Gobble-dee-goo

Here I am!

I just know that you were on the edge of your seat just waiting for my return, right?

Since I hardly know where to start to sum up what has been our previous week, I may as well just jump in feet first.

The first part of last week, Eric was in West Virginia and the kids and I actually had a pretty easy time together from Saturday to Wednesday. On Wednesday afternoon (before Thanksgiving) I decided to leave work early and bust my tail to pack our bags and head to my parents' house a day early. After running like a maniac gathering everything we would need for 4 days away from home (and I still forgot stuff!), I was finally ready to pick the kids up from the sitter's house and get on the road. However, in all of my planning, I happened to discover that I had a 100 pound problem that I seemed to have overlooked. Keegan. How in the world was I going to get his furry, hind end into my truck? Up until only a few years ago, he would have himself positioned in the truck bed with even the slightest hint that we were going on a trip. As the years have caught up with him, he has since grown heavier, more arthritic and is now mostly blind.

Because it was the middle of the afternoon on a weekday, none of my neighbors were home to lend a hand and I was most certainly not holding up all of my plans of leaving this day because of my dog. And then it dawned on me. I carried our oversized ottoman outside, guided his front paws on top and then his rear end and then heaved his happy self into the truck. Victory was mine!

Our trip to my parents' house was lovely and uneventful and we were all happy to start our mini vacation together. Since my brother and sister-in-law have other turkey day obligations, we have taken to a new tradition of celebrating Thanksgiving day by feasting on crab leg. As my mom quoted weeks prior, "What's Thanksgiving without crab leg?" And so we did. Thursday was also plentiful in the napping and slothing department too. Do we know how to enjoy a holiday or what?

Now let me tell you about black Friday shopping! Another tradition that we have fine tuned in our own custom way is having my on site baby sitter's (Grandparents) watch my kids on black Friday while I get up before the crack of dawn to have my hiney in the stores collecting deals. I scour the sale ads the night before like it's my job; prioritizing, labeling and mapping my route for optimal efficiency and maneuverability. I was in my first store (under the influence of a tall cappuccino) just a little past 5 a.m. and when I finally thought that I may have just run out of stores to shop, the time was quickly approaching 2:00 p.m. I had to add the numbers a couple times to really make myself believe that I had been shopping for 9 hours! The best part is that everyone was happy, rested and fed by the time I returned home. No harm, no foul. A lovely day and great deals!

Saturday finally brought Thanksgiving day for my family in the way of Greg, Kate and Colin. (And a bounce house.)(We'll get to that.) Colin was the first in the door upon their arrival and the minute Elaina laid eyes on her cousin, she ran across the room with outstretched arms that flung around his little body like he just had jumped out of the television set off of one of her favorite shows. In her mind, Colin is an idol. Like rock-star-idol in the life of a 3 year-old.

The kids played so nicely and happily together and while we were stalling time, waiting for dinner, we sent our wild monkeys out to the garage to bounce in the bounce house that Greg and Kate had brought along and loaning out to us. Lincoln was so excited and eager to jump but he had just jammed a giant serving of cheese and crackers into his mouth and hadn't yet finished the whole chewing-swallowing process. As he was about to squirm out of my arms, I finally coaxed him into spitting out his mutilation into the trash can so that he could get on with his business of bouncing. They had the best time ever!

Saturday and Sunday were lovely and leisurely and the times that I could have spent blogging or doing something the least bit productive, I spent sleeping or watching T.V. Two of the things I love to do but never seem to find enough time in the day to do them. I've heard that you can't "make up" lack of sleep, but over the course of the weekend, I tried my best to disprove that theory. I beg to differ and if you want, I could keep on re-testing that for a truly accurate conclusion. But only if you insist that I keep trying.

So there you have it, Thanksgiving 2008.
Highlights: bouncing, shopping, Lincoln liking shrimp, Mommy enjoying extra sleep and Elaina calling my brother "Aunt Craig!" <--- (loved that part!)
I can't wait until we get to do all of this again in another year!