A Thome Thanksgiving Weekend

I hope everyone enjoyed their holiday this past week!  We had a wonderful time at our Aunt’s house, where we have been going for Thanksgiving for years now.  Both Dan and I come from fairly large families.  Both of our grandparents are blessed to have TONS of grandchildren, with a list of great-grandchildren that is forever growing.  So, I must say, every holiday is extra special to see all the generations together, continuing traditions, and creating new ones as the years go on.  For the first time this year, Dan and I decided it would be a nice tradition to cut down our tree the day after.  As soon as the kids woke up on friday, we were out the door.  We made a quick black friday stop to pick up a christmas present, then googled the directions to the tree farm only to realize that it did not open until 1! UGH! It was then 8 am, and we had HOURS to kill with the kiddos.  Needless to say we managed, continued the christmas shopping, and even received VIP treatment at chick-a-fila after a Kohls visit, which cracked us both up.  This was the first time in 7, yes, 7 months that we sat down just the four of us, in any food joint to eat with the kids.  Brody is prone to tantrums these days, and Owen is always wanting to nurse, so we would rather cook fresh food and stay home! Maybe we’re like shut-ins, never leaving the house to eat, but we were shocked that a fast food place delivered our food to our booth, gave the kids place mats, refilled our drinks, and supplied mints before we left.  We just about died laughing, saying it was the most romantic date we’ve had in ages.  Five hours later of killing time, we were ready to roll.

“To the forest” our dear Brody was saying as we drove to the tree farm.  He was so excited to watch Dad cut the tree down.  Dan grabbed the saw and the sled, and was shaking his head as he walked over to get me and the boys.  “You don’t even want to know,” he said, “it has been open since 8am.” Just goes to show, call ahead, and do not rely on the internet alone!

Brody was overjoyed when he saw Dan get the sled to pull him on our tree hunt.  Okay, now, these fields are HUGE, and with dragging the kids around town for 5 hours we wanted to make it short and sweet.  Last year, the tree we cut seemed perfect until we got it home and could hardly get it inside our house.  It was massive, and took up way to much space in our living room.  This year, our goal was to not focus on the size as much, just to pick a pretty tree that has great shape, color, and no holes.  Thirty minutes later, we found it, and Dan got to have a lumber jack moment and cut the tree down.

It turned out to be a beautiful day, we almost lost the tree on the car ride home (classic) and pulled over to make some adjustments.  Got it home and realized our tree was super short.  Not sure how we missed that …

OH GOSH, this is too funny.  It looks like Brody could be taller than our tree by Christmas.  Like the new paint color? We love it, more pictures to come.  After decorating the tree and seeing it untied, we have actually grown fond of our short and stumpy tree.  It has personality.

We have more decorations we would like to add, I’m sure I’ll be at Target sometime this week and make it happen.

And the grand finale to our weekend, Brody’s first experience ICE SKATING! We have been anticipating this moment since we found out we were expecting.  Long story short, the Thome family, (my husband and his sisters) were born and raised in a hockey world.  Dan kicked it off starting at 5, and his sister Kristi started at 9.  They both played throughout highschool, travel teams etc.  Kristi even went to college on a hockey scholarship which I think is so cool.  Dan is OBSESSED, his love for the sport is indescribable.  It’s a special bond between his family that dan is eager to pass on to our boys.  I am not a big sports person I must admit.  I do not have the attention span to sit for that long to watch any game, but hockey has grown on me quiet a bit.  So, getting Brody in skates and watching his face light up, had to be one of the best moments we’ve shared as parents with Brody.  He was smitten by the experience, and Dan just glowed.  He was so proud of his boy.  We just might be at the rink every sunday until Brody is old enough for skating classes.  Our little “rink rat” lifestyle has officially begun. =0)

Dan took off skating really fast, holding Brody’s hands, and I, being a mom panicked and tried banging on the glass to tell him to slow down.  Glad no one was around because when you watch a hockey game, and the fans are banging on the glass it seems so effortless.  I think I may have broken my hand trying to get their attention, haha.  Surprisingly Brody did not cry, his face just beamed of excitement.  I then had to come to terms with the fact that my sweet little Brody will one day be checking people into the boards, and may even be missing teeth by the time he gets into college.  Even though that makes me cringe, he was such a natural and my little man was so proud of himself, as we were of him!

Look at that grin! On both their faces.  Such a great day, we will forever remember this weekend.  We Cannot believe Brody will be 3 years old come March, every day, every minute we fall even more in love with this little man.  It’s moments like these that we hope our boys will remember.  Most parents say they want to freeze time, that their kids are growing up too fast.  I agree, but watching Brody grow from baby to “big boy” in what seems like seconds, has been the most amazing time in our lives.  Owen has added such a flare to our family, and we cannot wait to watch these Thome brothers rock our world!