Preparing for Thanksgiving Guests

You may remember that I am having my family for Thanksgiving this year.  I haven't done this in a long time and there is a lot to do!  I've learned a lot about myself through the process of preparing for the day.  While my homeschool mom eyes have been ever-watchful over my sweet daughter and her newly revealed to me learning style, as I've mentioned before, I'm realizing that I share the visual learner brain.  Translation:  lists!  And lots of them.  Piles, pictures from magazines, recipe cards, craft supplies, serving dishes; all where I can but my googly little eyes on them!

This has its good points.  And its bad.  I've realized multiple fancy, shmancy planning printouts are not my friend.  One good ole' blank sheet of paper with columns by category makes me sigh with contentment.  All (on one page) or nothing, people! 

So here's my list(s):

Paint living room and kitchen.
Hang new light fixtures.
Re-install curtain rod and curtains.
 And yes.  I know it was crazy to start a home-improvement project right before a holiday, but I couldn't help myself!  
Clean carpet high-traffic area.
Cleaning the dining chairs (Hello!  Milk spills!)
Thanksgiving/Fall decorations.
Confirm guest list & send directions to our new home.
Finalize menu.
Grocery list.
Grocery shop.

Locate and pull serving dishes.
Get kids' haircuts.

Table service for 21.
Food prep schedule.
Make note of when to pull 24lb turkey from freezer.
Choose outfits for the day.
Empty and charge camera.
Make Thanksgiving napkin rings.
Make centerpieces.
Last minute home cleaning. (Saving till the last minute! ;))

There's probably more.  

Here's my menu, which I'm very excited about and will make you wish you were coming here for Thanksgving too!  (And you'd be welcome!)


24lbs of golden Turkey goodness, cooked to perfection (a girl can dream!) and carved by (hopefully!) my unflappable Uncle Dan. (with dressing by Aunt Janie.)
Sweet Potato Spoon Bread
Garlic Mashed Potatoes
Glorious Rolls (Think buttery melt in your mouth, can't eat just two!)
Cranberry Relish
Baked Corn Pudding
Beet, Carrot, and Apple Salad
Lemon Herb Green Beans
Herb Gravy
Pumpkin Pie
Pear Pie
Molasses Bourbon Pecan Pie (unless I can't find bourbon from a friend in which case the optional bourbon will be bourbon.)

Whatdaya think?  Hungry yet?

The things that throw me (list, list list!) are things like remembering to set butter out to soften; getting the turkey outta the freezer on time;  remembering you need serving spoons for all those dishes.  Since I'm not a practiced large crowd, meal provider, filling the salt and pepper shakers is off my typical radar! 

I'm so excited!  Even though we're having our big meal the day after Thanksgiving (That would be Black Friday to some of you!), I will be sharing heaps and oodles of thankfulness with, and for my family!

Two Learning Styles and Bible

We use a few different resources for our Bible study (which you can read about on my Homeschool page), switching back and forth depending on the topic.  Right now we are going through "Wrong Way, Jonah!" Discover 4 Yourself Kids book from Kay Arthur.  I love her books because the Biblical foundations are sound.  Period.

What I haven't enjoyed so much is some of her particular nitty-gritty such as marking words a certain way, or using a lot of fill in the blank.  With my oldest, my son, we struck right at the meat of the matter, passing over the fluff, but now little daughter is on board, with her very individual learning style, and I'm realizing some of that fluffy goodness is just the thing for her!

Now here is where I really saw my own personal growth:  I let boy skip the markings, while girly got busy.  He read the passage to her (because he learns well from reading) and she totally mastered the word breakdown.  I sat back and realized this was one of those ah-ha moments, and tried not to grin like a silly Mama who just snuck a cookie.

Then, as if that wasn't fabo enough, I realized that I, too, write like a fiend in my Bible.  All my sermons notes are crammed in the margins and I MARK STUFF UP!  I don't color code or have a marking key, but I do have a special "won't bleed through the pages or fade" pen!  Maybe I'm more like my daughter, than my son.  Or she's more like me.  You know what I mean!  Ah-ha!

The World of Two Learning Styles

Is she listening?  She looks like she's listening.  She says she's listening.  Maybe she's not hearing?  Maybe she's not understanding.  How could a child of mine not like to be read to?  How will I teach her? 

These are the questions that have had me in total panic for weeks since I realized that all the narration tips in the world were not going to change what was going on with my daughter.  It didn't take too long before I realized this wasn't a issue of being read to, or an attention issue.  This was a learning style revelation!  My child, surrounded by thousands of books which we constantly read aloud, is a (gasp!!) visual learner.  Exhale.  

I guess it was too much to hope that both my children would have the same learning style.  My son can listen to me read while writing, drawing, playing legos and whistling, and tell me what I read word for word.  He hears conversations from three rooms away, while having one of his own, with an audio book playing.  I'm so excited I figured it out!

My light bulb moment?  When she picked up a little science reader, proceeded to devour it (figuratively speaking) and then came bounding into the room with a huge smile on her face to tell me everything she just learned!  If that did cinch it, her narration of an entire episode of "Beakman's World" did. 

So I've got some adjusting to do! 

What about you?  Any learning style stories to share?