I'm Back!!!

Life as I know it is changing!  I'm leaving Facebook for good!!  :D  I am such a time waster on it and as embarrassing as it is to admit, I'm totally addicted! I can't just cut back, or limit the amount of times I check it.  I've tried several times, I just can't do it! So for my own well being and the well being of my family, I have to eliminate it from my life.  I already feel so much freedom!  I am on it until the end of the month to finish up some stuff I've started in a couple of groups, but come November 1, I'm done!!  People do this all the time, say they're leaving Facebook and then get back on a little while later, so I know there are doubters out there, but I will prove them wrong!  I'm done!  I still have instagram because I love my chatbooks!!  And I will now be starting up my blogging again.  It's nice to have a place people can keep up to date with my life (if they so desire) and somewhere to journal what's happening with my family. I've never been very dedicated to my blog (my last post was 3.5 years ago, haha!), but hopefully with no Facebook to get in the way, I'll be able to blog once a week.

This past weekend was Thanksgiving and we had no dinners planned on either side of the family.  With my parents on their mission in the Congo, my siblings and I are hit and miss on planning family dinners for special occasions.  This time we didn't.  On the Palmer side, Cyndi was in Hawaii, so we are planning to do our dinner when she is back in town.  So that left us alone this weekend.  I've never made a turkey before, nor did I have the desire to try now.  So I bought a pot roast and planned to make a traditional Draper sunday dinner for Thanksgiving. Potatoes and yorkshire puddings are easy and I've done a thousand times, but this was my first time doing a roast and gravy.  Turns out it's super easy and I should have tried it years ago.  Jaclyn loved helping me in the kitchen.  In the morning, we stuck the roast in the crock pot and then we made pumpkin ginger snaps to have for dessert with ice cream.  Next, she learned to peel and chop potatoes and then make yorkshires. It was so fun to work side by side with her, she loves to cook and bake and try things for herself, not just observe!  The total opposite of me as a child. :)  Thank goodness for that!  She made name place settings and her and Thomas made some handprint turkeys to cut out and decorate with.  It was such a fun, relaxing afternoon.  Thomas and Jeffrey mowed the lawn, and Jacey was good to play with Peter and keep him out of the dishwasher, his latest obsession! I just realized this is the first time I've mentioned Peter on this blog.  Haha!  My last post was about Thomas just after he was born, in April of 2011.  Well Peter was born May 4, 2014.  But I'm not backtracking, I'm only going forward from here.  Thankfully, I have an actual journal I write in and I've documented Peter's birth there. :)  After we had our "fancy" dinner, we played a game to see who would help Mom with the dishes in the kitchen.  My family used to guess the right number to choose who would help (choose a number between 1-100.  30! Okay now choose between 30-100.  80!, choose between 80-100) Every one would take one turn guessing and the person who finally guessed it would have to help clean up until the next person guessed the number and they'd trade out.  For us, we got two dice and took turns rolling them.  The person who got doubles would help me until the next person got doubles.  The kids actually thought it was the best thing ever and laughed and laughed when they had to help! It was so nice to have cheerful help and it got the job done much faster!  Plus I just enjoyed the company, I didn't even mind doing it all by myself,  I just liked having everyone around me.  We ended our night with cookies and ice cream and played some Wii U Nintendoland games.  Mario Chase and Luigi's Haunted Mansion to be exact.  The kids' favourites.  They love it so much more when Jeffrey and I play.  Which I get!  Doing anything with mom and dad makes it so much more fun!  I remember that feeling from when I was little too!  Even now, when my parents play games with my siblings and I, it's more fun!

I was sad at first when I realized we weren't having a big Thanksgiving celebration with any family, but during and after our day yesterday, I was so thankful that we had this opportunity to celebrate it alone!  It is for sure one my favourite Thanksgivings to date!! I am thankful for my kids and Jeffrey, I am so blessed to have such a special, loving family!!