Holiday weekend recap

Long time no blog eh? Well, I can honestly say things have been crazy at Casa del Five. I feel like I am drowning in an endless sea of laundry and diapers. Now that Tinkerbell is on some baby food I have even less time for myself. I really thought that less nursing time would mean more time for me...it just mans more time feeding her as we learn a new routine.

Anyway....back to T-day. My grandma flew in from Cali for the holiday this year. It's always nice to see family and friends here in the Lone Star State, an especially around Thanksgiving. We went shopping on Wednesday. I had not been to a mall in ages. I bought a new nursing bra, spent about 20 minutes trying to nurse TB in the Motherhood dressing room, ate my "I'm trying to eat healthy" lunch full of veggies and lean beef while my family looked irritated having to wait for me after scarfing down their burgers quickly, and that was it. I didn't get to try on jeans or buy new panties like I really wanted to do. I kept saying "I need to go to Victoria's" and my family grumbled every time. Hey....come on. I really enjoy walking in there and saying "I would like this in a 34 D please" after all those years of sheepishly looking for training bras in the small boobies drawer. And besides...how am I going to keep those home fires burning wearing last year's Motherhood maternity thongs. Somethings gotta give. Shopping was a bust!

That night I started cooking some side items for the next day's feast. My contributions this year were gingersnap streusel sweet potatoes and a Reeses peanut butter cup cheesecake. I have never cooked anything for a holiday before. Unfortunately, I got a 2nd degree burn putting the cheesecake in the oven. I wasn't wearing a mit and my hand hit the heating element. You may be saying "ouch" about now, but I honestly didn't feel a thing for about 10 minutes. Now it looks pretty raunchy. It was a lot of work for only 2 things. I guess that's how gourmet goes. Here is a pic of the cheesecake. Yes, that really is my cheesecake and not something from the net. It was delicious, but the potatoes were my favorite!

Thursday was great. Unbelievable food, and great company. Pair all that with a cozy fire to sit by and champagne, and that is a great holiday.

With threatening weather looming late Thursday night, we decided to postpone our trip to see the Duke's family until Christmas. I was relieved. The thought of taking the two girls up there for less than 24 hours was awful. I had been dreading it since July when Tinkerbell was born. Then we woke up to sunny skies, above freezing temps and clear radar Friday morning....GRRRRR. This was all happening at 9 AM, but my darling husband didn't decide it was ok to go until around 11. So at 11 we showered, packed, loaded up the car, dropped off the pooches and doggy Disneyland (aka Nana and Papa's), ate some mean leftover sweet potatoes and around 1:30 headed up north to where the wind comes sweeping down the plains. The girls slept most of the way...what a relief!

Thanksgiving at my in-laws is just weird. The food is weird, and the people are not at all like my people. My people are loud, obnoxious, and will tell you if you have something in your teeth....to your face. Oh and you can drink around them. That helps. The other side is much different. I wouldn't say they are entirely all that quiet, but it is much quieter than in my home. They have strange senses of humor that I don't understand, nor find funny. One year while watching our wedding video my FIL said "Here's the part where the priest gets to get drunk" at the end of Communion. I about came unglued. How can you make fun of a tradition you don't understand??? The Duke's grandmother asked everyone to say something they are thankful for and the only one to mention anything was him. Isn't that was T-day is about? What message are we sending our children if we roll our eyes at the very heart and soul of the holiday. Oh wait, football was on and somehow THAT makes it ok. And did I mention the food is weird? They served T-day turkey....COLD! EWE!

The girls slept like garbage that night, as did I and we came home happily the next day...getting snowed on through Wichita Falls. I got home in time to rest up for the next day. After many years, I finally sang at church so my grandmother could hear me. She had never heard me before and she was actually impressed! She loved it so much and that made me so happy!

All in all the weekend wasn't so bad I guess, and I hate to complain but I'm just tired of traveling around the holidays. We ALWAYS do the traveling. They never come out here and honestly....I'm tired of it. I want a holiday in my jammies, and I think that after all I have done in the past two years....maybe somehow I deserve it???

I hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving!