Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Turkey Day!

I know, it was yesterday.  But I was too busy relaxing and stuffing my face to wish you dear readers a Happy Thanksgiving.  I have so much to be thankful for and I often forget that.  I hope you enjoyed or are enjoying your break and focusing on your blessings!  I'll try to touch on the Thanksgiving Break thus far before Stella wakes from her nap.  Hopefully that's a while longer.  Little Miss needs her some nap!  :)

The week began with Amy and I heading to a teacher's conference in Austin.  We left the boys with Amy's Mom, the dogs with my Mom, and took Stella with us.  The original plan was to leave all 3 kids but after Stella's ridiculously long sickness, it was easier to keep her with us so we could stay on top of it.  As it turned out, Amy was able to get a room to herself and I joined her.  Overall the conference was great.  Until I sprained my ankle!  See, I don't get injured often.  I don't know what happened and I wish it were a great story.  However, truth be told, I was getting up and stepped funny.  I nearly fell into a coworker and a chair.  Classy.  Even better was the fact that I nearly passed out and, according to Amy and coworkers, probably went into shock.  Judging by the color of my face, I'd have to agree.  My ankle swelled up nice and big.  Since I couldn't walk, I spent the rest of the day in a wheelchair.  Nice, just my luck.  However, by that night and the next day I was able to hobble around quite nicely.  It's better now, still pretty swollen and very tender.  But I can walk normally for the most part, stairs are still slow-going!  Want to see a picture?  Because you know I took one!

OUCH!

I must say though how grateful I am to Amy.  We were going to split Stella duty at the conference, but my little stumbling block (literally) changed that.  She really stepped up to take care of both of us and I owe her majorly!

Once we were back home we began to clean and launder from the trip while prepping for Thanksgiving.  Amy made the most amazing homemade cornbread & chorizo dressing!  I mean, seriously!  Ridiculously delicious!  We started the day off at the Thanksgiving Day parade here, a tradition Amy, Amanda, and her Mom started last year while Adam and I were in Vegas.  The kids had a blast!  Their favorite part: the horses.  More precisely the horses, ahem, using the restroom in front of us!  This was the highlight of last year's parade and this year the horses didn't fail them!  Ahhhh, the joys of kids.  Stella did great and enjoyed herself as the other kids did as well.  Still too young to try food, she napped (thankfully) during the meal and drank her first Thanksgiving dinner!  

I then went out with Amy's Mom for some early Black Friday deals while Amy took the kids home to sleep.  I love this, so much fun.  Next year we'll have to figure out a plan for the kids so Amy can join us!  I love a good deal, plus all the excitement!  Today we shopped some more and she is out right now with the kids, the cousins, Amanda, and her Mom at the movies.  I stayed with Stella this time and am currently speed-blogging my way through her nap time.

Tomorrow we head out to East Texas for Thanksgiving with my family.  Another, longer, car trip with the kids and we will test out the effectiveness of loading movies onto the iPad!  Thanks Apple , iTunes, and iCloud for making life so much easier!  Sunday we come home and begin to prep for heading back to school.  Not much "resting" this break, but it has still been a lot of fun.  Hopefully next week brings us back to normal and our usual routine now that everyone finally is healthy again.  I think we've had enough illness and excitement for a while!

So, that was our Thanksgiving break thus far in a nutshell.  I could go on for longer about the food, but just thinking about it makes me hungry.  Maybe I'll grab some leftovers before Stella wakes?  How was yours?  Full of family, fun, great food, good deals?  I hope it was a blessed time for you, regardless of your plans.  Below are some more Thanksgiving pictures!  Enjoy the rest of your break!

Amy, her Mom, the kids, and their cousins at the parade!

Stella at her first Thanksgiving Day parade!

Amy and I at the parade.  Love this picture!  Love me some Instagram!

All is well, thankful and blessed, in Drosche Land.