Thanksgiving Week

This year we stayed home for Thanksgiving. It was nice not to have to travel, but always a little sad to miss holidays in Bartow. We did get to have Daniel's parents with us for the holiday this year and so that made it fun!

We had a busy week. Nana and Papa were able to spend a lot of time with the boys and even babysat a bit to give us a break.

Carver was out of school so we did a couple of activities to fill up some of our days.

First we made some "Fall Playdough." I really liked this playdough recipe because it had cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves in it so it smelled great. And, I opted not to add food coloring because I really liked the earthy brown color. Carver used a rolling pin and fall cookie cutters to play with the dough.

Another day we did a "fingerprint" tree. I found the free printable of the tree via Pinterest. The idea is to use colored ink pads and make leaves out of fingerprints. Super cute idea, but I didn't have ink pads of particularly fall-ish colors. Instead we used regular washable paint and q-tips. It worked well!

While Daniel's parents were camping we spent one evening out at their campground with them. Carver really loves it out there. We roasted hot dogs and marshmallows and enjoyed the fire on the chilly fall evening.

On Thanksgiving morning Carver and I made pumpkin muffins. I love pumpkin muffins for a number of reasons. One, they are really good. Probably the 3 CUPS of sugar in them. Second, they make me think of Ellen and our Asheville years (still two of the best in my life). And third, they make me think of Julia, because we made them together over the holidays several years in a row. This year, Carver got to help for the very first time. We had fun cooking together, though it takes at least twice as long when he "helps."

No big deal, just a little disaster with the Kitchen Aid and flying flour mixture.

After lunch we took a few pictures, surprisingly getting a decent one of the boys with Nana and Papa.

And, we had to have a few of Carson's cute turkey shirt.

And, thanks to modern technology, I have a matchy matchy picture of Riley and Carson in their shirts!

It was a really fun week! We've started getting things ready for Christmas festivities, which I am planning to do for the entire month of December. I'll post soon about what we have done so far.

Stay tuned.