Gobble Gobble... going, going, gone

Well Thanksgiving has come and gone and I for one am stuffed.  We had a nice Thanksgiving dinner with family who also happens to be friends.  All of Larry's immediate family came, plus his Aunt Margaret and her beau Kevin.  On my side I had Crystal and Jeff and Mom.  It ended up being 16 in all which was just about the perfect size for a get together.  We had wondeful food, fine conversation, and lots of love.

I am so thankful for my family and friends, today and always.  I had a lot of help in preparing for this dinner and cleaning up afterwards, as well as food and beverage contributions from pretty much everyone who attended our celebration.

I am very thankful for my husband who supports me and my health issues on a daily basis.  For my mom who makes me laugh and helps me around the house as best she can.  For my little boy who shows me love and makes me laugh on a daily basis.  For in-laws who love and support me and my family.  For my own family who love and support me.  For my dog Bubba who although old is a puppy at heart and my constant companion.  For our ever growing family of pets that add fun and even more love to our household.  For my cat Callie who cuddles with me each night, keeping me warm.

I am most thankful for this wonderful life that I have been given.  Thank you to one and all who have contributed to making my life more meaningful, and I won't name names because you all know who you are.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone.

Thanksgiving Prep

Well I cooked an extra turkey last night, and threw another in the oven at the crack of dawn this morning.  Got my yams all prepared, the carrots ready for baking, a gazillion potatoes peeled then Larry took them down to his sister Mary's with instructions of what was to go in the oven at what time since we're having to borrow her oven as well since ours only accomodates the turkey and nothing else.  Larry was a champ cutting all the potatoes and carrots for me, and mom helped by keeping on top of the dirty dishes for me.

Then when Crystal showed up we got the appetizers going and out - just simple faire, a little hummus, crackers and cheese and a veggie tray, plus the cheese ball and crackers that Crystal brought.  Then Crystal whipped up a little fruit fluff salad so that my borther-in-law Chuck wouldn't be heartbroken.  It's not the 24-hour fruit salad I usually make and that he loves, but I'm sure that he'll love this too.

Larry carved my birds and did an awesome job so all I have left to do is take the spiral ham out of the oven and throw together my green salad.  Then we can lay out the spread and let everyone dig in at 1:00.  I think it's going to be an awesome Thanksgiving.

Daddy and his Shadow

Larry put up our outdoor Christmas decorations over the last couple of days so I could have them lit up this evening - in our community it's against the "RULES" to put them up or have them lit prior to Thanksgiving Day.  To that I say PHOOEY on You!  Any way I digress... the whole time Larry is doing his thing outside Joey is doing his best to get outside.  He keeps opening the front door and I keep telling him to stay inside and close the door.  Finally I think I'll outsmart him and put the deadbolt on thus eliminating his ability to open the door.  Instead he outsmarted me because he went to to the laundry room door and before I knew it had snuck out to his Daddy through the garage.  I finally gave up and told Larry that it was his responsibility to keep an eye on him.

So Joe followed him around for a bit, basically getting in the way, and then he promoted himself to foreman getting his little chair and moving it from location to location so that he could sit and tell Daddy what to do.  It was to cute.  At the end of the process Larry had to change out some light bulbs on our Santa's and snowman and had to use the screwdriver.  As soon as he set it down, Joe was on it and imitating exactly what he'd seen his daddy do.  They really are to peas in a pod.

Anyway thanks to my boys I have a marvelously decorated house with lights, ornaments and all kinds of characters.

Trains

Trains and boys just seem to go together like peanut butter and jelly.  Uncle Armas gave me a four car train set for Joey the last time we were up there and he wasn't quite mature enough to play with it, so we put it away until the timing was right.  This weekend seemed to be the perfect time.

Daddy broke it out and set it up on Joey's crafting table and he has been playing with it for hours.  He's added Bert into the mix and his cows and dinasours so his train now has quite the ecclectic managerie with it.  He's put his garbage man on the tracks and let the cow catcher do it job of scooting it aside and of cours ehe's managed to derail it several times in the mix.

Anyway I don't think it would be an understatement to say he loves his train.  Thank you very much Uncle Armas for thinking of him.  I'm sure it's going to provide him hours of fun and make believe.

Miss JoAnna rocks!

I have the best day care provider ever.  As I said in an earlier post I've had to cut back on day care each week because of finances, and today was technically Joe's off day but since I'm feeling so lousy right now she took him off my hands with one quick phone call.  I love having a friend for a provider because they always have your back, even when their life isn't right on track.  Her oldest son came down with Strep yesterday so he's also home from school, poor little bugger.  (Man that saying just made me think of my Grandma, Queenie - I wish she could be with us this holiday season, and to see my little guy... I think she'd instantly fall in love with him and vice versa.)

Anyway for day care providers out there everywhere, I say THANK YOU!