Thanksgiving

It was a "stay-cation", as Andrea calls it...just the four of us here for Thanksgiving. And very relaxing. October and November seem to have run together, as they always do. The Second Little Nguyen woke up with a cold (make that Year 3 for Turkey Day Illnesses), so sticking close to home turned out to be just what we needed.

Last night, the Little Nguyens helped make Grandma B.'s Cranberry Salad and our traditional holiday breakfast: Maple Nut Ring! They are learning all of Grandma B's secrets for making the perfect Maple Nut Ring, and they love this time of year because we make so many of them! Each year, when Thanksgiving finally rolls around and the smell of maple fills the kitchen, I am transported right back to my own childhood. I feel like I am a little girl again, and I can almost see my own mother twisting those wedges of maple-cinnamon dough into a most delicious creation. Mmmmmm.....Measuring cinnamon for Maple Nut Ring...

...and marshmallows for Grandma's Cranberry Salad.

We make the full-size Maple Nut Rings for Thanksgiving and Christmas gatherings, and mini ones for teachers and friends. They are different from traditional Christmas cookies and, last year, the Little Nguyens each wrote (or dictated) stories about their memories of making Maple Nut Rings to accompany their holiday gifts. This year, even Milo joined in on the Maple Nut fun for our Thanksgiving breakfast!

Milo sniffs the Maple Nut Ring at breakfast.

While Tom Turkey was in the oven, Turkey Bowl 2009 took place in our leaf-covered backyard! Ready to rumble!

Deep in thought...

Hut, hut...hike!

Ready to pass...

Then, we came inside and made leaves for the "Thankful Tree" for our dinner table. That was a sweet activity...listening to little kids talk about the things they are thankful for. Most of their responses were things I would have expected: Mommy, Daddy, Ben, Thomas, Jesus, Ellie & Betsy, our food, our house. But other were so cute they made me stifle a giggle: the police station, my bed, socks, Mandarin oranges, lip balm... It made an adorable centerpiece for our Thanksgiving table, and it also gave us a great way to talk about things that should really matter to us.

Hanging a leaf on the Thankful Tree.

A sweet sentiment...especially since it wasn't prompted!
After convincing the Second Little Nguyen that he did not need a cereal bar or soup with his Thanksgiving dinner, we sat down to eat. I don't know if it was the candlelight (we need to eat that way more often -- so calming!) or if the food was really more scrumptious than usual, but Chi and I sat there for the longest time just savoring all of it.

Knife and fork, ready to eat!I've been waiting all day....Mommy and the Little Nguyens

After cleaning up Thanksgiving Mess 2009, we all put on our jammies and moved the candles to the living room to eat dessert (Daddy's apple pie!) and watch our annual Thanksgiving flick. This year, we chose Santa Buddies, which turned out to be cute, but it was a little difficult for the adults to follow given all of the gaps in the plotline! We caught another half hour of TV on top of that, watching A Charlie Brown Thanksgiving before putting the Little Nguyens to bed. Night, night and Happy Thanksgiving!