I just LOVE Thanksgiving! It's one of my favorite holidays.
I love it for it's simpleness. I love spending the day with family. I love the FOOD! And I love to ponder all the things I'm thankful for. I'm mostly thankful that God sent his son Jesus to the earth as a tiny baby to teach us about His love and ultimately die on the cross to save us from our sins.
We had an interesting weekend. It started off with a program at JJ's preschool. His class dressed as pilgrims and were soooo cute! The only problem was that JJ didn't want to be a pilgrim. He wanted to be an Indian. Here he is expressing his displeasure with his costume.
The hat comes off.
The collar comes off.
He didn't sing. He didn't play his instrument. He didn't do any of the movements to the songs. His teacher later asked him why he was crying at the Pow Wow. She said that he told her "Because I was sad, and I was mad, and I didn't want to be a pilgrim." Too bad. He would have been a really cute pilgrim. At least he enjoyed this cute turkey sandwich that I made for him. He's not so much a fan of turkey, but loves bell peppers. My picky eater is so unpredictable!
AJ had a "feast" at school too. With all the turkey talk, he was getting excited about the "real" feast we would have at Mama Fern's house on Thursday. He too is a picky eater. So I had the idea to create a chart of all the foods that would be served and let him document what he tried, liked and disliked. I was hopeful that having the chart would encourage him to at least try something new and discover that he liked it (mainly my homemade apple pie). Well, here is the chart after the feast was digested.
AJ's plate ended up looking pretty bland - turkey, mashed potatoes, and a roll. This is exactly what his Daddy's plate looks like every year (except Jimmie will eat my apple pie). Oh well, there is always next year.
The day after Thanksgiving, while our boys spent the night with Mama Fern & Papa Ron, Jimmie and I got up SUPER early to shop Black Friday at Wal-Mart. We snagged a few great deals and are now almost finished with our Christmas shopping. While we were bargain shopping, JJ woke up early with a stomach bug. He created quite a mess at Mama Fern's house, but was feeling better and wanting to snuggle by the time they brought him home. This tired mommy was more than willing to indulge him with cuddle time.
Thanksgiving is the perfect lead in to Christmas, my other favorite holiday. We have been decorating, shopping, and setting our minds on the true meaning of the season as it approaches. We put up the tree, the garland, the nativity, and a wreath on the door.
The lights went up on the house a couple of weeks ago, but we turned them on for the first time on Friday. That process went much more smoothly this year than last. We had labeled each strand of lights as they were removed last year so we didn't have to go through the frustrations we experienced a year ago. Also, we borrowed a taller ladder than we had access to last year to reach the peak over the garage.
I said a prayer as Jimmie climbed up to put on the lights (and reminded myself of his insurance policies)! As the daughter of an insurance agent I'm prompted to ask, Do you have adequate coverage?!
As much as I love Thanksgiving, it can't compare with Christmas. After all, Christmas is the celebration of the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ! May your Christmas season be full of hope and love!
Finally off stage, we see a smile. Never mind that he was supposed to be facing forward and quietly watching the rest of the program.
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