Thanksgiving

Forrest decided that he didn't want to deal with all the clean up involved with deep frying the turkey in the backyard to he searched for a new method on the food network website. He brined the turkey overnight in vegetable stock laced with herbs and spices. Then for the first 30 minutes it roasted at 500 degrees. The remaining time was set at 350. It's one of the best turkeys I've ever tasted. Amazingly juicy. Can't wait to make sandwiches.

We divided the cooking chores quite well. Noah did the green bean casserole. Alyssa made the stuffing and rolls. Mom made the pies. I took care of potatoes and appetizers.


After the feast the kids had just enough energy to play video games for awhile.

Then we all went for a walk to get some fresh air so we could work up our appetites for pie. Dad snapped some pictures for Christmas cards since our previous attempt last month didn't work out. Noah isn't really taller than Forrest yet. Forrest is standing in a hole. But he is a full 6 feet even now. I lost my bet with Alyssa. She was sure he'd be 6 foot before Christmas and I disagreed.

Some how mom and dad managed to avoid being in any pictures. I will have to remedy that today at Noah's basketball tournament.

Odds and Ends

This photo is our bountiful walnut harvest.  Last week's stormy weather knocked all the nuts off the trees.  Forrest cleaned them up.  The green outer coverings were knocked loose when they fell.  According to our internet research they need to dry in a cool, dry, place.  So they are currently residing on our front porch in one of the kids' old sleds.  This is the first big harvest from a tree we planted several years ago.  They should be ready to eat in 3-5 days.  Can't wait!

We braved long lines on Saturday to wait in our car for the drive-up  swine flu vaccination clinic.  The wait was three hours.  We are good multi-taskers and made the most of our time.  While Alyssa and I stayed in the car and snaked our way through town Forrest and Noah walked to the barber shop and got Noah a trim. Then I walked over to the hardware store and picked up a few things (and used their bathroom).  Alyssa and I went to Starbucks while Noah and Forrest stayed with the car for refreshments.

Alyssa has had some mild reactions to the flu mist.  A low grade fever and cough. My throat has been dry and scratchy.  But nothing like getting the full fledged flu.  We've had kids miss 7-10 days of school with high fevers of  103-105 degrees, high enough to cause hallucinations.  Some of our kids at school have developed pneumonia too.  So despite the long lines and some minor reactions I think it will pay off in the long run.

Football is now over. Noah's team lost in the first round of the play-offs on Saturday.  The field was a horrible mess and the other team handled it better than Noah's team.  They lost by two points.  The other team was able to convert their extra points and Noah's team wasn't.  Six games were played on that field in the span of five days of wind and pouring rain.  The sod just couldn't hold up under that onslaught.  We have tonight off, and basketball starts tomorrow.

I guess that's all the news for now.  I'll try to do a better job and not go so long between posts.