Happy Thanksgiving

The regular routine hit us hard this morning.  We were free from early mornings and lunch packing for four days for the Thanksgiving holiday, and we fully embraced the ability to sleep in.  Almost every morning we slept until 9:30!!  Of course it was impossible to get anyone to go to sleep at night, and we still had two awake closing in on midnight last night, so don’t be too jealous.  Even our resident morning person (Grace) has turned into a sleepy tween in the mornings.  And Molly had 10mg of melatonin and still couldn’t settle down.

But the good news is that we sank into the long weekend and embraced relaxation.  Well, in between swearing at the turkey.  We didn’t go out and explore the city in this beautiful weather like we should have, but we were all okay with it.  We did a little bit of visiting, some playing in the leaves, dance, gymnastics, and a Girl Guides field trip to a corn maze.  And I got a free loaf of bread from the grocery store.  The manager has an eye for stressed people who need carbs, and who clearly eat a lot of them on a regular basis.  I think I was fairly easy to spot with a cart full of dips at 9:30 on a Friday night.  Maybe he was worried I was just going to eat them with a spoon in the parking lot (I considered it).

So the whole weekend certainly was not perfect.  Far from it.  But when it is all glossed together in a stuffing-induced haze, it feels like it was.  I hope yours was great too.  Or that you embraced carbs.  Mashed potatoes work like that little mind-erasing pen from Men in Black.

Although it appears I am most grateful for carbs, I really am thankful for my family.  My little girls don’t feel so little anymore, and it has been really cool to start seeing them more as actual people lately.  But I definitely want to freeze time.  Right now.  Or maybe when the house is clean, and we have groceries that are not involving cranberries or cheese logs.

I didn’t get a lot of photos of the weekend – like the turkey before it had been “sampled” or the table or a family photo.  But I do have some ugly food pics, and a photo of my three beautiful girls.

Spot the Thanksgiving survival kit. Hint – it’s not the turkey.

And the whipped cream that Grace tried to sneak into her lunch today.  Twice.

I’m quite sure that would have triggered a meeting with the office.  I helped out in the healthy snack program for 3 years, but I am taking a break this year from doing anything at the school.  This just smacks of volunteer rebellion, and who’s going to believe me when Grace is flashing those adorable dimples?  No one.  That’s who.

This video started out with actual raking by Grace, but once Maggie spotted leaves being moved into anything resembling a pile, it was game over.  Grace was covered in leaves by her sisters, and she just sat there not moving.  I thought she was upset that they were picking on her, but I should have known that she just saw it as a dramatic opening to jump up and sing her favourite song – Shake it Off by Taylor Swift.

I’m slowing emerging from my turkey coma, and preparing to re-enter society.  I have no idea how Americans manage to hit the malls right after Thanksgiving dinner.  I can barely log into to my computer to shop online without it feeling like a Jillian Michaels workout.  Not that I would know, because I have never done one of her workouts.  I would be dead right now, taking the ghost writer concept to a whole new level.  I’ll start with setting achievable goals, such as putting on real pants.  Even that may be a stretch.  A nap.  That’s a goal I can reach.  The feeling of accomplishment will be exhilarating.

Happy Thanksgiving!