Giving much thanks

It is Thanksgiving once again, reminding us that we have so much to be thankful for.  I won't wax poetic about how wonderful my kids are (but they are) or how fantastic my husband is (but he is); instead, I'll be a little more honest.  We have been lucky with the weather this year - it's sunny and over 20 degrees this thanksgiving weekend, but we've had some cold nights and mornings lately, too.  Here's a picture of the boys warming up by the fire.  You may suggest that we allow our kids to wear clothes, thus eliminating the need to warm by the fire in this fashion, but you should know that I DO allow them clothes, they just like to take them off for some naked racing before bath time.  In the summer this kind of pastime is easier to get away with; in the winter it causes stops by the wood stove.

But as I mentioned, it warmed up for Thanksgiving this year.  And what a wonderful day it has been, brimming with promise as the morning starts, and degenerating as the day wears on.  I saw all the pumpkins and told the boys they had to pose in the pumpkins just like all the other kids, so I could have that cliche photo of my kids in the pumpkin patch just like all the other moms.  Well, it sort of worked.  Here is the series of photos that involved wrestling in the pumpkin patch - not quite Norman Rockwell, but good enough for us!

Aren't they cute?!?!

Here's Tom atop a stump, amid more pumpkins.

So we moved on to the corn maze.  This should have been a big hit.  Half way through (at least, we suspect we were about half way - no way to really know) Tom declared he needed to poo - NOW.  Maybe next year...

So we bought some squash and peppers and apples and headed home.  The boys said they had fun, and that's what counts!  Once we got home we washed the car and stacked some wood.  Here are the boys in their work gloves, helping their dad put the wood into the trailer.  While they didn't move a great volume, they were helpful and they seemed to take pride in being helpful - a good base for work ethic later on in life.

And finally, here's a great picture of Will.  I don't know why, but just as I snapped the picture he looked right at me.  He looks so sweet and angelic - maybe I got that perfect thanksgiving photo after all.