thankful

A few things I found myself thankful for this Thanksgiving:

1. Feasts

Obviously we, like the rest of the country, gobbled up traditional fare at our Thanksgiving table, but first I feasted on multicultural foods at Caleb's classroom Thanksgiving party. Meat pies, pierogis, bruschetta, homeade hummus and pita bread, some sort of delicious Egyptian dessert, rice prepared in a variety of ways, Mexican spiced guacamole.... the list -- and buffet -- seemed never-ending. This is the kind of thing that results when your child's classmates, many of whom are first-generation Americans, hail from a wide variety of countries, and one of the things I love about Brooklyn.

2. Friends

We weren't blessed to get to spend the holiday with family, but we were able to finagle a fabulous dinner with a incredible group of friends. Just as we did a few years ago, we again organized a Thanksgiving potluck for anyone in the ward who had no other special plans and didn't necessarily want to spend the holiday eating alone. It was well attended, with 8 families who joined us, and, because none of have room in our homes for that kind of crowd, it was held at the church. Everyone prepared a few dishes to share, and we ended up cooking the turkey. We did our best to make things cozy and more home-like, and even moved the foyer couches into the Primary room for lounging/movie watching while we let our dinner settle enough for dessert. I can't speak for everyone, but I know that we had a great time.

Another addition to this year's dinner was the kid's table. Matthew did remarkably well eating all on his own.

3. The New York Hall of Science

Thanks to an Amazon Local deal, we had discounted tickets to visit the New York Hall of Science. So instead of dealing with the hassle of Black Friday insanity, we enjoyed a bit of scientific serenity at the museum. The boys were in heaven. Garrett loved the space clouds exhibit as well as watching paramecium move around on slides under a microscope; Caleb loved the wind tunnel demonstration; and Matthew took to stacking blocks wherever he could find them. Blake loved that they had an entire section devoted to the science of perception, and I found particular pleasure in the fact that Garrett and Caleb were so fascinated with the science behind human births. (Garrett: "That's how a baby comes out of your tummy?!" Ha! But before you cry inappropriate, know that it was for an display on the evolutionary development of a narrow pelvis in upright-walking humans, and it was about as non-graphic as you can make a demonstration on that topic be.)

Rockets at the entrance were a promising sign that they'd have a great day.

 Fun with the hall of mirrors.

Mesmerized by space clouds.

 Stuffing lightweight scarves into the wind tunnel tubes.

 Demonstrating the science of stacking.

 "So that's how a baby comes out of your tummy?!"

 They spent the longest at this exhibit, and had to come back one more time before we went home.

4. A Cleaner House

All the other spare moments of the weekend were spent rediscovering lost surfaces in our home, thanks to some blessed decluttering. I tackled the front entryway closet while Blake worked on our bedroom. (Meanwhile, the boys made lots of messes in the rest of the house.) We tossed a lot of unused stuff, and I'm already feeling a little lighter because of it.


Overall it was a great weekend -- a much needed break from normal life, and a chance to all be together without being weighed down by so much stress. And now we're feeling thankful that the Christmas season is finally upon us. (Garrett was convinced that December 1st was both Christmas Day and the first day of 2014.) Everyone around here are pretty excited for what's coming in the next few weeks.