Today, the Great Thane turns 6 months old. Happy Half Birthday, Baby!

And Happy FULL Birthday to Auntie LM!!!

The Saturday after Thanksgiving is always the Lighting of the Lights at Steve and Glenn’s house. Their show was phenomenal always, but I am sad to report it may be the last year they do it. It takes weeks upon weeks to set up not only the lights but also the performances of the night (they sing in between lightings, even had a ballerina this year) as well as a $700 per month electric bill!!!

Thane was mesmerized by the event….the people and the lights. We got there a little late because it was COLD. Thane was all bundled in a new snowsuit we bought him along with hat and mittens. I am sure he is going to hate me when he gets older for this outfit, but he was warm. Unlike mommy, who once again did not dress warmly enough, as usual.

Robbie sang in the performances and we were able to pick Donna out of the crowd and stand with her while the festivities were still going on. Thane was really looking at the lights almost the entire time and seemed to enjoy the fireworks that went off. They did not seem to bother him at all, in fact, for a few minutes after they ended, he kept looking at the sky.

Once all the lights were on and the performances complete, we headed to the backyard Tiki Bar where lots of food, people and Santa were awaiting us! They had some awesome spiced hot cider too that I kept going back for more…three cups worth! We sat at a table with none other than a very friendly jolly ol’ St. Nick. Thane got special treatment there and got to watch all the little girls and boys (and some big boys!) tell Santa what they wanted for Christmas! Then, it was his turn and he drew quite crowd and Ned took some great photos of him. I think I heard Gerber Baby mentioned more than once. Santa said it was nice to hold a baby again, his youngest was in college now.

The next day we did our own Lighting of the Lights, just much, much smaller. We decorated our home and tree and let Thane put the first decoration on the tree this year. Once we find the last two missing boxes (with the skirt, Paco’s fence, and the Santa “Angel” for the top of the tree) we will post a finished picture.

I could get sentimental about all I have to be thankful for, starting and ending with a beautiful little boy who makes Jay and my world wonderful every day. I could, but really…let’s talk about the food. OH MY! We had enough food to sink a small ship…the international themed turkey day was one of the best I have had in years. I made tsatsiki (cucumber and yogurt), hummus, brown rice and white rice, homemade pumpkin pie and salad. Jay made mashed potatoes. Eula brought a chickpea masala dish that was a perfect Indian spicy, in a recipe straight from her home of Goa. Mom and MB brought the turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potatoes, 3 different stuffings, stuffed mushrooms, 4 different kinds of deviled eggs and enough cranberry sauce for Lucille Ball to stomp in. It was an amazing dinner…with the masala getting rave reviews. Wanna know the best part….JAY CARVED THE TURKEY!!!!

A point proven again is that babies definitely feed off their parent’s moods. Whenever I have this picture perfect idea of how things should go, say when I envision my perfect baby sitting on my lap eating the little plate of mashed turkey, sweet potatoes and mashed potatoes that I made for him so that he would be a part of the family dinner, it never works out. Murphy always steps in. Such was the case, so I snapped out of it and let Thane take a much needed nap while we ate. He got to enjoy the turkey later.

After dinner, Jay and I got spanked at a game of Pictionary against MB and her new beau, Glenn. Then we hit the first after Thanksgiving sale at CompUsa where we spent an hour+ in line to buy 2 500 GB external hard drives for $80 a piece. It was a cold night, so we bundled Thane up big time. We went shopping Friday too, getting a new Garmin GPS System that rocks. I may find my waya round, but I am going to get so dependent on that thing, I may never know how to get anywhere without it.