Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

I am so excited for everyone to get here! I found my recipes and am ready to go. Mom and Dad will be here soon so I best get going.......Have a great Turkey Day everyone.

Hey guys, share your recipes!!!!!

So we are having Thanksgiving here at our house this year and we are splitting up the dinner so we all share and no one has too much work. I'm doing sides, my favorite, I'm a starch fiend!!! So I was wondering if you all would give me some ideas and share your favorite recipes for traditional Thanksgiving sides, you know stuffing, 'tadoes, veggie dishes. I'll share one of my very favorites with you I make it every year for Thanksgiving to start us off and usually make it 10-20 more times during the Fall and Winter. It is awesome on a blustery day and pairs perfectly with a crusty baguette.
Share your recipes by clicking on comments, Thanks!

Fresh Herb, Potato and Leek Soup
Bon Appétit | November 1992

ingredients

3 pounds russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 1-inch pieces
5 cups canned low-salt chicken broth
3 cups water
3 large leeks (white and pale green parts only), chopped
1/2 cup whipping cream
1/4 cup minced fresh chives or green onion tops
2 tablespoons minced fresh basil or 2 teaspoons dried, crumbled
1 tablespoon minced fresh dill or 1 teaspoon dried dillweed
Hot pepper sauce (such as Tabasco)

Chopped fresh chives or green onion tops

preparation

Bring first 8 ingredients to boil in heavy large pot or Dutch oven over high heat. Reduce heat to medium-low and simmer until potatoes are very tender and soup thickens slightly, about 1 hour. Transfer 2 cups of soup to blender and puree. Return puree to pot. Season with salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce. (Can be prepared 1 day ahead and refrigerated. Reheat before continuing.)

Ladle soup into bowls. Garnish with chopped chives and serve.

Natalie's Grateful for....

Harrison is grateful for...

You know what they say.....

the calm before the storm!!!! Yesterday was the calm today was the storm! I'm not sure I should publicly complain on my blog about my children but because 1)their internet access is very limited and 2) when they do have access the last thing they'll want to read or look at is MY blog I'll go ahead and let it fly. I do not know how I survived until 7:02pm today. it all started with Henry complaining and making all his little "sound effects" first thing at 6:15 am after getting NO sleep because Bridget will only sleep cradled in my arms and wakes up at the slightest movement. Last minute banking and errands left Harrison out in the rain and near dark because Nat and Hen just couldn't seem to pull it together in Target! We get home and poor Harrison was so afraid I'd forgotten him. "Mother of the Year" right here! We get in, unload and the screaming starts....first Bridget then HENRY? He's 9, what the heck? I nurse Bridget and KNOW she needs a nap so I put her in her new big girl crib(from the bassinet) and she screams, and scream and then she screams some more. What am I supposed to do? Boys need homework, they all need dinner and I have a counter full of groceries melting. I run up stairs bink her and restart her music. More screaming. Start dinner and run up the stairs rebink her etc etc. STILL screaming. I figure she HAS to learn how to fall asleep on her own, right? By this point Henry's started with the major attitude. I warn him, i ask him nicely, I threaten, nothing phases him, he just keeps on with it so it's bye-bye time for Henry. "Go downstairs, I can't deal. I have warned you for 30 minutes to check the 'tude" He starts WAILING tears and screams "NO NO I want to stay up here" like I'm sending him to some rat infested dungeon, ummm hi, it's like his own mini-apartment??!! He stands on the stairs pleading and screaming at me, all the while the baby is upstairs screaming her little heart out. Guilt, overwhelming guilt takes over. I think for a moment I'm being too hard on Henry, just then he says something totally disrespectful and the gulit disappears for a moment. Run upstairs, bink Bridget, restart the music...heart is breaking.... "Ferber" method sucks! I'm starting to unravel at this point and who is my little savior? Mr Harrison! So sweet so helpful, so kind. He did whatever I asked and when he was done he was willing to do more. Maybe I did do something right..........

Ahhhh quiet!

Ryan is off today, yay! He took Nat out for a "date" and Bridge is snoring away in her bassinet. I finally have a few moments to myself and instead of doing housework(like I should) I'm grabbing a few minutes to scrap and blog! Hopefully we can all have a nice mellow day without any major incidents,lol! The peppermint ice cream is in for the holidays so we had a mini ice cream party last night. Say ICE CREAM!!!!

How cute is my baby and her big sis? This little hoodie outfit was just so  adorable I had to have a a little photo shoot!

Rough couple of weeks!

It's been challenging lately to say the least. School struggles with the boys have been weighing heavily on me. I've been racking my brain trying to come up with a way to help them enjoy learning more and understand that the job of being a student doesn't stop when they leave school. Natalie is giving me a run for my money too, she is very much like me so we knock heads often. Then poor Bridget, she so often has to wait and wait for me to be able to get around to her. 

I am very excited for Thanksgiving! We will be having it here at our house, yay! We are dividing up the work so it's not too much for anyone. It should be wonderful.