After the adventures that we have had lately I nearly suggested that we forgo Thanksgiving this year. We still aren't unpacked (in large part because we have nowhere to unpack it to as we very slowly accumulate the necessary furniture - and funds for the furniture). And despite that little fact, of not being unpacked, life is still going full steam ahead. Jason has longer work hours than we have ever known and a drastically longer commute. It feels like we have been tossed into the world of Open Houses to find a school for kindergarten for Atticus. And while all I want to do is get this house clean (I'm washing the floors every night to try to get 70+ years of grime off of it..) and organized I have two little ones who require my attention much more than those full cardboard boxes and dirty floors. The kids have been aching for consistent schedules. In fact, I think we all have been.
When it got right down to it I realized that we needed to be a whole lot better at saying 'no' to all the good things to make room for the 'best' things. There are so many things to do here on top of all the business of settling in that I don't think any of us have had our footing. And the thought that a little dose of Thanksgiving traditions and an extra dose of down time as family took over the thought of foregoing it all together. Afterall, this would be the first year that we would celebrate Thanksgiving IN Canada as a family. That's a pretty big event.
And while it is easy for us to get caught up in the things that call us the loudest, Thanksgiving weekend brought us all back in to the core of our little family. We have a lot to do to get settled in here, but we also have so much to be grateful for and I am glad that we set apart a day to celebrate that as a family. It was hard to say 'no' to plenty of things that came up that weekend but as we simplified our schedule and focused on what mattered most everything was enjoyed so much more.
For example; Sunday left us with two tired kiddos who had loooong passed the tired point but bedtime was still a couple hours away. We sat down and did a special Thanksgiving FHE lesson and then filled up our Thanksgiving Tree and I was pleasantly reminded of the simple yet powerful ability of spending focused family time together. In nearly no time at all our tree went from this:
To this:
I loved hearing some of the answers that the kids came up with; it gave us little insights as to what kind of things they see in the world and enjoy the most.
And I loved the family picture that Atticus drew for us standing under the tree.
We probably look a little interesting and I was a little puzzled when Atticus was drawing the picture but I waited until he was done to ask him to explain the picture for me. He had a huge smile on his face as he drew his masterpiece. It turns out that our little boy, who is beyond excited for his very first official Halloween, drew us all in Halloween costumes. Atticus and Milayla are dressed as squirrels (they love squirrels), I am wearing a funny hat (which was cute because when I took Atticus shopping for his Halloween costume we tried on funny hats together) and Jason has been electrocuted. Well, we're all a little quirky, but we're smiling and happy (even if we've just been electrocuted) :).
Monday morning kicked off with Atticus running and jumping on our bed saying "It's THANKSGIVING!!!!". I think he was pretty disappointed when he found out that thanksgiving breakfast was just muesli but as things started picking up in the kitchen for dinner, he got pretty excited. Looking back on how the day played out, I am kicking myself that I hadn't recruited the kids to help out more in the kitchen. They were both itching to help however they could so while I was blending up the pie filling they made their own little Thanksgiving dinner in the play kitchen and brought it to their table in the kitchen. Cutest. moment. to date.
Milayla wouldn't let me get a picture of her face while she was "cooking" in her kitchen but I got some cute ones of her helping out with some real cooking/baking later.
Our Thanksgiving Feast - delish! :
The kids did help me make the biscuits which they were over the moon about. Milayla helped measure and mix the ingredients. I cannot get over the cuteness of this girl. She oozes so much personality, sweetness and determination.
Milayla has an incredibly beautiful smile where her entire face completely lights up. It is very special. Unfortunately, it is very hard to capture on camera. If I try to ask her to smile for the camera she very cutely squints her eyes and gives me various expressions with her face. Sometimes it comes out looking like a smile. Sometimes not. This is what I got this go around.
Still pretty darn cute.
After the biscuits were all mixed up, Atticus balled them, rolled them and flattened them on the pan. He is really good at following directions and always asks such great questions along the way as well. He is full of lots of questions lately and we're loving it. He's also giving me some smile sass lately too...
After the biscuits were in the oven it was time for me to start preparing the dressing which required work over the hot stove and also meant the little hands could not help. They were so sad when I told them they couldn't help with the stuffing and I am kicking myself that I didn't find some way that they could help with something in that kitchen at that moment. Milayla cried and came back every few minutes to see if it was time to help again yet so when she got to help make the whip cream later that night for dessert she was pretty stoked. And my wishing that I had the kids help with more was only heightened when the kids beamed with pride over their lightly golden and flakey biscuits that we all made as a team. Though, when they were not helping me in the kitchen they were busy helping Jason tidy our home. I love how helpful everyone is. I'm working to encourage that - I hope it works.
And once dinner was all ready to go we had some friends join us (who, funny enough, are also from Alberta). It was great to be able to share our meal with others. The kids were especially excited to be able to share their biscuits. Man, I love those kids and their big hearts!
After dinner I recruited the kids for a game of Jenga. Jenga games are pretty short around here, though the kids are surprisingly good at it. I think their was a conspiracy to finish the game quicker to get to dessert and that awesome whip cream that Milayla helped me make.
And the day finished off with us getting to tuck those sweet little ones into bed with bedtime books, songs and cuddles. Then we went to bed early...and that is something to be grateful for.
So while there are still boxes waiting to be unpacked, and floors that never seem to get clean, my heart is filled just a bit more with the love and gratitude that is all around me in our little home. And I hope that that feeling, even just a little bit, has filled into my children's hearts as well (and Jason's too :) ).
Happy Thanksgiving!
