Many thanks

Reflecting back over the past year, I'm feeling incredibly grateful and thankful for all our blessings.  We've been able to make some pretty awesome memories as a family and with hard work and lots of money we did several updates to our home.  It's easy to get caught up in the hubbub of the season and forget what Thanksgiving really is about.  Cooking, baking, shopping, decorating for Christmas, and rushing from one event to the next, I tend to neglect the true meaning.

My family is healthy and happy.

Our house is cozy, warm, and something I know we're proud of.

Scott and I both have jobs that, on most days, leave us feeling fulfilled.

We were able to see many family and friends this past year in Michigan and outside of Michigan.

And we just had five days off together at home.

I'm thankful.

I woke up Wednesday morning on our first day off to find the kids snuggled under the covers in Sean's bed watching iPads.  I made breakfast, we worked on small projects around the house, the boys created the "Mayflower" out of Target boxes, I sold a few items on some local mom2mom groups, and the boys got into Scott's old Nintendo to play Super Mario Bros.  Before we knew it, it was late afternoon and Sean had his piano lesson.  He did so great!  His teacher is wonderful.  He had him learning different types of notes, doing basic math, reading to him out of his workbook, and playing 2 different songs all in 30 minutes!  We grilled burgers for an early dinner and went to watch the boys at Ninja Warriors.  Sean was so close to climbing to the top of the rope!

The night before Thanksgiving is my family's tradition of watching Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.  Once I got the kids to bed, Scott and I sat down for some popcorn, a few drinks, and my favorite movie!  Tagging my family in a post on Facebook helped us all share what part we were at the movie.  Even my brother and sister-in-law in Oregon were watching!

Thanksgiving morning was relaxing!  I did all my food prep for later in the day on Wednesday.  So, I made a batch of cinnamon rolls, an egg bake, and some bacon for breakfast.  We laid around watching the parade on TV and reading the sales papers.  I ran 2 miles before getting ready to head to my parents for dinner.  It was a nice morning!

At my parents' house, my Aunt and Uncle from Plainwell came out and my Uncle Ron.  We ate appetizers I prepared in the basement while the Lion's game was on.  The boys built some special Thanksgiving and Christmas Lego sets my Dad bought them, while the others sat around and socialized.  Dinner was delicious as always!  Sean ate turkey and a roll.  Evan picked around and didn't end up eating much.  But, of course they devoured dessert.  Ice cream and pumpkin snickerdoodle cookies for the boys, while everyone else enjoyed apple and pumpkin pies.

Friday Scott took advantage of the warmer temps and worked on getting his lights put up outside.  I had to venture to the mall with Sean in the afternoon for his eye appointment at Lenscrafters.  The mall was surprisingly manageable.  We did some shopping for a bit and then his eye appointment took less than an hour.  He does not need glasses as of now!  Great news!  When we got home, Evan and the neighborhood kids were playing outside so Sean joined in.  Our neighbor Nevaeh ended up playing with the boys and staying for dinner and then Home Alone 2 in their pajamas.  The kids were all playing so nicely!

Saturday, after breakfast, we drove out to Troy.  We stopped at Somerset to get Chic-Fil-A for lunch and to let the boys shop at the Lego Store and The Disney Store.  Again, the mall was not all that crowded!  I went to a craft show with my mom at my old high school and Scott took the boys to his parents to hang out.  Apparently, we missed the memo that they had gone up north for the weekend.  Lost in translation of text messages...

It put a kink in our evening plans, but when we returned home, our neighbor let the boys play at their house which allowed Scott and I to go out to dinner in downtown Plymouth.  We picked Campari's for some of their amazing lasagna.  We even had time to stop at Liberty Brewing Company for a beer!  I seriously love our neighbors!  After the boys were in bed, our other neighbors, Tim and Annie came over to play cards.  We played Euchre and Cards Against Humanity.  It was so much fun!

Our last day home on Sunday we took the boys to see Coco in the morning.  It was so good!  I'm a huge fan of The Book of Life, but I think I actually liked Coco better.  Either way, I'm thrilled to have more material to show my students for Day of the Dead next year!  After that, it was time to do our usual back-to-work-and-school routine.  Grocery shopping, laundry, yard work, a dog walk, running on the treadmill, packing lunches, cooking dinner, etc.

As always, break went by too fast!  We had such a great week!  Productive, yet also entertaining.  19 more wake ups until we get two weeks off for Christmas break.  Seems crazy to think all the holiday events are starting up this weekend.  I have a cookie exchange and a Christmas 5k.  The Christmas music is on, our tree is lit up, and our holiday cards are ordered!  Here we go...

Getting into the spirit...

Scott is a changed man.

He went from years of being Scrooge and being anti-Christmas until at least after Thanksgiving to suddenly coming home from work a few weeks ago declaring it was totally acceptable to listen to Christmas music.  He said, "It makes me happy, so why not!?"  Umm...duh?! 

Fast forward to this weekend and it was his idea to get out all the Christmas decorations and the trees.  First year that I can actually say I wasn't totally prepared to get it all out.  I don't know what it is, but this year, the seasons and holidays seem to be flying by leaving me feeling whip lashed.  A sign of getting old?

There she is.  In all her glory.  And our first year with the dark floors.  I'm loving it!

The boys decorated their rooms with the mini trees my brother and I used growing up.  My parents picked up some new wooden mini ornaments when they were in Europe last December, which added a nice touch to their trees.  Sean was very into decorating his room and tree.  Very organized and methodical.  Evan, on the other hand, was just ticked he didn't get the "white stuff" or the white felt for snow. 

He got over it quickly once he saw Scott drag in all the boxes for the big tree.  We needed to put on Garfield's Thanksgiving and Christmas episodes to keep them occupied while the branches and lights were put up.  They were dying to get into the ornaments.  One thing at a time, kids.

Finally it was time for the ornaments!  I'm happy to report that no ornaments were damaged during the decorating phase.  Now, we'll see how they last throughout the season.  The boys have an obsession with moving them. 

Scott and I had a rare night out Saturday night.  After organizing and decorating all day, it felt good to take a shower and get ready to head out sans children.  My parents came to our house to give us a few hours out and we knew we needed to be back home at a reasonable time since we had a 5k early in the morning.  We opted to go to Detroit to eat out and see the tree at Campus Martius even though it was raining.  I was determined to see that tree.

We started at Jolly Pumpkin for a beer and truffle fries.  The waiter recommended Grey Ghost for dinner, so we headed over there and lucked out getting seats at the counter overlooking the restaurant.  We were told to try the "life changing cheeseburgers" and they did not disappoint.  My drink on the hand?  Disgusting.  But, for $14, I was committed. 

We ventured out in the rain with umbrellas to see the tree, but ended up breaking both umbrellas (the wind was pretty fierce), getting soaked, and seeing the tree for less than a minute.  We ran to the American Coney Island to take a break from the rain and to try and fix our umbrellas.  Since it was our first visit, Scott insisted we have a beer and he had a coney dog.  Then, we were off to Greektown Casino!  First time...ever (?) that we both walked out as winners!  It was such a fun night! 

It made me realize how much we needed a fun night out like that to feel like adults and to feel like husband and wife!  Man, it had been a while. 

Sunday morning came early though.  The kids ran the Hot Cocoa Mile at 8am and our 5k was at 9am.  It was freezing cold and it even started snowing.  It kind of made it more magical with downtown decorated for Christmas.  Sean finished in 11mins 20sec and Evan finished in 12 mins 41sec.  I was proud of both of them!  Although, it was a bummer that Sean couldn't partake in the chocolate treats at the end since none of the volunteers knew if they had tree nuts.  Poor thing was too afraid and I don't blame him.  Turns out one of the chocolates had nuts.  Seems crazy to think they didn't advertise that. 

The 5k went really well for me!  I swear it helps having my mother-in-law run with me.  Her and I run the same pace and we really helped push each other this time.  I beat my time by a minute and a half and had all my miles under 11 minutes.  It was very exciting for me!  I'm feeling it today though...

It was another great weekend!  Tomorrow is our last day of work and school before Thanksgiving break.  I'm looking forward to minimal plans for our few extra days off and just time spent with family and good food! 

Happy Thanksgiving!