Thanksgiving Leftovers

 Grace had school off all week for Thanksgiving. By Monday, all our visitors were gone, and Paul had to work at the newspaper, so it was just me and 3 kids. It was a while before I even got everyone's hair fixed.

 The girls did pretty well reading books and playing around. We did a craft, but I spent a lot of time dealing with Charlie. Feeding every two hours is time-consuming! That night, we had FHE on saying sorry.

On Tuesday, Paul went to class, including a field trip to see some kind of optics lab. I took Charlie to the doctor that afternoon. He almost reached his birth weight! We went to the grocery store with the kids that night. It was SO crowded!
On Wednesday, Paul worked at the newspaper office. We had a normal day at home, and the relief society presidency came to visit.

Thursday was Thanksgiving. Paul took the whole day off!! I let the girls have as many bows as they wanted in their hair, since we weren't going anywhere.

Charlie wore overalls and shoes that used to be Grace's.

Very cute - and much better suited for a boy, it seems.

Around noon, Paul and the girls set the table for Thanksgiving. (It was very similar to our set-up for pre-Thanksgiving on Saturday.)

No comment.

My men.

Football hold.

I am awesome at reheating leftovers! I put the turkey in the crockpot all morning with a bunch of chicken stock and spices.

I reheated the mashed potatoes, stuffing (plus stock), and green bean casserole (plus more fried onions) in one pan in the oven, and reheated the gravy on the stove. The rolls had a hard time reheating in the microwave, but the cranberry sauce was easy to just take out of the fridge and cut into slices. Then I made a big pan of sweet potato casserole (per Paul's request), and pink lemonade (for Grace).

It was a hit!

Even Charlie got to be part of the party.

Nice looking meal, even the second time around. Thanks, Mom and Dad Gabe!

The pies were already gone by now, so I made a chocolate pudding layered dessert. Alice loved it!

We put Alice down for a nap, and Grace practiced her ballet. She loves her new shoes (Toms) from Mom Gabe. She says they are perfect for spinning on her toes. (Alice also loves hers, and wears them everyday.)

Charlie started being extra fussy that day.

Poor little guy.

Then we put away all our Thanksgiving decorations, and brought out all the Christmas stuff. Grace immediately turned into an elf and started singing Christmas carols!

We had lots of decorations to work with.

And Grace was reunited with Rudolph.

Alice was in a daze when she woke up and saw it all. She walked down the stairs and said, "Oh, it's Christmasy!"

The stockings - I still need to work on Charlie's.

The girls had lots of fun with all our Christmas books, and our Christmas music!

Charlie was tuckered out, but managed to stay festive.

The girls helped Paul set up the tree.

Then Paul followed the age-old tradition of trying to figure out which bulb was causing the tree not to light all the way. He finally traded out a whole string of lights.

Once that was figured out, I passed out ornaments.

Grace is able to hang hers on her own this year. She was so polite, saying "thank you" each time I gave her another ornament to hang.

Paul with his little drummer boy ornament.

The girls loved sitting in front of the tree.

Grace is already excited for Christmas morning!

Alice is excited for the one gift she has so far - thanks, Mom! We put a mini tree in the girls' room, and they get to put an ornament on each day that they do a good deed for someone else. They love it.

Charlie was mesmerized, and stared at the tree for a long time.

Isn't it pretty?

The wall above the piano.

On the piano. After the kids were in bed, Paul and I planned for Christmas, including gift ideas, and all the things we want to do during the Christmas season. Then we watched a cheesy Christmas movie on TV, but got so distracted by the "aquatic ape/mermaid" documentary on Animal Planet that we switched shows! (We were somewhat disappointed to discover afterwards that it was all fictional, made to look like a real documentary. Sad.)

On Friday, the girls were blinded by all the Christmas lights when they woke up.

We have some pretty silly kids. Grace.

Alice.

Charlie. We thought it would be okay to go to Wal-Mart on Black Friday since we weren't going super early. It was a mad house, and a very painful experience overall. We bought ZERO Christmas presents, and then had to walk past all the picketers on our way back to the car.

That evening, we had some family time.

Sweet Charlie.

Daddy and Alice. We made a pizza, then watched Mr. Magoo's Christmas Carol.

Charlie loved playing with foam shapes afterward.

On Saturday, I took Charlie into the doctor all morning (he's fine), while Paul and the girls cleaned the house. In the evening, we had a hideabed party and read Christmas books.

It was pretty fun.

After dinner, we popped popcorn and watched How the Grinch Stole Christmas.

Charlie cuddled with Daddy.

Then Grace and Alice cracked each other up. Grace kept tickling Alice, and Alice LOVED it!

We had to run to the store for more formula, so the girls continued cracking each other up in the car. Then they shared a pink car cart at the store. They're pretty cute together.

Today we decided to do a photo shoot before church to try and get pictures for our Christmas card. Grace in front of the tree.

I had to take lots of Alice because she wouldn't hold still.

Plus she has so many cute expressions.

How can I pick?

Okay, not that one.

We tried to get a picture of the 3 kids, but Alice wasn't into it, so here's 2 of the 3.

Charlie laying in front of the tree.

Sleepy baby.

Propped up in front of the tree.

We tried the 3 kids again. This is the best we got.

Then out came the tripod. We took this picture just to make sure things were centered. It was too cold out to take Charlie out of his blanket.

The Gabrielsen Five.

Merry Christmas!