Thanksgiving and a Bunch of Bdays

Thanksgiving was low key again this year.  We had Steve’s parents in town to join us, which is always nice.  We visited Covert in the morning.

I had a grand plan that we were going to take family pictures for a Christmas card.  I tortured everyone by making them pose outside.  It resulted in some decent pictures that I never actually used for anything.  Predictable.

If only Mark had his eyes open…I guess that’s too much to ask.

 

Misery loves company, so Em made her family do the same thing!

Of course we had to get one with all 6 kids, and they did not disappoint!

With this they were finally dismissed.  The men were probably just as happy, if not more, than the kids.  

Don’t be confused by the Christmas tree in the back.  This is in fact Thanksgiving.  I even found the colorable tablecloth I bought last year(and then couldn’t find) for the kids. 

Dinner was yummy and uneventful.  Takes forever to buy it, cook it, and clean it up.  Only takes 10 minutes to devour.

We got Marie a lemon drop martini and then turned on Planes, Trains, and Automobiles.  It was her first time seeing it, and the rest of us were laughing at her laughing!

The next day we did some shopping, because we love the hustle and bustle of black Friday!  Livy and Lexi joined us, and we made the obligatory Starbucks stop!

We’ve had a tradition the last couple of years of celebrating the November birthdays at mom and dad’s house on Thanksgiving weekend.  It takes the pressure off of either leaving Grandma alone or traveling on Thanksgiving day. 

 

We seem to be on a seasonal celebration of birthdays.  Basically Fall and winter birthdays are celebrated at Thanksgiving.  This means Sof, Emily, Adrienne, Grandma, and Steve all got gifts!

Lexi, Livy and Kaitlyn all got skateboards in Grand Haven last summer.  Ever since, Sof has wanted one too!  She was pretty excited to open this up!

Grandma just loves her Christmas tree.  She never wants to take it down!  We decided to get her a sparkly tree that she could leave up year round!  She was so thrilled!  Only problem was getting my mom to actually give it to her once she saw how perfect it was in her corner!

Usually we take a trip to Hallmark for the girls to pick out their ornaments from Grandma Jackie.  This year we decided to do it differently, to make it easier on everyone.  My mom took Grandma shopping and let her pick out what she liked for each kid(and Em and I).  Then my mom wrapped them up and we opened them together!  The kids were all thrilled with the choices.  Each one was perfect! 

It was a great afternoon of hanging out.  Aunt Sally and Uncle Erik joined us, because we haven’t seen them in awhile.  It’s always great to spend time with them! 

Sof had enough daylight to try out her skateboard!

The only thing left was dessert!  This crew has all different tastes, so my mom always has a bunch of different options!

The next morning we were right back to school and work.  It was a bit of a shock to everyone!  Before getting ready though, Sof spent time looking at her ornament.  She’s always loved penguins, and Grandma really hit this one on the head!

Another great family weekend in the books!

November

I love the in between weather of early November.  The wardrobe choices are all so cute, and there’s no bulky outerwear to cover it up.  This girl is made for fall attire.

The sun is just coming up these days when I wake Sof up.  She loves to run to my bathroom and see what the sky looks like.  If it’s pretty she yells, “Mama, give me your phone!”. Then she’ll snap a picture.

 

The pictures aren’t great, but I love that she notices and appreciates a good sunrise.

I gave her a new coloring book for her birthday, and she really took to it.  I was so proud of her for finishing this picture.  It’s hard for an adult to stick with something that long, let alone a kid!

Sof had a pajama day at school, and you would think it was the literal best day of her life.  She had her pajamas sitting out for days before so as not to risk her favorite ones being dirty when the day came!

Lexi left her high school cheer team to go back to the gym this month.  As I mentioned before, she quickly got asked to fill in on Sof’s team, which put them both on the same schedule.  Heavenly.  However, Lexi is obviously at a higher skill level than Sof.  Therefore, she goes to a training team once a week that Sof doesn’t go to.  When Sof is in cheer without Lexi, Lexi and I always go to Starbucks.  So when Sof realized there was a practice Lexi was going to without her, she begged me to take her on a Starbucks date!  I wasn’t sure she would last the whole 2 hours, but she did pretty good.  She was totally happy as long as her cookie lasted, and after that she only asked a few times “how much longer”:)  

Sof had her first competition(before Lexi joined).  This is a great team.  Despite the age differences, the girls all get along really nicely.  Plus, I love the parents!

Lastly for this month, I have to admit, this is the second year in a row that I decorated for Christmas the week before Thanksgiving.  I love the look of the house when the decorations are up, and when a free day presents itself I can’t resist taking advantage.  Even if it is a little early! 

Sof wanted to put the manger up.  When she called me over to see it, this is what I found!  Did you know there were Littlest Pet Shop animals at the stable?  LOL, who knew?