Thanksgiving : Let Us Give Thanks

First off, thank you guys SO much for all the sweet comments yesterday! You guys are SO sweet :) Really made my day. Every time I checked my mail, there was another comment on my blog :) I was TOTALLY feeling the love :)

Yeah for the Farmers Market! I was looking through it, and there's a TON of cool stuff in there. Did you go and look? Really, you should. Just because :)

Ok, I didn't really mean for these to be quite so tiny, but you get the idea - LOL! Just click on the links below to go to that particular product in the store. Happy shopping! And remember, I'm switching out the products at around 10 or 11pm EST each evening.

Circular Family
Distressed Familiy
Distressed Home
Families Mini
Family ClusterFamily Page
Family
Grunge Definition Family
Heritage
Home 2Linear Anniversary
Linear Definition Family
Linear Home
Love Cluster
Masks Family

Simple Family
Simple Home
Wedding
Wedding 2
Wordstrip Family

I got to sleep in again on Wednesday. Not quite as long, but it was still sleeping in. 8am. That's not bad :) I got up, made sure everyone had eaten, ate some yogurt and apples (it's my favorite breakfast), and started checking emails and such. I fooled around on the computer for a little while, and played with the kids for a little while. Or was that hid from the kids for a little while? LOL!

Anyway, at around 10am, I noticed that I hadn't heard my phone in a while. I'd plugged it in near my bed overnight, and was bothered by the flickering light. So I threw a pillow on it. So I couldn't hear it. I'd missed 3 calls and a few texts. Oops. Andrea was one of them. I called her back, and she was like "ARE YOU IGNORING ME!!!". ROFL! Such a funny girl. She'd had a late night, and sounded really tired. We chatted for about an hour, then decided to go to lunch together.

I showered (miracle! - LOL), got ready, and she came to pick me up at 11:30am. I told the kids I was going shopping (which I was, eventually), and headed out. The kids all had various activities at home that they were involved in, so it seemed like the perfect time to go.

First, we stopped by the Shoppette to get gas in her Suburban, then we went to Taco Cabana. Mmmm, Cabana Bowls are good :) AND, I didn't order a soda. I just got water. See, aren't you proud of me? Well, you should be :P

Next it was on to WalMart. Remember the French Fried Onions? Yep, I needed to get them. I also needed a chocolate bar. Yep. I needed it :) For a recipe, silly - hehehe. I got a Symphony Bar with Almonds and Toffee pieces. Cause the chocolate bar was supposed to have toffee pieces.

I just LOVE this time of year, because the stores have Diet Sierra Mist Cranberry Splash soda. Oh yeah, baby. That's some good stuff, there. Andrea and I both got one at the check out. Mmmmmm. Check it out if you haven't had one before. They're tasty.

So we paid, then stopped at the Post Office to check on PO box fees. I had SO much fun last year with the Christmas Cards from you all (in exchange for a Free Wordart pack), that I wanted to do it again. Last year, my mom had a PO box, so it worked out fine. But I don't this year. And as much as I love y'all, who's to say that there's not a scary stalker guy out there who, once my address is out there for everyone, isn't gonna come and get me. And none of us would want that, right? Right? hehehe.

It was 20 bucks for 6 months, with proof of address, and sponsors signature. So why does Captain America have to sign for it? Seemed a bit odd to me, but whatever. I'll bring him back on Friday.

We got home, and the kids were doing ok. They'd found all of the plastic cups that my friend, Kim, had given me before she moved. TONS of cup. Well, the kids had about 30 of them. And had made a HUGE tower of cups in the living room. Kinda fun, actually.

Tom and Jake headed out to play in the neighborhood with the other boys, and Joe and Jim and Eme and I started cooking. I had 90 minutes before I had to go to an FRG leadership meeting. I figured I could knock out a pie, at least.

I pulled out the frozen pie crusts, and 4 apples, and the cherry pie filling, and got to work. I realized that I'd never made an apple pie before. I peeled and diced the apples, and put them in the crust, then sprinkled sugar and cinnamon and a tiny bit of water in it. Joe was my BIG helper. He brought in a stool, and helped me get the ingredients, and was such good company.

I decided to make another crust to go on the top, and couldn't find my flour. I knew I'd just bought it at Walmart on Tuesday. I remember putting 2 bags in my cart. And some powdered sugar too, which was no where to be found. I went in my room, and found my receipt. I thought that maybe I'd forgot to buy them or something. Nope, there they were, right there on the receipt.

I went out to look in the truck, but nothing there. I did find my neighbors with their friend who'd come over to visit, and an MP. Apparently, someone had backed into someone else. Oops. The chickies new fancy silver SUV was a bit smashed up. I headed back in the house, feeling like they probably thought that I was just gawking. Since I came to the truck, and looked around for a bit, then went back inside. LOL! I was just looking for my flour!

So I called Walmart, and sure enough, I'd bought it, and left it at the register. Remember in the good old days, when the Walmart people would put the stuff in your cart for ya? Not so much here. They said I could come in and pick it up. Nice, just what I wanted to do. To go to Walmart 3 times in 24 hours. Nice. And the day before Thanksgiving, to boot.

I called Andrea, and asked if she had flour I could borrow. She said she did. By the time I walked down to her house (with Joe and Jim and Eme), it was too late to bake pies. I needed to go to my FRG thingy. Andrea couldn't find her flour (ROFL!), but said that if I went to Walmart, she needed Dishwasher soap.

She let Joe stay and play at her house while I went to my meeting, and Jimmy and Eme and I hurried home. I got the kids all situated, and headed out to the FRG meeting. It was me and the leader and the Captain, and Captain America. I didn't really know a lot of what they were talking about, but it seemed to go well. I'm so new. I need to take a beginners class online, I guess. I know that the Captain wants to meet with all the families in the battery soon, so we can all get to know him and each other. They have a plan, so it should be good.

We were only there for about an hour, and I headed home. I was tempted to just go to Walmart then, but decided to go and check on the kids first. I got them each a sandwich, and noticed that Jimmy had fallen asleep on the couch. It was 5pm. Andrea texted and said that she was gonna bring Joe home, but that it would be a few minutes. We ended up chatting outside for a while, then Joe and I headed out to WalMart. He seemed excited to come with me. He'd been my big helper so far :)

OMGosh, you guys. Walmart was SO crowded. The line just to get into WalMart was backed up SO far. There were no parking spot. Seriously. People were making up parking spots. We finally found a spot, then went in and waiting in the Service Desk line. F.O.R.E.V.E.R. Not fun. When we FINALLY got to the front, the chickie was like, Oh just go and get what you left, and bring it back here. Are you kidding me? And wait in that mondo line again? Sigh.

So I found the flour, but guess what? They were out of the powdered sugar. Nice. How does one making frosting without powdered sugar? I think Andrea has some. We both volunteered to make cake for a funeral on Friday. And cake is better with frosting. She'll help me out :)

I got Joe and I both a popcorn chicken, and headed for the front. We paid for what we bought, and can you believe it, found a line with NO ONE in it. Miracle of miracles. AND, the service desk was empty of customers too. Someone was watching out for me, I think :)

I got home, and instantly started cooking. Joe helped me make the crust for the 2 pies. He's such a sweet boy. Jake and Tom got online and started playing Dungeons and Dragons with their uncles and Aunt in St. Louis. Sounded like they were having a grand ole time. Eme was watching a movie, and Jim was still asleep. Dang, it's gonna be an early morning for that kid, I think :)

I baked the apple pie, and once the timer went off, realized I didn't know how to check and see if the pie was really done. I'd made pumpkin pies before, and knew that you insert the knife, and if it pulls away clean, it's done. I called my Grandma Ida in Oregon, and chatted with her for a while. She's the first person I think of when I have a baking question. She said that it should be bubbling on the inside (which it wasn't), and that when you poke it with a knife, the apples should feel liked boiled potatoes. Good to know. I let it cook longer, and chatted with her for about 15 minutes. Which is SUPER long for Grandma Ida :) I had a ton of fun chatting with her, though :)

So finally the apple pie was done, and I put the cherry in. While it was cooking, I made the chocolate pie. 2 Boxes of chocolate pudding no bake mix, 2 cups of cold milk, beat for 2 minutes. Add 1/2 container of cool whip (I used extra creamy), and 3/4 of a giant Sympyony Bar. Oh yeah, baby! Mix well. I poured mine into an 8x8 baking dish (does that make it a square pie?) with pressed graham crackers and butter in the bottom. I topped it with the other 1/2 of the cool whip, and topped it with the rest of the candy bar. Dang, it looked good :)

Next, I made the pumpkin pie and poured it in the shell. I just LOVE pumpkin pie. But I realized that I don't really like frozen pumpkin pie. Homemade is SO much better :)

The cherry pie was still cooking, and I had 1 pie crust left over, so I decided to use the recipe on the bag. Sweet Potato Pie. Never had it, but it looked pretty good. Here's the recipe:

Cinnamon Streusel Sweet Potato Pie

Filling:
1 1/2 cups mashed cooked dark orange sweet potatoes
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp corn syrup
1 cup evaporated milk
3 eggs
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/8 tsp cloves
1/8 tsp ginger

OK, here's what I did. The directions were a bit different, but this worked well for me. Heat the oven to 425. Open a can of sweet potatoes, and put 1 1/2 cups of them into a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients, and blend until it looks like a smoothie. Pour it into a frozen pie shell. It looks like a pumpkin pie, but lighter.

Bake on cookie sheet for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temp to 350 and bake 20 minutes longer.

Streusel:
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tbsp flour
2 tbsp butter/margarine
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 cup chopped pecans (I didn't have any, so I left it out)
1/4 cup chopped walnuts

Mix streusel ingredients. Carefully sprinkle streusel over filling. Bade addition 10-15 minutes longer, or runtil knife insterted in center comes out clean and streusel is golden brown. Cool completely (3 hours). Garnish with whipped topping.

I'll let you know how it tastes :) So the cherry was done, and I put the pumpkin in. Captain America was home at about this time. We put Joe and Jim to bed, and let the big kids stay up late. I started working on my post for Tomorrow, which took a really long time. Linking all those products was very time consuming :) But you're worth it - hehehe.

When the pumpkin was done, I put the sweet potato in. We sent Jake and Tom to bed at 10:30pm, and Captain America hit the sack too. Me, the lone night owl. But the house is sure peaceful at that time :)

Worked some more, then the sweet potato pie was done. Still blogging. Still haven't yet designed. Still haven't moved my products out. And it's 11:57pm. I'll go do that now :) I think I'm gonna publish this right now, instead of waiting for 7am EST. So that you'll have the full time with the Farmers Market sale.

OK, in honor of Thanksgiving, here's the Wordart I came up with for today :) Hope you like it. And hope it's spelled right. It's after midnight again, and I shoudn't be designing! LOL!

Click on the links below to go to my account to download the PNG file, and leave some love if you like my work. Thanks!

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