Thanksgiving - The Elf on the Shelf

Happy Thanksgiving to all of our family and friends. Oh my gosh my stomach is so full. Next Thanksgiving I promise to post all of the dishes I make that "don't have recipes". My stuffing is soooo yummy with carrots, onion, apples, celery, Italian Sausage, and rosemary bread cubes! The candied sweet potatoes were also a hit. Both the stuffing and the sweet potatoes are renditions of my grandmothers old recipes and I don't follow a recipe. Next year I will post them a few weeks in advance in case people want to use them. I was a little to busy to take pictures but just take my word for it....it was GOOD!. This year we brined the turkey for the first time and followed Alton's recipe from the Food Network. He is the guy that hosts Good Eats and the Iron Chef America. We were a little surprised by the cooking process. Everyone cooks their turkey for so long and it often comes out dry. Ours went in at 500 degrees for 30 minutes and spent another 1 or 1 1/2 hours at 350 and it was done. We let it sit for one full hour and crossed our fingers when we cut into it. WOW...the juiciest turkey ever. This year I also attempted my own Cream Cheese Pie Crust and Pumpkin Pie. It was so ugly....but it was so moist and creamy. Much much better than a pie from the store. My husband is a pumpkin pie fanatic...and he said it was the best ever! After dinner we headed to the movies with Nonna and Papa to see Happy Feet 2. The place was empty so it was a perfect day to catch a movie.

 While at Nonna's house the kids were given The Elf on a Shelf. This thing is the best Thanksgiving gift ever. Basically, you open the box and read a book about this elf that reports to Santa every night while the kids sleep. Once you open the package and pick a spot in your house the magic begins. He watches all day and can even see what the kids are doing when they are in the car, at school, and at the park. Every night he waits for everyone to go to sleep and then he awakes to fly quickly back to Santa to report the naughty and nice things that he saw. To prove that he has left and returned, when you wake up in the morning he will be hiding in a new spot in the house and the kids must find him. There is only one rule. The kids may not touch the elf or his magic will disappear. The elf needs to be taken out of the box, named, and then you never touch him again. On Christmas morning he will go back to Santa so on Christmas Eve we will have to say goodbye but now that "George" is our elf he will return every Thanksgiving and stay with us through Christmas. The kids came home with "George" tonight and had me read the book again. Gianni keeps checking on him and tells me that he is opening his eyes slightly and turning his body while we are out of the room. It is so cute. Thanks Nonna for Elf on the Shelf and for coming to visit us. We have missed you and we are glad that you are here for Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving Feast and Kidstock

 Abel went to school on Thursday to have a Thanksgiving Feast with the kids. They dined on turkey, potatoes, stuffing, green beans, cranberries, milk and cookies. Sophia Pearson joined Carmen and Gianni, and I hear that Sydney and her Grandma were there although Abel did not get a picture. Carmen has been wearing her turkey hat all over the house lately and is having a blast making Thanksgiving themed crafts at school.

Today was a busy day as usual. Carmen had dance at 9am. Her dance for her recital is coming along so nicely and she is always singing the song. Then it was off to Gianni's 10:30 baseball game. The boys played great as usual. Then it was off to lunch where she ran into some Goodyear Fireman. They were so nice to her. They got down at her level and talked to her, they took her out to the truck and gave her a personal tour. These 4 guys made Carmen their world for ten minutes. They thought it was adorable that such a little thing wants to be a firefighter. They even invited us to the firestation...but we had to decline (which was hard for me to do..hehe) because we were off to KIDSTOCK (a music festival for kids!) They had live bands, bouce houses, free activities, all kinds of kid friendly vendors, face painting, and animals. The kids loved it and we were so greatful that Mr. Pearson was able to get us free tickets! Thanks Ted! Gianni, Jonah, Carmen and Sophia had a fun filled day at the festival.

At one point there was a booth that had snakes for the kids to touch. Gianni was so brave. Carmen said, "ewww mommy gross! I want to bounce!" and she ran away.  

Carmen and Abel headed off for Daddy Daughter Dance Practice while Gianni and I headed home. Cleaned the house tonight and now I am pooped! Got to get some rest because Carmen and I are making sauce and Gnocchi tomorrow!