Well, here it is... Monday morning after Thanksgiving. It's hard to get back into the routine of things after having a break, don't you think??? I'm already running a little late on my schedule this morning.
I hope all of you out there had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Ours was great... pretty much stress free and enjoyable! Last year was spent with my family and this year was spent with Pete's side of the family. Since they are in town, that meant sleeping in, lounging around, and evening getting to enjoy the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV.
Even though we had dinner over at my in-laws, I still did some cooking. Some was to take over there, but I also made a turkey and stuffing for our family as well. I made the candied yams, the rolls, the oyster dressing, and both the pies. YUM! We ate until we could eat no more.
I hope all of you out there had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday. Ours was great... pretty much stress free and enjoyable! Last year was spent with my family and this year was spent with Pete's side of the family. Since they are in town, that meant sleeping in, lounging around, and evening getting to enjoy the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV.
Even though we had dinner over at my in-laws, I still did some cooking. Some was to take over there, but I also made a turkey and stuffing for our family as well. I made the candied yams, the rolls, the oyster dressing, and both the pies. YUM! We ate until we could eat no more.
The afternoon was spent playing around Grandma's house. Zeke and Levi decided to play in the playhouse and the older boys tossed around the football in the yard for awhile (that is when they weren't watching football on TV).
Here's Zeke. "May I take your order???"
The playhouse is always a favorite get away for kids. It has a kitchen, a table, a little bench seat, several windows that you can open, and electricity! That spells two generations of fun.
It was very cold here on Thanksgiving, but Grandpa was kind enough to go out and turn on the heater in the playhouse to get it nice and toasty for the kids. Thanks Grandpa!
Later in the evening, we gathered the pies and some food from dinner and headed down to Ottawa to see the Great Grandmas. There was a bad accident on the highway and emergency workers had shut it down. In fact, it was shut down from around 4pm until 9pm! We were blessed to be near the front of the traffic when they began to divert cars off the highway and onto the exit ramp into Gardner. We had to travel around windy roads, over a river, and through the woods... to Grandmother's house we'd go! I enjoyed the slow ride. I reminded me of my childhood for some reason. LOL Pete wasn't too thrilled that it was a half hour detour which made our hour trip and hour and a half. It was almost comical as we drove past the country homes. I bet they were wondering what in the world was going on. I told Pete it would be funny to all drive into a person's driveway as if to say, "Hi, we're all here for Thanksgiving!"
Down at the Great Grandma's in Ottawa, we ate a small meal with them (sandwiches) that we had packed at home. Then it was time for dessert. We ate in the dining hall at the Plaza where Grandma Shipps lives. The residents had already eaten before we arrived, so we had the entire place to ourselves. The kids sat over by the big screen TV and watched "The Incredibles" while we ate.
One of the nurses was kind enough to take a photograph of all of us together.
It was very cold here on Thanksgiving, but Grandpa was kind enough to go out and turn on the heater in the playhouse to get it nice and toasty for the kids. Thanks Grandpa!
Later in the evening, we gathered the pies and some food from dinner and headed down to Ottawa to see the Great Grandmas. There was a bad accident on the highway and emergency workers had shut it down. In fact, it was shut down from around 4pm until 9pm! We were blessed to be near the front of the traffic when they began to divert cars off the highway and onto the exit ramp into Gardner. We had to travel around windy roads, over a river, and through the woods... to Grandmother's house we'd go! I enjoyed the slow ride. I reminded me of my childhood for some reason. LOL Pete wasn't too thrilled that it was a half hour detour which made our hour trip and hour and a half. It was almost comical as we drove past the country homes. I bet they were wondering what in the world was going on. I told Pete it would be funny to all drive into a person's driveway as if to say, "Hi, we're all here for Thanksgiving!"
Down at the Great Grandma's in Ottawa, we ate a small meal with them (sandwiches) that we had packed at home. Then it was time for dessert. We ate in the dining hall at the Plaza where Grandma Shipps lives. The residents had already eaten before we arrived, so we had the entire place to ourselves. The kids sat over by the big screen TV and watched "The Incredibles" while we ate.
One of the nurses was kind enough to take a photograph of all of us together.
As we were leaving, Pete and I noticed some pictures on the wall. We talked to the nurse about them and she told us a local man had come to the Plaza and drew a picture of each of the residents. We were amazed at the likeness, so decided to take a photo of the picture...
Of course, this is without her glasses on!
The remainder of our weekend was spent at home. This was for two reasons:
1.) Sickness. I had a doctor's visit on Wednesday and found that I have several enlarged lymph nodes on my neck area. I knew I had a large lump on my neck (like the size of a quarter), but I didn't realize there were several on both sides of my neck until the doctor started poking around a bit. We didn't find any other enlarged ones anywhere else (for example under the arms or behind the knees), but he ordered me to rest, rest, rest thinking that the nodes were enlarged due to my ongoing battle with upper respiratory viruses (yeah, like the 8th week or so). Also, Zeke and Shad were not feeling well and they needed to stay home from all activities and recoup. I may have been tempted to do some running around, but something else took care of that...
2.) On the way home from picking up Titus and Moses from a birthday party/ sleepover on Saturday morning, I hit a divot in the road and got not one... but TWO flat tires. Yeah, with all 6 kids with me. Ain't life grand??? I have to say that the Lord was looking out for us.
AAA came and towed our van to the house and Pete will have the tires replaced today.
So, we got our rest and thankfully I think my lymph nodes have decreased in size over the past two days. We missed church, but you know- sometimes you just can't help it.
Well, I hope you have a great day. It isn't too long until our next break...
1.) Sickness. I had a doctor's visit on Wednesday and found that I have several enlarged lymph nodes on my neck area. I knew I had a large lump on my neck (like the size of a quarter), but I didn't realize there were several on both sides of my neck until the doctor started poking around a bit. We didn't find any other enlarged ones anywhere else (for example under the arms or behind the knees), but he ordered me to rest, rest, rest thinking that the nodes were enlarged due to my ongoing battle with upper respiratory viruses (yeah, like the 8th week or so). Also, Zeke and Shad were not feeling well and they needed to stay home from all activities and recoup. I may have been tempted to do some running around, but something else took care of that...
2.) On the way home from picking up Titus and Moses from a birthday party/ sleepover on Saturday morning, I hit a divot in the road and got not one... but TWO flat tires. Yeah, with all 6 kids with me. Ain't life grand??? I have to say that the Lord was looking out for us.
AAA came and towed our van to the house and Pete will have the tires replaced today.
So, we got our rest and thankfully I think my lymph nodes have decreased in size over the past two days. We missed church, but you know- sometimes you just can't help it.
Well, I hope you have a great day. It isn't too long until our next break...
