Thanksgiving Week

What a week!  We have been busy little bees this week and it has been such a great one!  Since I was off the whole week there is a lot to recap, so grab a cup of coffee and settle in… it’s going to be a long one!

Jacob was off all week and I kept Olivia home Tuesday through Sunday so we had a lot of family time!  Monday I got the house cleaned up and got caught up on laundry and then Tuesday the kids and I ran to Target, met B for lunch, and then played on the playground all afternoon because the weather was perfect.

B was off starting Wednesday so we had a five-day weekend, which was nice.  We started off the day Wednesday by taking the kiddos to see The Star.  If you haven’t seen it, I highly recommend it.  It was SO good… I may have even teared up a little… or a lot.  It’s about the birth of Jesus and it’s rated G so it’s suitable for all ages.  :o)

After the movie we had Five Guys for lunch and then we did a bit of shopping.  Kohl’s had a giant Abominable Snowman so the kids had to get a picture, of course!  The rest of the afternoon was spent taking down the fall décor and getting ready for the Christmas décor to go up!

Wednesday evening I headed to happy hour with some coworkers… or ex-coworkers, I guess I should start calling them.  ;o)  We had a few rounds of beers and then we headed to a nearby bar for some karaoke.  It was like old times going out the night before Thanksgiving… that used to be Brian’s and my favorite night to go out before we had kids!  ;o)  It was odd being away from my family the night before, though, but this was the night that everyone wanted to meet so we all just rolled with it!

Thursday morning we were up bright and early for homemade waffles and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.  B went out and grabbed a newspaper and we spent the morning perusing the Black Friday ads even though we so rarely go out on Black Friday.  #Tradition

We met my father-in-law and the rest of B’s fam at the country club at noon for lunch.  Their food is always so delicious, and we dined on ham, turkey, dressing, green beans, black eyed peas, sweet potato soufflé, and loads of different desserts.  Their chocolate chip cookies are some of the best chocolate chip cookies I’ve ever had in my entire life and they are pretty much my favorite thing about Thanksgiving lunch every year!  And fun fact, this country club is where we had our rehearsal dinner before our wedding, so every time we go there I’m flooded with lots of wonderful memories!

After lunch we headed to walk by the river.  The day was gorgeous – sunny, low sixties, and a little breeze.  The leaves are right around their peak here in our city, and we really enjoyed all of the fall foliage. 

After our walk, my sis-in-law and her family headed out, but we decided to stay a little longer and take the kids to their favorite playground since it was just down the block.  The leaves by the playground were seriously stunning, so we snapped a few shots while the kids played. 

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing and cooking, and then we headed to my aunt and uncle’s house for Thanksgiving dinner with my family at 5:30.  We all enjoyed some wine and we stuffed ourselves with more delicious food, and the evening was pretty much perfect.  We were missing a few family members as always… my brother, SIL, and nephew, my cousin and her family, and one of my other cousins and his wife.  They all happened to call to Facetime right around the same time and my aunt and uncle were holding phones up to phones so the Facetimers could see the other Facetimers.  It was a hoot!

We got home a little after 9 and the babies fell fast asleep.  B and I watched an episode of Stranger Things and then we called it a night.  I could not be more thankful for this sweet life of ours and the traditions we have created together.  <3

Friday has always been my day to decorate the entire house for Christmas and that’s exactly what we did.  We decorated for six straight hours before finally getting ready and heading out to get our tree.  We stopped by the playground on the way to let the kids get some fresh air because it was another gorgeous day!

At the Christmas tree place, we ended up finding our tree right away, which never happens!!  We ended up getting the second tree that the guy showed us!  Definitely a record!  We loaded it up, swung by our favorite place to grab a pizza, and then we spent the evening eating and decorating. 

The Trolls Holiday Special was on Friday evening, so after we decorated the tree we all sat down with some popcorn and watched that.  It was so cute, just like the first Trolls movie.  I, of course, adore JT, so he can do no wrong in my eyes.  ;o)

Saturday morning I arranged our first North Pole breakfast.  I’ve seen so many people doing them and I knew the kids would love it, so we had one to welcome our elf, Cheek!  Funny story, though… I had planned this in advance, and I had loaded up on goodies at Target earlier in the week.  I had wanted to have everything laid out the night before so it would be ready when the kids went downstairs on Saturday morning, but Friday night when B and I were almost asleep he said, “So we’re doing that North Pole breakfast tomorrow, right?”  I was like OH NOOOO!  I had completely forgotten about it and therefore hadn’t set up a single thing. 

Well, in the morning, the kids went downstairs the same time we did and we just parked them in front of the TV for a few minutes and I totally set everything up right there behind their backs.  All it would have taken was one of them to turn around or to get up and go to the bathroom and the surprise would have been ruined, but fortunately I was able to get everything set out without anyone even noticing. 

When we called them over to the table they were both SO excited.  Cheek had brought them new ornaments for the tree – a Darth Vader ornament for Jacob and a Belle ornament for Olivia – as well as two kinds of donuts, gingerbread men, and candy canes.  They were thrilled.

The rest of the day was spent doing nothing but watching football.  We watched ESPN College Game Day followed by the Georgia/Georgia Tech game (we whooped ‘em) followed by the Alabama/Auburn game followed by the Clemson/South Carolina game.  I did do a little bit of paperwork catch-up during aaaallll the football, though!  I got my planner organized and caught up, I sorted through a bunch of junk mail, and I also organized my to-do lists.  Whew.  I was so behind on “life stuff” that I was afraid I had dropped the ball on something.  Thank goodness I hadn’t! 

Sunday we were up at the crack of dawn to go to the early mass and the kids were absolute angels.  I was so proud of them.  Afterward, we headed back home for a bit and then at lunchtime we headed to my MIL and step-FIL’s house to celebrate Thanksgiving one last time.  I brought pineapple casserole (I really need to put the recipe on here sometime) and we also had turkey, dressing, corn casserole, mashed potatoes, broccoli, peas, and lots of other yummy stuff followed by chocolate chip cookies, brownies, snickerdoodles, and a pumpkin roll for dessert.  And yes, I ate all four desserts.  Haha.  SO GOOD.

Sunday evening was spent relaxing at home and gearing up for the new week.  The kids are back at school this week and B is back at work, and this will be my first week of being a stay at home mom… this past week felt like holiday vacation so it didn’t really count in my book.  ;o) 

On the agenda for the day?  DOING ALL THE THINGS.  My to do list is so freaking long I honestly don’t even know where to start.  What I do know is that I’ll be heading over to the gym for an extra long workout because I’m pretty sure I put on about five pounds this weekend with all of the yummy food!

Happy Monday, y’all!

*Linking up with B Loved Boston for Weekending, My Glittery Heart for Hello Monday,  More Pieces of Me for Hello Monday Linkup, and HoHo Runs for Weekly Wrap.