Thanksgiving was spent at BIL's house this year. The food was great, my kids were very well behaved, and the subject of homeschooling didn't come up once. I was surprised since this is a real touchy subject for MIL. The rest of B's family is just indifferent about it. Which is fine.

We drove the kids to my mom's house after that, stayed about 30 minutes, and drove home. Mom took the girls shopping Friday morning at 6am. All three of them love it. They love the stores, the crowds, the clothes. And yes, Mom bought them tons of stuff - gave some to them now and saved some for Christmas morning. The majority of the stuff for the girls came from Abercrombie, which is usually too rich for my blood. J got a down coat (gorgeous), both got pajama pants/shirts, a large canvas zipper bag, and mitten gloves. Mom got W new sneakers (Jordans) and Timberlands (and some shirts and pants). J asked for a Build-A-Bear and mom told me that she said No, but K stepped right up and said she would buy the Mumbles penguin for J there. K used some of the birthday money she got. My mom was so proud and impressed with K, that she had to call later on and let me know.

W was at his cousins house all day. He had a great time. Mom and the girls met up with them there later and they all went out to The Cheesecake Factory for dinner and dessert - and to celebrate K's birthday. Mom told me that she sees such a wonderful change in the kids since they've been homeschooled. K and W have both mellowed out so much, are generous and kind with everyone, and have lost a lot of the competitiveness, attitude, and tantrums. Yes, I've noticed that too.

I worked a full day Friday (part-timers had to), and B and I had a wedding that night. Great big Italian fun, food, and dancing, til 1am. I finally got to sleep that night at 3am and woke up at 7am to work another full day. B tried to get some Christmas shopping in. He was fairly unsuccessful at finding most of what was on the list. I'm probably going to end up doing all the shopping online. It's so much easier.

J has dance practice today and I'd like to get some cleaning done so we can start decorating the house. This is my favorite time of year!