Turkey Day!!

Despite this being our first Thanksgiving without family, the 4 of us had a fun making it our own (and perhaps starting some of our own traditions!) and spending it with other local families.  Our holiday began the Friday before at E's school for his Thanksgiving Feast.....(Dr. M was in Chicago for a conference Thursday thru Sunday and E was out of school the following week). H and I went early to help set up for 24, 3-year-olds to feast on all sorts of homemade goodies...it was chaos!  There was so much food, so many messes and oh so many kids crammed into the hallway near E's classroom (group meals like this are a food allergy moms nightmare because you have no idea what's in the foods!).  The kids enjoyed it and I loved the little "Native American" outfits the kids were wearing (E was so cute in his little paper sack vest!).  After eating, the kids enjoyed Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving cartoon (E was super excited to sit next to his friend Mae and H loves hanging out with the big kids).

The following week I spent most of Wednesday cooking and preparing food, so it felt good to get out and enjoy the beautiful weather Thursday morning.  It was in the mid 70's and possibly "shorts" weather (seriously!).  We met some friends at the local dog park for some exercise (for us and the dogs!).

 That afternoon we went to a friends house for Thanksgiving dinner.  I brought homemade rosemary olive oil rolls, cranberries and stuffing.  It was a "potluck" style meal, so between the 4 families attending we had a pretty amazing meal.  After which, Dr. M decided to play a friendly game of chess with one of the 5-year-old guests.  

We decided to stay home on "black Friday" and, honestly didn't spend a dime.  We just relaxed, worked in the yard and ate leftovers.  Saturday, however, was the last home game of the season, so we packed up the kiddos and headed to the quad for bounce house fun.  The weather, however, had turned overnight and it was a very chilly day - perfect for football!

So, that afternoon we had about 12 adults and 10 kids (under the age of 5) at our house to watch the game, eat chili and drink beer!  It was so much fun.  I loved the chaos and so many of our friends being together.  We've never really had a house large enough to host this kind of event, so it was fun to do for the first time!  Roll Tide!