Little did I know the girls were working hard at preschool all week to help our house become more fesitve for the upcoming Thanksgiving celebration we were hosting for the first time this year. Yes, this year was my first time coooking a Thanksgiving dinner. Of course I had watched my mother, grandmother, and mother-in-law cook this meal multiple times, but these observations gave me little confidence for my personal attempt. I was excited to host Thanksgiving for the first time, but a tad nervous. So the adventure begins.
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The girl's handy work was displayed all around the house.
My favorite was their handprint Turkeys...too cute !
Of course Tony was hard at work too, making a little fun out of the Thanksgiving football games. We all threw in $5.00 and answered 15 questions about the big game of the day. I don't know much about the specific questions all I know is that I won the bets and came away $30.00 on top!
As I say every year, I absolutely love Thanksgiving morning. There is just something about lounging around in PJs, watching the parade, eating our traditional cinnamon rolls and drinking mimosas, all the while thumbing through the ads to find some great Black Friday Deals.
This year the girls were inspired by the Macy's Parade, and started marching around the house with their own rendition of a marching band. Poppi, who spent many years in a marching band, would be proud.
Well the relaxing was coming to an end and it was time to start fixing the bird and getting it ready for the oven. The girls were very interested in this process and were hands-on.
Ready to go!
Starting the broth for the gravy!
So we didn't stay in our jams the whole day.. .These little ladies got fixed up in their "Thankgiving Dresses" and posed for mama. I could some up the whole Thanksgiving day with this one picture, I am so thankful for these two little girls and how they have made our life and family complete, but of course I am a bit obsessed about documenting our memories- that I must include all the other pictures too!
Let the party begin, family is here and came baring gifts, a huge plate of anti-pasta that was delightful. I was happy about the size of their anti-pasta, it was my back up -if I bombed the turkey then we had something to serve again!
The preparation were in full force, from basting the Turkey, to making homemade gravy, to mashing the potatoes, and simmering the green beans. I believe that is the hardest park of cooking, trying to coordinate everything so that all dishes are still warm when they are served. I truly don't know how my mom managed that night after night.
My first turkey!
I was pretty please with how it turned out, it was moist, not dry and everyone said it was yummy!
love that Drew had to use my fancy pink apron to carve the turkey...
Table is set... no kids tables here, we all managed to fit around our table.
In preperation for the day the girls and I made these little acorns to decorate the table and of course snack on. They are made from mini nut-a-butter cookies and big and small Hershey kisses.
The girls had no nap this day, so when dinner came around Ellie was a tad tired and just sat at her seat looking like this waiting for dinner to be served.
The Spread!
Complements to all that's for sure, I made the turkey, gravy, mash potatoes, and Lola's favorite cole slaw salad, Emma made the cranberry sauce, stuffing, bread, and the desert- pumpkin and pecan pie.
Let's finally feast and celebrate all that we are Thankful for!
I think I can officially say that my first Thanksgiving was a success. I was tired, but still managed to hit two stores after all the company left and the kids went to sleep. Not sure I'll ever do that again, but I did get a killer deal and took in some awesome people watching!
Hope all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!