Thanksgiving Weekend

One of my favorite weekends of the year. We had an amazing Thanksgiving Day, but it was so long and so busy that the day after was a recoup day for us. Of course, it was also our annual make and decorate a giant gingerbread man, decorate the house for Christmas, listen to Christmas music, and watch Christmas movies. In the past it's been a special Mom and Minis Day at home, but this year Hubs was with us too. I remember how magical this day was when the minis were little. The day was still magical but in a different, we have big kids now, type of way.

We began our day with the usual green and red pancake muffins (complete with our favorite cinnamon syrup). Then the youngest two minis made our gingerbread man, with little help required from mom.

It took most of the day to go through the decorations, set them up, and set up the daycare room (that took the longest). The minis love going through each bin and pulling out their favorite decorations and holiday toys (yes, we have a bin full of special holiday toys that only come out the month of December).

Two of the five of us took three hour long naps. Three of us spent three hours watching Christmas movies on Netflix. Then we enjoyed leftovers (the cat begged for some too) and finally got around to decorating our gingerbread man. Hubs and I were just there for picture taking apparently because didn't help at all with the decorating! Although, neither did the youngest mini. She mostly just ate frosting.

We went from jammies to new jammies at the end of the night! 

As usual, things got interesting when I asked them to stand up for a picture. That clearly meant stand on the couch and act weird.

Movie night with popcorn and M & M's (that had to be taken away after they couldn't eat nicely and got melted chocolate all over the living room. Also typical).

Thursday was crazy, Friday was relaxing, Saturday was something. I had to be at the Museum for an exhibit build, the minis and Hubs did some shopping for Small Business Saturday, the afternoon brought us to the urgent care for an ear infection, and the evening brought us to family to celebrate a birthday.

My uncle treated all of the families animals to treats and gifts (for his own birthday. I love that!). Harrison was super excited to give the cats their "kitty crack" or "feline weed" (I had to ask him not to call them those at my grandparents house. Face palm). 

This might have been my favorite moment of the entire four day weekend: Max had to take a dose of his antibiotic before bed. I set it out for him along with a cup of water. He started crying and said, "I'm not supposed to take it with water! The doctor said I'm supposed to take it WITH FOOD! It even says it on the bottle!" I had to take a moment to calmly explain what that meant as he lost his shit. Of course I laughed, but also a bit worried how he's supposed to be a functioning member of society with this middle school brain. 

"Kitty crack" leaves the cats extra lovey.

Sunday's are for relaxing and we did just that. We slept, we listened to Christmas music, we cleaned. Hubs did take Harrison and Elizabeth to Festival of Trees and I stayed home with Max so he could rest (since his ear drum burst--yikes!). This was the first Festival of Trees I've missed in (I believe) ten years. I was a bit sad that we didn't enjoy this as a family outing (as we usually do), but sometimes we have to adjust our expectations to fit our reality.

A little bit of quiet time for snacking and writing.

These two minis opted out of being in the Christmas show this year, but they did go to the Festival of Trees to watch their dancing friends perform. Bonus that they got to enjoy beautiful trees and vote for their favorites.

Annual picture with Buddy the Elf.

I loved getting home from running errands (and taking a minute to talk business while away from home) and seeing excited faces waiting for me.

Now that we enjoyed our late Thanksgiving, we're headed into a BUSY December!