Thanksgiving

Amy had an organized plan to get ready for Thanksgiving.  She was going to get off work a bit early on Wed afternoon and head home to bake pies, clean the house and do as much prep as she could the night before the big feast.  We had Gma and Gpa Cannode and Uncle David coming for dinner and she wanted to be able to spend time with them instead of worrying about prepping food.  Great Idea, right!?!

Yep - that did Not happen.  Instead, Amy got off work early and enjoyed a nice happy hour with her Hubby, Jim, Rosemary and Angie.  Happy Hour was followed by Amy heading to PF Changs for some girl chat and dinner.  By the time she got home (which was only 7pm)... she was so tired and not at all willing to make a pie.  Instead, she went to bed early and planned on sneaking around the next morning.  She woke up at 4am, snuck downstairs and started cleaning.  After an hour of cleaning, she heard some pitter patter of footy pajamas and found little Karsten sneaking down the stairs.  Karsten has been getting up at 5am regularly lately (which we are less than thrilled about).  Today, Amy was thrilled for some one on one time with her little one.  They cuddled for a bit and then she asked if he wanted to help cook.  He was excited.  His big brother always takes over during cooking so this was perfect to have Just Karsten to help.  They started out putting a chair next to the island and making a green been casserole.  Karsten thought he was doing such a great job that he decided he wanted some for breakfast! Sure, it was before 6am, but who is Amy to turn down a child requesting veggies.

After the casserole was done, they started making the pumpkin pie.  Karsten was great at stirring up our dessert.  As he was helping pour the evaporated milk into the batter, he looked up at Amy with sleepy yet excited eyes and said "Mommy, This is So Fun!"  Her heart melted and she decided this might just become a New tradition... Get up at 4am and see which child decides to get up to help! Lets see how long that lasts before they decide sleeping in sounds so much better!

Look! It's Mickey Mouse!!

Soon, the whole family was up and it was time for the Macy's Day Parade.  The kids were excited for two reasons.  First, they are now old enough to enjoy watching the parade and Second, they kept comparing it to the Ballon Fiesta we had recently attended.  They loved all the shapes.  Karsten was excited about Mickey and Kasey of course had us rewind the TV a couple times to show him Buzz Lightyear 'one more time.'

Goofin' around with Gpa!

Finally, it was time.  Our guests were arriving and dinner was almost done.  We had a great time chatting while the food cooked and were all excited when it was ready.  We even had some helpers in the kitchen and don't forget about the wish bone!

On your mark, get set, PULL!

After dinner, we did our Traditional Holiday Walk before having pie.  It was a bit colder than we had hoped so it was a shorter walk, but at least we were out together as a family exercising... all while dreaming about pumkin, strawberry or apple pie.

At the end of the day, we thought about all the things we have to be thankful for.  Amazing Family (near and far), Kiddos that melt our hearts, Careers that we Truly Enjoy (crazy, we know) and Friends that will do anything for us.  We are truly blessed and can't imagine life any different.