicious!

I will also be making a favorite family recipe for dessert - pumpkin bars!

In a big family, you learn to put who likes what on your recipe cards. Saves time in deciding what to make in the future! (The pumpkin bars recipe is easily halved if you are not cooking for the masses like I am. Haha!)

I never make the frosting recipe for them - we prefer a dusting of powdered sugar instead.

It's going to be a very busy Saturday, but I don't care. My family is coming home and my heart is full to bursting.

             

Distracting Distractions

I am getting so much Thanksgiving prep done, it's crazy. Especially when you consider what I have let distract me from doing it.

Taking apart my embroidery machine to clean and oil it didn't need to be done right away, but I did it anyway.

Repotting all my house plants

both inside and out

did need to happen but could've waited until after the holidays.

Craig was in a similar mood and he hung our holiday lights while the weather was still reasonably warm to do so.

The Are You Kitten Me Live show is not until next April

but I finished two haversacks

and embroidered a lace kitty Christmas ornament to donate and mailed them off.

When it came to actually getting Thanksgiving prep done, I finished all the embroidered ornaments for the family

 and got them all into festive holiday bags along with a piece of candy.

I have those stashed in a basket all ready to go. I think I will ask a couple of the grands to help me hand them out after dinner on Thursday.

Craig didn't just put up lights and do Fall yard cleanup, he also did a favor for Jessica.

When our family gathers, our kids all take turns cooking dinner, and Jessica and Andrew arrive Saturday and will cook dinner Sunday. Jessica is a MASTER when it comes to organizing, so she ordered her groceries ahead of time and Craig picked them up for her yesterday afternoon.

Luckily only a couple of things needed to go in the fridge because I REALLY need to clean it out and wipe down the insides before we fill it in preparation for Thanksgiving dinner. That's on today's docket.

Oh, and I followed up with Cole about his Dalmatian horse. His response warmed my heart.

I'm sending her off with her blanket so a little part of me goes with her. 

Honestly, I am a a bit teary, but I'm not sad. Just glad that Cole wants her and that she will be loved. You never stop loving your carpet herd and now she will be loved forever as a part of Julie, Kate, and Susie's carpet herds.

Back to today's plans, not only will I be cleaning the fridge, but Nash and Molly are coming over to spend the day with us. 

Because I cannot resist doggie kisses or nose boops in the backside when they think I should pay attention to them,

they are a huge distraction, but one I don't mind. I'm good at working while they trot after me from room to room, so that fridge will get cleaned, the laundry will be done, and the guest rooms vacuumed and straightened up.

Thanksgiving is getting close and I can hardly wait.

More Holiday Prep

The carpets are clean and they look wonderful!

The living room 

and the foyer both look much better. I am very pleased with how well the carpet cleaners did.

The dining room.

We will spend much of our time in these areas during Thanksgiving week. It looks open and airy right now, but soon we will put all the chairs and other things back plus we will bring my sewing table downstairs and add it to the dining room.

Between two tables that seat 8 in the dining room and then one in the kitchen, we have seats for 24 people. But, we are expecting 29, so somewhere I need to find space for another table. I have a card table that seats 4; it may get set up in the living room and we will squeeze that 29th someone in at the dining room table and call it good.

As the carpets dry, the kitchen is barely accessible because that is where we crammed things to get them off the carpets while they were being cleaned.

I couldn't even close the blinds last night because they were blocked by other things! But it will only be like this for a little while and then we will clear out the kitchen and get it back to normal.

We also did the carpet in the master bedroom and the bathroom has all the things we moved off the bedroom floor.

Those boxes have some early Christmas gifts in them but the spa tub won't be available for storage until after it does Thanksgiving pie duty! (Poor Pepper is wondering where we put her bed.)

I'd said I didn't think I'd get any sewing done due to the carpet cleaning in the morning and then going to Indianapolis to volunteer in the afternoon.

Surprisingly I did, including sewing the head back onto one of Nash's favorite doggie toys. With every stitch I put in, I was aware that he would probably chew through my stitches and that my repairs would be short lived. Oh, well. I tried, right?

Speaking of dogs, as we were driving home from Indianapolis Tuesday night,  Music City Son Cole sent this photo to our family GroupMe chat.

They are getting a puppy! He texted:

We are going to have a puppy shower for this little guy while the family is gathered. We are already celebrating Mountain Mama Jessica's and Hawkeye Sarah's birthdays, why not celebrate a new puppy, right?

Also... there is a really good comment from AJG on yesterday's blog post about the loose horse on the plane. Don't miss it! (And thanks, AJG!)