Thanksgiving Week

We have had a crazy week!!! Starting last Tuesday, the out of town family started coming in! Cory came from Greensboro first, but we did not see her until Wednesday. Aunt Jessie came and met Henry on Tuesday, and we had my siblings and parents over for dinner! It was so nice to have them over here! They have been here only twice, so it was good to get them out to Booneville again...! Wednesday, found us going to Fairview early in the morning (we got there by 8:30!). We brought Carl's turkey over to Tannenbaum's and visited with them for awhile before I went to get my haircut with Jess!!! It feels so good to have it short again!!! Who would have thought?? Henry was a good boy, and chilled with his Auntie in the car! We also went by Lulu's consignment shop, on the hunt for a black onesie for the Christmas picture...we didn't have any success!! The afternoon found us getting ready for Thanksgiving dinner for Thursday (we got everything prepped for stuffing, cooked 4 pies, made green bean bake, sweet potatoes, and turnips!!! For as productive as we were, we were still very busy on Thursday! Thursday morning found us waking up early! We spent from Wednesday night- Sunday night at mom and dad's, so we weren't driving back and forth to Mars Hill constantly! It was nice to get to see everybody a lot! Mom made sticky buns (which were oh so good) and Henry and I dropped off Carl to work on his clutch over at a friend's in Fairview. We picked him up at 2:00, and had our first Thanksgiving dinner at 3. Henry decided he wanted to eat at the same time as everybody else, so we joined in on the meal mid-way. We hung out with the family, and played some matches in Ping-pong and air hockey until 5:00, when we headed over to Grandpa and Grandma T's. Dinner at the Tannenbaum's was at 6:30ish, and left us feeling very sluggish and full!! Henry was so cute playing with his toy in his car seat for all of dinner! We hung out until it was time for the little man to hit the sack...which is usually between 9:30 and 10:00. I tried to go out Black Friday shopping (at 10:00pm on Thursday) with Aunt Bexy, but after walking around Wal-mart for a few minutes, decided it was not worth the effort put forth! Carl gave Henry a bottle to top him off while I was gone--and he drank it! Friday morning while feeding Henry at 4, I decided to heck with it, I'm going shopping! It started with Oldnavy.com, where I ordered 4 new pairs of jeans for Carl- for $15 each! Shipping was free too- since we spent more than $50. Next up on my holiday to buy list, was a pair of trees in urns with lights on them, to put on either side of our door on our porch...they were being sold at JCPenney for $20. I didn't really want to go to Penney's, and decided to check it out online! Sure enough--there they were, with free to store shipping! I crossed them off my list too! Feeling pretty good with myself, and the items I scored without having to go anywhere, I thought, what the heck! I'll leave Henry with Carl, and go do some Black Friday shopping! I left the house at 4:45am, and went to Home Depot where I scored some fresh wreaths, and poinsettia's. Off I then went to A.C. Moore, where I got: jar candles, wreaths for our windows, candles for the windows, and garland and bows for outside. Mental note to self: the only thing that was a GREAT deal at A.C. Moore was the candles...the rest of the stuff is on sale for the same price this week! Bummer...but oh well! I came home to find Carl up with Henry...he wasn't too happy! Henry just grinned at me and started talking! I think he missed his mommy! He met his Uncle Ray-Ray who had come in at 1:00ish on Friday morning (he had to work Thanksgiving day). I brought him upstairs and caught mom and dad as they were getting ready to leave to go Black Friday shopping. Henry chilled with me until 9:00 when Carl woke up. We brought him over to work on the truck some more, and went back home. A little before noon, Aunt Jessie, myself, and Henry went to Old Navy to get Jess a pea coat, and World Market to score on some pashmina scarves (for $5!!). I collected quite a few for myself, and have been enjoying wearing them! They help hide these few pounds that I want GONE! Henry and I drove with Aunt Cory to Piazza for lunch with Grandpa and Grandma T, Brian, and Carl. After lunch, we came back to mom and dad's where Henry chowed down (he hadn't eaten in quite a while). By 4:00 we were picking Carl up from working on the truck, and showering getting ready for our family picture that had to take place on Friday, the only day we were all together! We then had a second Thanksgiving dinner (I guess really 3rd, since we had two in one day!). This one was even better than the one on Thanksgiving because everybody was there! We have so much to be thankful for! After dinner, was the finishing of the air hockey ping pong tourney! The winners were: Air Hockey: 1st- Ray 2nd- TJ 3rd- Jessica Ping pong: 1st- Carl 2nd- TJ 3rd- Dad We then went upstairs and played some Catch Phrase...all except for Gammie, who insisted upon Henry duty while everyone else played. Of course, Henry is such a good baby, and didn't give her much trouble at all! After catch phrase was pie and ice cream time, and before we knew it, Henry was telling us it was already time for bed. Saturday morning, we got up early and saw Jessie off around 9. Henry, Abby, and I brought Carl to work on the truck (noticing a trend yet?) and on the way there fooled Carl into thinking there was an electrical problem with the car. Really, it was just a fizzing half filled soda bottle!! Pretty comical to say the least! Henry and I went to visit with the Tannenbaum's and went with Aunt Cory to pick Carl up at 12:30ish. We then went back to the house, and left to go hiking in Hot Springs at around 1:30ish. Talk about a hike! Boy did it leave me exhausted! We picnicked before we climbed up, and I carried Henry on the way up! At the top, Henry took his eating break, and Carl then carried him all the way down! There was no way I was going down carrying him, that is for sure! We started heading home around 5:00...and stopped for a dinner break at Vinnie's. We ended up getting home at 7, and headed back to mom and dad's for the night around 9. We hung out for a little while with Uncle Ray-Ray, and then hit the sack by 10. Sunday morning we got up to go to church. We went to the early service which begins at 9. I met this really nice lady who has 4 children and home schools. Her youngest is one, and it was nice to connect with somebody. I feel like once you have a baby, you find where you really belong, and people are a lot more welcoming...maybe it's because it's an easy conversation starter! Who knows! Carl went mountain biking with Lenny once we got home, and I hung out at the Tannenbaum's and went to visit at the Jones' too. Mom and dad came home, and we went to visit and say bye to Ray. We went back to hang out over at Tannenbaum's until Cory left at 6:30ish. We decided to go ahead and spend Sunday night, since Carl shoots on Monday nights anyways, and we end up practically in Fairview again. Plus, it gave me an opportunity to start getting stuff together with mom for her sale at Curves. We came home Monday night, after spending the day making orange marmalade, getting Christmas gifts ready to ship, and putting together canned goods to sell. It was so nice to be able to spend so much time with family over the holiday...if you thought Thanksgiving was crazy--check back in with us to see how Christmas goes! :)