We Were Thankful, I Promise!

Especially for these three little monkeys!
I did not make thankful lists with the kids this year. I didn't do very many Thanksgiving projects with the kids either. But I did have the opportunity to go into Ezra's class and read some Thanksgiving books to them and create a turkey with them. It was really fun to get my teaching fix for a couple of hours. Some days I feel like I'm falling down on the job and not doing very many fun things with my kids. Survival mode is a very real thing! But I'm trying to be realistic and focus on the fact that most of the time they are fed(although they are always hungry), clothed (at least out in public--and I'm not saying the clothes match, but the important parts are covered) and in their right (for a 5, 4 and 1 year old--which is not very "right") minds. Fun activities and blog posts will just have to be filled in wherever I can push aside necessities and create cracks for them. Too bad mommy guilt is also a very real thing. I was considering that last night. Feeling guilty over having to say "I can't read to you right now!". The things I was busy doing were necessities. There were hardly enough hours in the day to fulfill all the obligations. I don't like being that busy. But sometimes it can't be avoided. And the guilt comes along with it. How do you battle mommy guilt?
Back to the post at hand, though...for Thanksgiving we had some fabulous guests--Grandpa and Grandma Idaho! They came the Monday before Thanksgiving and stayed a whole week. How happy were we? Immeasurably. Grandma brought along her famous gingerbread dough and spent several patient hours cutting out cookies with the kids. Oh! If the kids made gingerbread cookies with one Grandma and sugar cookies with the other Grandma, that means I don't need to make any cookie cutter Christmas cookies with the kids, right?


The day before Thanksgiving Daddy decided to attempt working from home half day. He got up early to work on some drawings while the table was clear. Nora had to work on some drawings as well.


As dawn was breaking Ezra joined the party. It's easy to see why Daddy doesn't try to work from home often.
Grandma was having an actual conversation on her real cell phone. Nora thought she was having an actual conversation on her fake cell phone. I thought I'd better document.
Our Thanksgiving morning breakfast--vanilla-cranberry scones (I LOVE them), fried eggs, bacon and juice. Priming the tummies for all the eating we have ahead of us!


Not sure what that's all about.Oooh, something else to be thankful for. New two panel white doors installed downstairs. Obviously they are not installed yet in the picture : ) Thanks to Grandpa Idaho for picking up said doors and helping Daddy install them. Thanks to Grandpa Tractor for ordering said doors and talking us through all the questions.
What's Thanksgiving without a nap?
For Thanksgiving dinner we headed out to Tadd's aunt and uncle's house. Grandpa and Grandma Idaho had brought Great Grandma Froese to Aunt Gretchen's house to spend the week with her. We were all able to be together for the holiday. There was a lot of good eatin' and fun visitin'.
Cousins P and M are amazing with the kids! P helped Ezra play Wii games for a very long time whilst M entertained my girly girls in her room by showing them all her fancy lotions and jewelry. All three kids were in heaven.

Our annual gingerbread house. Oh how I wished and wished it was last year so that Uncle Brett and Uncle Jeff could be handling this mess again. They are much better at turning a blind eye to how much candy the kids are stuffing in their faces faster than the speed of light.

I guess I don't need to worry about not reading to the kids--because Tadd does often. We are very into Bill Peet right now. Haven't read any of his stories? Check them out at your local library. I think you'll love them. Ezra especially recommends Cowardly Clyde.