The Small Family     

 

First of all, I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving weekend! I took off most of Wednesday through Sunday, so that was a nice break. Can’t say I was resting or relaxing, but at least it was a break from work!

It was an eventful week from the start. Mom was released from the hospital on Tuesday, so Theo and I took her home and got her settled, much to her relief. (No one likes to spend time in a hospital!) And then Tuesday evening, I started the food prep for Thanksgiving. Normally, my Mom comes over on the Wednesday before Thanksgiving to help me prep some of the dishes and to help entertain Theo. But obviously she wasn’t well enough to do so this year, so Chris took most of Wednesday off so I could spend the day cooking while he kept an eye on Theo. And actually, it worked out fine. The older he gets, the less supervision Theo needs every second of the day--he’s actually pretty good at entertaining himself for bursts of time throughout the day. So although Chris was there to keep an eye on him, it wasn’t a stressful day of trying to keep him out of the kitchen and making sure he didn’t destroy anything. Really, it was all very mellow.

I did all my usual dishes this year: homemade dressing, sweet potato casserole, cheesy potato casserole, homemade cranberry sauce, and sour green beans. I also made pretzel Jell-o (delicious cream cheese/Jell-o/pretzel crust concoction that I first had on a Buffalo visit), carrot spoon bread, chocolate pecan tart (tasty, but not my favorite dessert I’ve ever made), and pumpkin-chocolate tiramisu (delicious--will definitely make this again!). And for the purists, I baked frozen apple and pumpkin pies. (I usually make them from scratch, but I figured I had enough else on my plate this year!) Chris made a fantastic turkey for the second year in a row. I have dubbed him the Turkey Master now. Turkey is notoriously dry, of course, but somehow Chris has managed to make a delicious, moist, juicy turkey two years running. He has a gift with turkeys, methinks….

My sister and her family came over for dinner--all four kids, plus Sam’s boyfriend Andrew. And my Mom was feeling a fair bit better by Thanksgiving day, so she was able to come over for a few hours and eat a little bit of dinner, too. So it was a big group in our small house, but we had a lot of fun. My sister brought along two games (one a password-type game--I’m forgetting the name of it--and a board game called Imagine If…), so we played those while Theo kept busy with a couple episodes of Handy Manny (his favorite show of late). Zoe the Wonder Pug was skittish as usual, but she eventually decided to befriend Charles. And by the end of the evening, Theo was reclining on his good buddy Andrew while absorbed in Handy Manny.

For those of you worried about Mom, she’s actually doing quite a bit better the last few days. I think she may be reaching a turning point where she finally starts to get better. I have my fingers crossed, as she needs to be fully healed before she can have surgery to keep this from happening again.

On Friday, we put up our Christmas decorations. We’re usually not quite this early with them, but my friend Amber was going to take our holiday pictures on Sunday, so we needed a good backdrop. (As it turned out she got called into work, so we have rescheduled for next weekend. But all that means is we get to enjoy our decorations a week earlier than usual anyway!) Theo is entranced by the Christmas tree, which I think is so cool. He helped us start decorating, but we hadn’t finished by his naptime. So I finished while he slept, and when he woke up and came downstairs, his whole face lit up at the sight of the tree, and he said, “WOW! Christmas tree!!” And ever since he has been circling the tree, touching the ornaments and exclaiming, “Toys!” He’s absolutely fascinated by them.

On Saturday we drove down to San Jose to see Chris’s family, as it had been awhile since we visited. Theo enjoyed spending time with Grandma and Papa, and he also got to play with cousin Nik! Grandma Kathy made homemade soup for dinner, and Theo was introduced to the wonders of watercolor paints. So aside from a splitting migraine on my part, we had a nice visit.

Amber having to work Sunday ended up turning out well, because Kim and I had arranged for her to take pictures of Theo on Monday, but then we had to switch it to Sunday because our location was going to be closed on Monday. Kim had the idea to take pictures of Theo playing at Fairytale Town, which he loves, but it turns out they’re only open Thursday through Sunday during the winter. So we switched our session to Sunday morning, and Theo and I went down and played while Kim took pictures. (Chris, alas, had to stay home and work. Blah!) I can’t wait to see the pictures, because Kim got the full range of emotions from Theo. He started out the visit very cranky and whiny, so she got plenty of screaming Theo pix. But after a while he started to play and have fun, so I think she got some happy ones, too.

This is no great surprise--Chris and I refer to this mood as “post-grandparent meltdown.” Every time Theo is around a big group of people with lots of excitement (which is usually a grandparent visit), he’s a real turkey the next day. I guess maybe all the fun and excitement is a bit much, so we pay the price the next day. But no matter…usually by the day after, he’s back to his normal, cheerful self.

Speaking of the boy, I posted a new video to the More Videos page--it’s of Theo “reading” a book my Mom gave him (mostly just laughing about one line he loves) and doing his ABCs. Scroll to the bottom of the page to see it--it's called "Book Laughs and ABCs."

So before I wrap this up, I want to take a moment to talk about what I’m thankful for. I’m actually thankful for a lot of things and people, and if I don’t mention you here, please don’t think I’m not thankful for you as part of my life--I would just have to go on for 20 pages if I mentioned everyone and everything! So here are a top few: I am thankful for my amazing little boy, who brings me more joy than I ever thought possible. Exhaustion too, of course, but so, so much joy and happiness. I’m thankful for my husband, who makes me laugh every day and who is, quite simply, the kindest, most caring person I have ever met. I’m thankful for my Mom, who is always there when I need an ear and who so unabashedly loves my little Theo. The greatest thing as a parent may be seeing other people who truly love your child for his amazing little soul. And last but not least, I am thankful for my friends. Friends have always been a huge part of my life--I didn’t always have a lot, but the ones I had and have now have always been exceptional people. My two best friends have been part of my life for 31 and 24 years, and they are as close to me as sisters. And I have many newer friends, and I treasure every one of them. I don’t know if I seek them out subconsciously or if I just draw them, but I seem to attract friends who are of the most caring, funny, intelligent, interesting type, and I love that they are a part of my life. Quite simply, they make me happy!

So there you go. As I said, if I didn’t mention you, it doesn’t mean I’m not thankful and appreciative that you’re in my life! I just don’t have the room to mention everyone and everything I’m thankful for, so I picked a few biggies!

Hope you all had a wonderful holiday weekend!