The Kassel Family Project Life 365

Happy Thanksgiving!  What a beautiful day we had.  It was just the four of us because my Mom and Dad couldn’t make it down this year.  It turned out to be a blessing and exactly what I needed.  The day was perfect – relaxed, calm, great food, my husband, and my beautiful kids.  I have a lot to be thankful for even if I haven’t felt that way much lately.  My work situation has been really clouding my perception of things and I forget that I really do have a great life.  Thank you, Thanksgiving.  What a difference you made.

Laura and I made the beginnings of Thanksgiving dinner today.  First, we made Cranberry Sauce.  For those of you who eat it from a can, my recipe is so easy and it’s spectacular!  One cup of water and one cup of sugar until the water boils.  Add one bag of cranberries and simmer over low heat for 10 minutes.  Let cool and put in the fridge!  YUMMY!  Next up, Laura and I made Fresh Pumpkin Pie using the pie pumpkin that I cooked down last weekend.  She helped make the pie crust and roll it out.  We mixed up the pie filling and put it in the oven.  I love cooking with the kids.  Too fun!

I took Laura back to the doctor today because she has strep throat AGAIN with a side of a right ear infection (she was given the antibiotic azithromycin this time around).  Having said that, though, she was showing no signs of being sick at all.  Zero.  Zip.  Zilch.

Yes, this *IS* the extremely sick child, wearing Tiger ears and playing with her dollhouse.  Oh, and wearing pajamas because, after all, “I’m sick Mommy and that means I can wear pajamas all day!”

I accomplished a major project today!  The kids’ room needed to be moved around to accommodate bunk beds that Grandpa Ken will be making.  First, we had to go through all the toys, stuffed animals, etc. and determine what needed to be donated to Goodwill.  I’m so proud of Laura and John for helping me!  It made the process much easier because they got to decide what they wanted to keep.

By the time we finished going through all the toys, their room was a disaster.  I started by moving the toy shelf, followed by the dresser, the table, the beds, and so on.

The whole process took me roughly 3 1/2 hours to do.  I cleaned the room and vacuumed as well.  At the end of the process, the room is all ready for bunk beds and the kids both said that they really like it.  One major project off my list!

While I was at my Mom’s Group, Andy and the kids played outside for a while.  I got home to find driveway art!  Among the many designs were ice cream cones, a pirate ship, and Laura’s writing.  This was one of my favorites.

Andy loves October because he loves the different Pumpkin Beers.  O’Fallon Pumpkin Beer is one of his favorites.  It is usually gone from stores by Halloween.  Today, Laura and I went to Hy-Vee after I picked her up from school.  One of the shopping objectives was beer for Andy.  Standing at the cooler after picking out Samuel Adams Light, I said to Laura, “What else should we get Daddy?”  She responded with, “Mommy, it’s the Pumpkin Beer Daddy loves.  Get that!  Get that!”  I turn to the other set of coolers, which is a wall of many, many kinds of six-pack beers.  I didn’t see the O’Fallon Pumpkin Beer anywhere.  So, Laura starts pointing to it.  We start walking down and, sure enough, there it was.  How in the world she picked it out from all those beers, I’ll never know!  Daddy was one mighty happy man when he saw it!