Thankful

I am thankful for so very much this year!  Within one week, I was able to celebrate another trip around the sun for that guy, snow, time off from school, and food with wonderful friends.  It had been a crazy week leading up to Thanksgiving break-- John had obligations with his class and the Outing Club in the evenings and I had Parent-Teacher Conferences and a massive pile of grading to do.  We all seemed to pass like ships in the night-- even on the night of John's actual birthday.  However, once Friday came along, we were all ready to start celebrating all for which we are thankful.  I was able to take my sweetheart out to dinner and the kids got a night with their Uncles Scotty and Tommy.  And the next day we packed it up and headed up to Montreal.

We don't have many pictures...... because you DON'T keep your iPhone on in Canada.  But we had a great time with the Mahoney's.  We ate crepes and fondue and drank wine in Old Port, visited the Science Museum, and had an amazing dinner near our hotel in the heart of the city.  It's hard to find dining that is suitable for kids in Montreal-- let alone in the city center.  However, we stumbled upon an Italian restaurant.  We almost walked by it because it looked too "nice".  When Claire inquired, they told us we could have a room to ourselves in the back of the restaurant.  The kids drew pictures and the waiter/part owner brought them scissors and tape to make puppets.  At the end of the night he told us how happy he was to see children engaged without using iPhones or iPods.

We only went for one night because I had to work on Monday.  Hazen had daycare, but Cally didn't have Poker Hill, so she and John had "date day".  They went to a meeting at school, put the snow tires on the car, and went out to lunch at a diner.

Because I had to work two evenings the week before for conferences, I got to take Tuesday off.  This time, I got to have a day with Cal, while Dad took Hazey to use Austin's wood working tools:

John had started a little home improvement project this summer, but got slowed down by not having the right tools and then his broken scapula ended all efforts to see the "breakfast bar" come into fruition.  Thanks to Austin's equipment and John's fine woodworking skills:

We've got ourselves a new space to eat, draw and entertain:

While the boys were doing their work, I got to see Cal do some of her "stuff" at gymnastics, we picked up our 22 lb bird, and did a little more grocery shopping for Thanksgiving.

We offered to host our "friends" Thanksgiving this year.  This year there were 4 families (9 kids between the ages of 2-11 and 8 adults).  We have alternated for the past 4 years between the Plimpton-Harris house and the Ganz Clan's place.  I knew that we had less to offer for the kids to do, but I hoped everyone would be happy to be together.  

Claire and I woke up with the birds and got our own fun out of our systems before I had to be home to cook the aforementioned bird (which I had brined overnight).  The skiing was amazing and it set the day up in such a perfect way.  

The families all got here and the kids set out to sled, while the dad's got an outdoor fire going and the mom's made the finishing touches on the meal.

We set up a table for the kids:

And a table for the big kids:

There were several outfit changes:

And we felt like we were moving and grooving:

In the end, it was a fun gathering.  The adults and the younger kids had a great time.  Unfortunately, the older gals got "bored".  I can't really blame them, as our house is not really equipped to entertain "tweens", and felt bad that we didn't have "stuff" to do.  It's so foreign for me to have the time to be bored these days, so it's not something I fret about too much.  I know that the time will come for my kids to say the same thing.  I will recite a saying that my mother always said to me, "only boring people get bored", but I'm sure that it will come up with resistance.  I'm hopeful that I will be patient and understanding, but something tells me I might not.

The rest of the week was filled with sunny ski days, a Christmas tree lighting, a hockey games, a trip to the Swimming Hole, and a visit with cousins:

I'm really thankful for my family, good friends, sunshine, snow, home improvement projects, time off from work, sleep, relaxation, and all the love in my life.