Monday started a week-off for Grace and Adam for Fall Break (Josh still had pre-school on Tuesday). We spent it cleaning and playing and finishing up some last-minute Thanksgiving shopping.
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On Tuesday my little stubborn Josh was w-a-y tired from staying up playing with Adam the night before. After a day of playing and pre-school and fun he was exhausted, but refused to go to bed. Josh is the world's best kid. He gets along with every body, is THE hardest worker, is always looking for opportunities to serve, is an awesome problem-solver, and has a greatest sense of humor... unless he's tired.
Then he is the most stubborn kid you will ever meet.
I tucked him in, he snuck out, and refused to go back to bed without an additional tuck-in.
I out-stubborned him this time, though, and he fell asleep on the kitchen floor.
***
Mike had Wednesday off, so we went over to Wetlands Park.
We went there last year with my parents, but Mike had never gone.
It has miles of paths for walking, biking, etc. throughout Henderson and Las Vegas, that go through the wetlands in the area.
There is a really nice (free!) building that has lots of interactive activities for the kids.
After we went through the center, we went and walked one of the trails.
When we went with my parents, it was in the morning. We didn't see too much wildlife at the time. We went in the late afternoon this trip and saw lots of birds (the kids LOVED the little lines of quail families and the bird that ran on the water), bunnies, and we heard a beaver slapping its tail against the water.
We had a great time there together.
We came home that evening for a quick dinner and a family movie.
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On Thursday, we woke up bright and early and went to the Turkey Trot, put on by a cute friend in an another ward.
We opted to walk the 5k.
These guys do a stellar job putting the whole thing together, and I love getting to participate in it each year.
After we pre-burned our dinner, we headed home to cook!
We have a tradition of Mike making the turkey, and the kids each choosing two sides to help make.
Grace made my Mom's cranberry salad and green beans; Josh made the stuffing and rolls; and Adam made the sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes.
We always have so much fun cooking together.
It was (obviously) a pretty warm day here, because at one point Grace got her swimsuit on and played in the water. You know you live in Las Vegas when you can eat your Thanksgiving turkey leg in a swimsuit. ;)
We all enjoyed our really yummy dinner, while we talked about what we were thankful for.
Sam hadn't been feeling very well, and ended up sleeping during dinner.
Which made me sad, because this kid just LOVES to eat!
When he woke up he felt much better and enjoyed his dinner.
After dinner we watched Mr. Peabody and Sherman, and then made our Thankful Turkey that had been neglected all month, while we ate pie.
It was such a good Thanksgiving. I am so thankful for this sweet family of mine and our traditions that I treasure.
***
I was up late that Friday night with Sam, and after I finally got him to sleep I decided to pass on the tradition of Black Friday shopping with my kiddos, just like my Mom did with me.
Also, I really needed some Pedialyte for Sam.
;)
So, Adam and I went to Wal-Mart at about 1:00am.
It was completely dead, and we didn't really want to buy anything.
But, we can say that we went Black Friday shopping together.
For Pedialyte.
I woke up Mike at 4:00am to go to Home Depot to get our tree with our hard-earned yard sale money.
The rest of us woke up a little later to clean up after our fun Thanksgiving day, put our Thanksgiving decorations away, and get out CHRISTMAS!
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On Saturday we continued to clean and decorate.... and do all of the Fall Break homework that we had neglected doing during Fall Break.
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On Sunday I hung out in the Mother's Room during Sharing Time, like I do every Sunday, so Sam is fed and content while I teach my lesson.
He happened to discover his reflection while we were in there, and it was too adorable.
That evening we decorated our beautiful new tree.
Some of us were pretty creative in reaching the higher spots to decorate (that's a window he climbed through to reach the middle of the tree).
After we made our tree beautiful, we made foil dinners in the firepit, roasted marshmallows over the coals, and sang our favorite Christmas carols.
Our neighbors probably thought us strange, but I can't think of a nicer way to top off Fall Break and welcome Christmas than singing "Silent Night" in the cool evening while eating gooey marshmallows.
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