Giving Thanks.

Lily's class worked on a project for Thanksgiving about what they are thankful for. 

Here's Lily's:

She's thankful for: 

"Mommy and Daddy, my brother, my 2 dogs, toys, my couch, my baby dolls, my carpet, my corn, my Mommy and Daddy's phone."

I wasn't aware we had 2 dogs.  I also didn't know how much Lily appreciated carpet or our couch and thankful for corn?  Really?  The kid who we have to bribe and beg to eat corn, is thankful for it? What?  I love three-year-old innocence!

Tyler also came home with some pretty cute projects.  I love, love, love these projects where they incorporate hand (or foot) prints.  I have kept them all and the binder they are in is busting at the seams and the kids have only been in daycare for a little over a year.  (I did finally make myself throw away anything that's just a photocopy picture of marker scribbles to cut down the collection...)

On Thanksgiving, we went to our friends' house for dinner after a looooong day of working in the kitchen (more on that in a later post).  We got there in time to partake in an incredible spread of everything that should be in a Thanksgiving buffet. YUM-O. 

After that, we spent some time with Josh and Marie and the girls.  The kids looooooove their Auntie Ree, but they are terrified of their Uncle Josh.  Actually, I think they are terrified of their Uncle Josh's beard but it's hard for them to separate one thing from the other.  Haha!

On Friday we headed up to Jenny and Josh's.  The kids did ok in the car but were definitely ready to be out of the car when were still an hour away. 

When we got there, the kids played and had great fun.  Jackson and Lily were playing hide and seek and it went a little something like this:

Jackson:  Liliana, you hide right here and I'll go count and then I'll find you. 

Lily:  Oh-KAY!!

(Jackson runs around the corner, pauses for approximately 0.5 seconds, and then runs back to Lily)

Jackson:  GAH!!!  I FOUND YOU!!  HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Lily:  (laughing hysterically) Ok!  Now you hide and I'll find you!

And then Jackson hides in the same place that Lily was in and the exact scene plays out again with the roles reversed.  And they kept doing that for like 20+ minutes until we finally had to put an end to it because with each go round, they were getting louder and louder and louder.  Hysterical!

Bed time was not amazing but not that bad with the kiddos.  Tyler screamed his head off for a good while before finally giving in and falling asleep.  Lily and Jackson stayed up "reading" to each other until after 9:00.  But it was pretty cute.  I have a random memory or two of late night giggles with my cousins so I'm glad my kids will have that too.

And then, things went sideways.  Joel and I went to bed around 10.  At 1:00, I was still awake (even after having taken Tylenol PM).  And then Tyler woke up (who had been sleeping in a pack n play in the same room as us).  And he cried and cried and cried and that went on for 20 or more minutes so I finally gave up and brought him to bed with me (Joel was sleeping on a different mattress on the floor).  Tyler sat there and stared at me, laid down, wallered around, sat up, laid on my head, etc and so on for the next 2.5 hours. 

Finally at 3:30am, I couldn't take it anymore and took him back to his crib.  Where he proceeded to scream his head off.  So I put him in bed with Joel because I was getting a little nutso from the lack of sleep.  Since Joel's mattress was on the floor, Tyler could escape.  And he did.  And came back to my futon bed. 

So, I drug Tyler's crib into the utility room, plugged in a space heater, found a night light and set that up then gave him his pacifier, shut the door, put in my earplugs and let him cry it out. 

Five minutes later he was asleep and I was kicking myself for not thinking to do that THREE HOURS BEFORE when he first woke up.  Cause now it's 4am and I'm so tired that everything hurts and I still can't fall asleep.  Sigh.

Thanksgiving Day was wonderful - the kids had a great time playing and got along so well.  We got a few pictures snapped off, ate an awesome meal, enjoyed family - all the right ingredients for a good day!