Our Thanksgiving

We made it through our first holiday alone.  All in all we did end up having a good day. It was low key for sure, but it was nice. Really nice. I was expecting a complete disaster (both emotionally and cooking wise), but it was so much better than expected on both levels. It was relaxing and that was nice. Here is what our Thanksgiving looked like:

Josh making antipasto

Sarah helping her brother make antipasto

Organizing the second layer

Sarah's version of anitpasto. (We ended up taking a bit off of the top and putting it in a baggie for the first after dinner snack.)

Elizabath making our version of what a Thanksgiving turkey should look like.

All dressed up. The kids decided that even though it was just going to be us we still wanted to get dressed up. Here is Mr. Andrew Timothy looking as handsome as ever. 

Elizabeth's Thanksgiving Turkey.

Sarah & Elizabeth setting the table. We made homemade placemats a couple of days ago in honor of Thanksgiving. 

Our Thanksgiving table - almost finished.

Bob working on the turkey.

A work in progress...

The first batch of leftover anitpasto. (We ended up with 2 huge bags because I grossly overestimated how much food a family of 6 really needs.)

The kids just about peed their pants when they saw I bought Stove Top. They love it and I never buy it. 

Green bean casserole.

Corn - I don't know why, but for some reason corn at Thanksgiving always reminds me of my Grammie. (Even though she would have cooked creamed corn. If I cooked that my kids would think I was trying to feed them a nonfood substance.) So, I cooked corn in honor of her. 

Getting ready for dinner.

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Handsome Daddy

Bob's first bird!

Dinner time!

All done...

The Aftermath...

Stuffed!

Thanksgiving & Today

This is our first Thanksgiving alone, and I have mixed feelings. A part of me is excited to create our own traditions, but the other part of me is so sad that my family is gathering without us. I miss my family (and friends) deeply, but I know that I am only able to miss them so much because I am away. Being away allows me to appreciate them all in a way I could not if I had stayed.

I will be sure to post pictures of our feast post Thanksgiving, but in the meantime here is some of what our day has looked liked:

Elizabeth building a Lincoln Log town. She was trying to replicate what Plymouth, MA looked like for the first Thanksgiving.

Laundry day!

Sorted laundry...kinda of. 

Andy helping to build the Pilgrims first town. 

Flowers from my Mom and Dad

Making a card for Nana and Papa.

A beautiful, anonymously given bouquet.

Pizza crust (and pie crust not shown.)

Playing a game.

Screen Time

I am frustrated by the amount of screen time the kids and I are occupying. It seems as if someone is constantly on something, and I cannot stand it. I am just as bad as the kids as I love to browse other's blogs, catch up on email and Facebook, check my smut celebrity gossip sites, pay bills, etc... It seems like the more time I spend plugged in more I want to be plugged in, and it is getting to the point of insanity.

I am a big believer that electronics pull the creative juices right out of our brains. In my house I can tell when the kids have been on their ipods, Kindle, Ipad, Xbox for too long. They become crabby and "bored" more easily. They are not as nice to each other and cannot think outside of the box.

I often feel like the computer (for me) and the Ipad and Xbox (for the kids) are a drug. The more we are on those devices the more we want to be on them and our mood is altered after extended use.  I could read my blogs all day long. There are some really awesome bloggers out there who really inspire me. BUT being online for a long time makes me feel like garbage because I know that while I am sitting and having screen time my life is passing me by and with it the lives of my 4 children.  I think that for me the blogs that I visit are an escape from my day. They are my break and my inspiration to try and be better, but when my break becomes longer and longer each day, multiple times a day - something is wrong.

Quite honestly, if it were up to me I would not have a TV or any other electronics besides the computer in this house, but I am not the only one who has a say in this family and I think that my husband would revolt if I got rid of all of the electronics. If I could go back to before I had kids I would have never introduced the television or video games to them. I would have learned to give up those things myself so that we could enjoy our family time in a much different way other than being camped out watching Monday night football or House Hunters or whatever else we watch "as a family" (minus Sarah because she cannot see the TV and just does a craft while we sit mindlessly in front of the TV - this is a whole other reason to stop being on all of this crap. I feel terrible for even admitting that we still watch TV because she cannot see it.)

You would think that with our family's dynamics (i.e. Sarah's vision issues) this screen time issue would be a non-issue, but it is one of the ugly parts of our family. I hate to admit that watching TV or being on the computer or video games takes precedence over Sarah a lot of the time. It is not the kids fault (and I am all for kids taking responsibility when they are wrong - trust me.) It is mine because I allowed the electronics to get so out of control in the first place. No one goes on anything without my consent, so I alone am responsible for this mess. Anytime my child is on an electronic is because I have given permission for them to do so.

I know that most families do not seem to have screen time issues either because they have never really allowed their kids to get into them or because they don't see video games as a problem and allow unlimited access to them. But, as with almost everything in our lives, we are living our life right in the middle. One foot in the - let's get rid of them all! The other foot in the - but they are a reality and norm in everyday life so just learn to incorporate them better! I cannot seem to find a peaceful compromise.

I have struggled with this issue in the past and cannot seem to find a good and lasting solution. But this issue is now out of control and beyond what I am comfortable with, so I need to make finding one a priority. Beginning. Right. Now.

Browns Backer Club & Our Thanksgiving Tree

Just a random hot air balloon that showed up behind  our home on Thursday of last week.

Bob created a Brown's Backers club here in NM. He had to follow certain rules (I have no idea what they are), but after doing so was able to officially create the Las Cruces Brown's Backers Club. He received a bunch of paraphenalia in the mail - of which he was super excited about - and Sarah set it up for our weekly Sunday viewing of the Browns game.

Pom-Pom's courtesy of the Brown's Backers Club...

Yes - some of our new furniture arrived! Keepsake bag from club.

Dog bone from club and balloons too. (That hideous entertainment center /wires will be vanishing as soon as our new one arrives in the next couple of weeks.)

They sent band aids too!

I saw a "thankful" tree on Pinterest and decided to try to make one for our own family. We had fun in the process and it was neat to see what each of us was thankful for.

Andy working on the trunk of the tree. 

Working diligently.

Sarah adding her 'thankful leaves'.

My thankful leaves.

Sarah's thankful's

Josh's thankful's

Elizabeth's thankfuls

More of Josh's thankfuls

Our finished tree (in our unfurnished and unpainted - for now - family room)

Here is what each of us wrote on our leaves:

We are thankful:

Me

For being brave enough to go against the grain
For Sarah's courage
For the ability to be a homemaker
For Lily
For my friends
That I am a seeker
For Andy, Josh, & Elizabeth's ability to unite as one under adversity
For my family- both near and far
For my home
For Hope and the power it possesses.

Andy

For my family
For my framily (Andy, Josh, Boorman, Michael, & Logan)
For my girlfriend
For home ( both Ohio and NM)

Josh (His made me tear up.)

For the Gregg family and its adventures
For the "framily" -Josh, Josh, Logan, Michael, and Andy
For my other parents -The Boormans
For our old house - that will always be my home
For our two beautiful dogs Lily and Jenny**
For my friends Logan, Jack, Andrew, Michael, Emma, Ellie, Jake, and Katie
For our new 3200 square foot house
For my career that I'm pursuing

Sarah

For my big brothers and my little sister
For my family
That  I'm getting my dream kid room
For our big house
For my mom and dad
That I can see
For my friends
That my family is together

Elizabeth

For Josh
For Andy
For our house
For Sarah
For Lily,
That Sarah can see
For having a pool

**The kids do NOT have a second dog at this time. The deal that Bob promised them was that once we moved into a bigger home he would buy them a second dog for the family. Well, the kids remind Bob on a regular basis that 2000 square feet bigger than our old home definitely constitutes bigger. They have a point...Bob although trying desperately is losing this argument and knows it. One thing that does helps the kids case (even though they don't know it) is that they told Bob that if he got them a second dog they would like to name it Jennings (and call it Jenny) in honor of our old road at our Ohio home - Jennings Ave.