Thanksgiving & A Cider Recipe You Have Got to Try!!

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone! It was so nice to have my parents, brother and Sister-in-law and my hubby's sister over! It was our son's first Thanksgiving and he sorta slept through most of it :)

All of the food was amazing, I think pretty much everyone left stuffed and happy! We played games (Balderdash and 31-a card game). We watched football and the newer "Miracle on 34th Street". It was such a relaxing and fun day!

I wrote last week a "Being Thankful" post so I won't go into what I'm thankful for again, however, I have got to say that we are so blessed to have a huge meal like we did and a care free day with family, when there are a lot of people around the world who are lucky if they can get a bowl of rice for the day. Not wanting to bring down the mood or anything, just something to think about and give thanks to God for.

So my brother and his wife brought this amazing Mulled Cider! This is the recipe you have got to try and it will be such a crowd pleaser!

The Mulled Cider recipe from my Sister-in-law! It's really just guide lines, she played with it to get it to where she liked it, and it's really easily tweak-able. Here's what the recipe calls for:

Ingredients: 
2 quarts apple cider (My Sister-in-law used a little under 1 gallon jug)
2 cinnamon sticks (She used more like three)
2 whole allspice berries (She put in 3)
2 whole cloves (Again, she used 3)
1 orange, thinly sliced (I think this is way too much, she just used 2-3 slices)

Directions:
Place all ingredients in a large saucepan and bring to a simmer. Divide among mugs and serve hot!

And that's it! So easy, but so good. After my SIL made it in a saucepan, she put it all in a crock-pot for easier traveling! This is great non-alcoholic drink for all ages, however if you would like it spiked with Rum, you can add a little splash (to adults ages 21+ of course!).

Enjoy!

Turkey Hand Craft! Not Just Your Standard Turkey :)

 

Today my daughter and I made 3 of the 4 turkey's shown above for our Thanksgiving guests this Thursday: Standard turkey, rocker and star trek! 

We had a lot of fun tracing my 4 year old daughters' hand and Halie adding her own creativity to the background. She of course wanted pink turkeys, so we traced her hand on pink paper, cut out the turkeys and glued them onto their own colored construction paper of a different color. After she drew and colored what she wanted in the background, we then glued on Indian corn onto the 4 fingered feathers! Last month when visiting the pumpkin patch, I made sure to pick up a few Indian corns! I knew I wanted some for household decorations and then could pluck off the corn kernels when we were done using them for decorations. 

*The process of plucking corn kernels off is super easy btw, if you never tried it before! You can use tweezers or just use your fingers*

I thought I'd share this fun and easy craft with you since Thanksgiving is just a few days away!! Most of you know the standard turkey, but I thought the other 3 turkeys are fun too, and with Indian corn it makes them even more festive! Take a look at Halie's cute turkeys for our family!

"Standard"

 "Star Trek"

 "The Rocker"

Hope you all have a Happy Turkey Day! :)

Being Thankful

Well it's that time of year when everyone starts talking about what they are thankful for! I wanted to do a 30 day thankful series, but clearly I am too late. So I guess I'll just talk about what I'm thankful for this year!

So let's see, this year our son Graham was born on May 9th! I'm thankful for him and that he was able to deliver him safely. At almost 8 months I was driving with Halie (our daughter who was 3 at the time) and we were hit by a car who "didn't see us". I was nervous wreck b/c one, Halie was terrified, two, my belly was swelling up from the seat belt strap tightening and my belly did hit the steering wheel (I had my belt under my belly and was wearing it properly, but still!) and three, I couldn't feel Graham move and to be exact it was for about 20 mins I didn't feel him move. I had never been in a car accident before so the experience was terrifying. We all walked away and the person who hit me totalled her car, but I'm so very thankful that Me, Halie and Graham were all okay. God protected us and conveniently placed my In-Laws at the scene not even 5 minutes after it happened (they were driving home from dinner). So yes, I'm thankful for a loving God and my healthy, sweet baby boy!

I'm thankful to finally be a Sophomore in college! hahah...only took me how many years! Well that's ok with me! I'm working toward my Psychology: Christian Counseling at Liberty University Online and I take 2 classes each of the three semesters and am slowly getting there! This coming Summer I'll finally be taking my Psychology classes and I cannot wait!!! Woohoo!!

Our daughter turned 4 this year! She is 4 going on 14 and keeps me very entertained- very thankful for her and her passionate self :)

I'm thankful for our home, electric and hot water! We lost power for 3 days when Hurricane Sandy hit so that always gets you thinking of the luxury of the things we have that others don't.

I'm thankful for all my family and friends! Their support and love is so important to me and I'm very thankful for each and everyone of them! My husband has been my rock for the past 6 years and continues to be so! I'm thankful for his love and that he cares deeply for me, even about the small things about me! And I'm thankful that he works so hard, allowing me to be a stay at home mom to our 2 kids! He knows that is very important to me and makes it happen.

The list really goes on! Maybe I really should have done a 30 day series!! Hahah...oops!