Thanksgiving Weekend

We drove to Nashville to celebrate Thanksgiving with D's parents and family. It has been 8 or 9 years since we made it back around the winter holidays so it was good to do it again. D's family can be a little twitchy around the camera so there aren't many pics.

The kids had not played with their cousin N since our last summer visit in 2010; they had a blast running around together and roasting marshmallows over the fire.


The drive over was smooth(even with the 3 beasties shoulder to shoulder in the back seat of the car for 10 hours),the visit was good, the drive home seemed never ending due to one long break followed by a traffic snarl around an accident.
Sunday we relaxed, did some laundry (giant mountain of laundry), and began prepping for Christmas. We got the outdoor decorations out and a few up, but this year we are taking our time with it. By Christmas it will all be done-- I hope. Gifts are mostly complete. Orders are in for pics of the boys to place in Christmas cards. Christmas cards are under way. December calendar is filling with kids programs and activities. I am trying to keep things spread out and calm so that I still have hair for the holidays. December will be stressful enough without flipping out over the holiday chaos. Today I am trying a recipe to make bird seed ornaments you can hang outside from a tree. If this works then they will be neighborhood gifts(and I will pass on the recipe), if not the birds and squirrels will love me for dumping my mistake outside for them. So far the ornaments have not stiffened the way they are supposed to. It may be back to the drawing board on neighbor gifts.
love and hugs, B