Happy Thanksgiving Part 2

Every year we rotate our holidays, so this year was our year to go to E TN for a Thompson Thanksgiving. We got up early on Thanksgiving and drove to An Am and Uncle Pete's house to help out with the meal. We had two turkey's (one fried with Cajun spices (U Pete) and a traditional one made by (An Am). Both were delicious! An Am and I were prepared to help out with the other sides but as usual I felt more in the way than anything so Grannie gets credit for all of the sidedishes! The food was delicious. All of the Thompson's joined us, except for Benny, Kim, Jordan, and Summer. Benny was in the hospital and we really missed them!

Brad and I talked about going out for Black Friday to Toys R Us for the sale that started at 12 am. We thought it would be a good opportunity to do our shopping for Connor this year, since he would be asleep and his grandparents and An Am and U Pete were there. Usually we have to arrange for my parents to come down so we can go out for a few hours. We used to take Connor with us because he didnt really understand the Santa concept but now he definitely gets it and remembers if you buy something that isnt given to him when we get home. Let me just start by saying that when we got to the parking lot of T-R-US it was packed (just a few parking spaces available) and we thought that maybe another store had decided to open too. Well, we quickly we saw the line forming but thought it wasnt too long, so we got in line and started joking about how we had no idea it would be like this. Well, had we known what was in store for us we would have just went back to the car and back to bed! The line to go in actually went by the front door, wrapped around the side of the store and out to the road and back to the front door. We didnt know this until we got to the door. There were two news crews there and they had to call the police because when they opened doors there was such a rush of people that they got stuck, yes I said STUCK in the door! LOL Wish I could have seen that one. When we actually got in the store, it was so crazy that of course there were no carts and people were running everywhere snatching things. Since we were in Knoxville, the store was layed out opposite of how ours is in Franklin so we were a little turned around to begin with. Combine that with not being able to move or see anything in the aisles because of back to back people and it was MADNESS! We couldnt even get to the Superheroes section because of the electronics line. We finally pushed our way through and they were out of everything we wanted that was on sale. Imagine that?!!! Shortly after that they came over the intercom TWICE and said that someone had lost their son and the Mommy needed to come and get him NOW! I was so frustrated with the people who had small children with them at midnight to do their Santa shopping!!!! I mean come on people! As quickly as we could we got our things and started asking where the line to check out started. There were lines forming everywhere and of course people who thought they were in line, were not, so there were lots of angry people. We were in the correct line, so that was good because we didnt figure that out until we had been standing there for 20 minutes or so. The sales lady told us that they were not prepared for the crowd (No kidding?!!!) and this was the most crowded she had ever seen it. The line went from the front of the store to the back and we weaved in and out of aisles along the way. After standing in line for 2 hours to check out we finally headed back to bed and got there at 4 am only to start again in the morning. We decided to sleep in (Brad, Connor and I) and went out again at 10 am and met everyone for lunch at Calhouns. Later that afternoon, Uncle Pete, Brad and Pops went to the Rockwood game :( and An Am, Grannie, Connor and I went to the Fantasy of Trees and out to dinner afterwards. I cant speak for the guys but we had a great time! Connor loved all of the activities and got to see Santa. As you can imagine we were pretty pooped by the end of that day! We came home on Saturday after a great breakfast at Cracker Barrell.

It was a wonderful Thanksgiving with both families this year. It was definitely one Brad and I will never forget...LOL No more Black Friday mornings for me. Lesson learned.

We are so blessed!

Watching Pete dress the turkey to fry.

Fantasy of Trees

He was super excited about the carousel (ferris wheel as he calls it)!

I think it started a little abruptly for him. This was his first reaction! Needless to say he didnt stay on the horse for the entire ride. LOL

This ride was like the teacups at WDW, so of course Connor wanted to ride it too. He wouldnt let An Am spin and wanted it to slllooooww down!

Making a potholder.

Very happy with his masterpiece.

It was hard to get him away from this train.

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Send your own ElfYourself eCards

Happy Thanksgiving Part 1

On Sunday we had Thanksgiving with my family. Normally we have a big Thanksgiving at my grandmothers but our traditions have changed the past few years since the death of my grandfather. It makes me sad since we have been doing this since I was old enough to remember but I know that as an adult now these things much change. I would also like to ask you to pray for both sides of my family. My Aunt Linda has been diagnosed with cancer and has started her treatments this week. Please pray for her strength during this and the family as well. This year was very special because my grandmother (Gigi) to Connor is here from NY. It is great to have her here for the holiday!

We also celebrated Dad's 54th birthday. As you can imagine with the recent WS win, he got nothing but Yankees stuff from Brett and I! Blue is definitely his "signature color". (Sorry...I am watching Steel Magnolias right now and couldnt resist! LOL)

I am very thankful for my family and everything that God has blessed me with! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

Arrington Vineyards

Last Friday we finally got go to Arrington Vineyards! I say this because I have been wanting to go for some time (it isnt too far from our house) and it took my sister in law's birthday and them planning it to get me out there. Ha! Amanda was in town for a conference and since it was her birthday weekend, her and Pete were trying to think of things to do in the area. They asked us to come along and I was super excited! It was so pretty. We got there at about 3:30 and did the wine tasting and then bought a bottle and sat outside and enjoyed the beautiful scenery. I will definitely go back this summer when it is a little warmer. We had a great time and really enjoyed the visit from An Am and Pete! Happy Birthday to An Am! I am a bad blogger and havent been staying on top of my birthdays lately.

Connor sporting his sock monkey hat that I got him in NY! Isnt he just the cutest monkey ever!

They built a bon fire right behind us. I thought I should explain the massive wood pile behind us!

A visit to the big city and an old friend!

I am just now getting around to doing a blog post on my visit to NYC a few weeks ago. I went to visit my friend Courtney...and believe me it has been a long time coming. Court and I hadnt seen each other in four years. We were in the Design program together in college and lived together our senior year. After we graduated, she moved back home in WV and then to NY a few years later. As everyone knows "life happened" and we both just had so many things going on with careers and family that it was hard to plan a trip to see each other. Court has been to Nashville to see me a few times so I thought it was time I make the trek to see her and what better place to visit than NYC! We had such a great time! Court gave me the grand tour and since I have been there before we didnt concentrate on the touristy things. We walked the streets in each village and did things that the locals might do and of course...shopped, shopped, shopped! I had so much fun being able to shop and look uninterrupted by my hubby and child..uhhhh hmmm...oops, did I say that? But really it was great. Courtney couldnt understand why I wasnt buying more, but I guess my priorities have changed a lot since college. :) It was fun looking but I didnt buy unless it was something I couldnt live without. I mostly bought stuff for Connor...imagine that?! We had a great time and I really enjoyed seeing what it is like living in the city. Court made it very clear that when you live there you live and die by the train schedule....Believe me when I say she had me running to catch the train on more than one occasion! LOL We also walked so much and I guess I didnt think much about my shoes because my feet definitely werent used to that abuse outside of my Brooks! Courtney were very gracious to show me around and we even went to dinner with some of their other friends so I got to meet them as well. All in all, I had a great time! I felt bad though because my last day, I was a little distracted by everything going on at home. Connor came down with a fever and call it motherly intuition but I just really knew it was the swine flu. Sure enough, after my flight touched down we went to the doctor and it came back positive. We survived just fine though. All I have to say about that is dont believe everything you see on TV. Also, my father in law went into the hospital on that day which also added a little bit of stress. Talk about feeling helpless. I was in NY and all of this was going on at home. As a wife/mother I always feel obligated to help and fix things in some way, even when there is obviously nothing I can do. I caught an earlier flight home and a couple of days later, all was back to normal. My father in law is at home doing well and Connor is rid of the flu. I am so relieved now not to have to worry about this anymore and now hopefully his immune system is stronger and we wont get it next year.

I have included some pics if you dont feel like watching the slideshow with all of the pictures.

Taking a stroll near Radio City Music Hall.

Court and I at "the village" or at least that is what we called it. Ice skating rink in background.

Court and I at "High Line". This is a brand new park that was created on top of an old elevated train track. Very cool!


This was as close as we got to Times Square. We kind of avoided it.

At Yankee Stadium. Mickey (Court's hubby) took me there so that I could see it since it isnt in the best part of town. It was beautiful!

Make a Smilebox slideshow

A little pumpkin carving...

I had a couple of designs for the pumpkin, for Connor to choose and this is the one he picked. Its probably the least impressive, but he liked it. Mommy and Daddy pretty much did all the work, but Connor had fun as we would scoop out the insides and then place it in his spoon so he could put it in the bowl. Connor wanted nothing to do with touch the pumpkin's insides and said it was "Yucky". I would agree, but our dog on the other hand thought it was a the greatest thing! He started eating it and almost ate the entire bowl. He was chowing down and started taking it from my hand as I pulled it out. I will say that at about 2 am, I heard him moaning under our bed so I think the 3 pounds of pumpkin gave him a little belly ache! LOL

Pumpkinhead!

Halloween Fun!

I will have to say that this year was the most fun Connor has had yet on Halloween. He really got into it this year, especially his costume. When I asked him in August what he wanted to be for Halloween this year, he immediately said a farmer! As I have said before Connor is really into gardening, tractors, cows, and anything that has to do with farming...so this costume was perfect for him. I was pretty excited too, since I thought it would be a pretty easy costume to pull together. I knew it would be cute, but I will have to say that when we put everything on for the first time just 30 minutes before trick or treating...I just couldn't believe how adorable he looked in his little overalls and hat! Of course the freckles and dirt really completed the costume. The cow was a last minute addition when I walked by the fridge and realized that the magnetic cow would be perfect for his ensemble. One man that gave him some candy asked him if it was a cat (wanting Connor to correct him) and Connor told him, "No silly, it is a C-O-W!" I will have to say that at times he was a mean little farmer, making demands and telling us what to do...like he had done this so many times before. LOL

Mom and Dad came up this year and we had so much fun walking around and seeing all of the cute costumes and decorated houses. Our neighborhood really gets into Halloween (all holidays in general) and pretty much everyone in the city comes there to trick or treat. One house not far from ours really gets into it! I took some pics but they came out blurry. They even hand out full size candy bars to everyone. How appropriate that they is an old graveyard beside their house that has been preserved...we even saw people posing for pictures there. Not so appropriate. I kept telling Brad that surely they didn't know they were REAL graves and not part of the decor.

Anyway, getting back to my story about our mean farmer...we packed the wagon with a blanket and a few other things thinking that Connor would get tired and eventually want to ride inside. Well, this wasn't such a good idea because instead Connor insisted that he pull it all by himself. It really looked like part of the costume which was cute, but I was sure people would think we were mean/bad parents making our 2 year old pull the wagon. Ha! He was pulling his "garbage" as he called it, and no one was to help him with his "garbage", nor move it up to the curb so he could walk to the house to get candy. He wanted it to stay right where he had it and he would watch us as he walked to the house to make sure! It was hilarious! We each took turns walking him up to the houses so everyone got to enjoy it. For some reason he wouldn't say "trick or treat" but he would always say "thank you" and for that I was pleased. We ended the night by coming back to watch the games. We had the TN game downstairs (Brad), and the Yankees game upstairs (Dad). As usual, Connor loved handing out the candy when we got back! We had such a great time and I cant wait for next year as it seems to get better and better every year. Cant wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas!!!

Showing us his vegetables out of his basket.

His CO-OP handkerchief...

Picking his berries...

Our neighbors had friends visiting so I'm not sure of a few of the kids names...

(?), Lily, Noah, Connor, (?)

Caly, Connor, Emma, and Lily

Pulling his garbage

Dad walking Connor to get some candy.

Here is the blurry picture and this is only one side of the house. It totally doesn't do it justice, I will have to say even I was a little scared walking up to this house. The ghost in the dining room floats up and down.

It was so cold, a lot of people had bonfires.

Ironically this house is the one we almost bought before we signed a contract on the one we live in now. I loved all of the big trees in the front yard!

I saw this idea online and it was so easy. Just get a cardboard box big enough to fit the window and cut a design, then get some orange tissue paper and tape to the inside. Turn on the light and it glows outside. You could do this for every holiday too. I plan on making a cross for Christmas. Sorry this is a terrible picture.