Thanksgiving Weekend

Both boys had Thanksgiving Feasts in their classrooms. Unfortunatley I had already taken a day off work to be with my Grandpa at the hospital, so I didn't feel like I could ask for more time off to attend their feasts.  So, we improvised.  Doug went to Alex's feast where Alex was dressed as a pilgrim and Doug as an Indian for their simulation. In typical Doug fashion, he went  to the event without a camera.  Boo. I am hoping perhaps his teacher took a few pictures.


Aunt Misty had the entire week off of work, so she went to Carter's feast. She didn't take a camera either, but my sweet friend snagged one with her phone and sent it to me.

Doug ended up taking Tuesday off of work and could have made it to both feasts, but Carter wouldn't have it.  We already told him Aunt Misty was going to his feast and that is just how he wanted it.  Doug and I come second to Aunt Misty. 


We spent Thanksgiving at my moms.  It was so nice not to cook the entire meal myself.  (Thanks Mom!) I didn't manage to take a single picture, but it was a pretty typical Thanksgiving for us. The kids played pool with Uncle Aaron, the adults cooked and talked, and we all ate an insane amount of food.  We had Hallie for Thanksgiving this year, so that was a nice bonus. 

Before dinner the kids were taking turns sharing what they were thankful for- Alex was thankful for food,  Nadya was thankful for Hallie, Hallie was thankful for her family, in which we replied, "Good One!" And Carter yelled out, "I am thankful for Jesus! Top that!"  We laughed!


Doug and I stayed up late and planned our black friday shopping. (Okay, really Doug stayed up late and I went to bed.)   Our two major purchases included a new laptop, (woot,woot!)  and shelving for the storage room under the patio.  (Our house was built in the 60's and it's really more of a bomb shelter, but we use it as storage.)  Doug braved the crowds while I stayed home in my warm bed.  We got a few more things too, but the laptop and shelving were our main priority.

It snowed and snowed and was freezing outside so the kids kept themselves entertained inside. They built one of their best forts, complete with four bedrooms and kept it up all weekend.  The boys slept in it all weekend, but Nadya had been nursing a horrible cold, so we thought it best if the girls slept in their own rooms. 

Later that weekend, we decorated the tree and got our Christmas decorations out.   I really wanted to get a real tree this year, but Doug insisted we put our small, fake one up. (He is really way too practical for me..........cough, cough..cheap, cheap..)  The kids  all enjoyed hanging their special ornaments except for Alex.  Poor guy, he was sick, sick, sick..........  He just laid on the couch  while we decorated.  We saved all of his special ornaments for when he felt better.

Doug and I hung our ornament from our first Christmas.  Hallie insisted on taking a picture.  (She wanted us to take many pictures while we were hanging special ornaments, but I refrained and just took a few!)

Nadya is pictured with one of her Russian ornaments. 

She has 8, one for each Christmas she spent in Russia.

Later that night, Alex was feeling a little better and hung his ornaments. (Unfortunatley it didn't last long, he was up puking the next morning.) 

I just love having the

tree lit up at night!



Thanksgiving

For the first time since I can remember, we celebrated Thanksgiving by ourselves.
Everyone else was out of town. It was strange, but we enjoyed it.
I woke up late and was dreading the idea of prepping the turkey and rushing to get it in the oven.
To my surprise, I discovered it was already in the oven. My husband is great!
So, I had coffee and read the paper instead. Now, that's my kind of morning.
The kids helped set the table and did a great job! My pie didn't turn out so great. I cooked it almost 25 minutes longer than the recipe called for and we still ended up throwing it back in the oven after we cut in to it. Strange. It was still really good when it was all said and done, just had a different color to it. Good thing my husband will eat anything........ No, really it was good despite its odd coloring.

Carter is at the table, but you can't see him.  

He is behind Doug and next to Nadya.

See, there he is!

Cheers!  Happy Thanksgiving!