Thanksgiving

I hope you enjoyed a beautiful Thanksgiving holiday with the people you love! Our family had a nice day of eating turkey and spending time together. Cooking Thanksgiving dinner was a group effort this year with the help of my sister Rachel, my dear friend Dorothy, and even some of the men got in on the action! What a team we made! And everything turned out perfect!

20 of us sat down together and had a wonderful meal. I'm so thankful for days like that where we all come together.

Afterwards we started looking through the Black Friday ads to see what deals we could find. It has been a family tradition for all the women to head out together, coffee in hand, and shop till we drop early Friday morning.
After getting our game plan ready for shopping, my kids and I started decorating for Christmas (Daddy took a nap). Wow, what amazing little elves I have! They got most of it done with little help from me and did an incredible job! (Pictures coming soon)

Last year my hubby started going shopping with us and I'm so glad he does! How nice it is to have someone drop you off at the door, carry all your bags, and bring the warm car back up to you when leaving the store!
We put the little kids to bed at 8pm, as sales were starting late Thanksgiving day this year instead of early Friday morning, the older teens were in charge, and off we went to make our dollar stretch.
Now I'll admit, I love Black Friday shopping for the simple fact that I love a good deal and I need good deals when shopping for a large family. But I also love the crowds! I think it's exciting! I know, I know - many disagree with me and hate the crowds - not me! (Another reason I love going to NYC)

We started at Target where the lined wrapped around the building. We waited for a little and then decided we would hop back in the car, warm up, get some coffee, and head back in when the doors were clear to walk right in. Oh, that and I forgot my purse at home - duh! Warmed up, coffee (and purse) in hand we came back and as we had hoped, we were able to walk right in and shop! We found everything we came to get, with only one or two extras, and headed to Wal-Mart. I had a little difficulty finding some things, but my hubby to the rescue! He ran around asking, looking, and FINDING what we were there for.

Feeling a little tired at this point (it was 2 am) we stopped at a diner to get more coffee and a bite to eat. Now refreshed (ok, not really) we went to the mall. I have to be honest and say at this point my shoppers high had worn off and I had a little case of the grumpys. Not finding a pair of boots in my size might have added to that, but we pushed onward. I found a good deal on t-shirts, smelled some great smelling candles at Bath & Body Works (candles make me happy) and I think it was around 4am we were finally done.

I crawled into bed by 5am with my new, warm, and super soft blanket (thank you Dorothy) and slept till 10am. Overall a successful night and a big dent in my Christmas shopping!