Thanksgiving

Like most families we couldn't wait for Thanksgiving break. Our break began with two sick and grumpy kids. With the onset of cold weather I had been constantly warning the kids that if they didn't stay bundled up and then got sick, that they would be in big trouble. Well even if your kids do listen, sometimes you still can't prevent those unwanted icky viruses from showing up.

Sick kid #1
Luke has been suffering with his flu symptoms for about a week now. These symptoms include cough, runny nose, sore throat, fatigue, and some gross goopy stuff coming from eyes. Now although neither Shane nor my self have been sick, we too have suffered. Parents of crabby and sick toddlers definitely suffer. Am I right?

Sick kid #2
Meg picked up Lukes virus on Thanksgiving day. She awoke to a very sore throat, the rest of the symptoms showed up later in the day. For some, feeling completely run down and sick may prevent you from eating, but as most of you know Meg has a special relationship with food, to miss out on a Thanksgiving feast would be an abomination. How could one possibly let a little thing like a flu virus come between them and feasting. She's a trooper.

Healthy kid #1


Jakes Thanksgiving break consisted of snacking, t.v, video games, snacking, t.v, video games, watching football with Dad and winning his very first game of settlers. And one very important task of babysitting while Shane and I went shopping on black friday. This may sound like an easy task since everyone should have been asleep while we were gone, but Luke could not let that happen. As I'm standing in a very long and hostile line at Target I can barely make out the ring of my cell phone. I thought "who could possibly be calling me at 4:30am", my phone says "home", a very tired Jake is on the line and is asking what to do b/c cause little Lukey will not go back to sleep. (Luke was apparently startled when he came into our room to use the bathroom and found a sleeping Jake). So I did what every good mother would do, I told Jake to turn on cartoons, problem solved. Thank you NickJr.

Healthy parent #1
He was very excited for Thanksgiving break. This break meant no classes, no whiny students, lots of football, sleeping in and of course good food. Well his weekend included some of these elements but also a few others. For instance conducting a funeral for a woman whom He didn't even know was definitely not on his list. Waking up at 2:45 am to go and wait with a crazed mob at Walmart for the electronics dept. to open would normally never ever be on his list. Carrying a kicking,screaming, sick kid out of DQ, well that's always on the list. Sleeping in is always on the list but never checked off. With all the mayhem he managed to get a little football in. I tried to cuddle up to him between cooking dishes but his love for watching his disintegrating Cowboys prevented me from capturing his full attention. T.V., my friend and enemy.



Healthy parent #2
Besides taking care of sick kids, I found time to cook our Thanksgiving dinner. I prefer turkey but apparently my whole family likes ham, so ham it was. It was one of those yummy foil wrapped hams from Sams Club. I made the mistake of making my pie crusts and pies the day of, so dinner was a little later than planned, but still scrumptious.
Unlike my husband, the black friday sales were definitely on my list. Spending and then saving as I'm spending are two of my very favorite things. I chattered on to him that morning as we drove 40 minutes to the designated Target and Wal-mart. I gave detailed instructions to him, his mission, Wal-mart and he was going in alone. He didn't respond as I explained his mission, just stared blankly at the road. I think he may have been tuning me out b/c instead of getting the train set for Luke, he bought several bags of chocolate.

Besides my shopping on friday morning the only other time I left the house was to the gym. A 9 mile run is just what my body needed after gorging myself on food and many treats.

I had to stay home on Sunday with our sick kids, so I spent the time listening to Christmas music and putting up our decorations. Fun, Fun, Fun.

Despite some hiccups in our weekend plans we still had a great time being together. The only thing our holiday lacked was family and good friends. We missed you all. Happy Holidays

p.s. Luke is perking up a little, can you tell?