 (around the table clockwise: Kraig, our friends Kelly and Jake, and my dad and mom)Well, I am happy to report that Thanksgiving went well, and I even took time to enjoy some of it! I'm figuring a lot of you must have said a quick prayer for my attitude. My apologies to Alyssa at Live and Learn for the lousy pictures, but I was trying to take them quickly before the food got cold. Afterward I wished I had Alyssa here to photograph this moment for me! :-) For any of you who haven't seen Alyssa's amazing photography skills, you should check out her blog. So back to Thanksgiving... After writing the last blog, I decided to change my attitude and make the holidays nice, but keep it simple. Brenna and I worked on the menu Wednesday and I had a lot of fun showing her how I go about planning, checking if I have the ingredients, and writing down the grocery list -- separating it according to the aisles at the grocery store. In fact, we were doing so well, that she and I went ahead and planned out the menu and groceries through next Saturday! Wednesday afternoon I took Brenna - by herself - to the grocery store. For the first time, I left all four of the boys home alone. Tanner is 12 1/2, Braden is 10, Caleb is 4 and Kraig is 1. I have left them to just run to the post office or mini mart really quickly, but the big grocery store is about 25 minutes away, and since I was shopping for almost two weeks I knew it would take me a while. I know the boys are capable... and they are so good with the little boys...but still, J and I were both at least 30 minutes from home in the case of an emergency. Everything went smoothly, and when Brenna and I arrived home three hours later (it's another story as to why it took us so long), Kraig had taken a nap, eaten lunch, and had a bath! Yep, a bath. Caleb had watched a movie, eaten lunch, played with the big boys, and was up in his room for his break time (when my kids grow out of a nap they go in their rooms for 1 hour to play quietly by themselves - we call it their break, but you all know it's actually my break!). How cool to have babysitters that know the little ones so well!!! Ok, that was not really the point of this post, other than to tell you that having the boys do such a tremendous job really lifted my spirits on Wednesday. And in case anyone is curious, I hadn't promised to pay them anything - and I didn't end up paying them anything monetarily because I didn't want to ruin the genuine satisfaction they were feeling for a job well done. I did give them lots of praise and thankfulness...which was easy because I was so blessed. Thursday morning I got up, made the pumpkin pie and put it in the oven, started my first batch of rolls, and then made a bit breakfast of pancakes, eggs and sausage for the family. The rest of the morning and early afternoon I spent cooking and baking. I had forgotten how much I enjoy cooking when I'm not trying to do fifteen other things at the same time. It was very enjoyable. I even had little helpers in the kitchen while I was making the apple pie and they didn't "get in my way". I had to laugh when I turned around and Caleb was sitting on the kitchen floor with the spatula in hand and apple filling bowl in his lap trying to clean out every last drop.  (Caleb and Brenna - my little helpers) We had dinner around 4:00 p.m., with my parents and some other friends in attendance. The meal was great and the rest of the evening was very relaxing. We started a puzzle. I love puzzles...a little too much. When my kids saw what we were doing they started laughing and said, "Oh no! Mom's doing a puzzle! Now we'll hear '"Just one more piece kids and then we'll leave for the store or church or errands. Or just one more piece and then....'" We all got a good chuckle because it's true. Whenever J leaves for a long deployment or exercise, I pull out a huge puzzle to work on. It's relaxing for me. I have to put a time limit on it, though, or I really can spend a half hour saying, "Just one more piece!"  (clockwise: our friends, Kennadi and Andrew, and my big boys, Tanner and Braden)We watched a lot of football (our whole family likes football - except my mom, who has endured it for so many years that she is immune to the noise), snacked through the evening, had a really nice visit with my parents after everyone else left, and ended the day spending some time together as a couple. So...Thanksgiving was a good kickoff to the holiday season and I know I need to make the necessary adjustments to make Christmas special, too. Hope everyone else had a relaxing Thanksgiving and a special time with their family and friends. God is good...all the time. He never gives up on me. As the psalmist says, "His love endures forever.." And that is what I am most thankful for this year. |
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