Oh Happy Day - Thanksgiving With Family

 There are many days in your life that you remember.... There are many that you wish you could forget.....

Today, is a day I wish I could re-live over and over and over. I was up late making muffins of all varieties since I have some that like nuts, some that don't, some like zucchini, some like pumpkin etc. 

I explained my not sleeping due to headaches in yesterdays post and was so happy that I woke somewhat refreshed and without a headache. Within an hour of me waking, I had a house full of family. The house was ready, the food was mostly ready, the rooms were ready and I was SO ready. 

Babies change so much in such a short time that every time I get to see my grand baby, she has changed so much. I LOVE when I get to see her. She is watched over and pampered by five adults besides her parents. We can't seem to get enough of her. 
 
Her parents have done such an amazing job with her. I sneezed while in the kitchen and I hear a cute little "Go bless oh" coming from the other room. We thought it was so cute. I asked her parents how she learned to say, "God bless you" when someone sneezes and they said they all were sick a week or two ago and she picked it up. A little later, her dad coughed and she said it again. It is the sweetest thing! 

She says, "please, thank you, all done, more, help" and many other adorable things. She even has the girls names down. I wish I had taken a video but right after arriving, one of the first things, if not the first thing she picked up was a family photo I have in the living room. She said "Daddy" and then started pointing to the girls and would say their names. Her mom would point and she would answer with their names. I was so surprised as we don't see her that often.
Now the girls on the other hand, Princess three went right to the fun game "hoopla" I blogged about a few weeks back. We still play with it all the time and whenever we have someone over, they want to play it. It is so fun. Prince One got in on the action and had a turn. It was quite the game all day with different people taking turns. 

Princess Five and I still play with it often while visiting at the table after a meal. It actually got broken with a little bumping from Grand-Princess but we should have played it where it wasn't on the floor. It is an easy fix as it was just one of the dowel legs so I can do surgery on it tomorrow, I posted a blog about fixing dowels a few years back, here is that post.

I found a radio flyer rocking horse at a second hand store for $3 a few weeks back and figured she would be about the right age to ride it over the holidays and I was right. She is at the perfect height and age to get on it by herself. She enjoyed when her aunt rocked her back and forth with her foot. It was a wonderful time when she would walk with me holding on to one of my fingers to go get a snack pickle or to the toy box to get out a few noisy toys to enjoy. I LOVED that she "Found" her spot and promptly put all of the toys on the coffee table and climbed up there over and over to enjoy them. Her little throne!   

Princess Four arrived a little later that the rest but it gave me time to pick up the last few items needed for sushi from the store and then we all enjoyed making our own sushi rolls. Some thought it was a bit different for us but I told them that I love that they appreciate our traditional meals when they come home as they all want their favorites. Those are "wedding sandwiches" and "Bacon wrapped Chicken" but I would like to make some other things that I can eat and that we can make some new traditions so I told them that next year, I want to make some cheese cakes. I've made one before but I want to perfect that art so hopefully, I can expand my horizons in that way for next Thanksgiving. 

The sushi was a hit with most having two or three rolls they created themselves. I am sure it will be one more favorite that we enjoy together. 

After dinner, we played games and enjoyed visiting and spending time together. Grand-Princess was wonderful considering how tired she was as she hadn't slept since ten this morning when she took a nap in the car. She was so sweet with everyone and made us laugh and smile all day. I have to say that my house isn't as "child proof" as I thought as she is into every drawer, cupboard, and at one point, she nearly grabbed a knife off the counter as she just puts her hand up and grabs whatever she can reach up there even if she can't see what is up there. She was hoping for the "cutie" oranges that are kept near there as she kept one in her hand like a ball most of the afternoon just holding on to it. 
 
She got into the dress ups and the stuffed animals and the decorations and kept bringing me all the stuff that she knew she really shouldn't be playing with like she was "baby proofing" the house for us. Not that anything out would cause danger but things like pictures, decorations and the little sign on my antique wheel chair that says, "please don't sit here." etc. 

My living room looks like a toy tornado went through and she really loved all the musical instruments that I have decorating the room and at one point had both "rain sticks" in  her hands and was using them like hiking sticks. She walked around and around and she learned the word, "over" when I kept telling and showing her how to turn the rain stick over to make the "rain" noise. She figured it out in about a minute and kept walking around with them in her hand and as I cleaned up a bit for the night, I found one in the family room and one in the living room on the floor. I smiled as I picked them up as I probably won't view them the same way ever again as now in my mind they are "Walking rain sticks." 
 
I worked on placing shirts for a t-shirt quilt for Princess Four that I want to make for Christmas and we watched the latest Disney movie some of us hadn't seen. It was "Inside Out" and I thought it was very creative and fun. Two of the girls said they cried or almost cried when they watched it but I guess being a product of divorce could stir up some feelings when you are watching a movie about feelings. 

I picked up all the quilt pieces in order and put every thing up so it wouldn't be in the path of Grand-Princess for the next few days while they are here. About then, the baby woke up croupy and they ended up in the steamy bathroom and I put a humidifier in their room with some thieves oil in it to help her breathe better as it has the rosemary and eucalyptus oils in it. I got her some grape juice with some GSE as well to help. (Click here for a post about that.) She seems better now as I blog. 

When I came upstairs, collected my cameras to blog and headed to my room, I looked at two different clocks thinking about what a wonderful day it was seeing everyone home and safe and couldn't help smile when both clocks said 1:11. (Click here for that original post) It was the frosting on the cake. I am SO looking forward to the next few days with my wonderful clan. I am truly Thankful that our country still honors a day of Thanks and that we spend it with family. It brought to my mind when I was younger and we would travel to my grandparents home and we would all kneel around the thanksgiving table while my legislature lawyer grandfather would give the most wonderful blessings of gratitude. I asked the kids about it tonight and think we will start that as a tradition tomorrow because we truly do have so much to be thankful for. Once again, I am thankful for you and hope you have a wonderful and safe holiday!