Thanksgiving Day Disaster

I had such high hopes for this year's attempt at a proper Thanksgiving. It was going to be the very first time that I prepared a traditional feast. I planned a menu, took 2 days off from work and was convinced that Martha Stewart was to have nothing on me. But as usual nothing ever goes according to plan in the Ikeda family household. Our first snag came when Naoto had to work on Thanksgiving Day- no problem we switched the holiday to the following day. Problem #2 arose when then Naoto woke up with a 103 degree fever and a serious flu- no problem, the patient was confined to the bedroom - I was forging ahead and determined to create a warm chestnut roasted holiday for my kids. As it turns out cooking a multiple course meal with a four and almost two-year-old is not exactly an easy task - but it was game on. First course pumpkin soup and fancy appetizers were scrapped but we were still heading towards some sort of meal.  As soon as I got our bird in the oven (thank god we opted for a small chicken instead of a turkey) and was feeling like I got this- sure it may be more on par with Betty Crocker instead of Martha Stewart, but food was going to be served, then the final whammy was caste in the form of Noah waking up from his nap with a 102 fever and the same flu Naoto was plagued with. This is sadly what Kai and I ended up with at 8:00 at night. A chicken, some stuffing that was inedible, cold mashed potatoes and some steamed carrots and turnips. I managed to bake an apple pie in the morning and was convinced that it would be our saving grace but Kai informed me "Mommy I really only like the apples and not the pie." And there you have it. I learned I am thankful for take out and restaurants!