Mixed Nuts: Thanksgiving weekend

Quotes

"There is no better way to thank God for your sight than by giving a helping hand to someone in the dark." - Helen Keller
When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck
You may never know how strong you are, until being strong is your only choice.- Unknown
Keep your face to the sunshine and you cannot see a shadow' ~Helen Keller
Promise me you'll always remember: You're braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.
Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened."- Dr. Seuss
"Life is 10% what happens to you, and 90% how you react to it."
"God doesn't give children with disabilities to strong people: He gives them to ordinary, everyday people, then He helps the parents to grow stronger through the journey. Raising a child with special needs doesn't TAKE a special family, it MAKES a special family."Author Unknown
I have been driven many times to my knees by the overwhelming conviction that I had nowhere else to go – Abraham Lincoln
Be always at war with your vices, at peace with your neighbors, and let each new year find you a better man. ~ Benjamin Franklin
There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as if everything is a miracle - Albert Einstein
The journey of a 1000 miles starts with a single step
Sometimes in the middle of an ordinary life, love gives you a fairy tale
Where there is great love, there are always miracles - Willa Cather
The Difficult we can do immediately, the impossible takes a little longer
Doing what you like is freedom. Liking what you do is happiness
There are two lasting bequests we can give our children. One is roots. The other is wings.
Be the change you want to see in the world
Don't tell God how big the storm is, tell the storm how big Your God is..........
Everything has beauty, but not everyone sees it
Fall down seven times - get up eight - unknown
Despite our differences, we sink or swim together
Life may not be the party we expected, but while we are here, we might as well dance
"The man who moves a mountain begins by carrying away small stones." -Confucius

Saturday, November 27, 2010

Thanksgiving weekend

3 days down, one to go in our mini vacation from work and school. We have been busy the whole time we have been home, so the time is going by quickly.

Thursday morning we woke up to watch the Macy's Day Thanksgiving Parade. Always a favorite for us and the kids. And this year it was really special because my cousin Kirsten - who is in the cast of "Elf" was on TV. The kids were so excited to see her, and stood as close to the TV that they could to see her.

After the parade ended, Mat and I got busy working on the playroom cabinets. With company coming in less than a month now, that room needs a lot of work to be ready for our guest. We are going to be using it as sleeping quarters for some people, so we want it to be nice.

Mat and I had to put the last coat of paint on the cabinets that Mat built, and then we started to polyurethane. I should have known we had the wrong thing from the beginning when it was going on a golden color. But I thought it would dry clear. I was wrong. We bought the wrong thing.

So disappointing! This put us back a few days. We would have been done by now, but we had to sand off the old polyurethane and repaint. That was aggravating, and honestly, Mat and I are both sick of painting this cabinet.

Anyway - I am getting side tracked. After we did some painting, we had an early Thanksgiving dinner. We had the usual for us - ham, biscuits, veggies, sparkling cider and pie.

We made it through the meal with only one spill (Arlington), and me only having to feed Finley a little bit. I call that a success.

Friday I would like to say I started the day with Black Friday shopping, but I did not. I waited to go later, and with that the opportunity for Arlington to come with me. She likes to shop, and she was a trooper. We were only gone a few hours, and she had a great time. And we got some amazing deals! I know the lines and crowds bother a lot of people, but they don't bother me. And we don't live in a heavily populated area, so even "crowded" in our area isn't bad.

Friday also came the tradition of watching our first Christmas movie of the year and decorating the house for Christmas. The kids loves this day, and Arlington has been looking forward to it for weeks. The inside of the house is completely decorated, except for the tree, and tomorrow or early in the week I hope to start to tackle the outside.

Today the day started with.....more painting. I can safely say that we are close to the end. I would say one more day and the cabinet will be finished. Thank goodness. We also removed part of the baseboard since we are replacing those when we replace the floor.

After painting the kids had their swimming lesson. 4 down, two to go! They are really enjoying it. Although when we got home and I asked Finley if she needed to go to the bathroom she said "no - I went in the pool". Ick. We had to talk about that one.

(Finley drew glasses on her Turkey)

After swimming the kids got changed and we went to see the movie "Tangled". It was really cute, and I am glad we got to go as a family. I highly recommend it -even adults will really enjoy it.

We ran errands, and then returned to do MORE painting, and the kids played. Everyone is in bed now, and we are relaxing.

It has been a productive weekend. We have had a lot of fun. And Monday morning will come soon, and we will be back at work and school. So we are enjoying the time while we can.

Next week, I will be in full force with the telethon. I will be handing out papers to each employee of the district and also hanging posters of Finley in each building. Can't wait to get the ball rolling!