We had a
wonderful Thanksgiving weekend despite the fact that Olivia was sick. She came down with croup on Tuesday – super
stuffy/runny nose, nasty cough, and that scary breathing that accompanies
croup. Fortunately we were able to get
some medicine in her to keep her comfortable, and she seemed to be just fine
for the majority of the weekend despite her symptoms. Unfortunately I seem to have come down with
something this morning, although mine seems to be a much lighter version of
hers, but at least it waited until after the holidays so I was able to enjoy my
food. Thanksgiving with no taste buds
does not a good time make.
Anyway, we
started the long weekend by doing more decorating around the house Wednesday
evening. We got in our PJs, turned on
some Christmas tunes, and got the Christmas tree up in our master bedroom. We made eggs, grits, bacon, and toast for
dinner, and then we all settled in on the couch to watch some old Christmas
cartoons (which by the way were very
strange… thanks, Amazon Prime. Won’t be
watching those again. Lol). Once the kiddos were in bed, B and I mixed up some Moscow Mules and then settled in for Stranger Things and Gilmore Girls. We finished Stranger Things season one and y'all, was it me or was that whole show completely pointless?? #ImAHater
Thanksgiving
morning we got up verrrry early thanks to Olivia’s sickness, B ran out and
grabbed a newspaper, I made homemade waffles, and then we all watched the Macy’s
Thanksgiving Day Parade while devouring the Black Friday ads. Our Thanksgiving mornings look much the same
each year, but I sure do love our traditions.
We did have a
little mishap Thanksgiving morning when Olivia stumbled and fell into the side
of the couch. Instead of hitting the 90%
of it that’s soft, she hit her face on the 10% of it that’s hard and she
started screaming. I jumped up and there
was blood pouring from her nose as well as a pool of blood in her mouth. My heart sank and my first thoughts were that
we were going to spend Thanksgiving at the hospital, but fortunately after
cleaning her up and rinsing out her mouth, we discovered there was no major
damage. I’m honestly not even sure where
all of the blood came from. She did,
however, get a scrape above her lip, so for the rest of the pictures in this
post, you’ll see her battle wounds. Poor
thing.
At noon we
met my father-in-law at the country club for Thanksgiving lunch. It is one of the best meals of the entire
year and I look forward to it every single year. We dined on ham and turkey, stuffing, green
beans, sweet potato soufflé, fingerling potato salad, fresh fruit, a ton of
other things that I didn’t even have room for on my plate, as well as a
gazillion different desserts. I may or
may not have had a slice of pumpkin pie, a slice of key lime pie, and two
chocolate chip cookies.
Hey, I had to
make up for the fact that I didn’t get to eat at all last Thanksgiving. ;o)
After lunch,
we took a walk along the river, another tradition of ours. The weather was perfection and it was truly a
beautiful day. Such a picturesque walk
through our little town.
After our
walk it was back home for some to rest, and for others (ahem, me) to start
preparing for our Thanksgiving dinner later on in the day. I made my mother-in-law’s hot pineapple
casserole (I really need to post this recipe soon… it’s incredible), and while
that was baking I finished up our Christmas chalkboard for the kitchen.
We headed to
my aunt and uncle’s house at 5:30 for Thanksgiving dinner with my mom’s entire
side of the family… all 30-ish of us! In
all my enjoyment, I totally forgot to snap any pictures of the food, but I’m
sure you can imagine what we had – ham, turkey, smoked Boston butt, mashed
potatoes and gravy, sweet potato soufflé, mac n cheese, green bean casserole,
pineapple casserole, more dishes that I’m forgetting, my Aunt Joy’s cinnamon
muffins (another recipe that I need to share on here), and numerous
desserts. And an open bar. We can’t forget about that! ;o)
We stuffed
ourselves until we couldn’t possibly eat any more, and then we all sat around
chatting and catching up. Olivia is
completely obsessed with hairstyles so she went from girl to girl (mostly
between my cousins) and “styled their hair.”
I wish I had snapped a few pictures because it was just too cute.
We also
Facetimed with my brother and sis-in-law and my nephew and then we took a few
family pictures. Here’s my mom with all
of her siblings and their mom (my grandmother).
And here is
my mom with all of her sisters and their mom. Can you
tell that I’m related to all of them?
We stayed way
too late and got the kids in bed way too late, and then went home, watched some
Gilmore Girls, and called it a night. It
was Thanksgiving perfection and I am oh so thankful for days like those.
Friday
morning was spent cleaning the entire house top to bottom – sweeping, mopping,
dusting, vacuuming, cleaning counters and toilets, etc. – in preparation for
the Christmas season. Once the cleaning
ended, the decorating continued! I got
some new stuff from Hobby Lobby for our formal dining room and I am head over
heels for how it turned out. I can’t
wait to share it with you next Tuesday!
We went out
to Five Guys for lunch, and then we went and picked up a Christmas tree. It was unseasonably hot again, but we made
the most of it as we were sweating and whining.
Haha.
Friday
afternoon we put Olivia down for her nap and I spent the next two hours putting
the lights on the tree so it would be prepped and ready for decorating later that
night. We had Olive Garden for dinner
since we were over all of the Thanksgiving food, and then it was time to go
home to decorate the tree.
I shuffled my
Christmas mix and we pulled out the ornaments.
The kids took turns hanging them (all in the same place, might I add)
and I had the best time reminiscing as I unwrapped each one. Each ornament on our tree tells a story, and
every year it always makes me so happy hanging up the same ornaments that we
have been hanging for years… some for 30+ years!
Once the tree
was up in all its glory, our elf, Cheek, made his appearance and we read our
Elf on the Shelf book before sending the kiddos to bed. And since Cheek is back, that also meant that
I had to set the ol’ alarm again so we won’t forget to move him every night. WHY is it so impossible to remember to do
that?!
Saturday
morning was spent putting up the outdoor Christmas decorations, and then it was
off to my mother-in-law’s house for Thanksgiving numero tres. B’s step-sister and her husband and family
were in town, and they had brought their dog along. Olivia loved him so much. She chased him all over the yard, threw his
ball over and over and over, and kept hugging him every five minutes. She would have taken him home in a heartbeat
if we would have let her.
And on a side
note, she requested a ribbon in her hair – not a bow – for Thanksgiving lunch,
so I put one of my old ribbons in her hair… so crazy that I used to wear that
same ribbon when I was younger!
We stuffed
our faces again for meal number three and I may or may not have had a piece of
pecan pie, a snickerdoodle, a brownie, and three homemade chocolate chip
cookies for dessert.
What can I
say? I heart dessert.
The rest of Saturday
was spent watching football, working on a new craft (coming to the blog soon),
and not eating... Brian and I fed dinner to the kids, but he and I skipped it
and just made a cheese plate instead. I
don’t think I could have eaten another bite of ham or turkey if I tried.
Sunday morning
we headed back over to my mother-in-law’s house to celebrate my nephew’s
birthday. Since everyone was tired of
regular food at that point, they had a brunch instead of lunch – eggs, grits,
pancakes, sausage, bacon, hash browns, donut holes, and fresh fruit. Yes, I ate a ton again, but it was a nice
change of pace from all of the other Thanksgiving food. Did I mention we had birthday cake, too? <Insert cringey-face emoji here> I
think I probably gained five eight pounds this weekend.
After the
birthday cake was devoured and the presents were opened, B’s momma and sisters plus
all of the cousins went to a new entertainment complex that just opened
here. They have bowling, bumper cars,
and an arcade. Jacob was in heaven. He had been begging to go there for the last
few weeks, so he didn’t even know what to do with himself! He played game after game, and Olivia even
joined in on a couple of them. There
wasn’t much for her to do there, so she and I headed out after about an hour so
she could go down for her nap.
Sunday evening
was spent at my momma and daddy’s for Sunday dinner. Yep… more food. Ranch chicken pasta, honey glazed carrots,
and sautéd brussel sprouts with bacon. I
ate it all up… and now I need to go to the gym every day this week.
Too bad I don’t
have time. ;o)
I hope your
weekends were filled with family, fun, and food food food like ours was! Happy Tuesday!
T W E L V E – Trick-or-Treat
