Thanksgiving #1

The Mister's side of the family has this tradition going back oh, 40+ years. Camping at Thanksgiving. It started with just his immediate family, and eventually blossomed into this giant 100+ person meal. Several families from his childhood church camp (6-10 families) at the same campground in south Texas, and then everyone else arrives on Thursday with food in hand. We used to go every year, but then his parents retired and moved to central Texas. So now it's just us. There have been a few years that we didn't camp, for one reason or another. Last year, we just invited his parents to our house for the week. Which means they bring their yappy dogs (rat terriers.... really.). So this year, to avoid time spent with the yappy dogs, we suggested camping again. It was also Little Man's first time camping. He did alright... woke up in the middle of the night all 3 nights, but otherwise it was good.

So now we're off to do Thanksgiving with my side of the family. My side at any holiday is TOTALLY different than his side. His side at Thanksgiving: 9 people in attendance (my family of 5, his parents, a brother & his wife)... My side at Thanksgiving: 30+ people (I'm the youngest of 6... plus nieces/nephews now bring significant others, and even a couple of them have babies!). My side is LOUD... almost too loud. Someone will usually sit down at the piano and start playing, and then like a moth to a flame, others gather round and start singing. Very Norman Rockwall.

Normally we don't see my side until Christmas, but this year we are going to start what will hopefully become a new tradition. We are going skiing. Instead of dealing with the usual family drama(s) (oh, don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about), we are removing ourselves from the warzone ridiculousness state and heading to Colorado. I'll tell you more about that another day.

For now, I'm off to finish a few chores before we head to Oklahoma. Should be interesting...

My heart broke a little...

Saturday night, my heart broke a little. Sister #2 came downstairs after her shower and she was crying. I thought she hurt herself. But when I asked, she let it all out. She said she wanted to move back to our old neighborhood and play with her old friends. She said she didn't like it here. My heart broke.
We moved about 7 1/2 months ago. The Little Man was on his way, and we needed a house with more space. So over spring break we moved. We let the sisters finish the school at the school they had been going to for nearly 2 years. We thought that would help... you know, try to keep some sense of normalcy. Especially knowing that once Little Man made his debut, a lot of that normalcy would fly right out the window.
The new house is in a new neighborhood, but there are quite a few families with kids already here. In fact, there are 13 other kids on our cul-de-sac and 12 on the cul-de-sac behind us. And 4 of them are Sister #2's age! In fact, both sisters have made friends with almost every single one of them. And once school started, they have friends on the bus that they know from church. So it came as a real surprise when she said this.
What do you do? I was almost at a loss for words. We explained to her that we weren't going to move back to our old house. And we suggested she play with some of the kids that aren't as bossy. Deep down, I know this is just one of the parts of childhood you have to just muddle through. But as a mom, it breaks my heart.
Yesterday, she woke up in a fine mood... and she even played outside with some neighborhood kids yesterday afternoon. I guess we'll take it one day at a time.