What Would Thanksgiving Be

...without flames leaping from the edges of the oven door???

It all started out well enough. We awoke to the savory aroma of a nice, juicy turkey that had been slow cooking all night long. Yum! I started the hot rolls so they'd have plenty of time to rise. Then I took a nice, hot bath and washed my hair because I knew there'd be no time for it later. It was a wonderfully relaxing way to start a long, busy day. I'll have to remember it for future Thanksgivings!

I then got to work on the rest of the meal. Everything was going along nicely until it was time to take the turkey out and turn the oven temp up for the green bean casserole and the hot rolls. I don't own a roasting pan and James had bought another mammoth turkey this year. The juice had made its way out of the tight foil wrapping and oozed over the sides of the biggest pan I own, and when I took it out of the oven even more juice dribbled into the bottom of the oven. All was well until I turned the oven up to 350. In just a few moments smoke started pouring out of the oven vent--enough to make your eyes burn and water and your lungs seize up! Ha! We opened doors and windows everywhere and got all the fans going. Sam ran for his gas mask.

HA! Crazy kid! (He told me later, "Mom, if you have any more accidents I'll let you borrow my gas mask!") Smoke was still pouring from the oven and the whole living area was just about filled with it. ("Kids, where are you?! Are you over there somewhere???" Ha!) I was on my way to just turn the oven off when the door sort of popped and I saw the flames shoot out. Very exciting!!! It only lasted a split second, but it was exciting nonetheless. I ran and shut it off, then we opened the door and let the whole thing cool off for a little while. After a few minutes I was able to wipe most of the gunk out of the bottom of the oven, all the while singing the praises of an oven with a hidden coil! No coil in the bottom to get all gross and gunky--it's just nice and smooth down there! DEFINITELY the oven for me!!!

After I got it wiped out we were able to crank it up and continue with our meal plans. It only set us back about 20 minutes, I think, and now we have the great memory of it all to treasure always! :-) The only downer is that the house was full of smoke and smelled a little burned--all for a meal that turned out GREAT! None of the actual food had suffered any injuries, so I still call it a success in spite of the near call to the fire department. ;-)

James got a little picture happy. He even took one of his plate of food, but I'll spare you that one! Here we are with all the fixin's! Turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce, potatoes, gravy, corn, green bean casserole, hot rolls, sweet potatoes, pea salad (it's sooooo much better with frozen peas, Mom--I'm never going back!), deviled eggs, and peach-pineapple punch. :-)

We had two pumkpin pies and one apple pie for dessert, but we failed to get pictures of them. The apple pie is a great hit, Mom--in fact it's almost gone. We called and got instructions from James' Mom, who makes just about the only apple pie I've ever actually liked. We also had two pans of cinnamon rolls, although we've already finished the first and are into the second as of tonight!

The worst part about not having friends or family to be with on Thanksgiving (aside from missing out on all the GAMES!) is that there are no other women around to help with the dishes! James and the kids tried to help a little bit, but when you've dirtied every pot and pan in the house it just seems easier to do it yourself than to try to work with people who don't know what they're doing! Still, the clean up wasn't as lengthy has I had expected, so that was nice. I even laid down and took a nap!!! Wa-Hoo!!! I can't remember the last time I got a nap on Thanksgiving--probably not since I've been the Mom! Ha!

As I was sleeping, the rain we were having turned into SNOW! What a perfect day!!! It was very strange though--we were having great big, long, rolling thunder... during the SNOW! Weird, but very cool. It was enough for the kids to go play in, but still not the inches I'm looking for. :-) James took this picture of one of the birdies enjoying the food he's got out there for them...

James, not understanding the purpose of a HOLIDAY, spent most of the afternoon out in the garage building the wall for the boys' room. Half of it, anyway. It was late afternoon before we started dragging in the Christmas boxes from the shed and tearing the house up. I stopped after a while and played Whoonu, Balloon Lagoon and Cariboo with the kids before devotions, then got back to work decorating. I was really struggling to figure out where to put things in this house. I just got it figured out in the last house after 4 years, now I've got to do it all over again! Ha! It's a fun problem to have. There are several things I'm sure will end up changing because they don't look just right to me, but this is some of what we've come up with so far...

James did the tree. That's his baby. In fact, none of the rest of us are allowed to touch it! Ha! The kids get a little mini-tree for their bedrooms that they're allowed to decorate because this is DAD'S TREE and it's not to be messed with! (He's so funny!)

And here's my Merry Christmas tag sign. One of my very favoritest things. (Thank you, Stacey!!!) I LOVE it on the green beadboard. :-)
I spent most of the day today cleaning up the mess we'd made while decorating last night! It was a WRECK. There was all the fall stuff to take out as well as the stuff that usually goes in the living room--all to make room for all those crazy snowmen. Strange, the things we do, isn't it?! Still, it makes us happy. We've been enjoying LOTS of Christmas music while we've been working and that's been great! But James is driving me crazy. We've got a whole bunch of really, really great Christmas CD's... and he keeps listening to the dippy radio station that plays some really great stuff and some really rotten stuff! Why not listen to the stuff we KNOW will be good--that we paid for?! Oh well. He's been a busy guy today, too, so I guess I shouldn't gripe out the dumb music. He's got the other half of the wall framed in out in the garage, the box for the fireplace framed in and a little "step" for it to set on, and I'm pretty sure he'll have the boys' closet framed in by the time he calls it a night. Got to get it all done before...

Dustin & Jamey come on Sunday!!! Wa-Hoooooo!!! I am soooooooo excited! I just love Jamey. And I can even tolerate her husband for the opportunity to be with her! Ha! This means GAMES. Lots and lots of GAMES and food and laughter and some more games and laughter. ~sigh~ It'll probably totally make up for being "alone" on Thanksgiving. :-) Dustin thinks he's coming here to work. James thinks so, too. I've got them both thinking there's some big, legitimate reason for this visit, something about electricity to the garage which will soon be a bedroom and den. All the while it's so I can have PEOPLE! Real, live PEOPLE to be with! People who will come over and play! Wa-hoo!!! :-)

Okay, I've gotta to. I have a regional paper to put together. ~gasp!~ You heard right! The deadline was the 20th (when everybody is supposed to have their stuff to me) and I usually start compiling it right then and have it ready to mail in two or three days. James told me to wait this time. He knew we'd be having company soon and he's decided that he is NOT going to "build" and fold and do all the prep work for mailing all alone again--he's going to schedule printing around company so they can help us! (Now you know, Jamey! Ha!) He REALLY misses having Sam & Tammy nearby to come help. Anyway, that means I've got a whole lot of work to do! But first things first: the BLOG, right?! ;-)

One last picture before I go. This is Sam's latest Darth Vader costume, complete with light saber. I'm tellin' ya', the kid makes EVERYTHING with paper, scissors and tape. (Maybe that will give the Grandma's some gift ideas for Christmas! Ha!)

Okay, gotta run! I hope you all had a WONDERFUL Thanksgiving! God is sooooooo good. :-)