Giving Thanks

I'd like to say:

T- tired
H- houseguests
A- arguments
N- noise
K- kids
S- screaming


Just kidding. We had a good Thanksgiving. George's siblings all came over to our place for the big event. It was actually really nice (if a little chaotic) to have everyone here. I just didn't let it get to me that I cleaned the house only to have it destroyed. It was all OK because we had a good time and the kids had a BLAST.

All the kids slept in Bart and Drake's room, except for Lucy, who slept in her own room. We borrowed an air mattress for our guest room, but it had a slow leak, so we ended up buying a queen bed that someone down the street was selling. By the time I got home from work on Wednesday night, everyone had arrived.

I had to work a lot of the time, but George was home, so he was able to entertain everyone. Thursday was such a gorgeous day. I got to sleep in and prepared half of Thanksgiving dinner in my silk PJ's.


All the children played outside nearly the whole day. We had entirely too much food and the women pored over Black Friday ads while the men watched TV and dozed off. Everyone chipped in to make dinner and clean up.

Here are the cousins with their super-cute turkey cookies that Mindy helped them make.


After we ate, Mindy, Mary Kay, and I took Lucy for a walk around the neighborhood in the stroller. Lucy got antsy as we were going down Anchor Way, so I carried her. It was beginning to get dark. As we walked down Anchor Way, we spotted a fox across a field standing perfectly still, staring at us. I reassured everyone that it wouldn't bother us. As we approached the cul-de-sac at the end of Anchor Way, we saw a deer standing a couple hundred yards away in the yard directly in front of us. Again, I reassured my sisters-in-law that the deer wouldn't hurt us, that there were tons of them in River Bend.

Then - the deer RAN STRAIGHT AT US!!!!

I thought it was going to charge us and all I could think about was getting Lucy to safety. I pulled Mindy in front of Lucy and Mary Kay tried to block us with the stroller. Just before it got to us, the deer veered into the woods, where we saw several other deer running off.

We were SO freaked out. I mean, we thought for sure that the deer was going to attack us.

On the way back home, we passed the same fox still standing in the field stone-still. We quickened our pace, thinking that if the deer nearly attacked us, what might a fox do?

Freaky.

We got back to the house and all the girls went out together to the movies to see New Moon. It was hilarious/annoying because Skylar insisted I sit beside her during the movie. She kept a vise grip on my arm through the whole movie and kept biting my hand when things got really intense.

I got to bed by 11:30 or so, then woke up at 3:15 am and DRAGGED myself out of bed, hating myself for being weak enough to allow a seasonal sale and the promise of "doorbusters" to seduce me out of bed on a morning when I could normally have slept in. Stupid, stupid....

But all us girls got up and hightailed it out to Jacksonville, which has the only real mall for quite some distance. We did nab some great deals and managed to get back home by 8:30 or so. We hit several stores and were home in time for me to catch a nap before work at 5pm.

Here Lucy and Bart are spending quality time together:


While I was at work, the older kids all got to go to bowling. Then everyone (and I mean freaking everyone) dropped by my work to say "hi" to me. I later learned that my husband's ulterior motive for coming to see me at Target was so that he could buy a new Wii game to play ("for Bart") and browse the Legos. When I found out about the Wii game - which I was planning on getting Bart for Christmas - I really hit the roof. Why would he in his right mind go out and spend $40 or $50 on a new game a month before Christmas???? What was he thinking???? And he ended up ruining a surprise for Bart. ARRRRGGGGGHHHHHH.

If we're playing that little game, I may as well go right on out and buy myself an iphone, because I really want one.