A week to give thanks for

We had a great Thanksgiving break. It's kind of hard to believe that it is already over and now it's going to be December! The kids are back to school for 3 more weeks and then it's Winter break. Before we know it, Christmas will be upon us. But before I jump ahead to holiday preparations, let me give Thanksgiving its deserved moment in the spotlight.

Last Monday we had a wonderful play date with the Davis family and the kids got to make foam glittery turkey crafts. Tuesday we had the Beyer family over for a visit and Rose helped me make the stuffing that was such a huge hit at last year's Thanksgiving dinner. Wednesday Joe and the kids made cookies to bring along. In between all that, we watched some movies, played some board games (we recently added the old classic Sorry to our collection) and video games. We borrowed Just Dance 3 and FINALLY there is a video game I love and can play with the kids and actually beat them. It's a hoot. One day I will bravely post a video of me and the kids dancing. I say brave because I feel like I should look much better dancing than I actually do. I mean I spent 2 years on dance team in high school. At any rate, it's a lot of fun.

Thanksgiving Thursday was a very pleasant day - filled with good food with lots of family and plenty to give thanks for. Here is the requisite family picture and another one of just the kids:

What I love about Thanksgiving is the focus on being thankful for what you have and last year I introduced the kids to the thankful tree. This year I challenged them to not only include items from last year but to try and think of other things to be thankful for that we may not have included last year. Some of the items on the tree included being alive, earth, friends, family, pets, nature, our home, a nice-sized yard to play in, Dad's job, our health along with the Xbox and Wii (guess who's contribution that was?)

The rest of the weekend was spent mostly preparing for the holidays - setting up the decorations and tree(s). But I will save the details of that for another post. We did take a break Saturday to go see Puss in Boots, which was good. I think Joe and the kids liked it more than I did but it was still a fun outing. I snapped this picture of the kids with the Chipmunks because yes, apparently they are coming out with yet another movie.

Thanksgiving break was a good combination of fun, relaxation and productivity. Now bring on Christmas. I am really looking forward to to it.