Our Thanksgiving

Ah. Thanksgiving.

Tuesday evening, I realized that Thanksgiving was in two days and I needed to get my act together. I did my first of four "last trips" to the grocery store for ingredients, finalized my menu, and started making a plan and time table for cooking/cleaning. I spent a lot of Wednesday cleaning and prepping. By the end of the day I had a decently clean house and all but one of my dishes made.

In fact, the stress didn't hit me until 1:30pm Thursday afternoon. About the time Demand protested her afternoon nap. (The first time in a long time) If she didn't sleep, fine, I wasn't going to fight that battle, but we did need her in her room for a minimal two hours just so we could get work done. Around the same time, Mr. Sloth was having some issues with the turkey which pushed back grilling time. (more on that later) and I kept realizing not only what I hadn't done yet, but I realized a lot of little things I hadn't thought of that needed to be done.

Around 3:30pm (a half hour to an hour before guests were to arrive) is when we really kicked into gear. I had to let Demand out of her room. That's when I discovered her most disgusting diaper. Half way through changing the diaper I decided the best place to put Demand was the bathtub. Perfect for everyone. She's staying clean and out of the way while being entertained. This allowed me to do my hair,makeup, get dressed and pick up the playroom. (Before I get concerned phone calls you can see Demand fully (and hear her at all times) from her playroom..actually, most of the upstairs.

Meanwhile Mr. Sloth was downstairs cleaning and managing the turkey. Everything came together, and we were ready before guests came. (It helped that they got lost and were later than expected)

Since all my dishes were done or waiting to be cooked through I just had to wait and follow my time table (which was a great idea by the way!) Mr. Sloth however kept hitting road blocks...a lot of them. From having a roasting rack too high so he couldn't close the lid, to having the wheel fall off the grill. One thing we really had going for us was that the kids were entertained up in the playroom and no one was really hungry. Around 6pm, after seeing pink juices from the Turkey, we decided to eat all the other dishes while the Turkey finished in the oven. Mmmmmmm, why don't I make this food all the time??? Sadly, after stuffing ourselves some of the guests had to leave, before the Turkey was ready. Mr. Sloth was frustrated.

But...

When it was done, it was the most fantastic turkey ever. No really. It was. Demand who chose to throw back sparkling grape juice rather than eat during dinner LOVED the turkey and kept coming back for more. In fact considering some of our guests had left, we made a big dent in that wonderful Turkey.

After a long day filled with fun with cousins and no nap, I actually saw Demand grab a blanket and climb onto the couch. You don't see that too often around here. The rest of our guests left and Mr. Sloth put Demand to bed. She was more than ready. She grabbed her new snowflake pajamas and brought them down to Mr. Sloth. How's that for a hint? I did some cleaning while she went down for the night and then Mr. Sloth took over. I would have helped more if baby Valentine wasn't staging a protest over the days events.

By 9pm the kitchen was clean, just in time for company again. Yep, we weren't done yet. It was time for our annual viewing of "A Muppet Christmas Carol" with friends. It's no surprise that when the movie ended at 11:30pm, I was more than done. And off to bed I went.

It's now 8:43am and Demand and Mr. Sloth are still sleeping. Eh, I guess the longer they sleep the longer the kitchen will stay clean.

I can eat pumpkin cheesecake for breakfast, right?