Thanksgiving 2012

I can't believe Thanksgiving was a week ago already.  This means I will be saying the same thing in a month when Christmas is here.  Time just speeds by and hopes you can keep up!  We are a little slow deciding what we are doing for the holidays so our somewhat last minute decision to travel to Kansas City to celebrate with family meant we were going to look like the Clampetts going down the highway.  The dog sitter was booked so we loaded the two dogs in the back of the truck, the two kids in the back seat and us in the front along with most of the house and refrigerator.  Luckily it is a quick trip there!

I did a couple of projects with the kids before we left.  They made a turkey picture for Aunt Shelley's fridge and we also made some pretty cute turkey sugar cookies.  Lorelai's is the one with only two candy corn feathers on top and if you look close enough, you can see the little bite out from between them!


We had dinner Thanksgiving eve at my sister's apartment and started the festivities with tons of food and family time.  We were all piled on top of each other and it was perfect.  Grandpa and the kids were under the dining room table having a ball.  Leave it to my Dad to completely get my kids laughing under a table with his silly faces!

We ate too much and then speculated whether or not we were going to make it the entire 5K we had planned to run or walk on Thanksgiving morning.  Considering none of us had really ran much over the past couple of weeks, then piled the food on, the jury was out.  We headed back to my Aunt and Uncle's to get some rest before the early start, which turned into a complete fiasco.  Those of you who currently have young kids will know what I am talking about.  Kids NEVER sleep well when they aren't at home.  And this was no exception.  Lorelai hasn't been the best sleeper over the last month or so but now we added Wyatt to the mix and by the morning there were two adults and two kids sleeping in a double bed.  Good gracious.  I had been up since 4:30am trying to keep the kids to sleep and somehow had to get my mind wrapped around running a race. 

Uncle Max trying to get Lorelai to settle down for bedtime

But Happy Thanksgiving!  Everyone except my Uncle loaded up and headed to participate in the Ward Parkway Thanksgiving 5K and it was a blast.  We did get there later than we wanted too but really, I think we did okay considering.  There were some great costumes and you can't find a better atmosphere than a 5K race.  Everyone is having a good time and I don't think anyone takes themselves too seriously.  My Dad, Mom and Aunt pushed the kids in my stroller and after Shelley, Mike and I got done running we headed back to intercept the walkers.  Wyatt of course wanted to run the rest of the race.  Nothing like burning off some energy running a mile up a hill!  Mike gave him his number and off he went.  He to this day thinks he won the race!  Lorelai was more into watching the people but she crossed the finish line at a jog and was just stinkin cute! My Mom made us all these adorable purple animal print scarves to wear and it was the perfect amount of warm weather clothing to make the race comfy.

Aunt Shelley

After we raced we headed to Starbucks for a little treat and then back for a big, yummy dinner and my Aunt and Uncle's.  Oh and here is a picture of Mike with his enormous pie.  Yep, he ran a 5K then took a pie home with him instead of a t-shirt!

 My Dad and Uncle actually went to Walmart Thanksgiving night and experienced a little Black Friday madness.  Amazingly all the women stayed home!  We had such a great time, despite the lack of sleep.  The food was fabulous and the family time was cherished.  So much to be thankful for!

Wyatt's New Room

Change doesn't happen easily for little or big people. When the little people in your life decide to make a change, that means you get to change too.  And in many cases, you don't get much time to process their decisions.  You just get to go with it and try and figure out how to deal with it as you go.  Well, Wyatt pulled a fast one on us yesterday and wanted to move his bedroom out of his sister's room.  This was something I eventually wanted to have happen.  And I stress the eventually. Like when he was 7, not 5.  But that was not in his plan and I just had to go with it.  So, I sit out here in the family room.  Lorelai in the very room her brother occupied at about her age when we first moved into this house, and Wyatt in his new room.  He was so excited, stepping out of his comfort zone, while I was left to stretch mine.  And it doesn't stretch easily.  So, I am trying to mentally figure out how to put kids to bed in different rooms when both seem to need you by their side as they fall asleep. And I wonder if my treadmill will wake him up when I use it on those days when I don't get a workout in during the day.  And if he wakes up in the middle of the night, like he usually does, will he be okay navigating his way to my room dragging his moose and his pillow?  And where in the world is everything going that was in his new room prior to him moving in?  One thing I do know is that this is just one of many fast ones these kids will throw us.  I just have to get my mitt up.  And take a deep breath and let them grow up.

Halloween 2012

I have to admit, this is my least favorite holiday.  Always has been and since I am now gracefully getting closer to being "over the hill" and my opinion hasn't changed yet, I am going to assume my opinion will not be changing any time soon! Our Halloween was a little strung out this year. Mike was leaving for work so we started earlier than usual with the celebrating so he could do some trick or treating with the kids. They have a great trunk or treat at our church so they got dressed up and Dad got to have some fun too. Five seconds before we had to take Dad to the airport, we got the pumpkin carved.  Whew! 

Trunk or Treat Time!

Pumpkin Carving

Now, back to the "this isn't my favorite holiday" stuff. I am not one to buy costumes.  I figure we can find something around the house to wear. Afterall, I have baseball and football uniforms everywhere among other things so surely we can make something out of that! Lorelai was wearing her ladybug costume from last year. It actually fit this year. Last year we kind of lost her in it! Well, Wyatt asked me five million times if he could be a super hero of some sort.  I of course said, how about a baseball player?  He chose football, hence the football uniform you see.  Well, Halloween day came and he was really laying it on thick. He had seen a Batman mask while we were out shopping and just HAD to have it. I started to feel guilty. Just because I am not a Halloween lover doesn't mean my kids can't like it right? Well, at 3:30pm on Halloween, I gave in and we drove to the store and bought a Batman mask, cape and a black t-shirt. I have rarely seen this kid happier. He came flying out of his bedroom like he was Batman himself and I am pretty sure his mouth hurt due to how big his smile was. Needless to say, it was awesome! Mission accomplished and everyone was happy.

Lorelai hiding from me!

Heading out to trick or treat

Lorelai and Aunt Shelley

With Dad gone, Aunt Shelley came to hang out and trick or treat with us. She also helped the kids tackle their mountain of candy!  We only lost Wyatt once and Lorelai had "thank you" down by the time we got done. It was a great night and my little ladybug and Batman had a blast! And my lesson was learned too. Just let the kids be kids and if a super hero is how you see yourself, then by all means, be that super hero!