Playing catch-up

So much for being on top of this thing.  I didn't write here everyday in November like I had planned, but I did manage to write a thankful status update every single day of November on facebook.com.  That's one small victory for me. I'll try again next year.

We had a great Thanksgiving day.  We roasted our turkey upside-down (breast down).  It was succulent and juicy.  We all sat around the table and talked about what we were thankful for.  We spent the time off chilling out around the house and watching a lot of tv and movies.  It was a joy to be with each other and just relax.

This month is busy as most Decembers usually are. Friday the 1st we went to Midtown on NAS 1 to see the Christmas tree lighting.  They sang songs and then lit the tree.  I discovered just how much Gavin does not enjoy crowds.  He reminds me a lot of Cody.  Sometimes I forget that they all aren't just like me, they have their daddy in them too. Hahaha.  He wasn't happy in the middle of everything, but once we moved to the side where it wasn't crowded, he was much happier.

Ethan and Norah at the tree lighting

This past Saturday morning Ethan spent about an hour and a half distributing bags and fliers for a  Troop 53 Scout project.  One of his fellow Scouts is working on his Eagle project. The young man is collecting canned food to donate to a local food bank in Catania.  After he was finished with that we headed over to NAS 1 again.  The NMCRS (Navy Marine Corp Relief Society) that runs the thrift shop on base had a shopping event for children.  They had volunteers to escort the children into the shop and help them purchase items for their family and friends.  The boys loved it.  It didn't occur to us to send Norah in there, but we could have.  There were little ones younger than her that went in.  Next year we will definitely do that.  All of the items were priced at $1, $2 or $3.

We managed to wash the car (boy was it ever dirty), trim the tree in the front yard and put up the Christmas lights outside.  I was surprised at how productive our Saturday actually was.

Gavin attended at birthday party at the bowling alley Sunday.  It was all I could do to convince him to go.  He likes playing with other kids and enjoys it once he's there, but he would much rather stay home.  We are working on getting him more involved with outside activities.  I'm not forcing, just encouraging.  He ended up having a great time.  We didn't know what to buy the little boy so we opted to give him $10 cash.  He seemed to like that.

While I stayed with Gavin at the party, Ethan, Cody and Norah went to see "Happy Feet 2".  Ethan was the only one that actually got to watch the whole thing.  Norah wasn't happy in there so she and Cody ended up back at the bowling alley with me.

Cody and Gavin were super happy to see the Falcons on tv last night but sorely disappointed in the performance of the team.  They both were yelling at the tv.

This next week is pretty busy too.  Ethan has his musical performance this week.  Then next weekend we are going on a trip with ITT.  I love the Holidays!