Thanksgiving, pies, and Advent activities

Well the traditional weekly post has now been delayed long enough that this one will have to cover two weeks.

We start off with Thanksgiving, or as Bennett would call it, "Thanks-for-giving".  Wondering what one eats on Thanks-for-giving?  "Thanks-for-giving food", of course!

As we usually do, we went to New Jersey for Thanksgiving.  We drive down and back in one day, so it makes for a pretty long day.  It was a small-ish crowd this year, 19 adults and 2 kids. 

We didn't even bother trying to get Bennett to take a nap.  We knew the odds for actually getting him to sleep would be pretty slim.  Instead many of us went on walk.  Unfortunately he ended up wanting to be carried much of the way.  But here he is with Michael checking out an old tractor.

Back at the house there were lots of people to play Zingo Bingo with Bennett.

After supper he fell asleep in my lap.  This is absolutely not normal for him at all.  I think he was just over a year old the last time he fell asleep in my lap.  Soon after this picture was taken we did wake him up to use the potty and change into PJs and he ended up waking up a bit too much.  We left soon afterwards and he quickly fell asleep in the car.

Overall it was a nice Thanksgiving but it went by very quickly and we left feeling like we had barely talked to anyone.

The week was full of lots of baking of pies.  Tuesday night I baked a Marlborough Pudding for Liz.  On Wednesday I made a pear pie and a pecan pie.  And then on Friday/Saturday I made another Marlborough Pudding, a carrot pie, and Chris made chicken pot pies.

Why all this pie?  Saturday we hosted "Piesgiving".  Andrew and Gentry brought lamb pasties and a pork and apple pie and Dad brought over spinach pie.

Spinach Pie

Pork and Apple Pie

Marlborough Pudding

Lamb Pasties

Individual Chicken Pot Pies

Carrot Pie

After Bennett woke up from his nap we went to visit Mimi.  We brought her some Thanksgiving leftover, including a few of her favorites that hadn't been provided by the nursing home.

Beaumont had already decorated for Winter

We also painted some ornaments.  These were from kits which only came with red, green, and yellow paints.  Kind of hard to do much with limited colors!

On Sunday we had our weekly OSV visit.  It was very quiet at the village.  Most people were likely busy traveling home from Thanksgiving.  Plus the weather was a bit yucky so I'm sure that kept many people away as well.

One of the things on the schedule was to help the farmer with seasonal work.  I think the original plan had been to cut wood, but since Bennett was the only one around to help, the farmer decided to sharpen some tools instead.  Bennett got the job of turning the sharpening wheel.

Back at home, we made an Advent wreath.

During Advent I'm trying to come up with some sort of activity every day.  One day we made a paper chain out of construction paper.  The next day we painted wrapping paper.

He'll probably hate me later in life when he sees pictures of himself just in undies, but we knew how messy this would be, so stripping down to the undies was a necessity.

We also decorated our tree.  Although the ornaments that Bennett put on were all on the lower branches, they were mostly spaced out.  Well, not these.  Luckily they weren't too bad so I didn't need to rearrange much.

Last Friday was the holiday party at Bennett's school.  He was very excited that he was wearing party clothes and he even told everyone he saw that these were his party clothes.

After eating all of the kids got to decorate cookies.  Bennett seemed to think that making sandwich cookies was the way to go.  It certainly was less messy than having to deal with all the frosting and sprinkles that he used.

Last Saturday we went to Sturbridge for their Christmas by Candlelight program.  This officially ended our streak with 25 weeks in a row-- from June 22nd through December 7th.  We also learned that we aren't the only regular visitors.  There's one family who also comes pretty much every week, but they have a child who's a Junior Intern.  Not sure that is quite the same as us since the parents have to come to provide transportation.  Then there's another family who comes 2-3 days in a row and then comes back again a few weeks later for another 2-3 days in a row.

Anyway, while we were at Christmas by Candlelight we started off watching part of a performance by Full Gael.  We've seen them perform before at OSV and really like them.  Bennett wasn't quite as mesmerized this time as he's been before, but he did enjoy the music.

Next we walked through a couple of buildings, making mulling spice sachets, learning about Saint Nicholas, etc.  Then we made our way to the bonfire on the common where we ran into Dave and Victoria.  Victoria let us know that she would be reading Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer and invited us to listen.  So after dinner that's where we headed.

We then headed to a few more buildings where we sampled fruitcake, gingerbread, and viewed a miniature village (complete with a few miniature OSV buildings).  At the tinsmith we made twisted tin ornaments.

As we were leaving we passed back through the visitor center and noticed that the line for Santa was much shorter than when we arrived so Bennett got to see Santa.

I'm not quite sure that Bennett understands that Santa brings gifts and that you are supposed to ask Santa for what you want for Christmas.  When we saw Santa at the mall on Saturday (we were there for something else so figured we would see how he did with Santa) he asked for "a truck".  Or at least I think that's what he said.  He was pretty quiet.  At OSV, while standing in line we prepped Bennett that Santa might ask what he wanted.  He said "a hat".  What color?  "Red."  Ok, sounds good.  Santa can do that!  But then when Santa asked him his response was, "a present".  What kind of present?  "A red one."

Since then I've tried getting more info both asking, and having Bennett draw a picture for Santa of what he wants.  He drew "a red present.  With a bow on it."


On Sunday we were going to go to the Enchanted Village at Jordan's Furniture.  We arrived there about an hour after they opened and the line was at least two hours long.  We turned around and left.  He was a bit sad at first but instead we went to Ikea and he forgot all about it.

Back at home Bennett helped wrap presents to mail to Georgia.

And that wraps up Nov. 25th through Dec. 8th!  

Birthday, naps, skating and OSV

I guess the lack of napping last week was a fluke.  This week he was back to napping every day, although on Sunday it took him quite some time to fall asleep.

Monday was my birthday.  Bennett had lots of fun opening my cards and presents.  And yes, my presents were mostly Legos.  Why do you ask?

Then it was time for cake.  Or more specifically, cupcakes.  I did have to bake them myself, but they were quite tasty.

And apparently when you have a three-year-old in the house, hats are a necessary accessory.

On Friday night Bennett went to Uncle Andrew and Aunt Gentry's while Mummy and Daddy had a date night.  This took a bit of tricky coordination due to daycare closing time, train schedules, etc but we made it work.  And the adult time was nice.

On Saturday we had skating.  Bennett is being his typical self and not wanting to do things on his own- instead wanting help to stand up, march, etc.  Apparently the allure of toys, other kids, etc isn't quite enough.

Then after skating we headed off to OSV.  This weekend we consulted the weather forecast in advance and Saturday was the much nicer day! 

When we got to the farmhouse Ryan remarked again about how she really liked Bennett's Halloween costume.  Guess we really made an impression.  :)  Also while we were at the farm Bennett had been busy watching the animals.  Then he looked over and saw Dave.  Bennett ran over saying, "Hi Dave.  Whatcha doin?"  Nope, Bennett doesn't feel comfortable there at all.  Nope, not at all.  Ha!

In the tinshop he got to help Phil make more tin biscuit cutters.  Phil didn't seem to remember that we had made one the week prior.  Maybe at this rate I'll have a whole collection!

Here Phil is soldering the ends together.

And then Sunday was errand day.  Chris and I split up in the morning (Bennett going with Daddy) to go to stores in different directions.  I got back just as Chris had put Bennett down for nap and then he went off to work to strike the set.  After about two hours of chattering to himself I finally got Bennett to go to sleep!  If only it weren't such a struggle.

Fun with Siri

Last night we decided to see what Siri (the voice recognition function of our phone) could decipher of Bennett speaking.  What was even more fun was when Chris and I each pulled out our phones and Siri translated the same things completely differently. 

• Are you at bat but hey Dr. my dad going to
• Daddy had wine by black goggles are
• Eric Bigelow won't just talk hi
• Is going to refer me to have both of our clients sometimes he visited don't touch foam time bye Hey wonky hi hi Pigalle monkeys right and wrong with black killer delay like he doing
• Hey dad schools hi hi forgot Michael's right the rope but like I need to read right the rent
• Just Bennett Fagant No you can't push it looked like he bye Bye delay LOL contact the land at all man I get there and Karen Calamante all man going like he is doing  (The Bennett and no you can't push it are things that I was saying at the same time.)
• Hey Ricky doing Pool two what are you doing school today Paul okay dad I pay you already commitment program for me
• What are you doing today okay alright want me to go away from me

I think we'll have to try this experiment again later to see how his elocution evolves.

The demise of naps?

I think the day might be coming soon and much sooner than Chris and I are ready for!  I certainly hope that by talking about it we aren't making it come true.  In the past 7 days, Bennett only napped one or two of those days.  Noooooo!  Of course we have to still attempt a nap for a bit longer which tends to mean lots of him trying to escape his room, talking loudly, etc.  If only he would sit quietly and we'll just call it "rest time".  This is especially challenging at school.  They are fine with him not napping, if only he would stay quietly on his mat to read a book.

This week Chris also started tech for Cabaret.  This meant I was on my own Wednesday-Friday after work/school and on Saturday from mid-morning through the evening.  Then he had Sunday off as well as today before he goes back to tech for two more nights.  Ugh.  Luckily he's around in the morning to help get Bennett ready for school which is always tricky if I have to be getting myself ready at the same time without an extra adult to help.

One day when I went to pick Bennett up from school his hair was sticking up.  Turns out he'd had a ponytail earlier.  And then he got another one.  :)

On Saturday we had our first skating lesson.  I definitely feel a bit rusty from not being on the ice in about 6 or 7 months.  Here's the only picture that I have of Bennett as he's getting dressed in warm clothes.  He gets very distracted if he sees us so it's hard to get pictures of him skating.  What's nice though is his orange snow pants!  When I'm on the other side of the rink it's easy to see where he is among all of the other people in black or navy pants!

After skating Daddy went to work and Bennett and I ran some errands and visited Mimi.  Then after a failed nap we went to Brandeis so that Bennett could check out the set and so that we could go to dinner with Daddy.  I guess the lack of nap caught up with him, because he fell asleep on the way home at 6:10pm.  I was really dreading how early he might wake up on Sunday but he surprised me.  He woke up at 6:40!  Bennett and I let Daddy sleep for a bit to catch up on some lost sleep.

A couple of hours later we woke Daddy up and got ready for our weekly trip to Sturbridge.

It was a pretty quiet day- chilly and a threat of rain which kept many people away.  Plus there wasn't much on the schedule.  But this worked to our advantage when we got to the tinshop!  Phil put Bennett to work making something out of the tin.

First they went to one machine and bent the edge of the tin.

Then they went to another machine and crimped that bent edge over a piece of wire.

Then the folded it in half.

Next they bent up each side in a curve.

Finally Phil soldered the two ends together and we got a heart shaped biscuit cutter.  Phil told Bennett to give it to Mummy.  A perfect early birthday present!

Guy Fawkes, hand turkeys, and sheep

Remember remember the fifth of November
Gunpowder, treason and plot.
I see no reason why gunpowder, treason
Should ever be forgot.

That's right, Guy Fawkes Day was this week.  As crazy Anglophiles we dressed Bennett in his Spurs shirt and Union Flag arm/leg warmers.  Bennett apparently liked the arm warmers so much that he wanted to wear them again on Friday.

Saturday was the first skating class of the session but we missed it for our weekly OSV trip.  Yeah, I know what you're thinking, but we really wanted to be there on Saturday right when they opened.

The reason?  They were butchering a sheep and it had been suggested to us that we should plan to get there right when they opened.  More on this later, after the warning.

Uncle Andrew and Aunt Gentry came along as well.  This worked out well to have a couple of extra people to help keep an eye on Bennett, especially when things were going kind of slowly.

Since things were going a little slowly we went back and forth from the farm a few times.  Plus it was cold so we needed mulled cider to warm up.

When we stopped in the tin shop we were talking with Phil about how almost daily Bennett shoots his "musket" and how the other day he was saying that he'd forgotten his powder and his earplugs.  When we asked him where they were, he said they were in the tinshop.  Phil also gave Bennett a  musket ball.

Another fun moment was when Dave started to fill the woodbin.  Bennett asked if he could help.  Sure! Dave then had to go and do something else, but when he got back Bennett made sure to tell him that he's filled the woodbin.

On Sunday we went to Uncle Andrew and Aunt Gentry's house for a brunch and hand turkey craft party.  Bennett had so much fun cutting paper that he wanted to do more after his nap.

His finished hand turkey.

In other news, here's a friendly reminder (and doing my wifely duty) to remind you of Chris' Etsy shop.
Now is the time of year where he sells lots and lots of his Nativity Advent Calendars.  I know, it's crazy early to be thinking about Christmas, but if Santa can be at the mall already I guess it's not too early.

In years past he hasn't been able to keep up with the demand for them.  This year he worked a bit harder to have more of an inventory.  Only time will tell if it's enough.  What I find exciting is that I've been able to find lots of these pinned on Pinterest!

If this particular puzzle isn't of interest to you, he has lots of other designs available in his shop, plus even more that aren't listed.  And if you are local, his work (including puzzles, ornaments, and pens) is available for purchase at Sign of the Dove Gallery in Newton at The Mall at Chestnut Hill.

In other shopping news, I’m having a thirty-one catalog party, open until the 22nd.  If interested, you can peruse and order online at https://www.mythirtyone.com/beckythackston.  Go to “My Parties” and then select my name. 

The special for November is a limited edition Medium Utility Tote for only $7 (with $35 purchase).  It’s also available at the regular price for $30.

There are lots of great items for organizing your home, car, etc or plenty of items that would be great hostess/teacher/whomever gifts.

Also, if you would be so inclined to click on the ads on this site it would earn me a few pennies.  Not a lot, but every little bit helps, right?  And I'm not kidding about it only being a little.  Last month there were 6 clicks which earned a whopping $2.05.  Only you have to earn $100 before they will send you a check.  Hmm, this could take a while.  :)

And now for pictures of the sheep.

Here's my warning for Mel and other people who are squeamish that you may want to stop reading.  These are a bit more gruesome than last week's turkey photos.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Sturbridge opens at 9:30.  Just before they opened they shot the sheep.  We were there right when they opened and headed straight back to the farm.  When we got there the sheep was lying on the table.  They then sliced the skin on one of the legs and hung the sheep up to better be able to work on it.  

We were the only ones there (other than the interpreters) for at least a half hour, but it was nice because Bennett was able to run around a bit to check on the other animals, see what was going on inside the farmhouse (not much), etc.  Lots of back and forth running.  Also most of the people working know us as regulars so they knew that Bennett would be ok.  Plus if he went into the farmhouse we were usually right behind him.

As you can see below, Dave is taking some notes about the process.  Since this type of event doesn't happen very often it becomes an educational experience for all of the staff as well.

It was taking a while to remove the skin so we went to get warm drinks and visit some of the other buildings.  When we came back it had been skinned and the organs had been removed.  Victoria asked Bennett if he wanted to see the organs, mentioning that they were similar to the turkey he'd seen the week before.  Dave is working here on the heart and lights (lungs).  The other useful organs are in the pan.

Here it is about to be brought inside. 

Inside Victoria starts by removing the "hams".  Apparently this is the name of this cut of meat- the legs.  She had to ask one of the guys to come in with an axe to help break it apart.

And that's all the butchering pictures I've got.  We went away for lunch and when we came back it was pretty much all cut apart.  They cooked up the loins right then, but the rest was going to be saved for other cooking presentations.

Ultimately a sheep is pretty small.  The amount of meat would only be enough for 3-4 meals.

It was interesting being there for so long and hearing different parts of the process and also learning about Victoria's transformation from a vegan PETA member to the head of the butchering program.

Pumpkins, Halloween, turkeys, and Marlborough Pudding

In preparation for Halloween we carved a pumpkin.  Bennett had absolutely no squeamishness about sticking his hand in to remove the pumpkin guts.

And here's the final pumpkin. Despite what you might think, that's not a raised eyebrow.  That's an eye and what's under it is a nose.

On Halloween we went to Nana's.  After dinner Bennett got into his costume and helped pass out a couple of pieced of candy before we went out.

Most people didn't know what he was (numerous cow and dog guesses) but they all thought he was cute- especially when he turned around and they saw his tail.  He also had a bit of trouble with walking up and down steps and was a bit overwhelmed when there were lots of crowds of other kids.  But overall he did great and Mummy and Daddy got lots of good candy.  :)

The big excitement for the weekend was our weekly trip to OSV on Sunday.

A few weeks ago we had asked what the butchering schedule was and Sunday it was going to be a turkey.  I'll go into more detail about this later so you can skip it if you wish.

Other things that happened:

• Dave mentioned that he liked Bennett's costume
• As we were leaving the Farmhouse we overheard one interpreter (Rob?) asked Victoria, "was that the boy who dressed up as Doc?"  Which then led us to wonder, when she shared the picture with people, how did she preface it?  "You know that crazy family who comes here every week?"  What adjective did she use to describe us?
• I mentioned to Victoria that we were planning to do a Thanksgiving meal of just pies.  (For all extended family members reading this, we will be in NJ on the 28th, but doing Piesgiving [the name Chris and I have now come up with for a Thanksgiving of Pies] on the 30th.)  She said we should do pork and apple pie, to which I responded that I would be having my brother make that one.  And then she said I should make Marlborough Pudding.  I asked for the recipe.  She had Dave get the receipt for her and then I had her translate it for me.  At the end, she asked, "you have my contact information, right?"  Um, nope.  So now I have her email address for any culinary questions.
• We learned some interesting Turkey trivia.  For starters, there's no such thing as a "wild" turkey.  They were all hunted to the point of extinction.  So in the 50s or 60s domesticated turkeys were introduced back into the wild.  So any turkey you see is a descendent of those.  Also, historic breeds don't have much breast meat.  To get the large turkeys that you find at the grocery store, they have so much breast meat that they are unable to mate.  So all of those birds are the result of artificial insemination.
• After we finished up at the Farm we stopped at the blacksmith shop where Chris taught the smith about sap wood.  
• One of our final stops of the day was at the tinshop.  Phil invited Bennett back to get a better look at what he was doing, and then he had Bennett help pull the lever to crimp the edge of the tin for the lantern.

And that pretty much wraps up what happened at Sturbridge, except for the details on the turkey which are below.

But Bennett must have had a good time, because that evening he started playing "Sturbridge".  First he got in his "car" and drove there.  Then he shot a musket and baked a pie.

Daddy: What are you making?
Bennett:  Apple pie.  Not apple sauce.
Daddy: What did you put in it?
Bennett: Cookies

And speaking of pies and Marlborough Pudding, I decided to give it a whirl.  It needs some tweaking, but it was very yummy.  I later found the recipe on OSV's site, which includes some changes I was thinking were needed.  Chris even liked it so much that he said I should make it for real Thanksgiving in addition to Piesgiving.  One of the ingredients in Marlborough Pudding is applesauce, which is likely why Bennett mentioned it for the pie that he was making.

Now I'm going to warn Mel and other people who are squeamish that you may want to stop reading.   The pictures really aren't that bad, but there is a video that might freak you out.  We personally found it highly entertaining, but we're a little strange.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
THIS IS YOUR FINAL WARNING!
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
The first thing we saw as we approached the barnyard was Victoria walking up the road carrying the turkey.  She had the job of holding the turkey while Dave wielded the axe, so she ended up with some blood on her apron and dress while the turkey had flailed a bit. 

The turkey got to "take a bath".  About a minute in the warm water loosens up the pores which allows the feathers to come out more easily.  The water was too warm at first and would have started to cook the bird, so she removed some and added some cold water.  Eventually it was the right temperature.

Then came the task of removing the feathers.  They were separated into two baskets- wing feathers and all the rest.  The good wing feathers would be saved for quills and the other feathers would be washed and used for mattress stuffing, etc.

After all of the feathers had been removed, the turkey was brought inside to be gutted.  First they removed the feet, and then Victoria removed the organs.  As you can see, Bennett wasn't the least bit disturbed by any of this.

I don't have a picture of it, but when she was done Victoria had laid out all of the organs.  She also cut open the stomach so that we could see inside.  It was full of grass, rocks, and even a bug.

And remember that video I mentioned?  She had a little too much fun (especially considering she's a self proclaimed former PETA kid who cried when the turkey was killed) pulling on the tendon to make it wave/dance.  She also allowed the kids to do this if they wanted.  Bennett declined.

So that sums up our visit.  She kept hinting that we would be doing this to our own turkey.  I think I would be ok with some parts of the process but not others.  Next week they butcher a sheep!