Thanksgiving leftovers

I realized that I really didn't blog about how lovely the Thanksgiving holiday was. The kids decided on Wednesday that they wanted to spend the night with hubby's parents, which allowed us to sleep in on Thanksgiving (aahhhh!). We strolled over to their house in the early afternoon, and I started a loaf of bread (that wasn't ready to eat until after dinner, but oh well) and then made the stuffing. Hubby's uncle and aunt (the grandparents of the boy that I posted about earlier this month) came for dinner (which was spectacular, by the way), as they had coughs and couldn't be with their grandkids for the holiday because of the pending chemotherapy for JT. Hubby's great aunt was also there, which was nice, as we only see her a few times a year. My hubby's youngest bro and his wife also came for stuffing and dessert. The only thing missing was his other brother and sister-in-law, but they were with her family out of state (and hopefully having a grand time too). I brought the camera to document the entire occasion and managed to forget about wanting to do that until dessert. By this time, Liam was ready to leave the table (Super Mario beckons, after all), which is painfully obvious in this picture.

Liam to himself: "Please let this whole photo-taking thing be done so I can go play more video games!"

Jonah was hiding in the picture in front of his auntie and next to his grandma, busy eating cool whip with no hands. He looked like Santa by the time he was finished. It's a rare thing for so many of the Browns to be around the table at once, so I thought it would be nice to catch it for posterity.

Now that the Thanksgiving holiday is over, how quickly it becomes but a distant memory as the Christmas season is ushered in. It certainly doesn't feel like the end of November here for some reason. The weather, for one, is more early October-like. Temps today were in the low 60s, and there has been plenty of sun to go around (good for us solar-powered types). Sadly, I haven't been taking advantage as much as I'd really like. Seems like there may be a couple more days of this loveliness before King Winter reminds us that he's right on our doorstep.

The neighbors all took advantage of the balmy temps to set up their Christmas lawn decor. I figured the Scrooges over at this house wouldn't have any decorations or even the tree up for a while yet. Somehow, however, the Christmas bug bit me today, and the picture below is the result. This year, we at least have room in the front room to put the tree. We've really had no where to put the tree previous to my decluttering and reorganizing sessions.

The tree is reflected in our front window, which desperately needs a new set of blinds due to losing a wrestling match with our cats not long after we moved here. Someday before we move out we might actually get that done. I think I put enough lights on it. One of these days I'll also figure out how to get our tree (artificial but not pre-lit) wrapped densely with lights without all the wires showing (must have LOTS of lights). The boys are excited about the prospect of putting on the ornaments in the morning. It will be interesting to see how this goes this year. Last year, when Jonah put ornaments on the tree, they all ended up in one spot.