Post-Thanksgiving, Pre-Christmas

Long time no blog! It's been a little crazy at work, so I'm catching up a bit here. I was off for Thanksgiving but Dean was working, so I enlisted Lucas's help fixing a dish to take to the in-laws. He opted for Twice Baked Mini-Potatoes, which he found on some website where they speed up the process to make you think you can cook it in 30 seconds. Haha, he didn't believe me when I told him how labor intensive it would be, but God bless him, he cooked it not once but TWICE for my Mom's Thanksgiving the next day! Bake your oiled/salted new potatoes for 35 minutes then cut the ends off and core out the middle...


Mix the innards with butter, sour cream, bacon, green onions. Stuff the shells with that and bake 5 minutes...


Then top with cheese, bacon, and chives and bake 5 more minutes. Delicious and bite-size!


We also saw Arrival (excellent - you have to see it twice - it's required) and had some awesome fires which Drew the Eagle Scout took great delight in building (Dean split a ton of wood himself and bought a firepit so we wouldn't break the drought ban). Lucas YouTube'd how to pop popcorn over an open fire (it's like Googling but on YouTube, and there's a really funny story of something he looked up a couple of years ago on YouTube instead of Google - something he read on a bathroom wall - oops!)


Here's what it sounds like when you hold a foil packet of store-bought popcorn over the fire for about 3-4 minutes:

And here's how it looks - like real popcorn!


And since I was off, I decided the boys and I need to try the new Mobile Duck Boat tour. I've done them in Boston and Stone Mountain, GA, but they have one here now. Here's our first entry into the water next to the Austal shipping facility.

Here's the Convention Center...


And the back of a giant boat in the port getting unloaded. At this point we exited the water to go around downtown, then came back in at the same point...


To see the LCS (Littoral Combat Ship)...


And another troop transport ship that's very shiny to camouflage itself in the waves reportedly.


And then we headed back to Battleship Park where we started to enter the water a THIRD time in Mobile Bay...


to putter around the USS Alabama, which is the state's #1 tourist attraction. I've never seen it from the water - very cool!


And finally, I'll leave you with my fake Christmas tree which I love, even though I refused to try one until last year. I'll go get leftover branches to put on mantels for the smell, but I love the choice of lights:


Jake was not happy to have to sit for a picture, but he complied.


SO...how was YOUR Thanksgiving? Are you ready for Christmas? Well some of us will be working on Christmas projects at the FOURTH ANNUAL GULF COAST GIRLS' SEWING (AND KNITTING) WEEKEND!!!! Yes, in 2 weeks it will be time for crafting, and it's a full house this year, so I can't wait! I'm praying the fuse box holds up, but I know how to throw a breaker if things go south. This year's special guest (I love saying that, and next year I'll mail official flyers - worldwide, baby!) is Heidi Sunday, owner of Mobile Yarn, and Ravelry designer. She's also an instructor for The National NeedleArts Association - WHAT??? I know she'll be working on a quilting project, and I'll definitely post pictures of everybody's projects like last year. I was planning on sewing a blue velvet Mardi Gras dress, but I haven't settled on the actual pattern, yet, so I may be finishing the knitted split-neck sweater I started....twice. Anybody else want to share your project? And Lynda, if you're still planning to stop by, just shoot me an email for directions, etc.