Thanksgiving 2012

Thanksgiving is more of a weekend than a day when you have little kids. Faith started off with her Thanksgiving Feast in her Kindergarten class. Faith has Mrs. Schubert just like both her brothers did, so this was our third "Mrs. Schuberts Thanksgiving Feast". She has pilgrim collars and bonnets for all of the girls and collars and pilgrim hats for all of the boys. They get dressed up and show off a little for the parents (how the classroom runs, reading, what they do on a day to day basis etc.) and then line up for their "feast". They have turkey, vegetables, pie etc.. Faith had Ritz crackers and cheese (which was totally predictable).  She loved the getting dressed up part, the pomp of the party, the lining up for food, the fact that mom and dad were both in her classroom with her, but not enough to heaven forbid try anything different to eat.

We have developed into a Non-Traditionalist household when it comes to Thanksgiving. We haven't gone so far as to have Chinese Duck or anything, but last year we did just have pie and appetizers for dinner. 

This year, Shelia and Wayne were in town with their kids and Cori was going to be here also, so we knew this year would have to be a little more down the traditional vein for us. There was a full blown Thanksgiving Dinner being prepared for the first time in several years. We got up in the morning and put the Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV so the kids could see it. Remember when you watched the parade because it was on ALL the channels and there was nothing else to see (unless God forbid your parents put PBS on)? This year the parade lasted about 10 minutes in our house before the TV was changed over to SpongeBob Squarepants.

Thanksgiving in our house means Football. Both televised and live action. The boys and I watched the first game (THERE ARE THREE GAMES NOW!!!!!!), before getting set up for our 2nd annual neighborhood "Alan Family Thanksgiving Orphans Flag Football Game". We had a good turnout again this year, with a bunch of kids playing. Faith again took up her position of scorekeeping, having no desire right now to do anything remotely athletic. A good part of the efforts on the parents is keeping the littler kids involved while keeping the older kids (and sometimes the grown-ups) for taking it too seriously. Everyone scores a touchdown and we try to keep the injuries to a minimum (I think Marisa got a concussion though) while talking, laughing and just sharing time with friends and family. Wayne and Sam joined in this year, along with some new neighbors and a good time was had by all. 

After the game, we came home and cleaned up and headed down to Sheila and Waynes new house to have Thanksgiving Dinner. It was a GREAT meal. Marisa made a great Sweet Potato gratin. Shelia/Wayne/Sam and Shelby made a TON of food, and Cori made THREE pies! We all ate WAY too much (a Thanksgiving tradition) and have leftovers for a small continent. I had pecan pie for breakfast this morning and am already eyeing my turkey sandwich for lunch. It was great to spend Thanksgiving with all of our friends and family. I realized again, like every year, how thankful I am for the kids, Marisa and the life we have together. I missed the rest of my family, but we were home here in Idaho and it was a great holiday.