Friday, December 27, 2013

Remember Thanksgiving?

Sorry for reverting to a month and a holiday ago, but I am going to be sad if I don't post about our Thanksgiving fun.  Now that I'm on vacation I finally have a second to breathe...and blog!
Christmas/winter recaps are coming soon!

Is anyone else?  I might be the only one that was thinking this on Monday morning - or maybe I'm just the only one crazy enough to document it. 

I was actually looking forward to going back to work and Charlie back to school on Monday.

GASP.

Don't worry - that does not mean we didn't have a great 4 days of family time.  We really did.  Jimmy and I were going on and on about it on Monday actually - but what can I say?  I'm a huge creature of routine (like weird) and we were so out of whack from all the parties, the get togethers, weird nap schedules, etc. that I think we all appreciated a little "normal" yesterday.  

Here's a little holiday weekend recap for you...we were quite busy!!!

Wednesday evening: Carter family thanksgiving at Jimmy's parent's

As always, my mother-in-law provides quite the spread.  Her turkey is always delicious and her gravy is just right - but her rolls.  Oh my gosh...the rolls.  And in addition to the food, the set up and the decor?  Could be straight out of a magazine.  I love that it's our one "fancy" meal each year.  Because you know when I'm hosting we're going with paper plates!





And to go along with tradition, she made all the grandkids the most adorable pajamas.  Last year Charlie was just a little guy at only 4 months old - so this year at almost 16 months, it was a different story.  Seeing him incessantly chase his older cousins around in their matching PJs kind of made my ovaries hurt.  Like it was adorable.  #cousinsforever
 


Thursday: Stephens (my mom's side) family thanksgiving at our house (yep, first year hosting!)

Jimmy was responsible for cooking the turkey (not by choice...but by assignment) and I cooked up some mashed potatoes, green bean casserole and other goodies.  My mom and grandma and rest of the family brought desserts, rolls, jello, etc. to give us a FULL spread.  Needless to say, I feel like when I'm the cook, I snack so much during the course of getting everything ready that I'm not even hungry by the time the meal rolls around.

However, we didn't overdue the appetizers this year, which was good because that always is the case!

My cousin, husband and her son came over too - so Charlie had an older second cousin to chase him around and essentially wear him out.  He loved it.  And so did we by the time bed time rolled around!!  HA!

After relaxing and watching some football, my parents stayed at our house while Charlie was fast asleep and my sister and her boyfriend continued the annual tradition with Jimmy and I as we headed out to the Legends for some Thanksgiving evening Black Friday shopping.  We got some awesome clothes for a great deal for mom, dad AND Charlie!!  Always love a good sale. 

Needless to say we were pooped when we got home around 10:30PM.  And didn't even leave the house on the actual Black Friday for any shopping.



(the only picture was from my cousin's instagram - I am going to claim I was too busy hosting!?!?)

Black Friday: Jimmy's friends over to our house

Yep, we hosted again on Friday evening.  Jimmy kept saying that we had to "deep clean" once...what he forgot about was the clean up in between!!  But it as fun.

Jimmy's best friend, Jay, and his wife, Sara, and son, Cormac, were in town for the holiday from Baltimore, MD.  So we decided to have everyone over to our new-ish house to hang out and celebrate some holiday cheer.  The Heble's, Kanatzar's, Tureks, Cindrich's, and Dave and Abby all came over to hang out.  Let's just say everyone had a good time - but Jimmy - well...he was in RARE form.  Like more "fun" then he's probably had in like 7 years (we were debating it the following week the last time he was that drunk and then that hung over).  To end the night, the KU game was on late and it was intense, but so good to see all these wonderful people that we don't get together enough!!  And seeing the Cullinan's in KC was very fun!

(again - no pictures...which is a major fail on my part)

Saturday: Lawrence and relaxation

Even though Jimmy was in rare form on Saturday morning, I refused to let that get in the way of our plans.  We had not been up to Lawrence all football season.  I wasn't really interested in going to the football game, since they are horrible...but just love the town and it was a beautiful day. 

So after dragging Jimmy out of bed, my sister and her boyfriend came over and we headed to Lawrence to eat at Jefferson's.  And of course, it didn't disappoint.  I just love that place.  The fried pickles and wings are just the best.  And a new love?  The fried macaroni squares.  YUM.

While the boys watched the game and drank, the girls and Charlie headed down Mass St to check out the bookstore with a fun kid's area.  Charlie loved it!!!



And our final stop?  Silas and Mady's - the best homemade ice cream EVER!!  Charlie agrees!


After making the drive back to KC, we were supposed to head to a movie while my sister and her boyfriend babysat, but Jimmy slept and didn't want to get up.  So I did the same while Charlie was napping too.  Guess we all needed the rest?? 

Finally, Sunday: Chiefs game party with the Carter family

To round out the weekend...we had our final hosting duties for the Carter Chief's party. 




The game was at 3PM and we had some pizzas, appetizers and desserts.  The weather was beautiful!!!  Who knew it would be on Thanksgiving weekend.  With all those people and kids in our house for the first time, it did make us want a finished basement to have another room for all the kids...but they made do with the backyard.  Of course, Charlie wanted to join in, which ended him with a huge bump on his forehead after tripping on a stump.  Sheesh.

The gate was left open, so Toby got out of the backyard, which caused quite the stir, but after some hunting, they found him in a neighbor's garage.  And after all that (+ a cousin show in the backyard)...the Chief's didn't even win.  Of course.

So just like that - our weekend came to an end...and we were exhausted from all the fun and parties and family/friends that the holiday weekend brought us.  And just like that - it was time to get ready for Christmas time (seriously!)


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