Happy post-Thanksgiving! And the winner of the $250 Toys "R" Us gift card is...

...SuZ, from Not Your Typical Mommy. Congratulations—I hope your little girl enjoys her Barbie Power Wheels. And happy shopping for the baby! Thanks to everyone who entered, and thanks to Bill Me Later for the exceptionally generous giveaways leading up to Toy Tuesday on December 8. I love that they're donating so much to charity. You can see a list of the 12 participating blogs here.

I'll be doing a bunch of other giveaways in December starting Tuesday, December 1, with great stuff for you—because moms deserve treats, and lots of 'em.

I hope all of you had a fab Thanksgiving. Mine was great, though I still have a stuffing hangover.


It was a gorgeous day.


My sister, Judy, and baby Margo visited. Every time I held Margo, Max got a little agitated. He'd point to himself and to me, then he'd point to the baby and to Judy—he needed to remind me that I was his mom. But he was glad to help feed her.


Meanwhile, Sabrina thought she was the mother, because she insisted on holding Margo at all times.


I take back what I said about there being no glory in cooking a turkey. I mean, the hit of the evening was the sweet potato casserole with marshmallows I made, if I do say so myself, but Dave really did cook an excellent turkey. Props, honey!


Max had to watch the sweet potato casserole cooking. He had three helpings.


It was my birthday on Friday. I'd been trying to not pay it much attention since I wasn't sure how I felt about being a year older, but then I got a whole lot of birthday messages on Facebook, including one from a well-meaning guy who said "Happy Birthday, old friend" though his real meaning was "Happy Birthday, friend who I have known for a very long time." Just for the record.

Oh, happy day

As you read this, I am most likely roaming the web, trying to decide on side dishes to make for Thanksgiving. My main criteria: Which one I won't mess up. My mom, sister, husband and baby Margo are going to be coming over; my dad wasn't up for traveling, but he's content to be at home and will surely be giving thanks for his special hat.

The turkey, I buy from Whole Foods—it comes prepared, you just shove it into the oven. I see NO glory in cooking a turkey. When's the last time someone said to you, "What an absolutely amazing turkey!" Never, right? But if you can whip up some amazing stuffing or sweet potato and marshmallow something, people will think you are a cooking goddess, even if in reality you are actually a takeout goddess.

I found this yummy recipe for Marshmallow Sweet Potato Casserole from Cook's that I'm going to make. Max will probably eat most of it; since he was a baby, he's loved sweet potatoes. When he was about nine months old, I took him to the pediatrician for a visit. He pointed out Max had an orange tint; I hadn't even noticed. Anyway, if any of you have recipes of your own to share—or links to ones—that are impossible to mess up and won't turn us funny colors, let me know.

Oh, and here's something fun for T-Day morning: Want to hear your kids expressing their thanks on TV? The Sunny Side Up Show on Sprout is featuring a thanks-a-thon. Sproutlets (with help from you) can call in, speak live with the show host, and say what they're grateful for. The phone number is is 877-91CHICA, and it's open from 8:45am today till 12.

Tomorrow is Fuchsia Friday on my blog (Black Friday just sounds so bleak), and I'm giving away a $250 gift card to Toys "R" Us, so come on by.

And, one mo' thing, thanks to whoever nominated this blog for Divine Caroline's "Love This Site" Award. If you'd care to vote for To The Max, you can do it here. If you don't care to vote, Max and I will still like you anyway, but Sabrina might be miffed.

Happy, happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!

xo