Thanksgiving Thighs, Black Friday Eyes...

Wow, look at this. Two days in a row! Since yesterday was Thanksgiving, it is actually pretty easy for me to do my second blog because I get to just talk about Thanksgiving, and Black Friday. I am also kind-of lazy and intentionally planned the start of my blog this way.

Like many Americans, yesterday I celebrated the traditional Thanksgiving Day feast with my family. However, unlike many mothers, I did not get to have my children at the Thanksgiving Table with me. Due to the divorce, we had an agreement where we switch holidays every other year. I had the kids for Thanksgiving last year, therefore, he had the babies this year for Thanksgiving. I always hate this because it was the one thing I never ever wanted for my children. I don't like to feel as though they are shuffled between houses, let alone not being able to spend a holiday with one of the parents. Anyway, that being said, we managed to make the morning of Thanksgiving fun for them.

A little background first. Last weekend my Mom and I took the babies to the new WinCo store to go shopping for the upcoming Thanksgiving feast. Firstly, WinCo is amazing because everything is so cheap. We got a 25 pound turkey for 9.00, I am not EVEN kidding. So, we went shopping, and we got a TON of food. When we got home and were unpacking it all my oldest, Severian, was very excited, and started talking about all the things he wanted his Grandma to make for him on Thanksgiving. I had to very gently tell him that he was going to be at his daddy's house on Thanksgiving, but that Daddy would make him all the things he wanted. He promptly started crying and proclaimed that no one has as much food as Grandma did, and he did not want to go to anyone else's house! To make the day a little easier for him my Mom and I decided to do a Thanksgiving Breakfast with the babies, which were full of delectable treats.

Bright and early on Thanksgiving morning the babies woke up and my mom had fixed a breakfast of Turkey Bacon, Pancakes, Muffins, Toast, and Cinnamon Rolls. We turned on the t.v and watched the Thanksgiving Day parade together, and then I took the babies to their Dad's house. This turned out to be very nice, because I still felt like I had a meal with the babies, but, they were also not underfoot for the big meal preparation going on at my Mom's.

Once I got home I helped my Mom a little bit, and then got dressed up. I feel it is necessary to dress up for holidays, because really, when do you get the chance to get all dolled up on a regular basis? YOU DON'T, which is why you should always take advantage of a ready made holiday to get dressed up. Anyway, my Mom generally is the one who makes dinner on Thanksgiving, and I am very lucky that she does, because she is a great cook. I am also very lucky because I have grandparents that come to Thanksgiving, something I know a lot of people my age don't have. Really, our Thanksgivings are like everyone's. Food, fun, perhaps a crazy relative or two. The only thing this year was Thanksgiving seemed a bit off because we did not have my babies around to make funny comments. Here are some pictures of the event:

My Dad carving the Turkey:



Me and my Grandma and Grandpa (my mom's parents)



Me and my Grandma (my dad's mom)



My plate. I ate it all. Snap!



Everyone getting something to eat:



Needless to say, after the event I slept for 11 hours. I am not even joking.

Now, I did venture out a little bit for Black Friday, however, I am not one of the crazy people that were standing in line for Toys R Us, or Best Buy, or Walmart. I did the early morning thing last year, and while it was super cool, and I saved a lot, I didn't want to do it this year. Also, Black Friday for me has never really been to shop for Christmas, as I have two kids who have birthdays between Black Friday and Christmas. The third baby had his birthday two weeks ago. I am such a great baby birthday planner. Today, I woke up and got ready, then ventured out to do some shopping around noon with my Mom. The first place we went was Kohls. Now, I am a fan of Kohls because the outfit I am currently wearing is from there, and the whole thing only cost me $30.00. HOWEVER, they do not have much in the way of toys, and the stuff they had was more expensive than a regular day at Walmart. So, we went to Walmart. Surprisingly it was not super crazy there, until we got to the toy department. Here, it was a war zone. I half expected a Walmart worker to be standing right outside the toy department, hand me an Uzi, a helmet, and a shopping cart, and throw me into the fray with a pat on the back and a "good luck".

No really, it wasn't terrible, but there were a lot of people trying to navigate the bulky carts through the smallish aisles. Also, there were some quite rude people. Could someone tell me, please, why the spirit of charity, giving, and peace is completely thrown out the door once someone steps inside a shopping center? There was one lady who completely ran into my mom with her shopping cart, and didn't say, sorry, didn't say, "Oh my word are you ok?". No no, she said "Oops". OOOPS? Are you kidding me? Oops is what you say when you run your cart into the wall because you are not paying attention. Oops is not what you say when you run into a person. Baffling. All in all, I got Katalina all her birthday presents, and I got Severian all his birthday presents. And I even took my mom to lunch afterwards. It turned out to be a good day.

Now for the rule of the day! Wewt. See, I didn't forget, I told you I would always do one! My rule today is this: Anyday can be a Holiday if you make it one. Cheesy I know, but true nonetheless.

I am also excited for my show and tell of the day. I made these cookies for Thanksgiving, and they were excellent:



The recipe was really easy to make, and, seriously, they are sooooo good. You can find the recipe at a cute little blog here. Also, this lady is amazingly talented, take a look at some of her other blogs. She sewed herself a dress for goodness sake. A DRESS. HERSELF. wow.