Thanksgiving Festivities

Hope everyone had a Happy Thanksgiving! We sure did. It was a quieter affair this year, but it was still very nice and the food was delicious and overflowing. It was a Jones family Thanksgiving with the exception of Steven and with the addition of Rachel, a family friend. Poor Steven had to work that afternoon and evening so he was a little sour about having to miss out on the meal and the football game. But--I am thankful that he has a job that he enjoys and provides for us to live the way we do; we are truly blessed. He came home that night and had a plate full of food and watched the entire game on Tivo into the wee hours. Me? I was fast asleep after a day of cooking and keeping up with this guy:Matthew is my helper. He helped me make the sweet potatoes and then helped his daddy deliver a dish to the church that morning. He loves to sit on the countertop and help or watch or interfere (whatever you want to call it!) just as I did when I was little. The boy has some skills when it comes to stirring. I wish I had more counter space to afford us all a little more room, but I am in no frame of mind to renovate any time soon. Can you imagine why? Saturday morning Joy picked up Matt & I and we headed downtown for the Chuy's parade. It's a parade all about children bringing toys to give away to other children and also for the enjoyment of watching marching bands, huge balloons, fire trucks, motorcycles, cheerleaders, dancers, people in costume, music and tons of fanfare. We stuffed the kids in their strollers that they have honestly outgrown and staked out our spot on Congress Ave. Matthew mostly enjoyed the cheerleaders who were doing lots of acrobatics and tumbling. He would say, "I wanna DO that Mommy!" and he'd jump up and down in place and beg to go to gymnastics class. It was funny until it turned into whining. He also liked the marching bands and the dance troops. Naturally, he got antsy standing in an area of 2 square feet and after he had eaten all the snacks I packed for him he got unbearably wiggly and whiny. And here I am pregnant and unable to hold him or hoist him up onto my shoulders like little Ava was doing with her mommy. So, I sat down on the nasty street with my son body slamming me and jumping up now and then to catch whatever was marching down the street. Oh, and he would play with all the toys that people had brought that were sitting in bags piled up all around us. Overall, it was a good time and Matt definitely enjoyed the experience--and I think I would have had a better time had I not been SO very pregnant. Pushing my 35 pounder up a hill in a stroller while lugging 20 extra pounds myself left me a tad winded. I got my exercise for the day. The men were on an overnight hunting trip and missed out on all the fun. Or perhaps they would argue otherwise.

Matt is currently sawing logs in his crib, and I think when he wakes up we might start decorating this house for Christmas! YAY!!!