Thanksgiving 2009

I like to start off Thanksgiving with the local Red Cross Turkey Trot. I ran the 5k two years ago with my friend, Jen, and then skipped it last year and missed running it. This year, I got my kids to do it with me. We "ran" the 1 mile. Actually, McKenzie took off with Jen and her daughter, who were able to run near the front of the pack. Thomas and Mason and I kept trying to find an open spot in all the walkers so that we could run.

Finally, we broke free and ran for about 1 minute until Mason said he was too tired and wanted to ride in the jogging stroller that I was pushing with Megan in it. Megan wanted to get out, so I switched them. But right after we started off again, she fell and hurt her leg, so she wanted to be carried the rest of the way. I tried to get Mason to hold her on his lap, but that didn't work. Thomas wanted to run, so I would jog with Megan on my hip while pushing Mason here and there when there was a gap. It was exhausting! I told Thomas to run ahead to a landmark and then turn around and run back to me. He didn't like running away from me. I was so glad that it was only 1 mile. Michael waited for us at the finish line. This is how we looked at the end:

My brother, David, came later in the afternoon, just in time for Thanksgiving dinner. We had a turkey roast instead of a turkey b/c I hate having all the turkey leftovers, and they don't sell 6 lb turkeys. David kept calling it a "turkey sausage" because we explained it as turkey meat shoved into a roll and held in place with a net. Oh well, at least I didn't have a ton of leftovers!

After dinner, David treated us to Disney's A Christmas Carol in 3D. That was the first time the kids and I had seen a movie in 3D. It was pretty cool. All the kids liked the movie, except for Megan, who lost interest about 1/2 way through and began looking for entertainment elsewhere in the theater. I think she should be ready to sit through a whole movie next year.

It was so nice for David to come visit. We were grateful that because he was there, we could go shopping at 4am on Black Friday and score some sweet deals. The kids love when he visits. He's a fun uncle. He really impressed them with his backflips on the trampoline.

Honestly, I have a hard time with Thanksgiving because it is such a boring holiday to me. But doing the Turkey Trot and throwing in a movie help make it more interesting. I need to think of more activities for the rest of the weekend for following years. All in all, this year wasn't so bad. In fact, I'd have to say it was pretty fun! :-)

Tree Trimming with Megan

I enjoyed watching Megan decorate the Christmas tree. Her technique was to carefully place all the ornaments in one area. She did not like it when we tried to disperse them.

Like Father, Like Son

Mason has been asking to have his head shaved for over a week. Michael finally granted his wish tonight.
(Mason posed like this on his own. He was standing very seriously as a soldier at attention. The salute was all his, as well.)

New School Mascot: Recess Cougar?

Today McKenzie and Thomas came home with news that there was a cougar on the schoolgrounds today, so they had to be in lockdown. (Did the school phone or send a note at all? No.) McKenzie thought the events of the day were exciting, but she wasn't scared. Thomas, on the other hand, was sobbing and shaking because of the cougar on the loose. He was afraid that it would get him if he went outside. He wanted me to call 911 and tell the police to hurry and capture it. He has closed all our blinds to help keep the cougar out, despite my repeated assurances that a cougar can NOT get into our home. Poor kid. He did say something that I hope sticks with him forever, "Home is the best place to be." I thought, "For sure it is!"

After note: The 5:00 news reported that there were 2 sightings called in on November 12 of a cougar near the elementary school. (Actually, near the high school, but I'm not naming it. The elementary school is nearby.) They had police and the animal control out searching the area, and eventually deemed it a false alarm. However, on November 13, police recieved additional reports of a cougar in the area, so they are continuing their search. We've told our kids that the cougar is long gone, but what if it isn't?!?

Halloween (and some Love and Logic, too!)

Megan as Tinkerbell, McKenzie as a glamorous witch, Mason as Bumblebee, and Thomas as Optimus Prime.



Megan really enjoyed trick-or-treating. She wanted to keep going, even after Thomas was done. So we continued on, and he gamely persevered.

All that hard work was worth it!

We just finished taking another round of Love and Logic Parenting classes, and we were obviously not at the top of our class. Mason had been a real stinker on the day that we went to see Disney on Ice. We told him that if he didn't shape up, we would get a sitter and leave him home, because we didn't want to bring him along if he was going to ruin our night. Well, we made a half-hearted attempt to follow through, and then we wimped out. We allowed him to go by considering his reluctantly finishing dinner as qualifying. Boy, did we regret that! Mason was fine during the first half of the show, but at intermission, he got upset because we didn't buy him any of the outrageously priced toys or cotton candy. He said that he "hated ice skating, and ice skating is stupid." Afterward, when the show was over and we were making our way through the thick crowd, he took off and ran ahead of us. Lesson learned.

Yesterday, Mason was still having difficulty making good choices, so we told him that we don't take kids trick-or-treating with us who won't listen and obey. We need to know that the kids we take will stay close by us and be fun to hang out with. Since we didn't feel that he could do that, he stayed home with Michael and passed out candy. At first, he was pretty upset, but then he saw how fun it was to pass out candy. He had a good attitude about it, and was very generous with his offerings. Michael said that whenever he saw trick-or-treaters approaching, he'd call out "Hey! Over here! We have candy!" He also seemed to recognize that his actions had a part in his staying home. He told Michael that next year, he'll be good so he can go trick-or-treating.

It was tough on Thursday to follow through on leaving Mason home, but after we saw the consequences of not leaving him home, it wasn't so bad on Saturday. And now that we see the consequences of leaving him home on Saturday, I think it will be easier next time!

Disney on Ice!

We had a fun family date and splurged on a night out to see Disney on Ice! I was so excited to see it. I hadn't been to an ice show since I was a little girl. I remembered how I would look at the pictures of the beautiful, seemingly identical ice skaters in the program book over and over again. I wanted to share a similar experience with my kids.

The show was fun, and it was neat to watch Megan sit entranced on her dad's lap as Mickey and Minney and all their friends came out. McKenzie and Thomas really enjoyed it. Mason taught us a big lesson in Love and Logic. (More on that later.) I was a little disappointed to see how thin the program book was for how much it cost. But all in all, it was a great time!

Mason's First School Party!

Mason had his preschool Halloween party today. His older siblings are jealous because this month, he attended three birthday parties (all of them were classmates) and his school party yielded more treats than theirs did. What can I say? That's just the way it goes sometimes.