Thanksgiving 2007

So here's the obligatory run-down of our Thanksgiving.

We woke up to some cold weather, finally! I was thrilled to open the back door to cold air that took my breath away for 0.5 seconds. After 0.5 seconds, I shouted to anyone listening, "It's finally cold outside! Now it can be the holiday season!" The boys came running to see for themselves, and they were also thrilled. I'm raising them correctly...love the cold, hate the heat.

But because Liam had been up three times during the night for breathing treatments and Jack had a fever, I decided to shut the door and turn up the heater. I'm such a wise mama.

By late morning, we loaded up and made the three-hour trek to my parents' house. Because we drove through six-foot deep snow drifts, we were lucky to make it by lunch. I'm kidding. It takes 3 minutes to drive 1.3 miles to my parents' house. And there was no snow. This is Texas, after all. But I can dream.

And we did see a few snowflakes later in the day, but I digress.

After wishing my parents a Happy Thanksgiving, Jack found the toy ads and made himself comfortable on the couch making his Christmas list. He pointed to several items that he wanted and insisted that I acknowledge each and every one of them. Oh, JackJack, you may be disappointed on December 25th, because I've already bought your gifts and not one of your choices made my list. There's this thing called budget that you'll learn about one day.

And a little later, I found him asleep on the floor. At this point, his fever was 103.6, so that toy shopping wore him out. He woke up as I crawled towards him to snap this shot. Notice the orange sunglasses in his hand...who knew that 30-cent Hobby Lobby treats could become your child's favorite toy?! Maybe budgeting won't be so hard for Jack.

Here's the bird we devoured. Liam is beginning to figure out that the meat we eat comes from actual animals. I hope he doesn't become a vegan over this knowledge.

Here's a shot of my daddy and me. Yes, he's squeezing me nearly breathless, but I feel the love. (Rick needs to learn how to zoom in closer to his subjects. I'm sure my mother enjoys her backside and her refrigerator's insides being shown on the internet.)

And here's my mom and me. Can you tell that I was adopted? Just kidding. I'm pretty much her spittin' image. (Yes, that's spittin', not spitting. I'm a Texan.)

After lunch, we rested and watched the Dallas Cowboys beat the New York Jets. No Texas Thanksgiving is complete without the Cowboys, in good seasons and in bad.

And then, we played pin the tail on the turkey. (It was a game in the dollar section of Target. Gotta love that Target!) No pictures of the game itself, but here's a shot of Jackson taking his turn. He kept complaining, "I can't see!" Yes, that's the idea.

By the time we finished that riveting game, my dad was ready to turn on the Christmas lights in his yard. I don't have any pictures of this, but I write about it because I want to know why he puts his lights up before Christmas for my kids, but he never did this for my brother and me?! I was a deprived child, for sure. But there's something very exciting about bundling up the boys to see the first lights of the season!

Then, we allowed the boys to watch "The Polar Express" for the first time this season. I can tell my boys are no longer babies, because all three of them sat together on the couch and finished the entire movie!

When the credits rolled, Garrett was sure to come tell me about the last scene where the boy opens a gift of underwear and describes his disappointment with a "very bad word". For those of you who have not been blessed enough to have seen this movie 99 times, I can tell you that the boy calls the underwear "stupid", and that, my dear readers, is a very ugly word in our house. And for that level of innocence, I am thankful.

It is now Friday afternoon. The boys are napping, and my laptop and I are on the couch with the Aggie game on tv. I felt guilty leaving two sick boys behind, so I stayed home instead of attending the game. But I'm terribly jealous of Rick right now, who is whoopin' it up in Aggieland. Wow, the video of Kyle field is showing a lot of fired up players and fans. Good times!

The boys and I were sad to see Daddy leave this morning. We are supporting our team from home, though. Below, Liam is sporting his 12th Man towel, and Garrett and Jack are wearing their Aggie shirts. If you're not an Aggie, then you just may not understand.

And Jack's Jr. Park Ranger hat...that has nothing to do with the Ags. He just needs a hat on at all times.

Liam wanted to be sure to get a shot of his hat, too.

Gig 'em, Ags!

Have a good long weekend, y'all!