Superstar!

Be sure to check out the front page of the Tribune & Georgian today. Mary Grace and her fellow Green Apples are on the front page and their recipes for turkey are on page 12A.

Here's the website, although, I'm not sure how long they will leave this edition up:



http://tribune-georgian.com/edition/edition/?haspdf=1

Getting Ready for Turkey Day

It's been a fun two weeks leading up to Thanksgiving here in South Georgia. We've had two Happy Apple parties, a party at Ms. Julie's, the Wild Game Dinner for church, a picnic by the waterfront, and a birthday party for our little friend, William.

Elsie was a turkey for her Happy Apple party. She wasn't really into singing with her class but certainly enjoyed the eating afterwards! Mary Grace was a pilgrim for her party and did a great job singing at both her party and Elsie's.

On Wednesday night, I enjoyed a girls night with a new Bunco group in town. Stephen was shocked when I told him that we didn't actually play the game! Yes, women can enjoy hours and hours of conversation with no real purpose other than getting to know each other better. This was a nice treat for me because I rarely do anything just by myself or with other women, no kids, no husbands!

Last Thursday night, the UM Men put on their annual fundraiser, the Wild Game dinner. It's held at a hunting plantation just north of town. The men cook all sorts of wild game in all sorts of ways and everyone gathers to sample it. It was a fun evening and Mary Grace especially loved the "wild turkey and hot dogs", as she put it.

I had a great birthday on Sunday. We went to the early service at church then had a picnic by the waterfront for lunch. Afterwards, we went to a birthday party for William NeSmith, who celebrated his first birthday with a farm party. His parents had brought in a goat, a pig, and a bunny for the occasion. What a fun time! My slideshow doesn't have photos from that because I forgot my camera but William's family took PLENTY of photos with their fancy professional camera, so hopefully I can get my hands on some of those.

Miss Julie treated all her kids and their families to a home-cooked Thanksgiving lunch today at the daycare house. It was a special time with all our friends there. Afterwards, Stephen too Elsie back to work with him, where he thought she would take a nap. He has already returned her to Miss Julie's! And Mary Grace has gone to her friend, Mary Margaret's house to play for the afternoon.

Tonight, we'll be packing and tomorrow we'll be heading out to Raleigh around noon to celebrate Thanksgiving with the Fralix clan. We'll return to St. Marys on Monday and we'll be in full Christmas swing by then. What a wonderful time of year!

We have so much to be thankful for and the past couple of weeks has really made me remember that. Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

Just Like Nana

I felt like my mom today when I recruited Mary Grace to polish silver for me. Oh, how many times have I done this for my mom? Countless!
Now, Mary Grace is getting big enough to help. She did a great job! The photo just doesn't do it justice!

From Veterans' Day

From Veterans' Day

From Veterans' Day

Mary Grace's Recipe for Cooking Turkey

In honor Thanksgiving, I thought I would pass along Mary Grace's recipe for cooking turkey. This is her response to "how do you cook a turkey?":

You need milk, then orange juice, then carrots and then chicken. You get a turkey from the farm. Mix it all in a big bowl. I stir it with my big spoon. Put it in a pan and then put it in the microwave for 10 minutes. We let it cool down, then we eat it with Elsie and Mommy and Daddy.

This recipe came home in a book from Happy Apple with several others, one of my favorites is from Mikayla:

Feed the turkey Dr Pepper. Put it in the oven for three minutes. Spin it in the pot for three minutes. It is warm and it is ready. Eat it with a spoon and fork. Have pizza with it with Mommy and Daddy.

Such sweet children!

Lindsey's Birthday Party

Mary Grace and Elsie's friend, Lindsey, turned 6 today and had her birthday party at the skating rink. It was a great time. Mary Grace especially enjoyed skating and was really pretty good at it, even though it was her first time. I had fun, too. I think I had my 6th or 7th birthday party at a skating rink. Funny how some things don't change. Even some of the music played today probably would have been played at my birthday party, too.

Lindsey's Birthday Party

Halloween and Tweetsie

Our Trip to the NC Mountains

We traveled to Raleigh last weekend so that I could run the half marathon there on Sunday morning. The weather and my asthma kept me from running, so we decided to head over to Blowing Rock for the afternoon instead. Mom, Mike, Chatham, and Johnathan all went with us. Stephen was so excited for the girls to see Tweetsie Railroad, which he enjoyed as a child. It was VERY cold, especially for two little South Georgia girls but I don't think they even noticed they had so much fun!
We rode the Mouse Train and the big Tweetsie train, which is a true, old steam engine that's coal powered. We say a Cowboys and Indians battle, rode the ferris wheel (which made Mary Grace squeal with delight, "I never done this before!"), drank hot chocolate, watched a show (Mary Grace even got on stage and sang), and had a day full of fun! After Tweetsie, we went to see Mom and Mike's condo at Chetola, which is so nice! We're already planning a trip back there for next summer!
I'll add more photos later.