Our Thanksgiving

I had big plans for this Thanksgiving.  Big plans.  I was going to take the best pictures and document every moment of our lovely, four day weekend.  (We love the long weekends with daddy.)

The big day happened to be at our house.  I was going to make darling little turkeys with everyone's name on them for place settings.

I was going to come up with some incredible dish that would be a new Thanksgiving tradition for our family for the next 30-40 years.  See?  Big plans.

Notice my use of "had" and "was" and the general tone of "coulda, shoulda, woulda?"  Yea.  I didn't do any of those things.

The only pictures I managed were my kids watching Polar Express with their cousins and Gabe watching a youtube video about backhoes with his Uncle Matt.  They both have a *slight* obsession with trucks and tractors.  Did you know that the love of giant trucks and machinery is an inherited trait?  It is.  Trust me.

So cute how their older cousins wanted to hold them on their lap.  Are you wondering why they are watching through bars?  We watch movies on my laptop around here.  Their little fingers are too curious to let them alone with it.  I know, my kids are going to be telling their therapist about the constant bars and gates they had in their life.  I know.  

Gabe with Uncle Matt, watching backhoes! See the blurry, yellow thing in the little man's hand?  Yup, that's his backhoe.  

No amazing, new dish was created.  I did cook a pretty mean turkey and enough stuffing to feed a small village.  (My husband's family REALLY love their stuffing.  I wanted to ease everyone's mind about leftovers.)  The place settings?  HaHAHAHAHA ha ha haha heeee, he he, haha.  I can't believe I even THOUGHT about that one.  Yeah right.

But, despite not having the perfect holiday weekend, it was the perfect holiday weekend.

We spent time with people we love.  We gathered and ate delicious food.  We saw two grandmas, seven aunts, seven uncles, nine cousins and two cats.  (Four of that tally was via Skype, but I'm still counting it.)   We had many, many seemingly mundane moments with just the five of us that were the kind of moments I want to bottle and keep on a shelf and open everyday to remind me how wonderful it is to have a these beautiful children in my life with a husband that loves me.

Nothing overly spectacular or extraordinary happened.  But having a few days of pjs until lunch and leftover turkey sandwiches was some kind of wonderful.  It was enough to get me through until the next time.

Or at least through Monday, my great and terrible day of laundry.  But it's just a reminder of more blessings.  We have plenty of clothes.  We have a lot to be grateful for.



In case you're curious about one of the things that is spurring on one of my little guys love of big trucks, click here to see his favorite backhoe video. I actually heard him say "backhooooe" in his sleep the other night.  Not joking.