Very Sweet and Somewhat Sassy: Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving! We ate lunch with my mom's family and dinner with my dad's family. It was a very busy morning - cooking for two different meals and getting ready for all of the running around for the day - but we did watch the parade as we were working. I have always loved watching the performances and the floats and balloons - it really makes it start to feel like the holidays! Claire helped me to make the baked macaroni and cheese and the banana pudding. She's a great little helper and I hope I'll make many memories in the kitchen with both of my girls!

Speaking of helping, Claire is kind of obssessed with helping to "decorate" this holiday season. She got so excited when we got our decorations out, and even said we needed more when we were finished. She has also been asking if she can help others with theirs! So funny! I'm afraid I may have a problem when we put them away!

We placed a thankful tree on the wall after lunch at my mom's. Everyone wrote down on little leaves what they were thankful for and placed them on the branches of the tree. We asked Claire what she was thankful for so we could write it on her leaf, and her first answer was "me!" We told her she needed to be thankful for someone or something besides herself, and her next answer was Ava - so sweet! Ava had a great time too, basically watching everyone else eat and smiling at anyone who would lock eyes with her. She settled down for a nap shortly after lunch along with a few other people.

Do let me clarify one thing - I did not make the thankful tree you see here. I planned to make one (a lot less elaborate I might add), but my friend Jennifer had an extra one and gave it to me! Isn't it so neat? Thanks, Jennifer! I did cut out the leaves, so I guess I can at least take credit for that (and my thumb is STILL numb from it!). Note to self....get a leaf diecut or punch before doing this project next year. The thankful tree was a wonderful tradition to start and we look forward to doing it each year!

Claire making funny faces with a few of her second cousins.

We went to my grandmother's (my dad's mom's) for Thanskgiving dinner in the evening. Claire always gets so excited to go there. She couldn't wait to see Ethan, the cat and the pool table. She loves to look for the cat and chase/pet him, but this time he was outside. She also loves to roll the balls into the pockets on the pool table with Ethan. We had a good time eating (again) and visiting with family, but it was a little bittersweet without my grandfather there this year.

Here are some more cute and festive turkey cookies! My aunt Teresa brought these.

The Elf on the Shelf also made his appearance and will be visiting with us over the holidays. He'll report back to Santa each night on the day's behavior and will reappear in a different spot every morning until Christmas, when he'll go back to stay with Santa until next Thanksgiving. Claire named our elf Giffy (like Jiffy with a hard "g"), so we'll document that in our book for future years. We are excited about this new tradition as well and it will be fun to look for him each morning!