Heading Into the Holidays

November was a good month. A little slower than the normal hustle we have going on. Ya know, work, school, work, etc...We did a lot of early Christmas decorating. Yes, I am the one who is setting up Christmas decor November 1st. I just love how it makes me feel. So why not? We did some fun things this month and got some cold weather in. GIVE ME ALL THE COOL WEATHER. You will never hear me complain that it is too cold here. It just doesn't happen here. Ty had some Fall exotic car meets that we went to. One was a really fun outdoor one that went into the evening and we got to sit fireside w/ drinks and snacks and meet some new people. We did some brunches and lots of movie nights with the kiddos and dogs. 

We didn't get to see any family this Thanksgiving but we invited some friends over to share some turkey and pie. Had a laid-back kinda day. I made my home-made organic apple pies that I did NOT take a photo of... Ty did the rest. Haha. He's just so good at it. 

I'm getting the itch to travel...so my Black Friday Shopping consisted of planning some trips instead of buying  "things". I love to be home now and again, but I am an adventurer at heart. I am happiest when I have a good amount of balance in my life. Not too much time in the house. Not too much time away. I guess I get bored easily. We have a tradition that we swap off birthday parties and adventures every other year. This year, the kids all get destination presents. I planned some fun trips for Scarlett's Birthday and Maxwell's Birthday. Vera's birthday is end of January but I have yet to plan hers. January is a cold month just about everywhere so thinking of maybe embracing the cold in the mountains! Wherever we go, I'm making sure it's to places we haven't been to before!! xo 

Thanksgiving 2021. Family in from Boston

 

November 2020: Getting Back to Normal

 Rereading the title and thinking....Not really sure what normal is anymore but November is when Ty came back and we spent the month trying to spend as much time together as possible. We tried to find a rhythm and flow again. It came pretty easily. These kids are growing so FAST. It's a bittersweet thing that I struggle to watch. I love to see them do their firsts and at the same time, I mourn that it's the last time they will do each thing. I guess I don't have much of a choice in the matter but to count it as a blessing to watch them grow. 

Thanksgiving was spent by ourselves this year. It was simple and quiet. Well, as quiet as it can get with 3 kids and 2 dogs in the house. Ha. We made some cocktails and lounged around. We did get dressed for Thanksgiving Dinner but after that, it was right back in pj's. There were no plans and it was truly perfect. After having Ty gone so long, it felt like a party just to have him back! 

I found myself super excited to decorate for the holidays and I put our trees up in the beginning of November. I just love the feeling of the holidays. I like to make it last as long as possible. So all of the decor came down and we had fun decorating the trees and kid's rooms. I let the kids each decorate a tree in their rooms so that they don't touch mine in the living room. Ha ha. November was another good month of spending a lot of time together. Even though we were busy, at least we were together. I love this house full of crazies. The madness that happens is often overwhelming but I wouldn't want it any other way! 

Happy Thanksgiving

This post has been sitting in my drafts for 2 months now.....figured that I would finally push "publish" on it since it's end of January... smh. 

San Antonio is military capital for those that may not know. We live close to the air force base here. This year we put ourselves on the list to host some military away from home for the first time. It was my first time trying to do this and I first applied to the wrong place, then once I got a hold of the right place,  I applied too late.  So it was just the 4 and 1/2 of us for Thanksgiving this year. I can't get used to having holidays by ourselves for the life of me. My entire life we have always had large family gatherings and the holidays seemed more festive. Lots of people crowding around eating snacks. Laughter and chatter. Kids running around playing. But this Thanksgiving was a lot more quiet than any of those past memories. Just my Maxwell trying to fill the noise quota. Ty cooked pretty much all of the food besides the pies. The kids and I tackled that project. My goal was to have a completely all organic Thanksgiving dinner. I think we succeeded!!
After we ate, the kids and Ty brought some meals out to the homeless and then we just relaxed. It was a very laid back and chill Thanksgiving indeed. I did some more decorating for the holidays as well.

Pieces of Thanksgiving in Cape Cod

We traveled back to Massachusetts for Thanksgiving. We flew into Boston the night before and landed at 1am. Our first part of the trip didn't really go as planned. The rental company that we booked the rental car through 3 months prior gave our suv away!!! So we sat at the airport until 3am with crying babies waiting for them to try and figure something out. Ty may or may not have flipped out on the worker. And I may or may not have had to bring him back to calm. (Wow isn't that roles reversed!). Out of ALL of the rental companies at Boston airport, of course there wasn't one single rental car left. Families were sitting on the floor waiting for the next car to be dropped off. I was thanking GOD when the manager responded to my text at 2 am and somehow got us an SUV. I have never been so happy to see a vehicle in my life! Haha. 

Then we drove to Ty's sister's place in Boston who thankfully only lives 15 minutes from the airport. And from there everything was looking up. The next morning we headed out to Chatham Ma on the Cape.  The drive there was SO pretty. I forgot how much I love the colors and New England's beauty. I posted on Instagram about how easy it is to take for granted the everyday. And how when you don't have that anymore, you appreciate it a whole lot more. This was definitely what happened when we moved to Texas. There is so much about the east coast that I really DO miss. From the colonial houses to the colors. Even the way people talk! I went into Dunkin Donuts and just tuned into conversations going on around me. That Boston accent just made me nostalgic. When we were living in MA, we never noticed it but after being in NY for so long and now here in TX, going back really makes me realize that there definitely IS a "Mass accent". 

We spent Thanksgiving with Tyler's side of the family and with our soon to be brother-in-law's family! We felt SO welcomed as soon as we got to their adorable coastal house on the Cape. We had THEE best time. Sangria making, crafts for the kids, Christmas music, SO much food, Ocean views, games, football, beignet making, shopping the shops in quaint Chatham, Irish coffees and the most amazing clam chowder ever....or should I say, clam chowdah. ;) They brought us to see a real GIANT gingerbread house made of all candy that stood taller than me! Just so much greatness squeezed into a couple days. The kids were sad to go and all the way from the Cape back to western MA they were talking about how they wanted to go back! From there we went to my hometown. I haven't been there in YEARS but that is a whole other post since I have so much to share in this post already. So here goes the photo overload....Just gotta remember it all. I hope you all had a blessed and wonderful Thanksgiving. 

Sending love to ALL of those that I was missing this holiday. I thought of every one of you...

    ....annnnnndddd this song was stuck in my head all weekend. This trip back to MA truly got me in the holiday mood. Can't wait to go back and visit again!!