Waking up to this winter wonderland has convinced Joshua that Christmas is most definately here! We’ve been trying to convince him for days that Christmas is still weeks away. There’s no changing his mind now, he’s sure we’ll be opening gifts tonight!

School wasn’t canceled but it was delayed for two hours, the children got to play for a little while before they had to catch the bus. What Fun!

I know it’s probably quite rude to post my own Christmas wish list here. Please forgive me and if you get the chance please direct my husband to this list.

Here are some things I’ve been wishing for that would not regularly be considered gift
material. I’m not hung up on the brands or the colors these are merely representations of things I’ve been longing for. I am especially interested in a new can opener and measuring cups!

Oh, and while we’re on the subject. . .

Dreamfields Pasta

Gorgonzola Cheese,
DaVinci Gourmet Sugar Free Flavored Syrups (White Chocolate, German Chocolate Cake, French Vanilla, Caramel, Praline, English Toffee

Bath & Body-Warm Vanilla Sugar-Eau de Toilette, Shimmer Wand, Moisturizing Hand SOAP, or Concentrated Home Fragrance Spray

Joshua asks ,”Mommy, how come no one ever told Daddy your real name?”
“What do you mean?” I ask.
“He’s always calling you ‘Jami’ when everyone knows your real name is Mommy!”

If I was extremely interested in this blog I might have written of our wonderful Thanksgiving Thursday evening. Perhaps if I was even slightly interested I would have written Friday. Alas I was too busy spending time with my family to write to you about spending time with my family and honestly I’ve been a bit blog weary of late.
I’m am ready now though so here goes:

Since it’s inception our family stayed home for the first major holiday ever. The kids where so excited not to go anywhere. At first they where disappointed until they realized we were about to reach a family milestone, we were going to make our first Thanksgiving Dinner. That meant that they would be helping roast the turkey, mix the green bean casserole, simmer the cranberries, peel potatoes, and layer the deserts. What an adventure!
We started Wednesday around 2PM. That’s when we decided to cook our own traditional dinner. After picking Kaleb and Charleigh up off the bus we drove to town and made our menu and grocery list along the way. We all talked about what was “traditional” Thanksgiving food for our family and decided which things we would make and who would help with what.

I had dreaded going grocery shopping the day before Thanksgiving but it ended up being a great blessing. First we got a parking spot right by the front door then as we went in everything ran unbelievably smoothly. The children behaved perfectly and no one got plowed down by any renegade shopping carts. When it came time to check out we made our way towards the long line and miraculously a register opened up right in front of us. We didn’t have to wait in line at all.

Once we got home I decided to get the turkey ready for the next day. I slathered the bird with a herb butter Charleigh helped me make and Joshua watched in awe. “Did you kill that bird mom or did you buy him dead?” “Who picked the feathers out?” “Is your arm up the head or the butt?”

Thursday morning we woke up early. The kids took turns helping me cook, when it wasn’t their turn they made Christmas Cards.

Finally at 1:30 pm we sat down to Thanksgiving Dinner. We had Herb Buttered Turkey, Cranberry Pecan Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole, Broccoli Rice and Cheese Casserole, Mashed Potatoes, Gravy, Green Beans, Corn Muffins, Fresh Cranberry Sauce, Deviled Eggs and a Pumpkin Gingerbread desert. Besides the gravy and the cranberries my favorite part of the dinner was that we didn’t have to drive home after it was done. The rest of the day was full of games, movies, crafts and left overs. It very well may have been one of my favorite Thanksgivings ever.

Another Nae recipe: Posted here for future searching purposes.
Prep: 5 min; Bake: 45min

1 pint (2 cups) ice cream, softened
1 1/2 cups self-rising flour

Stir together ice cream and flour, stirring just until flour is moistened. Spoon batter into a greased and floured 8×4 inch loaf pan. Bake at 350 for 40 to 45 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center of bread comes out clean. Remove from pan, and cool on a wire rack

Note: Batter may also be divided evenly between 2 greased and floured 5×3 inch loaf pans. Bake at 350 for 20 to 25 minutes or until a wooden pcik inserted in center of bread comes out clean.

Yield: Makes 1 (8-inch) loaf

Otherwise know as Southern Living’s Pumpkin Crisp I’m posting one of Nae’s favorite recipes so the next time we lose it we can google this site.

Prep: 15 Min Bake: 1 hour Stand 10 min

1 (15 oz) can pumpkin
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 (18.25 oz) package butter-flavored yellow cake mix
1 cup chopped pecans
1 cup butter, melted

STIR together first 5 ingredients. Pour into a lightly greased 13×9 inch baking dish. Sprinkle cake mix evenly over pumpkin mixture; sprinkle evenly with pecans. Drizzle butter evenly over pecans.

BAKE at 350 for 1 hour or until golden brown. Remove from oven, and let stand 10 minutes before serving. Serve warm or at room temperature with Whipped Cream, if desired.

Hello, my name is Jami and I’m a Food Network Junkie.
These are some of my favorite shows:

Good Eats with Alton Brown

Iron Chef America

30 Minute Meals with Rachel Ray

Semi-Homemade Cooking with Sandra Lee

Everyday Italian with Giada De Laurentiis

Food Network Challenge

Throwdown with Bobby Flay

I’ve fielded many a question concerning my dear twin sisters decision to go into the Army. Frankly, it’s a difficult subject to discuss with people and I’m never quite sure how to go about it. I think now I’ve finally figured it out: I’ll just print out her most recent post, A Mother’s Call, on a nice little card and hand it out to the well-meaning inquisitors.

Please don’t forward email petitions, trust me it doesn’t work. The math just simply does not add up and generally these petitions are based on false information anyway.

I hereby declare that I will not forward email petitions.

This doesn’t mean I don’t care about the plight of Afghan Women, or I that I don’t believe in God. I assure you I don’t practise the art of “bonsai kittens” and I definitely support the freedom to breastfeed. I don’t however promote the clogging of in-boxes and the false sense that one has helped the world by simply forwarding on a massive list of names that will never meet there intended recipient.

So I now declare a ban on forwarded email petitions. In fact I think I’ll start a petition against it. What do you think. Leave your name in the comments if you agree.
Oh, and here’s some links to support my point.
Don’t forward email petitions
Snopes on Internet Petitions

Note: To abstain from any confusion, I am not speaking of the petitions that are formally hosted on specific websites by notable well respected establishments.