Our Thanksgiving Review...

So, a brief (haha - you know it's going to be long) recap of our Thanksgiving week and the beginning of our Christmas festivities...

Our Thanksgiving was pretty quiet. My mom had foot surgery and can't put weight on her foot for 12 weeks, so she wasn't able to go to my aunt's this year (too crowdedfor her wheelchair). So, being the good daughter I am, I decided that we would go to her house instead and that's what we did. (Although we missed you, Aunt Jane!) It was just me, Sim, and the kids with my mom and dad. It was nice. The kids ate their fair share of cool whip, played the Wii until Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving came on, and I took a 3 hour nap.

Now, that's something to be thankful for!

Oh yeah. And Eli informed us that he's a vegetarian - which he demonstrated by completing bypassing the Thanksgiving turkey this year. He says he's no longer a T-Rex. He is now a gentle Stegosaurus. I don't know what to think about my 6 year old still believing that he's the reincarnation of a dinosaur, but at least he's no longer the kind that will attack me in my sleep and rip my limbs off. That's good, right?

Oh! Oh! And we had a family picture made to put in our Christmas cards. And the good part is I don't even have to buy Christmas cards because I just have to open up my junk draw and there are stacks and stack of them waiting to be sent!

In 13 years of marriage, we've sent out Christmas cards for 2 of them. This is a hint to let you know that while I have every good intention of sending out Christmas cards, it very well may not happen. Besides, I'm still traumatized by trying to get the kids to smile, look at the camera, and open their eyes for this year's pic. As you can, this did not happen. Despite the looks on my kids' faces, please know that they are loved, well taken care of, and are genuinely happy children. At least Eli's smiling. He may not be looking at the camera, but, hey, we'll take what we can get.

Oh, and since my last blog post shamed me into taking better care of myself, I actually plucked my brows and ran a creme rinse through my hair. And pigs didn't fly! And it didn't snow in August! Who knew.

What else? Let's see. Well, Nandi got kicked out of the preschool Thanksgiving play. Okay, okay, we were politely asked not to take her because "she would be a distraction to the other kids". We were also asked not to bring her to school that day (snort) so that the other kids could practice. Does that count as an excused absence?

Anyway, it seems that Miss N spent the day before the Thanksgiving play biting her teacher and tripping a teacher's aide in the cafeteria. How my little 29lb girl managed to trip a 200 lb teacher is beyond me. But I can vouch that she's a strong one, so it's certainly possible.

It was also brought to my attention that she is hanging out with the "wrong crowd" at school. I'm not sure what the wrong crowd is for preschoolers. I don't imagine they're skipping out of fingerpainting sessions by smoking candy cigarettes behind the school bus. But I do imagine they're the kids who like to cause a ruckus... which means, of course, my little pumpkin would be attracted to them.

Boy, she's gonna in be for a world of surprise when she starts Kindergarten next year. Or should I say, the teachers will be in for a world of surprise when she starts Kindergarten next year? heehee

So, anyway, it's the day after Black Friday (which was just another Friday for us because, as I told my friend, Christine, I just cannot muster up enthusiasm for televisions, video games, and telephones.. oh, and I don't wear jewelry... so, really, what's the point of waiting in line at the buttcrack of dawn?) So, BF is over and now we officially start the Christmas season.

The first thing I insist we do (okay, Sim insists that we do) before we put up the Christmas decorations is clean the house. Which can take forever, but we managed to do it.

Look what I found in the back of a cabinet...

Look! It's the Vegas Style cross that Nandi made for the resurrection of our Lord and Savior for Easter this past year.

Which was actually pretty fitting because she also royally tarted herself up like a little Vegas Showgirl with the Hannah Montana Make-Up kit that she found hidden behind some books.

The Hannah Montana make-up kit that she received for her birthday and that I hid approximately 5 minutes after she opened it because she'd already tried to paint Noah's eyelids a very shocking shade of blue. Plus, I seriously think Noah was about to smack her upside the head (and he hurts!), so I expertly diffused the situation. Lesson learned... just throw the gift away. Don't hide it.

And, right now, as I'm typing this, the kids are blowing marshmallows through the marshmallow shooters that I found behind the washing machine that were meant to go in their stockings last year, but I couldn't find them. And let me just say, marshmallow shooters are an excellent speech therapy tool for strengthening mouth muscles. I am seriously considering taking some to India with me, but Sim has already pointed out that there is probably a lack of marshmallow availability in India. But, really, I'm allowed two big bags of luggage. I honestly don't see the problem with taking over 10lbs of marshmallows.... The other ten pounds allowed, would be, of course, toothpaste, dental floss, and legal documents denying responsibiity for any cavities or sugar addictions caused by the suitcase full of marshmallows and marshmallow shooters that were brought over by the American, who, once again, had good intentions.

Anyway, that's it. Thanksgiving is gone and Christmas is on the way. Our stockings are hung and our Christmas tree is decorated in it's usual decor of glow-in-the-dark-planets, Indian-Girls-In-Saris Keychains, and mardi gras beads.

Why yes, we are classy.

I'll give the grand-tour of our Christmas tree at a later date.

And that's it. Hope you all had a fantastic Thanksgiving!

Leslie