The Last Few Days

I can't decide if I like this early Thanksgiving thing or not.  On one hand, it always feels like Christmas rushes in on the heels of Thanksgiving and it has been a relief to realize I still have several more days before December begins.  On the other, I feel very ready for Christmas for the first time since the twins were born and I'm chomping at the bit for December to begin (because for some reason it just doesn't feel Christmas-y in December...).  Regardless, the 30 days of thankfulness continues no matter where Thanksgiving falls.

Although, I will confess that I have forgotten to get the twins' thankfuls every day since Thanksgiving.  As you will see, we were very busy!

November 23, We Are Thankful For:
Me: A relaxing day.  We were going to go and get our Christmas tree, but I felt like we all needed a lazy day.  So we decided we wouldn't do anything.  Granted, by the end of the day we were up for some adventure, but I will get to that.
A Husker Win!  While it wasn't a pretty win (none of them have been...) it was an important one.  We were certainly all happy!

Black Friday Deals.  I am NOT a black Friday shopper.  I don't particularly enjoy shopping on a good day, but I am most likely to enjoy shopping when the store is practically empty and I have all the time in the world to browse and make decisions.  So, as you can imagine, Black Friday shopping is pretty much the last thing I would want to do.  But I did want some fabric for something I want to make for the twins, and we were heading to eat dinner down the road from Joann's.  So we popped in (during the last few hours they were open), and I managed to get the fabric I wanted for 75% off!  Plus a cute storage cart for the massive amounts of preschool stuff that has been overtaking our kitchen.  Score!  We also enjoyed a yummy dinner at the Chinese Buffet, playing at the toy store, and a quick drive-thru of our favorite lights show (which, if I may say so, is a total rip off when the winter wonderland isn't open.  We will be going back).

November 24, We Are Thankful For:
Me: Our Tree!  Last year we went on our first ever real tree hunting adventure.  Which, consisted of going to the tree farm and picking one of the trees they had already cut.  This year, we wanted to cut our own...and I figured going when we had reinforcements would probably be a good idea.  It was!
The hayride to the trees.  I was too close to get really good pictures of the group.

Allie and Ryan balancing on the stump of an already-cut tree.  This was how they passed the time while we got the inside info on the trees and the farm.

It didn't take long to realize that we all might have different ideas in mind when it came to what tree we would get...
Ryan: "This is the biggest tree!  I want the BIGGEST tree!"

 Allie kissing a "baby" tree.

We walked around for a while.  Every tree was too tall or too fat or too thin or disproportional or something.  I really thought for a while that we were going to have to look at every tree...and by then we would have forgotten where all the possible trees were and would have to look at them all again!

The kids were getting tired and I was getting tired and it seemed like no tree was good enough (when I knew that pretty much any tree would look beautiful once it had lights and ornaments on).  Then Ryan found it.  The perfect tree.
Yes, Allie hugged the saw too tightly and it bit into her coat.  Mommy fail.

Cutting it down.

We spent the afternoon decorating the tree and setting up the train set.  We were all delighted with the finished product.

 Papa fixing the train...which has fallen apart a couple times.  I see super glue in our future.

 Baby Jesus getting a train ride...what more could he want for his birthday?

A wonderful evening.  In the evening, we turned off all the lights except the Christmas trees.  We put in our fireplace dvd (which we purchased in our seminary apartment days and, thankfully, didn't throw away during the time we had a fireplace in MA!), turned on the Christmas carols, and enjoyed hot chocolate and cookies.  Is there a more perfect way to start off the Christmas season?  I submit that there is not.

November 25, We Are Thankful For:
Me: Safe travel, once again, for my parents.  They and my sister-in-law traveled together to Chicago to spend a night there.  They arrived safely (even though they failed to call and let me know...).  I was sad to see them go, but knowing they will be back in a month sure helps!
Potluck.  4 months in a row I have managed to bring something that someone else has brought.  Not always the same person, but at least one other person has the same thing.  This time I succeeded once again.  But I brought 2 things to make up for it.  It is becoming a bit of a church joke.
A Chance to Bless.  I won't go into full details, because I don't want to ruin the anonymity.  I will just say that it is amazingly fun to be a part of surprising someone with something you know will bless them and turn their week around.

Ta-da!  Caught up!  For now...