Thanksgiving

Pilgrims, Mayflower, New England, cranberries, fall colours and so much more.  We saturated ourselves in Thanksgiving this year! Abishai couldn't get enough of the book Cranberry Thanksgiving.  He delighted in it being read to him and when I booked it on DVD from the library he watched that too.

Preparing to make Grandmother's famous cranberry bread.

In go the cranberries and then into the oven.

In the book, Maggie and Mr. Whiskers gather sticks for a fire...

...so while the cranberry bread was baking in the oven, we walked over to the corner park and did some stick-gathering of our own.

We made several bundles tied with twine....

...and then went inside to the smell of cranberry bread.

The next day we worked with paint, sponges, and fall colours.  

I showed the boys how to make the colour brown for branches and tree trunks.  (I doubt that they will remember.)

Our display.

Because Cranberry Thanksgiving makes reference to digging clams and New England, I picked up One Morning In Maine...

...and on Tuesday we ate New England Clam Chowder soup, drank cranberry juice and finished off our cranberry bread for lunch.

On Wednesday we made Tangy Cranberry relish (sauce) from the book above.

The recipe said to cut the oranges into eighths.  Abishai looking to see what eighths looks like from our handy puzzle.

Eighths!

In go the cranberries, 

and the oranges...

Tangy cranberry sauce!

Since the baby wasn't tired enough to nap, we headed outside to have a fire, like "Maggie".

Breaking down some of the sticks to fit in the fire pit.

A fall-time bonfire with marshmallows.

And then a romp in the leaves.  Asher trying to escape from his brothers' grasp.