Pre-Thanksgiving.

Before all of the Thanksgiving hoopla began we had a busy few days.  

Lincoln's class had a breakfast/reading/singing with parents.  I always feel a little silly going to these kinds of things with Lincoln because he never talks to me.  He gets so busy wandering around visiting with everyone else I think he forgets I'm even there.  Not to worry, I don't take it personally, I just feel dumb sitting there in his tiny, second-grade chair looking at everyone with a sheepish smile on my face, like a wallflower waiting to be asked to dance.  I know in the deep recesses of his brain there's security in the fact that I was there.  That's what matters, right?  That's what I tell myself.

Sam is crazy now.  Messy, busy, curious, wonderful.  All day long I pick things up as I go.  I got these awesome books from a sweet-little-old-next-door-neighbor-lady of my in-laws who passed away recently.  It's a collection of books called The Young Folks Shelf of Books.  I love them.  And I laugh because these are the go-to books for Sam to pull off the shelf.  Books for young folks, indeed. 

Apparently, we're the gathering place for local species.  Maybe we carry a "sucker" scent, because we're total suckers when it comes to animals in our yard.  Except for Ben.  Oh-boy, not Ben.  He's in NO WAY a sucker for animals.  He's more like Animal Control!  The dialogue between the two parties (Ben vs. Us) is never dull.  Honestly, I kinda hate cats, too, but kittens?  I can't help myself.

Ben promised that if I got the clothes all packed up and ready to go before he got home from work, then he'd get all the Christmas stuff out.  True to his word, we got the house ready for Christmas the night before we left for his parents' house for Thanksgiving.  I'm so glad we did.  Coming home to a decorated house was beyond fantastic!  I felt one step ahead of my game, ready to embrace the holiday season without feeling crazy and overwhelmed.

The kids immediately dug into the Christmas books and went to town.  I love traditions.  I love the excitement of kids remembering happy times.  Christmas is a feast of happy times.

Now that I got all that stuff out of the way, I can move on to our Thanksgiving adventures.  Think SHEEP.  Good times.

  

See you tomorrow!