Prepping Thanksgiving for the Kids!

One of the nice things about having a bunch of people over for Thanksgiving is that the food prep is split up, and I don't end up cooking much more than I would on any normal day. Most of my prep work comes from just getting the house ready to welcome everyone, and one of my favorite things to do is to figure out seating and set the tables. After tallying it up, I think we are going to have eight elementary school-aged kids (and three babies!) at Thanksgiving this year, which means a designated kid's table.

Every Easter, I still reminisce with my brother and sister about how when we were kids, my Great Aunt Geraldine set a fist-sized chocolate egg (Maggie remembers they tasted "like Three Musketeers but so much better.") with each of our names piped in pastel icing to indicate our place at the kid's table in the basement. Maggie brought that memory up again a few weeks ago when we were talking about how to create fun memories for our nieces and nephews this Thanksgiving. She decided to spearhead a few games (that will involve candy, of course), and I am going to set an activity table up for them. Last year, I found these great table cloths on clearance at Target two days before Thanksgiving, and when I saw them this year, I bought three just in case they never come back. (BUT THEN, I saw a similar product at Wal-Mart, so hopefully, they will be here for years to come.) After filling some mason jars with lentils (because I had them lazing about in my pantry after Tony Horton convinced me they should be part of my diet) and putting some crayons in, WALLAH, the kids table is practically done.

Also, I am planning on creating a cheese-tray turkey (inspired by the one below from A Beautiful Mess) to put at the center of the kid's table so they have something to snack on while they color. I plan on adding some crackers and some salami from Spritito's to my plate to round it out. It's looks fairly easy, right?  Wish me luck!