Thanksgiving Weekend

Sunday, November 28, 2010
Thanksgiving in our family is about giving thanks and celebrating time off from school, work and the daily routine of life to spend time with friends and family. Thanksgiving has always been my favorite holiday because it is the holiday that holds my fondest memories. Its never been about big sales and rushing out to get the Christmas shopping done. I like to cruise into the holiday season, so my Christmas shopping is completed usually around the 2nd week in November. Its a habit I have gotten into and one that works for me. So, this weekend we didn't shop but we did eat and spend time with family and friends.

On Thanksgiving day, we took it easy. I began preparing some of the dishes for our Thanksgiving dinner on Wednesday night. I spent some time on the phone Wednesday and Thursday to my father, picking his brain for my grandmother's stuffing recipe (it's all about the stuffing folks). On Thursday, we stayed in our jammies until mid-morning (ok, I think I stayed in my pjs until I saw our dinner guests arriving and then I made a mad dash for the shower). The kids played and we watched a bit of the parade (No, we don't brave the crowds in the city to see the parade in person. Perhaps when Oliver is older.). We also discovered a bit of tv that grabs Oliver's attention. He loved watching Victory by Design story of Ferrari. He loved watching the cars and hearing the fabulous Ferrari noise. (I mean, seriously, he's growing up in the house, with Matt for a father. Is this surprising that this would be the only tv he would pause for?)



Our dear friends, Bryan and Sue, came over to share Thanksgiving with us. We enjoyed a great meal that proved Ina Ga*rten knew what she was talking about when she said kosher turkeys are the best--there's no need to brine them and they come out moist indeed.

Unfortunately, Oliver didn't make it through his first Thanksgiving meal. I don't know if he was planning on doing some Black Friday shopping, but he was out at 4:15 p.m. and didn't wake up until 11:15 p.m. when he took a bottle and was out again until his regular waking hour. I would like to say it was the tryptophan in the turkey, but he didn't even make it that far. I think it was the excitement of the day--having his sister and daddy to play with and Bryan and Sue. He enjoyed himself, it just wore him out!

On Friday, we spent most of the day at home until we went to dinner at our friend's house. Chloe and their two boys played and watched Star Wa*rs and the adults spent the evening herding Oliver away from pestering the older kids. It was a great evening with great friends.

Saturday was a low-key day. We ran some errands and hung around the house working on the remote controlled cars. This is Matt and Chloe's favorite past time now. In the afternoon we had pizza and watched the Razorbacks beat LSU. GO HOGS!!

Sunday was another low-key day. We went to church and raced the RC cars afterwards. Matt made his famous turkey curry with the leftover turkey and his sous chef, Chloe, assisted him.
Making turkey curry.


The line-up of cars--there are two BMW M Roadsters (Matt had the larger, real version  before Chloe's arrival) one which Matt made and one which his father made for him. The car in the center Matt made many years ago. Its a Formula 1 reproduction RC car. Unfortunately, it had an accident (like it got ran over when a six year old, who shall remain nameless, ran it under the tire of her mother's large SUV as her mother was backing up said SUV. It can be repaired. We think.) shortly after this picture was taken.
Ready to race.

Driving the course. 

Oliver chasing the RC cars. He's holding a smaller, slower RC car that he managed to capture.

Chasing the bigger RC cars.

Hey, this car is not moving and is easy to capture. Unfortunately, that car doesn't belong to us!

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