Yesterday, we celebrated Thanksgiving with millions of other Americans. I love celebrating holidays at the same time as my far away family and friends. It helps me to feel more connected to them. Plus, when I call them that evening, we can exchange stories of what was good, what went bad, and laugh over a common topic.
The day started out pretty perfect. Granted, Chris and I had stayed up the nightbefore until 1 a.m. watching a movie. We always do this. Think to ourselves, "Ooh, it's a holiday tomorrow we can stay up later", forgetting of course, that we have 5 little alarm clocks that never sleep in. Right on schedule, someone woke up at 7:00 a.m., although, the surprise was that it was Alexandra. She usually does sleep in until at least 9, sometimes as late as 10. So I curled up on the couch with her and flipped on N.A.S.N. This is an awesome channel that broadcasts 24 hours of American sports. Baseball, hockey, football, the live games, are of course, in the wee hours of the day, but they show other games with just a one day delay. A Raiders versus Broncos game was on, so we settled in to partake in another very important aspect of proper Thanksgiving celebrations.
One by one, all the kids came out and we ended up spending an hour watching football together all cozied up under a blanket. You have to realize, that my kids have NO IDEA what football is. First there was a big discussion about why it wasn't "proper" football, i.e. soccer. Then Sarah wanted to know why all the players were fat, so I explained how there was tons of padding under their uniforms to keep them from getting hurt. (Although, some are just fat.) This led to an explanation of what the helmets were made of, and why there were grass stains all over their uniforms. Sarah also really liked the cheerleaders, but had to ask what they were called. Nick was worried they were dancing on the actual playing field and might get hurt. So I had to describe how the stadium is set up, fortunately, at a pretty good moment they zoomed out to show the whole thing, and that helped the kids understand much better. Noah loved spotting all the crazy painted up fans in the crowd. Sophie got a little freaked by some of the Raiders fans. That skeleton dude is pretty creepy looking.
I also had to explain that the white lines were real, as were the team logos in the end zone, but that the little yellow and blue lines were only on the tv, to help us follow the game better. One of the kids made a pretend head set just like one of the coaches, and then of course, they were trying to decide who they wanted to win based on nothing more than the color of the uniforms and how pretty the cheerleaders were. (I swear, I am not making this up.) With just 8 minutes left to go in the fourth quarter, however, they got bored and wanted to watch cartoons instead. I decided that that was enough of an American cultural lesson for the day, and let them change the channel.
Chris took the day off of work, and I had used one of the two free pass days the school gives the kids each school year, so everyone was home just like in America. We decided to eat at noon, or as close to it as possible, so I was very glad I had made all the pies and sugar cookies the day before. While I was busy cooking, the kids had fun decorating their cookies to look like turkeys. Nicholas declined as he thinks both frosting and candy corns are disgusting. He did make the vegetable tray and ranch dressing to go with it, though. And we are pleased to report that no fingers were harmed in the process.
We bought a tiny turkey, since I am the only one who eats it, and putting that in the same pan as the stuffing, I was able to squeeze a smaller casserole dish in with the ham in it. Seriously, you could hear the pans scraping against each other and the walls of the oven as I shoved them in inch by inch. But, in the end it worked out and both our meats were done at the same time. Then I threw the rolls in while we let the meat rest before carving and we were good to go. Fortunately, we all think sweet potatoes are disgusting, so I don't have to figure out how to cook those as well in my tiny little oven.
After the meal, some of us napped, some of us played with toys, and some of us played on the computer. It was a very relaxing afternoon, and we ended the evening with the whole family playing on the Wii, and we read two chapters of "The Tale of Despereaux" instead of just the usual one. Of course, it wouldn't be the holiday season without someone getting sick. Sophie get us started off right by throwing up in the wee hours of the morning and continuing on until past time to get on the bus. She is now lying on the couch, pretty miserable, but has managed to keep down her tea, so far. Since no one else is sick, I am not going to blame my cooking. 🙂
What a fun day! It had never crossed my mind that they wouldn't know what football was. I mean, it's FOOTBALL! I got a kick out of how they chose their favorite team.Someone at our house always gets sick on holidays too. This year both the boys had thick green snot but, other than the constant nose wiping, we had fun anyway.