Thanksgiving and Our Christmas Tree

We had a nice Thanksgiving day and a house full of people. There were 54 of us all together and our house is not huge by any means. But, things went really well considering how many kids were here running around. 

We always get our tree the Saturday after Thanksgiving and this year was no different. We went to the same lot we went to last year and literally got the first tree we looked at. Everyone agreed immediately on the same tree and so we were done very quickly. We got it home and up in the stand  waiting to be decorated as soon as possible. 

Tomorrow we will start our Twenty-Four Days Before Christmas again and the kids are very excited to get started. 

Cranberry Bread

Today we made cranberry bread. We used the recipe from the book Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin. It was our first time making this recipe and actually took us a long time to get it all mixed and in the oven. Bethany and Tess chopped all the cranberries and Piper and Sarah did most of the grating of the orange peel. It was fun to try out this bread after reading the book year after year. Not sure why we have never tried this recipe, but this year we thought we would try it out and then if we liked it we could make it for Thanksgiving. Everybody loved it and so I guess we will be having cranberry bread for the first time on Thanksgiving.

I took a lot of pictures but, strangely enough, I forgot to actually get a picture of the bread after it was done. I wish I hadn't forgotten as it looked really pretty. 

So Many Projects

This weekend Bethany started a new project - she has so many projects going on right now. She is working on advent calendars. She got the idea from her math tutor and started immediately. We went out to get the material and things on Saturday and today after church she started working on them and she worked all day long. She decided to try to make them and sell them for Christmas money and has two orders already. Not bad. Of course, one of the orders is from her Sunday school teacher that always supports Bethany's endeavors to make money. The calendars are actually not a quick project. I think she was pretty tired by this evening, but said she would continue to work on them again tomorrow. I absolutely love watching her enthusiasm when she gets a new idea. 

Tess is also working on weaving this weekend. I'm not sure what she is making yet, but she has spent a couple of days working on this off and on. I am hoping she will continue with it and have something made in the next week or so. She seems to be enjoying weaving again.. I think there is something about fall that makes my kids do even more projects than usual. 

Our Fall Morning

This morning started off a beautiful fall day - though many might not think a rainy, windy day is beautiful. We were sitting in the family room watching the colorful leaves blow all around like rain and then the rain came and Bethany said it was a perfect, cozy day to read and have a fire. So, we got out our book Meet the Austins by Madeleine L'Engle and sat by the fire and read for several hours. It was a wonderful morning and we had such a lovely time reading and reading. It was one of those mornings that just seemed perfect. 

Then we decided to make the Maple Syrup Fudge we were supposed to make for our literature study and had not gotten around to doing. Tess was thrilled as she had asked several times and we just had not seemed to have the time. The kids enjoyed mixing and cooking it and I think they mainly wanted to eat it. I have to say that it was definitely a flop. It never got hard and it really looked rather disgusting to me. We waited an hour and it was still pretty soft, but the kids still wanted to try it out and they claimed it was really good even though they ate it with a spoon. I guess we definitely need some practice making this - if we ever try it again. 

While we were making the fudge the rain suddenly changed into a beautiful snow. It was so pretty while it lasted. It was such a wonderful morning. 

Cooler Weather

The weather is a little cooler here now, but still pretty nice. Cooler weather means more indoor projects for the kids  - especially Bethany and Tess. Bethany pulled out her quilt she was working on months ago to finish along with still working on her dollhouse. The dollhouse has a lot more work to be done and I'm pretty sure it will take her another couple of months as she has some big plans - plus she seems to be working a little slower than usual on this.  I do love the cooler weather when the kids are all working on projects by the fire in the afternoons or evenings. 

Tess is quite an active child, but the one quiet thing she can be found doing is reading a book. I think she somehow got her hands on a Christmas book and that is what she is reading.