Thanksgiving, The Tree, And a First Snow

________________Thanksgiving______________
We had Thanksgiving. Barely. The "plan" was to have a family (one member who is also gluten free!) and two different friends who didn't have anyone to celebrate Thanksgiving with over for dinner. My parents were also here because we are still trying to finish our bathroom remodel. (Week 9?)

Snug made a special Water Pie. My mom and I cooked up a whole Thanksgiving feast which was about 95% gluten free*!

Doesn't that look so appetizing?

.

#1 came home from work Wednesday night about 12:03am (ok, so that is technically Thursday morning, but whatever). He had just crawled into bed when his phone buzzed. At that time of night (morning) it can only mean one thing. There was a SWAT call. Off he went in the rain to sit until about 6 am because some guy was drunk and shooting at his neighbors and then the police. One of the guys who was coming to dinner was also a part of that whole mess so he wasn't going to try and do dinner and then rush off to work after being up all night. I couldn't blame him.

.

So he gets in bed and the kids start getting up. Only at some point in the night Little Monkey got sick in his bed. And then woke up and got sick for a good part of the day. Needless to say the people who were planning to come didn't.

So we enjoyed Thanksgiving dinner. Little Monkey slept through it. So glad it was gluten free. Snug wore his pajamas. And we ended up having a nice time.

Even Rosebud enjoyed a nice celery stalk and some mashed potatoes.

.

And then everyone got sick. One by one. For the next 4 days. Isn't that fun? Bet those people wish they had been here to get food and flu!

______________The Tree___________________

We did get our tree up over the holiday weekend. This was Little Monkey Man's first time to help. He enjoyed the jingle bells the most. I wasn't sure he'd leave the tree alone once it was up, but he has been great about not touching so far!

Snug is an old pro now. He's been putting ornaments on the tree since 2008.

This is his ornament from last year. How appropriate!

Want to know who won't leave the tree alone? Yep. Rolls to it, and helps herself. She has almost abandoned her scooty almost crawling for rolling. I guess it is faster. She has great aim.

Last night Rudolph was on T.V. I cheated. After telling the boys that they could stay up and watch it...I was regretting that decision because making Christmas memories was turning into making everyone grumpy. I then realized that if I put in the VHS it would

a) cut out all the commercials (something my kids hardly ever see...but that is a

post in and of itself)

b) get everyone to bed sooner
c) start immediately instead of waiting another 45 minutes.

I'm not even sure they realized there was a difference. (Rosebud didn't watch the movie. She went to bed. It just made a cute picture.)


_____________First Snow_______________

It snowed today. I'd like to thank my friends in Minnesota for keeping the snow they've been having for awhile now over there. Don't get me wrong. I love snow. But I think of Thanksgiving as an autumn holiday, and that doesn't equal snow in my book. Being that today is the first of December...I'm ecstatic!

This is Rosebud's first snow. So far, she loves it.

*Gluten Free Thanksgiving

Turkey

Gravy made with corn starch, not flour...no Boullion

Mashed potatoes made with real butter, not margarine

Pumpkin pie with a GF pie crust (Pamela's Bread Mix has a recipe)

Sweet Potatoes

Green Beans

Broccoli

Salad

Cranberry Sauce
Olives

Cheeses

Pickles