"Where are the balloons?"

Now that it is officially December, Christmas and all things related are in full swing around our house. That doesn't mean we are fully decorated yet, I mean let's be honest, I have a few more weeks. However, we are in the full swing of Christmas activities.

Before we headed over to the Christmas parade in our town, Michelle and I met up for a quick 5 mile run.

Never in my whole life would I have ever imagined I would be the person that is up for a morning run on a Saturday. I also never thought I would utter the phrase "quick 5 mile run."

I have to say though, the view makes it worth it (and having my buddy with me).

After our run we all met up again at the Christmas parade. The last time I took the kiddos to this they were only a few months old. It was still as crazy as I remember and I'm pretty sure I parked in the same exact parking spot (you know the one all the way across town).

Aaron loved all of the "emergency vehicles" (his words, not mine) and Jillian loved all the baton twirlers and dancers.

I had to laugh though because on the trek to the parade route, Jillian assured me she would not fall asleep before Santa (like she did while watching the Macy's parade) and asked where the balloon floats were. Apparently my daughter assumes all parades are the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. Bubble bursted.

She did see the big guy though and he waved right at her which absolutely made her day.

Thank you to the Hall's for securing us some pretty great seats in the shade and thank you to everyone that participated in the parade!

The Weekend I Ate A Lot of Stuffing

I just had four days off from work. Four days. That's like an eternity. I'm not totally sure what I accomplished in those four days, but I do know I did not get to sleep in, which is bogus.

Thursday morning we were up before 6 a.m., I feel like that should be illegal. The kiddos did help me that morning with the apple pie for dessert and then we all snuggled up to watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.

We tuned into the parade before it officially kicked off, so we were able to watch a lot of the Broadway productions. Now, I know there was a lot of controversy around the Kinky Boots performance, but that is not what had my daughter up in arms (she was actually jealous of all the men in boots, because she wanted their shoes). What had my daughter upset? The Sound of Music performance. To quote Jillian, "Um, that's not who sings that song. That's not right." Preach on sister.

Neither child made it all the way through the parade. I think we lost Aaron a good 15 minutes before Santa and poor Jillian was out minutes before the big guy made his appearance. To say she was upset would be an understatement. I heard about the fact that she missed him all day long.

After they woke up we headed up to Mimi and PawPaw's to help finish up dinner and wait not so patiently for Scott to come home (yes, he had to work).  Dinner was super delicious and I'm fairly certain I ate my body weight in stuffing. No really. If you were to look at my plate it would be 10% turkey, 10% cranberry, 5% gravy, 15% sweet potatoes, 10% cornbread dressing and 50% bread stuffing.

Scott and I had the bright idea to put up our Christmas tree that night so the kiddos and I could decorate it the next morning. Well, that 10% of turkey kicked my butt, so I supervised from the couch. Jillian was also up and supervised thisclose to the her father. I wasn't sure if the tree would continue to go up at that point, but thankfully it did.

The next morning Jillian was up at 5:15. Yes, as in a.m.  She wanted to start decorating the tree. Yes, at 5:15 a.m. I reminded her that Mommy needs at least 1.5 cups of coffee prior to any kind of activity. She stared at me while I drank my coffee and then sprung into action. I will give it to the kiddos, they had the tree decorated in record time and I only had to move a few ornaments.

Friday was also Scott's birthday. We met up with his parents for dinner and then came home for some cake. The kiddos love decorating cakes for him and were beyond excited for him to open his present.

Saturday I was up early again to meet my friend Michelle for a 6 mile run. I didn't really mind getting up early, because I really wanted to get this run in. After all, I did consume copious amounts of stuffing. We crushed our previous 6 mile time  by 5 minutes, which is a huge success in my book.

Later that day we went over to Michelle's house to watch the FSU vs UF game and celebrate Scott and Harley's birthdays. Scott and Harley have been friends since high school and their birthdays are a day apart and always during the rivalry game. It was perfect.

Michelle and I pulled off the ultimate surprise and surprised the guys with an FSU cake. Okay, well Scott was surprised because Harley saw it. Still, surprised.

Can we take a second and break from my weekend to discuss the Auburn vs Alabama game? I mean holy crap that was amazing.

Okay, back to me. Today was pretty chill. We really didn't do anything and I'm completely fine with that. I am suffering from stuffing withdrawal though. I'm hoping that half gallon of peppermint ice cream will dull the pain.

Hope you had an equally wonderful Thanksgiving holiday!

Our Thanksgiving

I truly hope your Thanksgiving was fantastic and you, like myself, ate your body weight in stuffing.

Aaron helped me in the morning with all of the prep work for the dessert (apple snickerdoodle cobbler), the stuffing and the sweet potatoes. I was afraid we weren't going to have any apples for the cobbler because for every slice I cut, Aaron was there eating another.

We also watched the Macy's Thanksgiving Parade and Jill pretended to be a Rockette the rest of the morning. I don't know what it is about that parade, but it always puts me in the spirit for the holidays.

Thanksgiving was spent at Mimi and Paw Paw's house and we had quite the spread. Aaron insisted on eating the turkey leg and after a few bites he gave up.

After dinner we headed home to relax and then read the Elf on the Shelf story. I really love this tradition and even though by night 10 I'm spent with ideas, it's totally worth it to see their reaction every  morning.

Boyd the elf's first location was their room and the reaction they had this morning was priceless. If it is any indication of how they will react on Christmas morning, it will be perfect! 

I hope you had a happy and healthy Thanksgiving!