November 22

Happy Thanksgiving!

It seems like every year that passes brings us more to be thankful for. This was the first year that Caleb has been able to understand the concept of thankfulness. We've tried to practice a bit by having a "thankful tree" in the kitchen, and each day Chris, Caleb and I add a leaf to the tree.

Chris' leaves were red, mine orange, and Caleb's yellow. Caleb was thankful for his sister, his pictures, Mommy, our friends Caleb and Hannah, Mimi, Max and Ryan, candy, his dad, his toy snake, butterflies, his friends at church, painting, cars and movies, his toys (and he doesn't want anyone to take them from him), apples, Grandma and Grandpa, Grandmother, his pajamas, our neighbors, the play kitchen, Grandad, raw milk, and his artwork. He had a really hard time coming up with something each day - often, he would just look around and name the first thing he saw. We ended up having lots of conversations about people and things to be thankful for. All in all, a good exercise!

We have hosted Thanksgiving for both of our families since Caleb was born, just because it's easier for us to bring our families together than it is to celebrate separately. This year, because of our crazy diet, we ended up making almost all of the food we served (aside from the turkey, made by my parents, some sweet potatoes, and some rolls). My handsome husbando helped me prep all of the food on Wednesday, so that today it was just a matter of cleaning and heating for our noon meal.

I knew that it was a good idea to let Caleb watch Cinderella - he was all about scrubbing the floors!

Of course, if Caleb does it, Daisy has to do it too.

Somehow I didn't manage to take a single photo of our food or my table. *sigh* But it wasn't that important. We had lots of food. Are you curious what a GAPS-friendly Thanksgiving looks like? We had: candied pecans, a cheese plate with cranberry goat cheese, rosemary olive oil Asiago, and Bartlett pears, spinach artichoke dip, a veggie tray with honey mustard dip, roasted turkey, grain-free stuffing, roasted sesame green beans, caramelized garlic brussels sprouts, mashed faux-tatoes, wilted winter greens, pumpkin pie, pecan pie (both using this pie crust), honey-sweetened whipped cream, coconut milk ice cream, and some chocolate-caramel-pecan "turkeys" that didn't turn out as well as I had hoped.

Our families gamely went along with all of the different foods, and they were very polite about the whole thing. I did notice lots of food going into the trash, and a certain someone required both hot sauce and barbecue sauce to finish his meal. I spent weeks researching and planning and prepping the meal, and I (perhaps foolishly) had hoped everyone would love the food so much that they wouldn't mind that it was different and it would be a win for everyone. It turned out that Chris and I were pretty much the only ones who loved the food; others used adjectives like "interesting". Next year, I don't think I'm going to try so hard. Lesson learned.

After our "interesting" meal, we took advantage of the unseasonably warm weather. My mom suggested throwing all of the kids into the leaves for a photo op, so... we threw the kids in the leaves!

Caleb, Daisy, Ryan and Max. They're a fabulous foursome!

Our friend Dan kindly left us this big pile of dry leaves, hoping Caleb would enjoy it. I think the leaf pile was enjoyed beyond his wildest expectations!

The kids loved throwing leaves at each other!

Daisy didn't like the leaves in her pants and diaper, but otherwise she had fun.

Love this boy.

Grandad even got in on the leaf-throwing action.

I'm pretty sure this was the one time that day that Chris didn't have to wrangle a child. His child-tending skills made all of my work so much easier!

Daisy throwing leaves...

Daisy doing a zombie walk with leaves.

Of course, it's not Thanksgiving without some football!

Even Max got in on the action.

These brothers adore each other!

Emily's boyfriend, Billy, joined us for the post-meal fun.

I'm pretty sure Max scored a touch down.

This boy was all about the monkey bars.

It's a good thing he had someone to give him a lift!

Though she looks skeptical here, Daisy had so much fun swinging with Ryan!

Once the sun set, we gave the kids a bath and threw them in their jammies. Since they totally missed naptime, we fed them an early dinner (peanut butter pancakes, bacon, and blackberries - all of their favorites!) and let them play with the lingering family members until it was a reasonable time for early bedtime.

Daisy snuggled with Ryan,

while Chris and Caleb snuggled on the couch and watched football.

Poor Jenny had to work from 7am to 5 pm, so she came over after work for some leftovers and snuggles with Daisy.

Daisy was remarkably pleased for such a tired girl!

And after that long day, I was one tired mama. I'm especially thankful for my husband, who is the most helpful, loving, supportive, and forgiving man I have ever met. I'm a lucky woman.