Cook, Create, Do & Love: Thanksgiving 2016

Stella was with me for a whole week for Thanksgiving break. We tried to make the most of our time.

Monday, we made pie dough for our pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce. Then we did some last minute shopping at Aldi. She wanted to bring the shopping cart, Baby Ella and the carrier. So smart and resourceful. She was very helpful until the very end, when at checkout she decided she'd try to use the buggy as a stool to climb onto the bagging counter. She quickly found out that something with wheels is never a good idea to use for a stool. She wasn't hurt, just scared.

Tuesday, I had these two sillies as a movie date at The Picture Show for The Secret Life of Pets. Tiffany and Hudson were supposed to come with, but some other stuff happened so Landon came along with us instead.

We went to East Cobb Park after the movie and let them burn some energy and get completely disgusting. Example: Stella tripped and fell right after we got there. I kneeled down to see about her. Landon had ran up ahead but was standing still. My view of him was somewhat obstructed by a pavilion, but I could see him nonetheless. I thought to myself "Oh perfect. He's still and not running all over the place while I see about Stella. This is good. I just assumed he would have run in the gate to the park and I would have lost him in the crowd. This is working out well."

But then we stood up and approached him and the truth set in. He was still because he had found an outdoor grill full of ashes and was up to his elbows in ashes. Just picking up handfuls and throwing them and mushing every single little bit of burnt up coal and whatever else happened to be in there all around. I just looked at him and said, 'Oh great. Your mom is going to be thrilled."

Two other moms nearby saw him and then heard me and kind of chuckled. They probably assumed I was some overpaid, crappy nanny who can't keep an eye on two kids. I was just thinking why would they sit there and let him play in ashes when I'm clearly seeing about another child? Ehh, whatever.

They had these really cool swings. They are for the parent and the baby and it's one of the best ideas I've ever seen. They enjoyed this and later on, I did with Stella. You get such a good view of their expressions while they swing. The best!

For most of our time at the park Stella was in a horrible, horrible mood. Why is it always your own kid that gives you the most problems! Aarrrggghhhhh!!!

But she was happy here. She and Landon played under here with an older girl for about 15 minutes.

Tuesday evening I made the pie filling and Stella helped out a bit. I could tell she was exhausted and her heart wasn't in it too much.

Wednesday morning, Stella's friend Alana (our neighbor) came down to play with Stella for a few hours. They "crafted" and colored, watched Snow White while dining on PB&J and veggie straws, then played outside. I was able to finish cleaning the house, bathe Bandit, shower and get my bags packed.

We left for Athens around 2:00. Mama and Daddy arrived the day before and Michael and Jessica had to work half of the day. I had made and froze lasagna a few weeks prior so I brought a big pan of that, some french loaves and stuff for salad. We threw supper in the oven and just hung around on the back porch catching up.

After supper we watched old home movies of me and Michael and laughed sooooo much. Stella passed out half in my lap and half on my legs which I was holding up off of the couch because she said "I'm comfy like this." We moved her to the air mattress and played Cards Against Humanity. I got snacky and found a Little Debbie Christmas Tree in the pantry. I was so happy. Then I mentioned wanting some Lays Classic chips. Turns out they had some of those too. So then I was really happy.

CAH was hilarious and everyone enjoyed it. After Mama and Daddy went to bed, me, Michael and Donald sat up talking for a while up in his man cave. Stella woke up around 1:30 so I retired with her. She fell asleep on my chest like she used to as a baby so I was in heaven. Donald and Michael stayed up for a good bit longer though and were feeling it the next morning.

Thursday morning Stella mostly played outside with the dogs. My dad said, "I can't believe you don't have the parade on." I'd completely forgotten about it. A few years ago I turned it on at the house when it was just Donald and me and I realized that it's not my favorite thing to watch. Growing up I always looked forward to it being on, but as an adult, it's really kind of sucky. We aren't into Broadway musicals. You typically don't even get to listen to an entire song from whatever new "it" musician is on a float due to timing and we aren't exactly band geeks, but for some reason, I want it on. And with Mama growing up in New York and going to the parade I make that connection. She was always so excited to have it on and to say, "I've been there." Or "My mom used to take us to Radio City Music Hall to see the Rockettes." It's just tradition.

I found some Thanksgiving themed placemats/coloring sheets on Pinterest and printed those off for Stella to color. Jessica and I helped out a bit.

In addition to us, Jessica's mom, grandma, sister and her boyfriend came to Thanksgiving dinner. The turkey was cooked in an electric roaster on the counter to free up oven space and after resting Donald discovered it actually wasn't done. So when everyone was geared up and ready to eat, we had to put the brakes on. Into the oven it went and we grabbed a roll or something to hold us over for another 30-45 minutes.

Stella snuggled in with Bandit.

Homemade crust and filling, plus fresh whipped cream.

When your brother's girlfriend's family name is Pilgrim, you have to buy these from Publix and give them as a hostess gift.

I printed off Thanksgiving themed placemats for Stella to color. Jessica and I helped too.

Here is the sweet potato casserole, Brunswick stew, dressing and giblet gravy.

This girl loves her greens!

Thanksgiving supper was great. We had turkey, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, gravy, giblet gravy, cornbread dressing, stuffing, cranberry sauce, collards, Brunswick stew, sweet potato casserole and crescent rolls. For dessert we had pumpkin pie with fresh whipped cream, Sam's chocolate cake plus a tres leches cake from Costco.

Of course I ran across this a few days after Thanksgiving. It would have been great to have because a few of these subjects definitely got brought up.

We got back to Atlanta Friday afternoon and me and this girl spent the night together. Daddy went to a concert so it was just us girls. We did some coloring and had a nice quiet evening at home.