Week 90

Nov 24-30

Woohoo! It is officially the HOLIDAY SEASON! :) Seriously November seemed like the shortest and fastest month ever!! Halloween feels like yesterday....but now Christmas is around the corner! So this week was Thanksgiving and for the Storch family that means tons of family traditions! We were VERY fortunate this year to both have off work for Thanksgiving Day! Wow! We maximized every second of it.

"Baby" Jack's Elf on the Shelf

We started off the morning by having our coffee and watching some Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade...while that was on in the background we put up the Christmas tree and lights. After lunch Jack went down for his nap and Ed and I got out the rest of the decorations and also started on the food.

We had already done the outside Christmas lights earlier in the week (thank goodness). We have ALWAYS wanted to do lights outside but just never really got around to it. They are more work than expected, but definitely worth the effort! Ed was kind of in charge of the overall layout/design of the lights and I just helped. It looks AMAZING! :)

I know I am always talking about our holiday family traditions, but I just can't resist. We have initiated a new one this year that I LOVE! Last year we got a gift from Ed's Aunt Barbara. It's called "The Elf on the Shelf." It's this kit with a book and an elf that you have to name. The book explains how the elf was sent by Santa to watch over you during the holiday season. Once you name him you write it in your book. Every day he sits perched somewhere and watches how kids behave...then every night he flies back to the North Pole to report to Santa. He reappears early the next morning before everyone wakes up and you have to come down and find where he is hiding that day.

Here is Jack "helping" with the table.

Jack named his elf "Baby", I guess because it kind of looks like a baby doll. He LOVES it! Every morning he remembers to find him and he will search, and search, and search. It is so cute!

This is what he was doing while we cooked...

By the late afternoon we ate our delicious Thanksgiving dinner. This year we had the most delicious turkey! Ed's parents had sent us an infrared, oil-less turkey fryer. It was AWESOME! That crispy outside, juicy inside, deliciousness without all the oil and mess! We can't wait to cook more things in it! Thank you!

Another family tradition is to go around the table before you eat and say what you are thankful for. When it was Jack's turn he thought for a moment and came up with, "Mommy." I was delighted of course, since he usually prefers his dad. So I asked him, "what else are you thankful for?" thinking that he would say "Dada." He thought again...looked at the crescent rolls, pointed at them, and said "Crackies!" He ate 3 crescent rolls for dinner along with everything else. We were all stuffed.

I am so thankful for all of our blessings as a family. I was so happy to spend a nice, quiet family day with my favorite two people. It was wonderful! :)