Thanksgiving 2012

What a great weekend this Thanksgiving turned out to be. Although, truth be told it seems like forever since the kids were in school. I am very excited about tomorrow morning. A little thing I like to call routine starts up again and this mama couldn't be happier. Which was the opposite of Bella last night, who was utterly devastated when she found out today was Sunday---yes, she likes school that much. For me, it turned out to be a fantastic weekend. Starting on Thursday when, like tradition, my kids help my mom make the stuffing and get the bird all ready for the cookoff.

For as long as I can remember my siblings and I would gather together with my Great Aunt Nor and help her as she stuffed the bird. It's a time honored tradition in our family and I honestly can't imagine a Thanksgiving without it.

They kept sneaking bites of the dried bread as smooth as they could, as evidenced by the above picture of Chance who's trying really hard to smile but can't since he's got a mouthful of croutons. 

You'd think that they'd realize that there's about 500 other pieces of bread in that bowl and that we wouldn't mind at all. But I kept my mouth shut because watching them try to pull it off was way too much fun.

Earlier in the month when we changed to the November calendar on their chalk board closet the kids  came up with a list of all the things that they're thankful for. #7 and #13 still make me laugh but I have to say their list is pretty impressive. I mean, come on, Mia was thankful for her belly button, how cute is that?!

Another tradition of ours is to sneak out during the day while my mom is cooking and hit up the local movie theatre. We've been doing this since my childhood too. Karate Kid? Total Thanksgiving movie. This year we saw Rise of the Guardians. And it was cute. 

I also want it noted that this Thanksgiving was the third warmest in Chicago history. It was 64 degrees and we had the windows OPEN!! Chane is wearing SHORT SLEEVES!

By the time we got back I had just enough time to set the table and get everything ready.

There's our bird all warm and toasty.

Little man Chance was in L.O.V.E. with his tie. Which reminds me, I need to get him more ties. And bow ties too. I think this kid could really rock some bow ties.

The dinner was delish, as always. 

Black Friday was spent decorating. 

The kids get their own tree this year, which I scored for $10 at a thrift store three months ago. It's the perfect little 4 foot tree for them. I'm creating a very kid friendly Christmas in our living room in hopes that they stay the hell away from my tree. I get all kinds of cray-cray when they inevitably rearrange the bottom half of my tree.

They spent about about FORTY-FIVE godforsaken minutes in Menards picking out which types of lights they want for their tree. They opted for the bigger and brighter bulbs of course.

So yeah, not quite sure where Chance's pants are but that's not what I heart about this picture. It's Mia in the background. All prim and proper writing in her Christmas notebook. She's so fancy that one.

And by fancy, I mean train wreck. 

Mid-way through Black Friday I get a text from my college friend Tanya who was on her way to visit with us for a couple days. It was a perfect pick-me-up for all of us!

So we lounged, we ate, we drank, and we went bowling. COSMIC BOWLING. 

Which is like, WAY better than real bowling.

Here's two clips from our afternoon rave:

And we ended the weekend with a haircut. 

Happy Thanksgiving 2012