Surette Family

Greg is at church teaching his five-year-old Sunday school class. I am home with Audrey and Colin. The three of us developed a cold in the last 24 hours. Audrey is coloring at a desk wearing a pink princess dress, crown and ballet shoes (she sleeps in ballet shoes). Colin is playing with a noisy dump truck. Greg wouldn't like me spreading the word about this but Colin is wearing a pink tutu. He loves Audrey and feels the need to imitate everything she does. If Audrey eats it, Colin will eat it. If Audrey says it, Colin will say it. And when Audrey spins and twirls to Christmas tunes, Colin proudly (though not as gracefully) follows after her. I'm unsure when or if I will ever need to help him see a more manly side of things but for now I am confident it's doing him no harm.

We had a great Thanksgiving week. Greg had a job interview with a small local CPA firm on Tuesday. He met one of the firm's partners this summer through a family friend and now that they are hiring Greg got a call. It sounds like things went well. Greg completed a few tax returns on their office software and was told they'd call him by Wednesday this week. The office is only ten minutes away. I'd love to have Greg working that close to home. Greg had a phone interview with Clifton Gunderson, a national CPA firm on Wednesday. They are looking for a tax intern for the upcoming season. They said they'd call him this week too. This internship would mean a big commute to a west Chicago suburb.

Audrey gave herself a hair cut on Wednesday. She now has bangs. Two self-cuts in three years? I'd be doing okay if I didn't know that she's only been able to operate a pair of scissors for about six months...

Alan and Kristin brought their family down here for Thanksgiving day. Audrey and I spent a few hours earlier in the week making our table decorations - they were cute. We played games and ate a beautiful dinner, listened to the Thanksgiving story (thank you Anna :), and the kids showed of their many diverse talents in a variety show. It was a good day, a perfect Thanksgiving. Greg made "Awesome Sausage, Apple, and Cranberry Stuffing" with our turkey. It was my favorite part of the meal.

1 1/2 cups cubed whole wheat bread

3 3/4 cups cubed white bread

1 pound ground sausage

1 cup chopped onion

3/4 cup chopped celery

2 1/2 teaspoons dried sage

1 1/2 teaspoons dried rosemary

1/2 teaspoon dried thyme

1 Golden Delicious apple, cored and chopped

3/4 cup dried cranberries

1/3 cup minced fresh parsley

3/4 cup turkey stock

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

1. Preheat oven to 350 degree F (175 degree C). Spread the white and whole wheat bread cubes in a single layer on a large baking sheet. Bake for 5 to 7 minutes in the preheated oven, or until evenly toasted. Transfer toasted bread cubes to a large bowl.
2. In a large skillet, cook the sausage and onions over medium heat, stirring and breaking up the lumps until evenly browned. Add the celery, sage, rosemary, and thyme; cook, stirring, for 2 minutes to blend flavors.
3. Pour sausage mixture over bread in bowl. Mix in chopped apples, dried cranberries, parsley, and liver. Drizzle with turkey stock and melted butter, and mix lightly. Spoon into turkey to loosely fill.

This year I braved my first Black Friday ever. I left Thursday night at 11pm and didn't get home until 7am Friday! It was crazy and cold (19 degrees) but there are definitely good buys out there for a dedicated deal-finder! Unfortunately, that night threw my sleep schedule off for the entire weekend and may have been the precursor to our colds :( I'll plan better next year! We cracked open the box of Christmas decorations yesterday. Audrey and Colin decorated little trees for their room. I made spritz cookies (in my newly purchased, hot-deal cookie press). We ate pizza to break up the turkey left-overs. It has been a festive, true holiday week! Love to you all, Jill

Quote of the week: Colin has a terrible rash. In an effort to air his bum (but prevent puddles on our carpet) I put some of Audrey's cotton potty-training unders on him instead of a fitted diaper. Audrey sees Colin and immediately decides she'll teach Colin everything he needs to know about using the potty. Showing him where it is, how it works, etc. I am listening from the other room when she gets to "Everyone does peeps on the potty, Colin. Mom goes on the potty, Dad goes on the potty, Jesus goes on the potty..." The list continued without pause but I can't remember anything past Jesus.