Thanksgiving Thursday

Thanksgiving started out with a stressful drive to the cousins. The weather wasn't too bad, but the ice on the roads left us worried and stressed the entire drive. What was supposed to take 1 hour 45 minutes turned into much more. We left the house at 9:30 am and didn't arrive at our destination until noon. We brought the boat to N's sisters for storage for the winter. After dropping off the boat, we headed to the cousins house for our holiday celebration. We had brought a 5 bean dish in the crockpot. Everything was ready to be put in the crockpot, but it took awhile for the food to heat up. It was ready when we were done eating. Some still had a bowl of beans later and they were delicious. The night before, the kids and I made some treats to take. They did most of the work. This was the first time they really wanted to do it themselves. I let them go to town. They turned out great. Nine made puppy chow. He measured everything and doubled the recipe. Six and Eight worked on dipping pretzels. I let them do as they pleased and some were thicker than others. I did the sticks and they sprinkled colors to decorate. They made the Ritz cracker peanutbutter sandwiches and I dipped them in chocolate. It was a great cooperative effort. I made pumpkin bars, too. Everyone was happy with the treats we brought. The kids ran and played. They haven't seen each other since the summer. Sunflower shared with us she'd like to see us more. She said she would come this direction. Ultimately, that is why we don't see each other. Honestly, I got tired of always going there. We moved into this house in August. My sister made it here before anyone else. She had to buy plane tickets. Long story short, it will be great to have them. We discussed New Years. We will see if it works out, weather permitting. Days at home with the kids now. We cleaned the basement yesterday. We have lots to haul away to goodwill this week. I dug out the tree. N will need to bring it upstairs. I really didn't even want to put up a tree, but Six begged me stating that was her favorite part of the holiday. We've stepped up our advent activities this year thanks to our church supplying us with lots of ideas. Looking forward to bringing our focus in the right direction. We are leaving for MN in almost exactly 2 weeks. Going early shaves off prep time for me. I will bake and have all teacher, bus driver, etc. gifts ready in advance. Hope I can get it all done.