The kids just got on the school bus and we are back to “real life” after a really wonderful Thanksgiving break. It is dark and cold and snowy this morning which made it even harder to drag ourselves out of bed, but the kids are really excited about the promise of a big snowfall.

So, here is a recap of our last few days. Our goal was just to have a lot of fun together as a family, and we really accomplished that! Josh even said on Saturday that it was the most perfect family day he could remember.

Thanksgiving was really nice. After the cinnamon and orange rolls, the kids and I sprawled out all over the living room floor and watched the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day parade. I am from NY and I love the parade. The kids enjoyed it too. Josh started cooking, and he came in and sat with us on and off when he had a break in his kitchen action.

We let the kids choose their clothes without any direction…we told them that they could be as fancy or unfancy as they wanted (remember, we didn’t have any family coming and we were just staying home). I ended up with one girl in a dress, one boy in fleece pajamas and all sorts of other things in between. The only outfit that got vetoed was Shane’s, but the boy came up wearing a sweater vest and a bathing suit! (He did get a great laugh out of everyone before he got changed, which was his intent).

For lunch we put out a big buffet…we had cheeses, pepperoni, ham, little smokey hotdogs, oranges, grapes, carrots, broccoli, cherry tomatoes, potato chips, dips, crackers, “cheese in a can” and other stuff like that. We let the kids make their own plates and they thought it was just grand…Nathan kept saying, “I will always remember this meal!”

It was too funny…that could have been the extent of our Thanksgiving “feast” and they would have been just fine with it!

After lunch we watched a movie, and then I took the kids for a walk while Josh continued cooking. It was COLD, but it was nice to be outside. Some kids walked with me and Belane (she was in a stroller…Marcus was still napping) and some kids rode bikes. We got to say “hi” and “Happy Thanksgiving” to some friends and neighbors who were also outside in the bright sunshine and then went back home to warm up.

While Josh cooked on, I had the kids each write out five things that they were thankful for, and then had them write their letters to Santa. Lots of funny conversations there…”yes you can ask for a remote controlled car, no you cannot ask for a monkey” sort of stuff!

Josh let one child help him with each “dish” he was preparing, and they all thought that was great. One helped with the stuffing, one helped with the sweet potatoes, one helped with the corn bread, one helped with pies, etc. Everything came out wonderfully.

We had a great meal and then cleaned up and put the kids to bed. It was about as stress-free as a holiday could be...it really was a fantastic Thanksgiving.


Continued...