Just the Ten of Us

Happy Thanksgiving! We kept it low-key and casual. It was just the ten of us. We asked the kids what they were thankful for. Gracie just gave us big eyes and pretended to be shocked by the question and had no answer. My little drama queen, acting all of the time! We all laughed and moved on. We asked Charlie and he couldn't answer because his mouth was full. Libby's turn to answer. She said "My family" and we all said "Awwww!"  Can't top that answer!

I am thankful for all of them, and for this opportunity to be together. I'm especially thankful that Andrew is home early from his deployment and can spend the holidays with his wife and children.

Alfred truly enjoyed his first Thanksgiving. He ate and ate and ate! When Katie didn't feed him fast enough, he threw his plate.

The food was super delicious! As always!  My husband makes everything and he is the best holiday chef. He does all of the grocery shopping, all of the prep work and all of the cooking. He's amazing!  I do the dishes.

After dinner, everyone was miserably happy and full. But, I whooshed them all outside for a quick and casual family snapshot before I would let anyone have any  pie.  They didn't want to, but they did it anyway. I really appreciate their cooperation! It was great to get a photo of all of us together! Nobody was ready, everyone whined, except Alfred, and they probably all hate me for making them do it. But they are the biggest bunch of whiners when it comes to pictures. My method of surprise attack seemed to work well. They are going to whine and be uncooperative whether they are ready for a photo or not, so I just sprung it on them and only had to listen to a few minutes of whining instead of a full day's worth.

The picture turned out fabulous! It's like we planned it or something! My husband, one of the most unwilling participants in the 5 minute photo shoot, had the photo as his facebook cover photo before everyone got back into the house. In one day, it has 99 likes! But most of all, I am so super happy to have it! They did it for me and that means the world to me! Love them all so much!

I don't understand why all families have beautiful family photos except us. All the hard work that I do for the family, all of the worrying and stress and sacrifices, and they never want to smile for a picture in appreciation. Pulling a fast one and withholding pie was out of necessity.  Which is odd, because we really do have a wonderful time together and everyone is so happy to spend the holiday together. Every time I look at any of them, they are all happy enjoying time together. Also, they take pictures of themselves all the time! Why not together? I have no idea.

I finally understand my mother.

Time for pie!

Gobble! Gobble!

Happy Thanksgiving!

I haven't been posting what I am thankful for every day in November because it gets tedious to read all of those thankful posts and I just don't want to add to that. I'll make a quick list though.

I'm not going to state the obvious. I'm thankful for my family, immediate and extended, every single one of them, the crazy and the sane (not many of the latter types).  I'm thankful for food and health and lack of natural catastrophe, etc.  And of course, thankful for those serving in the military and those who served.

In no particular order, and probably will neglect to mention many things I'm thankful for, but here goes:

1. Thankful that my broken ankle healed up before my husband went crazy. Poor guy had to be nurse and Mr. Mom all summer and all of his off time in the fall too. I'm healed up now, and I know I wouldn't have healed so quickly and so well without his help. And I'm super glad he didn't end up in the looney bin.

2. Schumacher stuffing.  Seriously, it's so good! I just had a bite. Nothing like it! I don't even remember the stuffing my dad made when I was a kid because this stuffing is so delicious that my tastebuds have forgotten all others. I love Thanksgiving! I remember as a child it was my favorite holiday because I was a big eater. I don't know how my mom kept me fed; I was a bottomless pit. She probably had to go to the grocery store every day and stock up. They must have thought she had ten kids. Anyway, my husband's stuffing is the best. I'm going to sneak another bite.

3. No school all week.  In South Dakota and the midwestern states, they get Thurs and Friday off for Thanksgiving. That's it. I always thought that was plenty. I love having the whole week off! Californians know how to live it up for the holidays!

4. California Life. I love it here. It's sunny and we're surrounded by nice friendly people and fun places to go. I still don't take it for granted that we live in Southern California. It's like a vacation. Well, for me. Probably not for my husband who works two jobs.

5. Our lazy Elf on the Shelf. She doesn't do tricks or get into mischief or show up too early in the season. She's a good elf. Just sits around the house glaring at the children and reporting to Santa if they aren't behaving. She just moves from shelf to shelf, maybe puts a knee up. That's it. She's not all crazy and keeping me up at night with her shenanigans.

6. Facebook and Blogging. Without social media, I'd get way too lonely and detached from the world. I'm out of the loop now; I barely know what's going on outside of the mommy life. But I'm never feeling alone when I have my internet friends and family just a click away.

7.  My Wednesday morning coffee friends. They are the best! I love having such good friends and they never seem to get tired of me. For that I am extra thankful! I am truly grateful to call Audrey and Kristin my best friends because they are such gems. I know I won the friend lottery.

8. My car. It's a year old on December 1st. I just love it! I was nervous to give up my mini-van life and squish into a little car, but it's been great. I don't miss the van at all. Sometimes I miss some of the van features, like the remote sliding doors (when they worked) or the stow and go storage, or putting my loudest child in the 3rd row instead of right behind my ear. The car is comfortable, looks great, rides nice, and gets great gas mileage.  And I can stuff a ton of crap into the trunk. I love it!

9. Our exchange students. We hosted two, and they both left such a big impression on us.  They were completely different experiences too. Love them both!

10.  Online shopping. Let's face it. It's getting harder to shop for the kids gifts while I have them with me. They are getting wiser and much more observant. They also beg louder. It's just easier to shop online. I just bought myself a gift online and I can't wait to try it out! After I play with my new toy for a while, I'll box it back up and wrap it for Christmas. I just have to find time to be sneaky and find time to play with it.

Gobble! Gobble!  Happy Thanksgiving!