Giving Thanks

There is so much to be thankful for.  We had a wonderful Thanksgiving break.  My parents came in town and we were able to get a lot done.  Dave and I were able to go out one night for dinner just the two of us, which was a really nice treat.  It is always so nice when our parents come in town because Dave and I take advantage of them and go out on much needed dates.  

Here are a lot of pictures from the week and weekend.  

The boys attacked my dad every night.  

My dad made Gingerbread men with the boys.  They looked absolutely perfect and then they were eaten up right away.

Here is Joseph with his gingerbread man.

Savta with the kids

Joseph and Haidyn matched.  They were so cute on Thanksgiving.   

Joseph gave Haidyn a little kiss.  She should feel super lucky because he doesn't give those out that often.

The boys love giving hugs.  

Samuel loves giving kisses.

The beautiful table at Jonathan and Laura's house.  

All the yummy food.

Simone's first thanksgiving.  She was so excited for all the food!

The boys didn't eat that much, but they loved the rolls

Although they didn't eat much dinner, they were pretty excited about the dessert

Samuel and Jonathan.  This is such a cute picture of the two of them.  Samuel was really cold outside so he had his arms in his shirt.

Savta and Papa attempting to get a picture with the grand kids.  I wasn't able to get any good pictures.  This was about the best one.

Also an attempt at the cousins picture, but again it is just hard to get pictures of them all right now.  We did the best we could

My mom got the boys holiday pajama's and they loved them.  Joseph has this new thing where he tries to attack Samuel from behind.  He grabs onto him and won't let go.  It is pretty cute, but Samuel isn't too much of a fan.

Another day of eating the gingerbread men.

These two pictures of the boys are just too funny.

They both have the same crazy look on their faces.

This is what is looks like most nights in our house.  I'm feeding Simone and Joseph is on top of me and Samuel is next to me.  I know I will miss this when they get older.

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We actually put up a Christmas tree this year.  We have had this tree in the box for the last 6 or 7 years and have never taken it out.  We figured it was probably a good year to do it.  The boys are older and we are in our new house.  The boys loved it.  

Here it is all lit up with the ornaments.  I am actually really excited about the holidays this year.  The boys are going to have so much fun.

Home and Relaxing

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. We started off our holiday in Kansas City. We ate lots of food and then Samuel and I headed to Tulsa last Sunday. We spent the week in Tulsa. Tuesday night Jonathan and Laura came in town and then Dave arrived on Wednesday morning. We hung out all week, ate lots of food and just relaxed. I didn't change 1 poopy diaper the entire week. Dave also didn't have to give Samuel 1 bath. We were so lazy and it was much needed.

Samuel had a great time running around, playing in the leaves and getting all the attention.

We drove back to St. Louis on Saturday and continued our relaxation yesterday. I am now on the hunt for good deals and trying to do lots of holiday shopping. I just bought some stuff off of Amazon and now I am looking for baby sheets and decoration stuff for the new baby.

I have truly popped out, that is my belly. Now everywhere I go people notice that I am pregnant. I am starting to get a little uncomfortable. I only have 9 and a half weeks to go. I can't believe it. The time has really flown by.

I have lots of pictures below so enjoy:

I am delivering sweets to SSM Health because they bought my monthly desserts at the Woman's Place auction. I would love to have a sweets business, so if anyone is interested in getting homemade desserts let me know. Sweets by Sarah, the first dessert that was delivered: Homemade Carrot Cake with Butter Cream Frosting.

Taylor and Samuel had another craft day a few weeks ago and they made turkey hands. Here Samuel is in action:

Still loves sunglasses:

Samuel loves to get on Jonathan's shoulders:

A cute picture of Samuel and Laura, too bad Samuel has a mouth full of food:

The entire family in Kansas City:

Everybody is completely focused on Samuel. He better enjoy it while it lasts:

In Tulsa, eating oatmeal and blueberries, one of his favorite breakfast meals:

Leave playing with Savta:

Loves the shoulders:

Eating Taco Bueno, even Samuel loves the bean burrito:

Playing at the park:

Samuel's favorite part of Thanksgiving meal was the black olives:

Yummy food:

Resting up after the big meal in Savta and Papa's bed:

Laura and Samuel:

We actually didn't get any good pictures of Samuel with Dave and I. I guess we need to try to do that soon.

Thanksgiving Ends

Well another Thanksgiving has passed. It was actually a very nice. I was worried with all the family, but it was surprisingly very enjoyable and relaxing. We had so much food, it was gluttonous. Thank goodness I took time off from Wednesday until Monday. Our house was a mess and we are finally almost done with all the dishes and dirtiness.

As you know, I posted earlier about the gooey butter cakes. We ordered the Maple Pecan and it wasn't very good. It might have something to do with the fact that I don't really like nuts in things, but it just didn't do it for me. We did have a apple cranberry pie, that was delicious. Hopefully we will have that again next year.

We took lots of family pictures, which I will post a little later. I have to figure out how to post the pictures.

I have to admit, I think my therapy is actually working. I got through the entire Thanksgiving festivities without blowing a gasket. I usually get so overwhelmed and irritated (not at any particular thing) that I just can't relax and enjoy having everyone around. I think it was different this year. I anticipated that I would be more emotional and uptight and crazy, due to the fact that I am pregnant (or because I am a complete control freak), but that wasn't the case. I didn't even get paranoid and upset with other people doing the dishes and cleaning my china and crystal! (By the way, one glass broke and I didn't even care.) In years past, I would have flipped out and required that I do everything for fear it wouldn't be perfect. Oh well. I realized that it isn't worth the stress. Thank goodness.

The one thing I am not looking forward it is going back to work to a hellish week. 4 and a half more weeks to go. (and yes the countdown has begun!)

Have a great Saturday night. We will be watching football. Not that I really care, but we have to see the MIZZOU v. KU game, since we live in Missouri and it is an important game. I guess if I have to pick someone to root for it will be MIZZOU. So GO TIGERS!

Almost Thanksgiving

In preparation for Thanksgiving, Dave and I tried cleaning the house, did all the laundry and bought lots and lots of food. Dave cleaned the ceiling fan blades and lights. My goodness that gets so dirty. I don't think we have cleaned the ceiling fan since we put it up at least a year ago. The one thing I didn't do, but desperately needs to be done is dusting. I hate dusting.

I am planning to take pictures of our delicious spread of food on Thanksgiving, so maybe I will post those after the holiday.

I am not sure how much time I will have to post between now and Thanksgiving. So Happy Thanksgiving everyone. Travel safely, if you are traveling and eat lots!!!!

Is it too early to be planning for Thanksgiving?

Well my sister in law and I created our whole menu this morning. We were thinking that it might be a little early to start planning, but what the heck. Dave and I are having 11 people so far at our house this Thanksgiving. I think it will be the third or fourth year of hosting. The attending will be: me and Dave, my brother (Jonathan) and sister in law (Laura), my parents, Dave's parents, Laura's parents and Laura's sister. It should be a packed house.

We are planning to have tons of food, but I always feel like we need more. The menu (so far): Turkey, Ham, Mashed Potatoes, Sweet Potatoes, Broccoli Cheese Casserole, Potato Casserole, Stuffing, Green Bean Casserole, maybe salad, maybe a fruit salad and I guess that is it. Anyone have any other suggestions? Of course we will have pies too and think we have 5 pies already bought, so I am not worried about dessert.

Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. Family can all get together, have fun, eat a lot of food and then not worry about exchanging gifts or having to get dressed up. I love it. Plus this year will be special because it will be our last one without a baby. Forever our lives will be completely different, which we are of course looking forward to, but it will be nice to be able to eat my own food without having to worry about a baby (the kicking I am experiencing very frequently may be a little disturbing, but it won't stop me from chowing down on the food).

I will miss the wine drinking with dinner, since I won't be partaking in that. Hopefully, my family will drink for me!

Tomorrow I start pre-natal yoga. I will give an update about how that goes. It is from 12:00-2:30 on Sunday. Dave is happy about that because then he gets football watching time, without me bugging him.

Tomorrow after yoga I will write about a few organizations I am involved in, one being STAR Court. I am a volunteer Judge at a local elementary school in the Ferguson-Florissant School District. I love it. More on that later.

Back to the Michigan/Michigan State Football game. GO BLUE!!!!!