Stuffed

Well we had our feast and we played our talking spoon game! Everyone enjoyed the food and laughter. I am amazed at how one whole day of cooking ends in less than an hour of eating! A big thank you to my Emerson who helped wash every single china plate and dry it! She even said it was fun! Blaise ate well I am thankful for that and we managed to find time to go on a brisk walk before eating pie! Benedict slept thru his first thanksgiving but that is ok because for once I could sit down at table and eat! We had some awesome fun and great memories! This attitude of gratitude was best thing girls suggested! Our advent celebrations start soon and I already am excited about it!

Girls

Julia and Emerson are thankful for learning a new card game!

Tony

Tony is thankful for watching football with his boys!

Homemade sweaters

Benedict is thankful for homemade sweaters and hats!

Blaise

"Blaise what are you thankful for?"
"legos"

Bacon

Good morning! We kicked off our day with Tony making his famous b.e.l.t
Bacon bagel egg lettuce and tomato sandwich
I made cinnamon rolls and we are going to watch parade soon!

Pre Turkey Day

We played our legos, we had our fun and yet it still seems like something is missing! Crafts! The girls wanted to dress up as Pilgrims and Indians this year for dinner. So we got the paper and tape and scissors and got busy! The boys will be the Indians and the girls will be the Pilgrims.

Day to Play

My neighbor has two adorable little girls that Blaise plays with. We had planned a morning playdate set with pancakes and coffee. She texted last night her little one has pink eye so we cancelled. Blaise was devastated. He woke up at 2am anticipating his pals coming over. Such disappointment for a little boy. I was feeling bad and then realized I had nothing planned for today. A whole morning to be thankful for. Blaise and I got to work making plans and decided we would play legos, build a fort, and then read some stories. Normally my type A personality would tell me there are a zillion other things I should be focusing on. But the idea of getting on the floor with the kids and playing sounds like pure bliss. I hope the neighbor girl feels better soon but I am sort of a little teeny bit thankful for pink eye!

Potholder dance

Ok so this has nothing to do with my whole attitude of gratitude theme this month. It simply makes me smile! My husband loves making his kids laugh! Last night he came home and cranked up the kids bop songs! Next thing I knew they were all jamming and he was dancing with a potholder!

Reading stories

I am so thankful that Blaise has learned to read. I was fearful about this endeavor as I have been forewarned by many homeschool moms that boys are harder to teach. They are easily distracted. I prepared myself for the worst and imagined large tutor bills and sending him off to college with his Dr. Seuss books hoping someone would read to him. Well a few months ago he surprised me with his willingness to sit at his desk and want to learn. So I went with it and like a little sponge he picked it right up. What makes me so thankful about this is that he wants to read to Benedict now. So I have another little helper to entertain baby. Thank you Blaise for reading to brother last night so I could help your sisters get homework done!

Giving Tree

I promised not to talk about Christmas until after Thanksgiving but I can't resist this one! Yesterday at church they introduced the giving tree. It is sponsored by St. Vincent and it supports the needy families who may not have anything over Christmas! The kids got to go up and pick a tag. On their tag is description of a child, senior, or widow in need. In past we always picked one whole family to shop for. This year Julia wanted to shop for a widow and senior. Emerson wanted to shop for a little girl that loved barbies like herself. When we sat down Blaise was pouting he wanted to pick his own tag too and what about baby Benedict! Oh my the generosity was catchy! We kept getting up and down and genuflecting every time! I keep laughing because when I finally sat down I was breaking a sweat! Now the excitement is in the shopping for the people. Julia wants to add a few pictures for her widow and senior. Emerson wants to donate some barbie outfits to the doll she will buy! I am thankful for this giving tree as it teaches thoughtfulness and humility!

Like father like son....

I love watching how my kids copy Tony and I. The good, the bad, the ugly. They copy it all. It is super important that we are mindful of this especially Tony when he is watching his spartans and they are losing. I give him that look and he knows little ears are listening. The cute stuff they mimic is always putting a smile on my face. Last night Tony had a splinter in his finger and could only find bandaids in the kiddie bathroom. This morning he was showing us and lamenting about his boo boo when we noticed Blaise had the same band aid on same finger. Seems he mysteriously had a boo boo in middle of night and this morning was sporting a band aid just like his daddy! I am thankful that Tony is the kind of dad that will wear a kid bandaid proudly!

Birthday suit

Haven't had a moment to blog, but according to Julia that is a good thing sometimes. Today after mass we went and did a major turkey day shopping. Tony and Julia were in charge of meats and dessert! I think that's funny since she is a vegetarian. Emerson and Blaise helped me with the other stuff: macaroni and cheese, potatoes, stuffing, green beans..you know the drill! It was divide and conquer in the store. I was tired and so thankful that Tony could help with shopping. Blaise woke up three times last night, yes Blaise not our baby Benedict who sleeps like a log but Blaise. The wind was scaring him so he woke up. Which means Tony and I both took turns walking him back to his room! I have to admit I could barely keep my eyes open at mass, then to deal with grocery shopping after! Ugh! Which leads me to my thankful moment of the day: watching Benedict hanging out in his birthday suit this afternoon just chilling! He looked up at me as if to say "come on Mom smile isn't life great!" we all know naked babies are perfectly adorable! So I couldn't resist snapping a few shots!

Fairies

Emerson is thankful for fairies and fairy movies. She recently discovered a new fairy movie was airing tonight on tv so she has been hard at work earning the chance to watch it! After yesterday's fiasco at mcds I noticed her carrying her rosary around. When I asked what she was doing she said she was practicing her hail mary's for she knew she was in TROUBLE! I laughed and told her she could do some chores as penance. So today she read to the baby so I could do laundry, she cleaned up several of blaise's messes, and she washed all the dishes and put them away. She seemed remorseful so I agreed to her staying up a little bit later and as a surprise I made a fairy cake to go along with the theme. Julia returned home from her sleepover and I feel complete as our entire family is together as it should be.

Socks

Have you heard the latest fad amongst the young? You are not going to believe this one! Mismatched socks! Yes it is true. No more stressing over the missing pair in the dryer. Simply put two socks together and you are in style. I discovered this trend recently amongst a group of julia's pals. She was thrilled when her Nana took her shopping and got her some of these trend setting footwear gear. Why even Tony has fallen prey to this fad by accident. Just this morning he had one black and one brown sock on before he left for work. What a fashionista!

End of day

I am thankful that today is done! Ha ha! I know next year I will look back on this blog and laugh hysterically but today I just sigh and say thank goodness it is done! Let me vent for a moment: today was "supposed" to be an easy day! Julia was at nana's house, school was done and my two little hooligans known as Bonnie and Clyde were excited about going to McDonalds for a shake today! I never ever go to McDonalds and now I know why! Here's the lowdown we got our shakes and peppermint mocha (I couldn't resist) and I let Bonnie and Clyde talk me into sitting in play area. I never go to these places as it is a breeding ground for the bubonic plague! But I figured we could sit and watch everyone else get germy and then leave! I let my common sense take a nap and next thing I knew Bonnie and Clyde were at top of play structure. Here's where it all goes sour! Clyde is afraid of heights and Bonnie knows this so she scurries away leaving Clyde in a phobic tailspin! His blood curdling screams brought swarms of McD's employees running to my aide. They imagined a fire transpired or a broken arm. Concerned mothers came running to offer aide or support, all because Clyde would not go down the slide and Bonnie refused to help! I had to leave my sweet sleeping baby in arms of some strange woman while I climbed up play structure to rescue Clyde! I calmly asked Bonnie to come down as we were leaving. She coyly and sweetly looked me straight in face and said "no I am NOT leaving!" where I very sweetly said "well I am!" by then the strange lady holding my now screaming baby passed him back to me and he looked at me like I had abandoned him. I walked out of there like a cat on fire and was stopped by a man that reminded me my 7 year old was still refusing to come. I wanted to yell "call a cab" but that would have been mean since she had no money to pay for one. So I kept walking praying she would not call my bluff! I am happy to say all the children made it home safely and after a time out and a little donation of a toy to our St. Vincent pile I am feeling better. Now excuse me while I go bathe my children in some germ-x so we don't catch the bubonic plague or something. Thank Goodness today is done!
P.s. The McDonalds employees recommend we don't come back for awhile until Clyde gets over his fear of heights!

Crafty girl

Nana and Julia have been really good at updating us on all their antics! In the world of arts and crafts these two are a force to be reckoned with! They have made ornaments and pencil toppers and memories!

Sleepover

Julia went to my mom's house for a sleepover. She wanted to get away from chaos of little siblings. Every young girl needs time with her Nana. She left at 10 this morning and they went to my mom's house where they worked on a homemade book, ate a healthy lunch of avocado and cottage cheese and then went to library. I heard plans of more crafts and a movie later. These are times where memories are made between a girl and her nana!