Rewind to a month or so ago! ( Mullens, Thanksgiving, Bayshore, and more!)

So, our kids go to school with the family that owns Mullen's here in Watertown.  I guess I have made one too many references on how expensive I think it is to eat there!  (Sorry Troy and Shannon!)  Anyways, did you know that for the winter months, Mullen's is letting kids eat FREE?  Yes, you read that right!  No rules...no restrictions.  We took all of our kids there (before Griffin came) and they all ate for free!  How awesome is that?  Pretty awesome I would say!  Now, we don't want to abuse the kids eat free...so we have only gone twice so far !  (and the second time I only had 3 of the 7 kids!)  The nice thing about it was that we were then able to buy the kids ice cream since we didn't have to pay for their meals!  Thanks Mullen's for offering this to us this winter!  

It's not the best picture of them eating at Mullen's, I took it with my phone!  If your lucky, the owner might even stop by your table and say "hi!"  

 Lanie loved eating at Mullen's!  She even made her way into the kitchen a few times!  Watch out....future Mullen's Employee maybe?!?!

Lanie's hair is long enough to put into pigtails now.  This is what happens when you take the pigtails out!  It stayed like this all day long!

This year we chose to celebrate Thanksgiving at home by ourselves.  It was SO nice!  We didn't have to rush to be anywhere and we were able to just focus on our family and making memories.  The kids let us sleep in for a bit while they were busy working on a Thanksgiving play and making scenery and costumes.  I do not lie...they come up with this stuff all on their own.  They each had their own lines to say.  Some were pilgrims and some were indians.  They decorated and everything.  Note the sun above the TV and the tree to the right of the TV?  Somehow they even convinced Lanie to be a part of it!  We recorded it, but it is too long to put on the blog.

 I can't tell you enough how proud I am of my kids.  They worked together and kept in mind what Thanksgiving was really about!  I am so glad we chose to stay home and celebrate together!

 We watched the Thanksgiving day parade and the Packer game.  The kids colored a table cloth and helped decorate the table as well.  We even pulled out our fancy wine glasses.  We have been married for 10 1/2 years and this was the second time we used them!  We don't have anything fancy, except the 9 wine glasses we got for our wedding.  We are just not fancy people I guess!

 I made my first turkey ever.   I won't lie...it was nasty.  I don't know what I did wrong, but no one ate it.  Actually, no one really ate anything.  The big hit of the dinner was the canned corn!  I made them try the stuffing, cranberry, mashed potatoes, and turkey.  I am pretty sure they all left the table starving!  Next year we are having chicken!  I even poured sparking grape juice in the fancy glasses....that got dumped and milk was poured instead!  Oh well....we tried!

 After we ate we just relaxed.  I think we may have a new tradition here.  My favorite part was listening to the kids each say what they were thankful for.  They had each made a list earlier in the day of all the things they were thankful for.  I LOVE Lanie in this picture!  Not sure what she was doing, but I am pretty sure she wasn't in the picture taking mood!

Every year we try to get to Bayshore Mall during the Christmas season.  We didn't go last year.  I wanted to make sure we went before the baby came so we headed out to Bayshore the day after Thanksgiving.  It was beautiful out!  I think it was in the 50's!  If you have never been there...I would highly recommend it!  We started off by going on a horse drawn carriage ride.  They charge $5 per adult and kids under 12 are free!  Yes, free I say!  $10 for a carriage ride....what a deal!

 You hop in and the carriage takes you around the "square".  Christmas music is playing and they have it decorated so nice!

 In the middle of the square is this HUGE tree.  It was supposed to play music and do a little light show, but it wasn't working.  The kids still had a blast running around it and looking at it.  I think we might try to go back sometime this week!

 A quick Bayshore story....While we were at Bayshore we went to visit with Santa.  Now, Santa doesn't come to our house.  He knows that Dan and I work way too hard and long to let him get away with being the "giver of gifts" at this house.  There is no way we are letting someone else get away with getting the credit of doing all the work for our kids here.  So, Santa doesn't stop here.  Anyways, I did want to get a picture of the kids with him while we were at Bayshore.  Well, we stood in line and then found out that you can't take your own picture.  The cheapest picture was $30.  UmmKenadie was crying...Gavin was making a crazy face...so not worth $30!  So, Thank you , Santa Man for your generosity!

This isn't the picture with the Bayshore Santa....this is a different one!  So our kids know the truth about Santa, but they still like to say "hi" and visit with him.  The Friday before Griffin was born, we went to a live Nativity here in Watertown.  Then we stopped by the Senior Center to visit with some of the mentally disabled friends we have made.  The Watertown carolers were there and so was Santa.  (who the kids figured out was a man they knew from their school!)  Too bad Griffin wasn't here yet...we might just have to try another one still!

Now, I know everyone has their own feelings on Santa.  Please don't judge us for not doing the Santa thing....we don't judge you if you do the Santa thing!  Our kids know enough to not spoil it for everyone else so don't panic!

That's it for now!  Must go play CandyLand with Gavin before we have to pick up Kenadie from school!  Griffin is 2 weeks old today!  What?  Where did the last 2 weeks go?  I will post an update on him later!  He is getting cuter by the day I must say!