Thanksgiving Weekend 2013

Happy 2 days after Thanksgiving!  Are you still full too?  I am and yet I keep eating...can anyone explain this?

I assume you are all very interested in what our family did for the big day so as you can imagine, I took tons of pictures.  And added some narration.  If you make it all the way to the end it will be like you were with us.  I wish you had been. 

I'll start on Monday when we got a surprise text from Ben.  Because of the impending winter storm warning, he could leave a day early.  Yippeee!  So we changed around some of our plans (like Scott going to get him) and I zoomed up to the beautiful Adirondacks the next morning to pick him up.  In order to beat the storm, I left early and had picked him up by noon and we were home before 4.  He talked to me the whole way.  So I rewarded him with a quick stop at McDonald's for our favorite - egg nog milkshakes.

It was wonderful to come home to a beautiful snowy yard.  Drew had gotten in earlier.  All five of us safe and sound.  Thank the Lord. 

We were invited to a friend's house for soup and pie.  I love the idea of sneaking in some friend time before spending the holiday with family.  We had so much fun.

Wednesday everyone slept in until nearly noon.  Yikes - will I ever make it past 6:30 am?  Still, I had lots to do in the kitchen.

Later we went out shopping.  Often this is so the kids can pick out things their grandparents can buy them.  It seems to be a new tradition.  It was fun.

Thanksgiving morning I woke them with cinnamon rolls and we watched the parade. Then we all piled into the family truckster and headed to be with our family in Syracuse.  It never gets old to go on a road trip with the whole gang in the van.  This year was a little different though.  See if you pick up on it.

Need another clue?

Didn't see that coming. One day you are strapping them in car seats and the next they are driving you to go see Grandma.

As we rode along, I glanced at a magazine.  This was one of the articles.  Funny.

We were invited to Scott's brother Tim's house for dinner.  His wife Chris prepared a delicious meal and set a beautiful table.  She is very creative.  Each of us had a card at our spot that we would read aloud when it was our turn.  On the cards was The Proclamation of Thanksgiving address given by Abraham Lincoln in 1863.  Very cool.  And meaningful.  Not to mention many big words.  I loved it.  I've copied it at the bottom of this post for those of you who are interested in reading it.

Here we are with Scott's mom, the other Burtis boys, and Chris's parents, Lou and Linda, who are also very important to us.

Here is some of the feast.  We did not leave the table hungry or comfortable.

Later we rolled ourselves back into the van and went to my sister Renee's house for dessert.  My brother, mother and some of my nephews were there.  I must have been in a sugar-induced coma because I failed to take any pictures.

On the way home, we continued listening to the Andy Stanley sermons we started on the way up.  (His current series titled 'Right in the Eye") We needed all the kids to get caught up so we can watch #4 together this coming Sunday morning.  If you have teenagers/young adults all of you should watch or listen to it too.  So powerful!  You can watch it here.

Of course, there is no end to our gratitude to God for the many good gifts He gives.  We also give thanks for the gifts we didn't ask for or want this year because through them we have learned much more about God than we previously had experienced. This makes us even more thankful that He chose us to be His.

Then we put on our jammies (I wish I could say they were all matching but alas that ship seems to have sailed) and gathered around for another family tradition.  We watched this.  And highlighted our favorite lines.  And laughed like a bunch of goofy kids. It was a good day.

Hope you enjoyed being with us - we love you all.

Part 2 - "The Transformation from Thanksgiving to Christmas a.k.a. the REST of the weekend" will soon be posted.  Here's a sneak peek.

Goodbye Thanksgiving - Hello Christmas!

_______________________________________________________
By the President of the United States of America.
A Proclamation.

The year that is drawing towards its close, has been filled with the blessings of fruitful fields and healthful skies. To these bounties, which are so constantly enjoyed that we are prone to forget the source from which they come, others have been added, which are of so extraordinary a nature, that they cannot fail to penetrate and soften even the heart which is habitually insensible to the ever watchful providence of Almighty God. In the midst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign States to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere except in the theatre of military conflict; while that theatre has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from the fields of peaceful industry to the national defence, have not arrested the plough, the shuttle or the ship; the axe has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yielded even more abundantly than heretofore. Population has steadily increased, notwithstanding the waste that has been made in the camp, the siege and the battle-field; and the country, rejoicing in the consiousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things. They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently and gratefully acknowledged as with one heart and one voice by the whole American People. I do therefore invite my fellow citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who are sojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next, as a day of Thanksgiving and Praise to our beneficent Father who dwelleth in the Heavens. And I recommend to them that while offering up the ascriptions justly due to Him for such singular deliverances and blessings, they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the interposition of the Almighty Hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it as soon as may be consistent with the Divine purposes to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity and Union.
In testimony whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the Seal of the United States to be affixed.

Done at the City of Washington, this Third day of October, in the year of our Lord one thousand eight hundred and sixty-three, and of the Independence of the Unites States the Eighty-eighth.
By the President: Abraham Lincoln

She's Making A List....

A list?  Oh no, not one list of course.  Many lists!  I love lists.  Lists are my life.  In this new season where I forget pretty much everything the minute I leave the room or turn the page or have a new thought, I NEED lists.

Did I mention it's my favorite week of the year?  Did I mention the boys are coming home for Thanksgiving? So that's what I've been doing this morning, making lists.

Menu for the week.  Check!
Groceries needed to prepare what's on the menu.  Check!
Tasks to complete (like switching the kids' sheets to flannel).  Working on it.

One of the fun things about being a Burtis is that I not only make lists for myself (see above), but I like to include our whole family in the fun.  I guarantee they totally dig it.  Don't believe me?  Well.  I may be exaggerating slightly.  I know you're thinking what lucky kids and husband.  I think so too.

Either way, they say if you don't set goals you won't reach them.  Maybe it's true about lists too.  What are the chances of anything getting done if you don't write it down with the expectation it will be read - and acted upon?

Not taking any chances here.  And to be honest, there are certain things that are just done better by those gifted in specialty areas.  For example...

I need Drew to set the timer on my coffeepot.  It's been disabled since the last power outage - or when I moved it to a new spot on the counter.  Why can't we do it?  Well let's just say it's an older model and words like "set", "auto timer", and "up and down" have worn off.  Drew is the only one who remembers how to do it without them.  He is awesome.





Then there's Ben.  He is the expert at putting a new screen saver on my phone - with no bubbles or scratches.  Hurry home...it's a mess!

He's also king of the ice cubes - carefully emptying, refilling and placing back in the freezer.  Ally doesn't do it quite as precisely and without making a mess that mysteriously doesn't get wiped up.

See how he stacks them neatly?

Notice that the top 2 are empty and crooked.  

She only takes out what we need and doesn't refill.

It's been rough since he left in September. We need him.

Speaking of Ally, she will be busy cleaning bathrooms - yes, plural.  It's her favorite.  Or is smiling her favorite?  I can't remember but I think cleaning bathrooms makes her smile.  She leaves them smelling so good.  She's terrific.

Finally, a DRUM ROLL please for my personal favorite task that I need the boys for....changing the shower curtain liners at the same time as putting up the holiday shower curtains.  This ain't no job for wimps.  You've got to keep your arms in the air a long time.  Since they are strapping (albeit skinny) young men - they own this job.

Yes I change the shower curtains for the winter season...doesn't everyone?

Oh I can't wait until the boys get here.  For so many reasons.

Did you think I forgot about Scott?  He wishes I did, I think.  But have no fear - I NEVER DO.  Much to his credit, he is way ahead on his to-do lists.  He's been faithfully tending to every little thing I dream up for him pretty much on a daily basis. 

Like this morning.  He got up to take Ally to school at 7:15.  I casually mentioned that I think the leaf sucking truck is in the neighborhood.  Back story - I get a little nutty about the leaves and about the day they come and get them.  I get happy.  I've been known to run outside with a rake to make sure they take every last one and/or bring the men out a homemade goodie (if I have any). I like a clean yard (slate) for the snow to fall on.  I think that's normal.  Isn't it?

You should know that most of the leaves are already in the street (I even helped rake once) but it's those pesky 1 or 200 that are lurking in the driveway that bother me.

So I innocently asked, "Do we have a push broom?  That might be the quickest way to clear them off."  (I swept them the other day with a normal broom - not fun or efficient.)  I hope you are noticing how much I help.

I think I heard him mutter something under his breath like "Sure, and you can go out there and do it. It's 14 degrees outside." To which I replied, "But I'm in my jammies here with a hot cup in my hands. You are going out there anyway."  Then I may or may not have smiled and batted my eyelashes.

There was eye contact.  Then they walked out.  Upon his return I heard the garage door go up and the leaf blower turn on.  Capital idea!  Even better than sweeping.  Look at that! Nearly perfect.  Those stragglers don't bother me - too much.

Scott Burtis is a saint. He is such a good husband and has proved once again that he deserves a much better wife.  I try to be appreciative.  I did greet him at the door with a hot cup of coffee of his own. He sort of smiled when he took it.

Happy Thanksgiving Week everyone - hope you get everything done on your lists too!

Ministry of Food Monday - Guest Chef for Thanksgiving

Good morning!  What a beautiful day to start planning that Thanksgiving menu.  Back when I started Ministry of Food Mondays I wanted to invite friends who have special recipes to share with us here.  Today is one of the days.

Since it is a special week you deserve a special recipe.

Meet my friend Mary Jo. She makes the most amazing stuffing.  I ate it years ago and haven't forgotten how good it is.  You should try it too. Here it is in her words.

Remember that smell of Thanksgiving morning?   The aroma of apple pie, turkey, sweet potatoes and of course stuffing!  I never liked my mom's stuffing when I was a kid even though I loved the smell,  but as I got older it became my favorite part of the Thanksgiving feast.

This yummy, simple, savory and crispy recipe is the original way my mom made it .  The only thing I added over the years is fresh herbs. Rosemary, sage and thyme.  While I love her stuffing, I only make it on Thanksgiving. It is not for the health conscious folk as it has 1 1/2 lbs of butter in it... yes, I said 1 1/2 lb of butter !

1 AND 1/2 lb butter

2 loaves white bread

4 stalks celery

3 med onions
2-3 cups turkey stock or chicken stock ( can you use more if it seems dry)

Several stalks each of the following fresh herbs

Rosemary

Sage

Thyme

Bells Poultry Seasoning 3-4 Tablespoons

Salt & Pepper

Toast all the bread and break into medium sized pieces set in the largest bowl you have .

In a large saute pan melt down butter. Dice onion and celery, add to melted butter

add fresh cut herbs (I snip the sage in a bowl with scissors). Add Bells Seasoning , let it simmer on

low for 10 minutes to meld all the flavors together.

Mix well into the dry toast.

Transfer to a 9x13 baking pan, Cover with aluminum foil.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 min. 

Remove foil and bake 10 minutes longer to get a crispy top layer.... yum!

I love making things my mother made, She was quite a cook!  This has been a family favorite for three generations now.  Sometimes I make a second batch with apples or sausage but it never is quite as popular as the original one.  I am Thankful to have a time tested recipe that brings back fond memories of Thanksgiving.   Enjoy !

Which Comes First....Gratitude or Contentment?

So this morning Thanskgiving is on my mind.  Big surprise, huh? This time it's not about the upcoming feast, the boys coming home in just 4 and 5 days (who's counting?) or the day after festivities.

This week has been full of joys.  Not the least of which was a little two-day getaway to Syracuse to revisit my MOPS roots.

MOPS - Mothers of Preschoolers - the ministry that consumed my life for more than ten years.   Now that I'm no longer eligible to be a MOPS mom because my kids went and grew up, I am occasionally invited to come back and speak to these ladies.  I got to do it twice this week at two different MOPS groups and I loved every minute of it.

This is my home group and one of my favorite sights.  Mommies.

They are getting younger and younger (or am I getting older?) and I don't know too many of them very well anymore, but spending time here is always a gift.  A room full of soul and mind sculptors as (Ann Voskamp puts it) smack dab in the center of everyday mothering.  

”Mothering is no second-rate ministry for the spiritually and intellectually mediocre.
Mothering is a Christ-rated ministry for soul and mind sculptors and what could 

ever be substandard about passing on Christ’s standard?"

At this group, the Coordinator asked me to speak on Gratitude.  At first, I thought, 'that's so boring' because giving thanks seems to be sort of fashionable right now.  

Everybody's doing it.

We're teaching our kids to do it. 

Some write something they are thankful for everyday on Facebook.

It's what November is all about.

I’m sure you’ve been presented at some time with the idea of keeping a list of things you’re thankful for.  It's a very good thing to do.  But talk about it for 40 minutes?

So we went a little deeper. We explored both gratitude and contentment.

I looked up gratitude and here's what I found.

Synonyms                                                     Antonyms

Appreciation                                                   ingratitude

Acknowledgement                                          thanklessness

Recognition                                                     selfishness

Thankfulness                                                  discontent

Which list do you like better and which is most characteristic of you?

Isn’t it easy to be grateful when life is going great and happiness abounds?  Your kids are doing one cute thing after another.  Your husband is thoughtful and helpful and romantic. You have steady income.  You have lots of friends who enjoy your company.  Everyday is fun.  At times like this we easily appreciate, acknowledge and recognize all the things that make us joyful and we eagerly give thanks.  This is what Facebook was created for!

We can sing this:

Blesssed be Your Name in the land that is plentiful

where your streams of abundance flow

Blessed be Your Name 

Blessed be Your Name when the sun's shining down on me
when the world's all as it should be
Blessed be Your Name

Aaaahhh.  Contentment.  This is where it's found, right?  Or is it?

BUT, maybe you’re not in a happy season right now.  Maybe your kids are not turning out as you hoped.  Maybe your marriage is in a rocky place.  Maybe you are having financial trouble and your future is unsure. Maybe your mother-in-law is interfering…and winning.  Your friends are getting all their prayers answered and yours are hitting the ceiling.  Everyday is hard.

We’re certainly not putting that on our list or telling the world of Facebook are we?

Are we content here?  That's not so simple. 

I wonder if we can learn how to be grateful even here.  To sing the next verse:

Blessed be Your Name when I'm found in the desert place

though I walk through the wilderness

Blessed be Your Name 

Blessed be Your Name on the road marked with suffering

when there's pain in the offering

Blessed be Your Name 

Paul, the apostle who wrote most of the New Testament of the Bible, made a startling declaration in the book of Philippians.

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  Phil. 4:11,12

I looked up contentment.

Synonyms                                                   

Comfort

Happiness

Ease

Fulfillment

Gladness

Gratification

Peace

Pleasure

Satisfaction

Serenity

Wow, these are the most glorious words.  Give me all of that!  I want to live there every day, don’t you?

But let's get real.  It's not always this way.  Some of you know what I’m talking about.

We’ll know how we’re doing in the contentment department if we look at the next list.

Antonyms

Discomfort

Displeasure

Dissatisfaction

Misery

Sadness

Unhappiness

Well, that's no feel-good list is it?  I certainly don't want those to be the characteristics describing me.  So how do we give thanks when we are in the desert, walking through the wilderness on the road marked with suffering?

Here's what Nancy Leigh DeMoss suggests.

"Thanksgiving is a debt.  It is something we owe.  When we bring our thanks before God, we are recognizing Him as our source of blessing, every protection, every heartbeat, every rescue from every trial - even when His chosen form of deliverance just means supplying us the perseverance we need to see it through.  We have no life, no hope, no health, no grace, no strength, no peace, no holiness, no anything apart from what He has given and continues to give us."*

That is difficult and wonderful at the same time.  I underlined the part that really stood out to me.  He is still our source of everything even when.

 Above, I left out the last line of Paul's statement, the answer to how we do this contentment thing.

 

“I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.  I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty.  I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.  I can do everything THROUGH HIM who gives me strength.”  Phil. 4:11,12

We can do this, my friends.  We can be grateful when things are good and when things aren’t because we do it THROUGH HIM who gives us strength.  We don't have to come up with it on our own.  This is good news for me.  However, it does require our focus to be on Jesus and us leaning into Him for what we need.  He will give it.

 There's more.  Look at this.

“Oh, the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! 

How unsearchable His judgments, and His paths beyond tracing out!

Who has known the mind of the Lord? Or who has been His counselor?

Who has ever given to God, that God should repay him?

For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things.

To Him be the glory forever!  Amen.”  Romans 11:33-36

The bottom line is that it’s all about Him.  Always has been. Our discontentment and subsequent misery and unhappiness comes when we forget that and life becomes about us.  

When we center our hearts and minds around this truth, we become content and gratitude follows.  Or we give thanks and find ourselves content.  Which comes first?  I think it goes both ways.  How cool is that?

I truly believe the daily practice of writing down all the joys, all the ways Jesus loves us, can help us when it gets rough. 

Because even though we aren’t thankful for everything – we’ve trained ourselves to be thankful for something.

Remember what contentment looks like

                                                

Comfort

Happiness

Ease

Fulfillment

Gladness

Gratification

Peace

Pleasure

Satisfaction

Serenity

And what it doesn't

Discomfort

Displeasure

Dissatisfaction

Misery

Sadness

Unhappiness

Which do you choose?  Whether it's easy this year or painful, give thanks to the One who knows everything about you, loves you and has a plan for your life that is for your good and His glory.  

If you do, I guarantee you will have a Happy Thanksgiving!

*The Quiet Place 

Ministry of Food Monday

 Hey there!  It's Monday again.  I have a quick, awesome pasta dish for you today.  My mom used to make this and I have passed it down to my  kids.  Everyone really likes it.  You can play around with it too according to your taste.  Add meat.  Serve meat on the side.  Use different vegetables.  Add more vegetables.  Whatever.  Go crazy!

You start with these which are found in the frozen section.  If you've never had cavatelli - run, don't walk to the store and get some.  It might be my favorite pasta (when I'm cheating and NOT eating whole grain pasta).

You will also need:
1 or 2 boxes of frozen broccoli, thawed and drained
olive oil (a good amount as it needs to coat the pasta)
garlic cloves, minced
can of mushroom pieces
*feel free to use fresh veggies

Cook the pasta according to instructions on bag. 
Sautee the broccoli and mushrooms in garlic.
When the pasta is done, throw it in the olive oil and broccoli mixture.
Mix well.
Smother in parmesan cheese

I warned  you it was easy.

Watch your family eat it until it's all gone.

 Here it is before the parmesan

You get what I mean by smother, right?


I grilled chicken to make the meal complete.

PS - you may have noticed there are no mushrooms in the dish.  That's because a certain child who will remain nameless came in right when I was getting ready to add them and made a big stink.

I gave in.  This time.

But I'll get them in there next time.

Hope you like it!