Giving Thanks

We have had a busy few days here which is why I'm just getting around to posting. We had this holiday called Thanksgiving? Are you not familiar with this, the American-est of holidays? Please allow me to explain. First, you cook a lot of foods that you would never, ever eat at any other time during the year. (Hello, pumpkin pie and cranberry sauce, I'm talking to you!) Next, you consume these foods with the reckless abandon of a carb-loading marathoner. Then, you loosen your belt a few notches and declare that you can't eat another bite. And, finally you fall asleep on the couch watching the Jets stink it up against the Patriots.

That's the basic outline of the holiday, and your family can embellish this framework with its own traditions. That's what we did, beginning with the Third Annual Turkey Bowl. The Boy loves him some pick up football and hounds the K relentlessly to throw passes in the backyard. We have some neighbors with similarly football-loving kids, so the K and some of the other menfolk have organized an annual Thanksgiving Day game. The Girl announced that she would be the referee, complete with the K's coach's whistle. Here they are, ready to roll:

As a little girl, I always dreamed of having children that I could dress up in coordinating wind pants. Wishes do come true! As an aside, I had a law school classmate with a penchant for wind suits. You could hear him coming from a mile away in the quiet law library, swooshing past the carrels, looking for an open seat. Apparently the love of wind suits is hereditary, or at least learned, because his father wore a lovely wind suit to our law school graduation.

One of our other Thanksgiving traditions is me somehow screwing up with the turkey. We checked this one off our list, despite the fact that we'd picked up a smoked turkey from Fox Bros. that only needed to be reheated. I neglected to read that you were supposed to bring the turkey to room temperature before heating. Whoops! Delay of dinner by an hour. Well, on the plus side, that means a longer cocktail hour. (The turkey ended up being yummy, by the way.)

Yet another Thanksgiving tradition is making the centerpieces. This year we did one for the kids' table and one for the adult table. The girls helped me out. Of course, if you hadn't guessed already, this involved pumpkin planters. Yay! Let's see if all my practice paid off:

This is the one for the grown up table. I thought it looked pretty cute. I am sorry that the magnolia leaves look so wilted. They look better in real life.

That's the kids' table in the foreground. I've never done a kids' table before and I have to say, that I kind of liked it. The children didn't complain and actually seemed to enjoy eating off the fancy china and having their own little adult-free zone.

Another Thanksgiving tradition is having guests for dinner. Sister and her adorable doggie, Cappy came down from Washington:

The K's sister (SIL) and brother-in-law (BIL) came from Michigan via Amelia Island (isn't that the way to do it)?! Mom was the organizer supreme and divvied up the dinner duties between us.

Remember our new Thanksgiving tradition, the Thankful Wreath? Well, here it is all filled up with leaves:

Truth be told, those leaves are just barely sticking to the wreath. If Audrey the Moose came galloping by the rush of air would send those felt leaves a-flying. Yes, an imaginary moose might destroy the wreath. That's just how precariously those leaves are attached. So, we were originally quite good about writing down something that we were thankful for each day, but somewhere around November 12th we go behind. On Thanksgiving morning I was hounding the children to list off multiple things that they were thankful for. By the end of the exercise they were all just tremendously thankful that I was finished with my thankfulness interrogation.

My plan was to read the things that we were all thankful for at Thanksgiving dinner. The kids all groaned, objected, and complained until I relented. I'll show them, though, by sharing it now with everyone. Bwahahaha! Okay, I'll share my list, and then selected, unattributed items from the kid's list. I am thankful for:

• Electricity
• Spending time together
• Being able to talk
• My family
• The K's safe arrival in Seattle for a work trip
• Being able to vote
• Good health
• Bedtime
• People who help you unstick your car
• Watching soccer
• Girls on the Run
• Cough drops
• Antibiotics
• Sleep
• Feeling better
• The nice lady at the church who gave me change for a dollar when the parking lot was full and I had to park on the street
• Google maps 
• The Girl's nice soccer team and their parents
• Sleeping until 6:45
• The Girl's birthday
• Seeing Sister and Cappy
• Family being together

Some of the more interesting items on the children's list:

• Flowers
• Chick fil-A
• Broccoli
• Juice
• Freedom
• Life
• Band-aids
• Basketball
• Toys
• Air
• Books
• Bananas
• Family
• Animals
• Awesomeness
• Jumping in the leaves
• Math
• Santa
• Balloons
• Not being constipated
• New shoes

On Thanksgiving, the Baby donned her traditional holiday attire:

Yes, that is a white shirt under a red checked sundress, flowered skirt, and multicolored tights worn backwards. We were all thankful that the Baby was with us and not pushing a shopping card full of her belongings down Boulevard like others dressed in similar outfits. 

Hope you all enjoyed your Thanksgiving traditions, too!