{thankful}

Today wasn't the Thanksgiving day that we had planned for it to be. We were going to spend the day at my mother-in-law's house, take turns cuddling baby Noah, eat lots of yummy food, watch football and probably play quite a few card games.

Instead, my sister and mother-in-law spent the day at the hospital with Noah, who I'm happy to report is doing fine and should be released in the next few days. So the hubs and I stayed home and enjoyed a quiet turkey day with the boys. It was strange at first - I've never spent a Thanksgiving without extended family. But as the day went along, it really turned into a wonderful, relaxed holiday.

Dan ran to the grocery and bought a few things so he could make us an impromptu Thanksgiving meal, complete with turkey, mashed potatoes, cornbread dressing AND bread stuffing, homemade gravy, and I added some simple steamed carrots. He had never prepared any of these dishes and he did a great job. The cornbread dressing and the gravy were my favorites. We enjoyed a quiet feast while the boys napped which was pretty great.

The stock simmering...


Dan chopping away...



The cornbread dressing... (yummmm)



Gravy, dressing and turkey legs...



The finished meal and my simple centerpiece...



After our meal, I pulled out some of my favorite Christmas decorations because I just couldn't wait until tomorrow. The boys' stockings are hung on the new china cabinet - high enough to be out of reach of those curious fingers.



I'm thinking the tree might take its place in front of our picture window tomorrow. I can't wait to see how it looks from outside! I'm still working on a plan for toddler-friendly ornaments. I'm thinking a mix of felt, paper, and yarn will do the trick.

I also finally got a chance to work on my yarn wreath project. I decided to stick to simple winter white yarn.





It didn't take nearly as long as I thought it would to wrap the wreath form with the yarn, although my hands did start to get a bit crampy. It was well worth the tedious work - I love how it turned out. I'm going to embellish it with one of my already owned treasures. Now I just have to decide between the fun green star ornament or one of my sparkly holiday houses...





Hmmmm....I think I'm leaning toward the church with a few of these pretty berries mixed in.

It really was a great way to celebrate and give thanks for our blessings.

And you want to know the best part about our alternative Thanksgiving? We'll still get to have our regularly scheduled festivities with the family this weekend. Lots of good food and baby cuddling will be had. I can't wait!