An Unexpectedly Lovely Thanksgiving.

Oddly enough, it's been a Thanksgiving to remember. 

I say "oddly" because I had to schedule surgery (laparoscopic gallbladder removal, no worries, I'm doing just fine) on Tuesday, which took me out of any and all Thanksgiving preparation and meant that I would spend the holiday recuperating and resting instead of making the rounds to the various family celebrations. It turned out, however, to be a lovely day. After spending most of the morning with the kids and hubs, they departed, headed to the family gatherings that I wasn't yet up to, but my parents came over to spend the day with me. My mother came bearing gluten-free casseroles galore, even chicken and dressing. Score! Hubs sent me a few pics while they were gone. Apparently, the day involved tree-climbing and teepee-building with cousins.  
With the kids out of school this week, they've gotten to spend a good bit of time with both sets of grandparents (spoilage).

Sissy has figured out how to work the grandparent thing, for sure. They headed to the mall, returning with all kinds of loot, including some booties she'd had her eye on. The boots are too cute, but her modeling of them is even better. 

They've also had some time to concentrate on their Christmas lists, which have been a major topic of discussion. 

You probably need some interpretation for BB's. This says, believe it or not, brother (and not necessarily the baby kind - he has watched "The Blind Side" a few too many times lately), puppy, anything else, pocket knife, Lego castle, Lego Star Wars.

He informed me he had left off one other "little" item, a tablet. And, to drive the point home, he's holding my iPad hostage. The puppy thing. We already have a dog, but it's Rudy, my little lapdog that I got in college. That's right, college. This dog recently turned 15 years old. He is a good dog, but he's not quite the "boy's dog" that BB is wanting, the kind that can fetch his baseball and follow him around the yard and KEEP UP WITH HIM. Lately, however, BB, in an attempt to show us that he is responsible enough to take care of his own dog, has used Rudy as his demonstration tool. See Exhibit 1: 

"Mom, I filled up Rudy's food bowl!" 

This is Rudy. That amount of food will last this dog a week. Or two.  

Here's Sissy's list: Not sure what the deal is with the pocket knives this year. Also, while BB wants a brother, she wants a sister, specifically a "look alike or close" one. On siblings for Christmas: Sorry kids. Ain't happening. That is all. Happy Thanksgiving!