November 23, 2006

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had such a great day! Jesse was kind enough to sleep from midnight until 5:30am - woo hoo! So that was a nice start to the day. Then he ate for an hour and let me shower and then he ate for another hour while I barked orders at Josh from the couch. I had laid out everyone’s clothes and made a pile of what we had to bring (forgetting, of course, my camera). Once Jesse was good and full we left and he managed to sleep the whole way up - yay!

At Elisabeth's we met Mandy, the girls, Elisabeth, Rob, and my mom and made gingerbread houses and decorated cookies. Well, mostly Timothy decorated while Morgan watched TV upstairs, Jocelyn ran around playing peek-a-boo, and Jesse ate (being ravenous from not eating in the car and all).

Then we went to Mandy's where Jeff had been slaving over a hot stove. Dad was there and Grammy, Bob, Kaye, and Andrey arrived shortly after (poor Stevie was under the weather). A most delicious meal!! Morgan made fast friends with Uncle Bob and pretty much climbed on him the whole time. Andrey was so cute - he played with everyone but was especially cute with Jocelyn. Then he came over when I was changing Jesse. "oh, is he a boy?" Andrey says to me. Yes, I answer. "Boys and girls have different private parts you know". Yes, I know, I said. And then he was off to play again too funny!

Joceiyn wrote on her face with a marker and used the chalk as lip stick and served tea to Kaye. Jesse ate. Morgan managed to pull apart most of a box of wipes. Jesse ate. Timothy had everyone playing some kind of grocery game and then quizzed Ruby with some kid trivia cards. Jesse ate. Once Jesse was good an full, we made what for us is a quick exit - in other words we made a loud and extended rush through the house gathering children and putting their shoes and coats on. Jesse cried while I used the bathroom on the way out but once in the car slept all the way home and is still sleeping! Jocelyn was asleep with her mouth open by the time we got to the highway. Morgan ate the bag of cut up turkey we had taken with us. We all listened to Alice's Restaurant and then Jeff Foxworthy (which I'm almost proud to say Timothy has memorized) and before we knew it we were home.

So not bad at all - we got 4 kids up and back with limited crying (Jocelyn's only meltdown was while we were eating, of course). Now that's something to be thankful for!

But on the subject of being thankful, I have even more than usual to be thankful for this year - 4 healthy kids that I'd happily take a bullet for is at the top of the list. A wonderful husband that I love even more today than the day I married him. A caring family including nieces and a nephew-to-be to keep get-togethers fun. A house big enough to hold us all and maternity leave over the holidays. And, of course, chocolate mousse pie and a sister that packs me leftovers.

Well Jesse's awake and ready to eat - hope you are all having a great holiday.