I hope you all had a great long Holiday weekend (or week)! We sure did! It was great having DS1 home for a week. DH just left to take the PSU boys back to college so it was a wild morning today getting things together. DD just took DS2 out for lunch, a movie ('Planet 51'), and some Christmas shopping…as the youngest, he loves having any kind of private time with any of us, so I was really happy that they wanted to spend time together. I'm left to unwind here and get out some decorations for Christmas, but that's another story.

We enjoyed each others company and time together this week…played lots of games, went shopping on Black Friday (OMG the crowds this year!), etc. I'll have to say it was wonderful being home. We had some great moments together.

DH wanted to pick out the turkey, so I asked him to get a small one since it would only be the five of us. DS2 went with him and they picked out a 22 lb. turkey…ummm….what didn't they understand about the word 'small'?!!! Here's the rational I was given 'The deal was on the turkey's that were 18 lbs. or over and there weren't any that were 18-20 lbs…..Why pay more for a 16 lb. turkey when we can get a bigger one for less?!!!' Can you tell he's not the turkey chef?

Ah well…I had to increase the amount of stuffing so it wouldn't be lost in the turkey and get dried out, but other than that it wasn't a problem. I had DD help me 'dress' the turkey so she could learn how and there was lots of squealing 'Ooooo gross!!!!' as we removed the giblets to make the stock for the gravy, put butter between the skin and the meat, stuffed the cavities, sewed it closed, and bent the wings backwards (it took us at least 5 min. to ram that giant bird into my huge roasting pan). The meal turned out perfectly thanks to everyone pitching in at the end and everything came out at the same time as planned.

I asked all the kids to tell me their 'Thanksgiving favorites' as I was planning the menu. I noticed as I was bringing everything in to the buffet that, other than the turkey, there was nothing low cal or healthy about the meal…turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole w/fried onions, yam casserole in brown sugar, cranberry sauce, assorted olives, crescent rolls and butter, and pumpkin pie with whipped cream. OK, I guess it's not supposed to be a healthy meal, but next year I might add something healthy to the list…maybe some pumpkin soup or something with fruit?

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I'm so thankful that I had my whole family together and that we were able to stay home and really just enjoy each other…it was a wonderful Thanksgiving week!