Thanks...and Stuff

Ben and I decided that this would be a good year to start our own Thanksgiving traditions. (With the exception of Noah being at his dad's. We don't want to make that a tradition.) So we spent the day cooking and decorating for Christmas. Ben actually ended up cooking the entire meal, minus the broccoli casserole. This was not my fault however. I fully expected and was prepared to make Thanksgiving dinner. I was even kind of looking forward to it. Ben had other plans...last minute plans.

When we were discussing what/how/where we should spend Thanksgiving, Ben said that he didn't care too much for Thanksgiving and didn't really have any attachments to particular foods for this specific holiday. I got the impression that if it were up to him we would spend it like we did ever other day. I, on the other hand, have many attachments to particular Thanksgiving dishes and wouldn't feel like it was Thanksgiving without them. Mainly turkey and broccoli casserole. I told Ben that we didn't have to make a big deal out of the stuffing, we could just do stove top, and he said, "We'll if we're going to make it, I want to make something fancy." Or something to that affect. Classic Ben. If you are going to do it, do it right the first time and go ALL OUT! So before I knew what was happening he had found recipes for stuffing, green beans, turkey, and bread pudding. So much for spending the day like any other day. :) Poor Ben spent so much time preparing food. I did offer to help many many times, and did when I was allowed. When we sat down to dinner Ben was very disappointed with everything. The stuffing, which I thought was yummy, he said tasted just like stove top. He was very concerned that the turkey was not completely cooked because our thermometer was having problems and he lost his appetite while carving it. I don't think he even finished his plate of food. :( I thought everything was great though.

Here is a picture of Eden's Thanksgiving dinner.



And Hope's.

Oh dear. Yes. That is a cucumber. Which she did not eat. She only chewed it up and spit it in the garbage. I did make a plate for her, but she refused it as she does every night. She was very curious about the turkey all day long and kept asking to see it as it was brining and then cooking. I think she did eat a couple of tiny pieces of it, which I was very surprised at.

Eden only took a few nibbles too. This is uncharacteristic of her. She is usually a good eater, well, compared to her sister. But she had the stomach flu all week so I'm sure her appetite was not as usual.

Here are some pictures of decorating.

Hope helped fluff out the branches and kept sticking small stuffed animals in the tree to decorate it. No, I didn't make Ben decorate AND cook. He got down the tree and put up the base layers and I did some too. Let me just explain something about Ben, because I feel like his perfectness is making me look bad. If something needs to be done, Ben wants to do it himself. Part (if not most) of this is because of what I mentioned about him before. "If you are going to do something, do it right the first time and go ALL OUT."  Perhaps he feels that he is the only one that can do whatever it is right and would rather do it himself to avoid mishaps and having to clean up someone else's mistakes. He will not admit this, but I think it's true. At least that is what I tell myself to make myself feel better when my husband is doing all the work and I am standing around incessantly asking, "What can I do?" Perhaps he IS the only one that could do whatever it is right and the best. He has never disappointed before and I can't imagine that he will ever start.

I am sure that all sounds like I am irritated with this aspect of my husband's personality. That is not the case. I love that he has the attitude of "do something right the first time." Too many people do things half-heartedly and end up with less than ideal results or just big ol' messes. If I am being honest here, I am one of those people. I truly admire this quality of Ben's and want to adopt that quality in my way of thinking too. Although, I do get a little frustrated and offended sometimes when Ben won't let me help with things. I know that another part of the reason he does so much is because of his love for me and his desire to please me. He is certainly a gentleman in the fact that he wants to save me the trouble of doing something so he will do it himself. I will never understand how someone like him could love someone like me the way he does, but I am certainly grateful for the wonderful blessing of having such a man in my life.

Oh...we were talking about decorating.

Middle picture: Eden was playing peek-a-boo by putting a stocking on her head and lifting it up to say "Boo!" She spent most of the decorating time watching Mickey's Once Upon a Christmas, but every once in a while she would come in and oh and ah over the tree and ornaments.

So first just us Thanksgiving didn't go quite as planned, but luckily we have a lifetime of Thanksgivings to figure it out.