pity party: table of one?

spring ridge farm - thanksgiving 2012 :)

we woke up at 7:30 today. that's half an hour of bonus sleep past our usual 7:00 am call time. marcus has just decided two days ago that he is now afraid of the dark [what?!] so he is very open about needing [ahem, wanting] some extra attention from me around bedtimes and wake-ups, so this little bonus half hour? oh i was thankful.

i decided over pancakes and local strawberries that i was over the whole pity party thing. yes it would suck after nap to drop him at his dad's and drive home alone on a holiday. yes it would suck when he turned around and asked why i was leaving. yes it would suck to feel him follow me to the door and turn around to see puffy red eyes and have to run back and scoop him up and whisper reassurance that we are all okay and that i'll see him before bed. but you know what? that wasn't going to happen until four pm. so until four pm? we were going to live it up.

post-pancakes. we bundled up [and by that i mean i packed five layers for him and a thin sweater for myself only to find out halfway there that it was only five degrees out and i was about to freeze.]  and headed to spring ridge farm to meet one of absolute faves [deb. clearly.] and her handsome dude liam for a morning of fall fun. can i just derail this post? i seriously adore deb. we can spend hours together, half-supervising our boys who just get along famously and play like angels printing money - and it's still not enough time. she is hilarious + supportive + pregnant women everywhere have a free pass to hate on her because she's the only pregnant woman i know who looks more amazing every time i see her. deb - i am so so lucky to call you a friend. and marcus and liam? those two are peas in a pod. that's all.

okay so the farm rocked. exhibit a:

between 9:30 and 12:30 - we: checked out the chickens. fed the goats. our kids asked strangers for  money and humiliated us and then we had to return said quarters and apologize profusely on behalf of said kids. partied on massive bales of hay. rode huge slides made out of massive industrial plastic piping. took in a barnyard puppet show. our pint sized prince charmings rode pint sized stallions. tractor pulled wagon ride. corn maze. picked our very own ghost pumpkins off the farm. ate grilled cheese and farm baked chocolate chip cookies and milk for lunch. the boys chattered away. the moms chattered away. the pregnant mom may have told the unpregnant mom the gender of the new baby [!]. i can only speak for marcus. but he sure slept for 2.5 hours when we got home.

i realized this morning that it was totally my choice to either hang up a fried chicken pinata at my pity party, or amplify the positives in the moving target of our family dynamic. i realized that i had all morning [not to mention monday!] to start a few new fam traditions. maybe from now on, on t-gives long weekend, we'll pick pumpkins at a local farm as a family. maybe from now on, we'll bake cookies together for marcus to take for dinner at his dads when he wakes up sleepy and snuggly from his nap. maybe i will come to love a couple of quiet hours on each holiday to do laundry. do dishes. do me.

and for real? i did cry the whole drive home.

and for real? i think that i'm okay with it. i was proud of myself for keeping it together until i had turned off westerdam. i was also proud of myself for stopping on the way home and picking up gluten free brown rice sushi instead of fried chicken.

and lastly for real? this morning rocked our socks more than that drop-off sucked. +, thanks to deb's encouragement, i am hosting my own little fancy dinner tomorrow night just for the two of us. with an all-natural ham, quinoa-brocolli casserole [which i stole off krista's pinterest], fresh beans + homemade apple crisp. with our fancy napkins and a tablecloth and our ghost pumpkins as the centrepiece.

so no need to save the date people. we are plenty grateful for the new traditions that we're starting this weekend, and the pity party is officially over.

happy t-gives. again. here's to pumpkins. ponies. pregnant deb. here's to being thankful everyday - not just today - but taking the holiday long weekend to soak in extra special time together and even extra snuggles when one of you is afraid of the dark.

this cookie is absolutely not organic. it was however perfectly soft and freshly baked.

-kare + m
xo