Could Thanksgiving get any better than this......

Stevie, providing comic relief, during the cooking stretch of the day. She actually really enjoyed her unlimited, uninterrupted "wii " time. She's not quite to that time of life where she pushs mom over and takes over the "process." She enjoys the end result!
I mixed up the rolls, rolled out one batch while showing Ceci how it was done. She then rolled out the three remaining batches. Despite the picture, she really was enjoying herself. She had tried to grate orange peeling for me earlier, not much of a success story. I switched her to zesting them and she liked that much better! I especially like the flour look that she is sporting:)
Half of the "fruit" of her labors. Yummy, can't wait! Inside the oven is the Cranberry cheesecake I made. (Ceci's orange zest included) I should mention that Baxter helped me with the cranberry cheesecake. I had never made a "real" cheese cake, so he and I created a new memory. Gotta love that boy!
Noah's pumpkin pies, he made, were impatiently waiting for the cheesecake to finish and then for the rolls to cook. His practice shot in October really paid off. He didn't even ask for any help. He did however ask me what tawny meant since the recipe is Grandma's Tawny Pumpkin Pie. He finally figured out through some teasing that it is indicative to the color of the pie. I hope to hear him use his new vocabulary word at dinner! Gotta love that boy too! Maybe I just gotta love them all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Noah peeling apples for Dutch apple pie. Steven loves apple pie. He found out that I hadn't included it in the menu this year. His crestfallen expression led to one more visit to the store. Baxter begged Grandma to go with him since I was up to my elbows. She seemed happy to go since she needed a couple of things too. Hence the apple pie wasn't done until about 11:30pm.
Steve and Baxter working on thee aforementioned apple pie. The funny thing is that I told Baxter to get 8-10 Granny Smith apples. They just assumed that the recipe would take that many, so they peeled and sliced them all. Steve ended up making two pies and piled them really high, just the way he likes! (I didn't notice since I had my feet up and was playing solitaire on someones i-pod touch)

Steve looking in the freezer and refrigerator and NOT finding anything to eat. Well not anything he could eat last night anyway! Too Funny!!

Lest you think that we gave Zane away, breathe easy. He spend the afternoon and evening with a friend over in Leonardtown. He did help G-pa earlier in the day!

I love Thanksgiving! I enjoy getting everything ready and teaching the kids how to continue our traditions--I even think that they enjoy learning them!