Thanksgiving is over let the Christmas rush begin

My weekend was interrupted on Friday, by work. No fun, but a necessity, given that it is year end and at least some of us need to be there. But nonetheless I still enjoyed the rest of my three days off.

We hosted Thanksgiving at our house. We all shared the cooking duties, so it allowed some time to enjoy the company of our families. I did get out of work early on Wednesday which gave me plenty of time to make the pumpkin cheesecake, clean all the veggies and prep the turkey.

Mike's parent's brought a birthday gift for me on Thanksgiving day, which I promptly put to use. An ornament display stand that will be perfect year round for the different holidays and a Michael's gift card, which I used on Black Friday for the new Sizzix Texture Boutique.

The traditional annual picture of me and my mom.

After we had everything underway, we went out in the backyard to watch Nicholas play. He decided he liked to sit on the rocks and we even got a few poses.
We did get him to sit long enough for pictures with his Nana's, he loves his Nana's.

Nicholas and his Nana (Rettberg). My mom and Dion watched Nicholas and Jackson on Saturday for us and they all had a fun night.

Nicholas and his Nana (Carr).

Nicholas also hung out with his Grandpa's. Although he has decided he likes saying Dion so Grandpa Rettberg is called by his first name.

Jackson enjoyed eating Thanksgiving dinner, pretty much cleaning his plate.

And what would Thanksgiving be without a little rough housing.

After dinner, Nicholas wanted to go out and work off the dinner he did NOT eat.

Jackson of course needed a bottle shortly after dinner to wash down all that turkey and fixings.

After everyone was thoroughly stuffed, it was time for a catnap. Nicholas crashed in my arms and then was handed off to Nana, so I could pack up leftovers.

On Friday I got up early to hit some sales at Michael's, JoAnn's and Bed Bath & Beyond before heading into work and doing a bit of online shopping at Amazon in between my "way too busy day for a Friday after a holiday". While I was out, Mike got all the outside decorations done. He did the backyard too and it looks great. It's nice we get to enjoy his efforts and not just the neighbors. When Nicholas saw it Friday night, he just stood by the window for a while and smiled.

My birthday was Saturday and Mike and I enjoyed a rare date night. We had dinner out at Brio at San Tan Village and saw this:


I definitely still like Edward better.

Saturday and Sunday we had plenty of time for our hobbies while the boys napped and played. We also got the store updated for December. So all in all a fun and productive weekend.

I finished up an advent calendar using the Color Me Daisy December Kit and lots of Thickers. I have lots of fun surprises planned for Nicholas to put in the drawers. So I can't wait for Tuesday, he has already been pointing at the calendar and counting the numbers.