The Long Thanksgiving Weekend

We had a nice, long and relaxing Thanksgiving weekend this year. We filled our days with a nice mix of fun stuff and a little (ok, more than a little) of nothing. Here are some pictures of our adventures.

Boredom ensued Wednesday morning, so Anna and I tortured Banjo with some dress-up play.  Here he is sporting a Disney Princess crown and a definitive "F*&^ You" face.

Then, Aurora (otherwise known as Sleeping Beauty) took her shot at 8 seconds on the back of a bucking, (not quite) elderly tabby cat. She lasted way longer than 8 seconds. I think Banjo finally got up to stretch and she fell off about 13 minutes later. 

Adding insult to injury: the purple hairpiece. Don't call the SPCA on us just yet. It might look like cruel and unusual punishment, but Banjo will endure just about anything to be allowed to lay on Anna's soft and cozy bed. He's a good sport and in respect of his dignity, I'm not posting the picture of him in the pink, sequined pill box hat.

We took the family to see Puss in Boots on Wednesday.  

On Thanksgiving morning, I ran the Turkey Trot 5K with 12,000 of my closest friends. It was so crowded that I had to wait in line to get to the start line and again to cross the finish line. A little anti-climatic with all of the waiting around but fun anyway. I had a good, strong run and really enjoyed the race.

Friday was me and Kevin's 11th wedding anniversary. We took the kids with us for a nice dinner out at our local Italian restaurant. The kids behaved beautifully!

In the background of this picture is one of the restaurant patrons that my children wooed with their impeccable manners and cuteness. She came over to congratulate us on our great kids before she left. 

Then, on Saturday, we visited a Holiday Train. It was a great start to the Holiday season. 

She's Crafty

I don't care what they write about me on the bathroom wall, I'm just not crafty. I'd love to be crafty and I think that I have a decent eye for what is cute, but when it comes to actually creating something cute, I'm usually hopeless. 

Thanks to Pinterest, I've been inspired to try a few things lately. This is the product of my latest crafty mood.  

Scarecrow Crunch for Thanksgiving teacher gifts

All of this project is courtesy of Pinterest. I found the recipe for the Scarecrow Crunch here. The Thanksgiving Printables here. The containers are courtesy of Dollar Tree and the stickers were some stickers that my kids had in their craft box. Voila!

Evolution of a Halloween Costume

Let's revisit where we left off earlier in the week (in terms of Jack's Halloween costume)...

Suddenly, on Monday--Halloween afternoon--about 3pm, after systematically rejecting his Spiderman costume time and time again, Jack sighed a large, exasperated sigh and (of his own free will) said, "Ok, I'm ready to put on my costume". I was shocked. SHOCKED. I just figured that he had to arrive at the idea on his own terms, and as the clock was ticking quickly toward the time to go trick or treating and to our neighborhood block party, he admitted defeat and put his costume on. I snapped several pictures because I was unsure how long he'd actually keep it on (and yes, that's a potty in our living room. Potty training strips you of all house pride).

Turns out, he kept it on, up until about 5pm...approximately 30 minutes before we were heading out to start the festivities. Panic ensued. Mama headed to his bedroom to scour for anything that might do in a pinch for an "eleventh-hour" costume.

Enter, the cutest handyman that you ever saw. He totally embraced his costume too. It was adorable.

Why, oh why, I ask you...didn't I think of this sooner? It would've saved us all much pain and suffering.