On a totally out of order post, I realized I never talked about Thanksgiving! It’s not completely surprising because on my constant to do list of things I would like to be doing, somehow typing ends up at the bottom. Having two hands is a privilege I don’t often have. I’m getting more sleep lately, which is great, but it means I have less time for other things. Trade off.
But I did want to quickly mention some things to cement the memories which will certainly disappear.
This year we tried out a thankful turkey. They’re big on the internet lately, but they’ve always felt a bit overwhelming to me. For some reason I had some energy and decided to make one in the middle of the night - I was seriously cutting and laminating at 11 pm while watching the baby. And yes, I said laminating. Because halfway through I was so exhausted I decided that if I didn’t make it so this turkey could be reused every year, I’d never do it again. Because it was a lot of work. So our turkey is reusable and hopefully will last us for a few years.
The internet’s favorite thing about the turkey is always to see how long it takes for the children to name their parents as something they’re thankful for. Among things that got on there before me were the cats, the neighbors, playgrounds, tie dye, and pumpkins. Still, I think they enjoyed doing it most days, so the turkey will live to see another year.
Speaking of turkeys, E’s favorite part of thanksgiving might have been the cheeseball turkey that I made and need documented because I think there were a few doubters to my vision. I probably didn’t need to add another thing to my list that day, and we could have done without it, but I was happy that he enjoyed eating it.
The kids ate less this year than last year, but I think it’s because there was so much else going on. Last year Thanksgiving was just the four of us, so sitting down to eat was the excitement. This time my parents and sister were there, so they had whiplash from all the fun going on, so they almost didn’t notice the meal happened. It’s okay, though, since we also had a new baby that caused interruptions and someone was always standing or holding a baby or walking off with a kid. It was still perfect, and it was the best meal I’d eaten in a while.
E & G also saw the town Santa parade this year. Somehow we always seem to catch it from the car on the way to the grocery store, which is perfect for us in this season. Some day we’ll go stake out a place to watch it from, but we’re not quite there yet. Same for the tree lighting - we’ve driven around to look at a lot of pretty lights, but I don’t think they’re quite old enough to enjoy the actual lighting ceremony.
We’ve gone to birthday parties and experienced outdoor scavenger hunts, we’ve gotten all adults vaccine boosted, and all the boys haircuts.
We also did our annual gingerbread houses. E has been asking me almost daily when we were going to be able to do them, so last weekend we made it happen. Of course if you’ve been here a few years now, you know that it’s not actually about making them - although that part is fun too. It’s mostly about SMASHING them. And so we did. We even bought them special mallets to smash with. It’s one of those weird and exciting things that they talk about for months after it happens, so I’m always glad when we can fulfill that vision. This year we couldn’t find any pre-built ones, so I had to make them myself. Do not recommend.
We also got our first snow, which reinforced our kid’s love of shoveling and sledding. The snow only lasted a few hours, but it was exciting while it lasted! Overall I think we’re having fun and doing okay, but I don’t think I’ll mind when life slows down a bit after Christmas.
