Thanksgiving with the Hoots

The Saturday before Thanksgiving we hosted a Thanksgiving feast for the Hoots' family.

It was the perfect fall day for food and family.

New table linens for our celebration.

The kids table. No vintage heirloom china for them.

The menu... notice anything missing?

Hot Spiced Cider.

Here is the recipe I get asked all the time...

Warm 1 gallon apple cider or apple juice.

Mix in 1/2 cup brown sugar.

Place the following in a coffee filter...

1 teaspoon whole allspice

2 teaspoons whole cloves

2 pinches nutmeg

1/2 teaspoons salt (yes, add the salt)

2 cinnamon sticks

(don't have cinnamon sticks?

just substitute ground cinnamon - 1 teaspoon= 1 stick).

Twist the coffee filter up and close with twist tie.

Mull coffee filter spice mix in cider for about 2 hours. (or longer)

While mulling I like to add orange slices.

Serve and enjoy!

Here is what was missing on the menu... turkey!

We ordered a Bojangles turkey this year. It comes fully cooked and you just reheat.

It was incredible easy and not as messy as cooking a turkey.

It was tasty (but tastes nothing like their chicken). But, I think my expectations were too high. It was good, but not as good as my mom's turkey marinade. I would do it again because it really is fool proof poultry.

The pee-wee table. All they really ate was bread. Isaac and Olivia and one cousin.

The big kid table. Ethan and three cousins.

Isaac and Granddaddy watching the fire.

Off to get more firewood with older cousins.

The big entertainment of the day was the fire...

and there were three very dedicated fire keepers!

Superhero Squad

One of the things that I love the most about my kids is how excited they get! And, boy were they ever excited about dressing up this year. We had a superhero themed year - and Livy actually picked her costume first. No princess for her!

Other superhero friends... at a fall festival we went to on Saturday night.

Isaac (im)patiently waiting his turn to race on the bounce house.

More to come about the superheroes later...

Soccer!

Ethan played soccer this fall. By far, this season has been the best so far, mostly because John is the coach. Ethan loves having John coach - and he (Ethan) has even starting insisting that John join his own team so he can play too!

Not sure why these images are so small... one of the many mysteries of blogger.

Thought this picture was hilarious. Ethan looks more like Frankenstein here, than an athlete!

Isaac pouting because he wants on the field.

(The twins played this season too- more to come on their team later).

These pictures of "John in action" crack me up. He looks so intense and (if you know him you know) he is actually an extremely mellow guy!

Another thing that helped this year... best buddy Kieran is on the team.

Pumpkin Carving!

On Friday Night we had a family night - set aside to relax and carve pumpkins. This year all the kids helped for about 15 minutes, then they got bored and I finished (of course)!

Scary to see him next to that big knife... disaster waiting to happen!

Finished product

(took the picture today - so they are a little sunken already-

did not think to take it on Friday night).

Bonfires and Lollipops

Over the weekend we went to my parents. John was out of town on a men's weekend and my cousin Tina came up from Florida. As always, Tina brought the kids some surprises - among them giant Disney World Lollipops (or as Isaac keeps calling them - lollipolli's).

Ask my kids what they do at their grandparents house and they will give you any number of answers about fire. My dad has them all loving bonfires, flashlights, and smores. So since we were all there over the weekend there were bonfires each night at dark.

Hope you like the combination - fire and sugar. My kids sure did!

Livy playing games on Tina's phone.

Isaac and Livy with Tina.

Hooray for Lollipops!

Around the fire- it looks like it is snowing- but really it is ash falling.

Let the Festivities Begin

The Hoots spent this weekend at my parents. I think this may be my children's favorite place on Earth (or at least a close second to Disney).

When Ethan realized we would not be there again before Halloween he insisted we carve a pumpkin and go to a Fall Festival.

So of course we did both.

I have some holiday loving children.

Ethan and Liv scooping out the cuts.

Ethan is in the zone.

While the other two were scooping - here is what Isaac was doing.

His conclusion - "This does not taste like pumpkin pie!"

Starting the carving.

My mom probably had 100 fancy stencils to make an ornate or creative pumpkin face- however Ethan wanted to do his own design.

Isaac likes it!

The finished product.

A masterpiece according to Ethan.