Thanksgiving Holiday Round-Up

This month I have been trying to talk to Eli and Owen about Thanksgiving and what it means to be thankful.  Granted, "thankful" is a toughie in terms of emotional range, and I used some big words (grateful, appreciate) but I also did my best to frame it in their "what makes you happy" way of understanding the world.  So, I was explaining to them the kinds of people and comforts that they have in their life that they should be thankful for.  

I think we all want our kids to be thankful for what they have, but it can be a tall order for little ones, so I came up with an idea to make a "Wall of Gratitude", I saw something like this in a magazine and thought it would be a fun thing for us to do every night this month.  We each picked a different color marker and each night we talk about what we are thankful for.

Of course being 3 and 2, a lot of the times it was things like rocks, clouds that rain, rain, rain, the TV we watch our shows on, my Switch and Go Dino, Smarties.

But after a few days, they started to understand the meaning a little better. 

It was a really fun thing to do leading up to Thanksgiving this month and has lead to some fun/funny/interesting discussions at dinner.

On Monday before Thanksgiving their school had a Thanksgiving Feast that parents were invited to attend and eat lunch with the kids and see them do a little performance on stage.

As always, Thanksgiving is a big deal and big production at our house, and this year was no different.  Just trying to think about it to write this post is exhausting, so I'm going to make this one quick.  But it was such a fun, family filled weekend!  
Blaine was getting off Thanksgiving morning, so I got everyone dressed and ready, and we headed to my parents house to see all the guys frying turkeys and playing poker.  
The crowds started trickling in around 12:30 and before we knew it, we had a packed house.  For some reason, it seemed a little more laid back, maybe even a little smaller this year (about 50 or so), but it was great fun.  Cash did me the favor of taking a decent nap during the festivities so I had a little break and was passed around the rest of the day.  Ethan took charge of the camera all weekend, so not many pictures were taken.

 Hobo trying to get the last of the famous punch.

 We skipped naps altogether on Thanksgiving because it just seemed to make more sense, and at about 4 pm Owen fell asleep while eating a roll!  Rachel was quick to grab him and let him take a little nap on her, she was in heaven!!!!!

 The newlyweds!

It was a wonderful first Thanksgiving for Cash, and for everyone or that matter. 

Around 6:30 just about everyone had left, including the boys (Blaine took them home) and we stuck around to help clean up before heading home and crawling into bed at 8pm!!!!  
I was not able to do the Turkey Trot this year, since I had all three boys, and am still looking for a triple stroller, so I woke up bright and early Friday morning and headed out for my own Turkey Trot!  Later that day, we had a relaxing afternoon at my parents house hanging out with Ethan.

Saturday night, my grandmother, Maw, threw a beautiful party at The Headliners Club for our family and some of her close friends.  To be honest, I was dreading it a little because I was so tired from lack of sleep (ahem, I wont mention any names) that getting all dressed up to head downtown sounded exhausting in itself! What I really wanted to do when the babysitter came was check into a hotel, kick back and go to bed, and sleep the whole night.  
But the party was beautiful, and ended up being so much fun!  It was wonderful to see Maw surrounded by everyone she loves. She was responsible for creating nearly every single person in that room! She has her good days and her not so good days.  She is getting older, and her Parkinson's is really taking a toll.  She has many hallucinations, and she knows that her mind is playing tricks on her which I can only imagine is beyond frustrating. Her caregivers are amazing and have become part of the family. I make it a point to visit her almost every weekend with the boys. I want them to remember what a wonderful grandmother and great-grandmother she is.  The party was really a wonderful tribute to her.

 Uncle Jimmy toasting Maw.

Bright and early the next morning we had polichinkas at my parents house like we do every Sunday after Thanksgiving, followed by dinner with my mom's side of the family to celebrate my other grandmothers birthday.  


I really have to much to be thankful for and spending so much time with my family over this weekend was such a wonderful reminder of how lucky I am to be surrounded by such amazing people.