Happy Thanksgiving!

joscountryjunction.com

Good morning and Happy Thanksgiving!  It has been a rough couple of months financially because I have been squeezing our budget to the limit.  I have been trying to purchase presents for the children's upcoming birthday and Christmas. It's a lot to cover!  We don't have everything we want in the house for Thanksgiving but we have more than enough!  Especially with a turkey given to us by a kind friend. The turkey is 21 pounds!  It's HUGE!

We had sausage balls for breakfast.  It's a Thanksgiving tradition in our family.  I LOVE sausage balls and we did not have any Bisquick.  We did have flour and other things in the house (I try hard to keep basics handy).   I found a Bisquick cheat recipe online.  So I made the Bisquick from scratch and I have to say I was impressed with recipe.  I did make a modification from the original I found online which was to cut the amount of shortening down and use some butter instead.  Using the butter made for a MUCH better final product!  I made a new recipes page.  You can find the recipe for the DIY Bisquick along with the recipe for Sausage Balls.

We had a great breakfast of hot sausage balls with sharp cheddar.  John got the turkey into the oven and things were going well.  I had taken the wrap off Joseph's should for a bit so his skin could breathe.  I told him he could use his arm lightly but if ANYTHING started to hurt then he was to let me know.  He said okay and went off.  For a little while he was fine.  I saw him heading to the playroom out of the corner of my eye and then the next thing I know I hear him crying and sitting on the floor. He was crying pretty hard!

He said his shoulder hurt and I took him back to my bathroom.  I stripped his shirt off and I could see the swelling at his shoulder.  Sigh, I think he re-broke his clavicle.  I called his doctor and had a talk with the nurse on-call.  She agreed with me that there was not much we would gain by going to the hospital again.  She said it would be riskier to go to the hospital because of the high chance of catching some respiratory disease so we should stay home. We were instructed to call the doctor's office the next day and see about getting an appointment.

First I gave Joseph a dose of his pain medication.  I got him to the shower to relax his muscles and to clean his body. He was feeling MUCH better after we got out of the shower!  The look on his face was quite different after the pain meds kicked in!

So we finished up our preparations for Thanksgiving dinner.  Dinner itself was delicious! The turkey was beautiful!  John brought the turkey to the table all ready sliced for serving.  This made serving the children much easier!  Joseph was in heaven.  This is his kind of food!  It is soft and requires minimal chewing. LOL  The children basically ate until they were ready to pop except James.  For some reason he did not eat much but he was happy to have a piece of cake at the end of dinner. We had, overall, a really nice Thanksgiving.  I hope you did too!

Kid Craft Ideas for Thanksgiving

http://happyhomefairy.com/2011/11/05/turkey-lunch-sack/

Thanksgiving is coming and I have been thinking about craft ideas to do with the children.  Having children with multiple difficulties (ADHD, intellectual delay, sensory processing problems, and autism) craft time can be interesting!  Here was a picture I came across on the internet and I thought the children and I could manage this craft activity.  I will trace out the shapes and then let them practice cutting.  Then with some help I think we can get all the pieces glued onto the bag without too much mess!  LOL

http://www.messforless.net/2011/11/paper-roll-turkey.html

I have been saving up toilet paper rolls for awhile now and I have been waiting for a good craft idea.  I found this idea on Pinterest.  Toilet paper roll turkeys.  Again, with a little work in advance I think I could have a fun craft project for all the children and not frustrate anyone.  Often James is too impatient for crafts.  Margaret likes the idea of crafts but can't pay attention or stay still long enough to complete something. Joseph enjoys doing crafts but he is really slow.  Being intellectually delayed he will get it and I don't want to rush him so I think you can see why we have problems with craft time...  everyone operates at a VERY different pace!

Here is the last idea I found on Pinterest.  Sorry but there is only an image and no instructions.  I think by the image we get the idea of what to do.  Another variation and something I have been wanting to try is salt dough.  By clicking here you will be taken to a recipe for salt dough.  I know the recipe says its for ornaments but I think it would work well taking a handprint.  You can also google salt dough recipes and find lots of options!  I think this craft could come out SO cute!  It would be me doing most of the work so I don't think this is really a craft for the kids but it looks fun and they would love helping to make the dough!






Hopefully we will get around to making at least one or two of these crafts.  If we do I will post pictures on how it turned out!   If any one tries one of the crafts please send pictures!  I would love to see how they turn out!