Thanksgiving - Its A Long One!

Thanksgiving this year, in a nutshell, was a treat. Marc and I hosted this holiday with nine other special people: Mammal, Ray, Michelle, three nephews and Loraine and her daughters. Before I start to tell stories, let it be known, that Marc and I are/were thankful for the time we spent with family and friends and love everyone.

On that note, did I mention that two of the three nephews are under the age of two. Yeah, I said it, two! If you have seen our house, its not the most ‘kid-friendly’ place in the world. I mean, its fun for adults, but it probably frightens most kids. Actually, if frightens most adults too.

Let me back up a bit. Michelle brought the little ones down to our place a few times already. Each time, resulted in a trauma of sorts. On one occasion, we had to go to the ER for an ear infection and fever. Another time, Patrick fell off the couch and landed head first into the corner of a table (can you say HUGE egg on the head and thank God for frozen peas). So, when we heard the babies would be back at our place, Marc and I needed to proceed with extreme caution. We tried to ‘baby-proof’ our place, but, we were not 100% successful.

Lets see, Mammal and Ray got to our place the day before Thanksgiving. Soon after them, the van showed up with the other seven people. At this point, we have six adults, three teenagers and two babies. Side note: from this point on, our three cats went into hiding and would only come out late at night, when everyone was sleeping and in between Jacob’s nightly crying sessions (which happened at least twice a night).
Twenty minutes after everyone arrived, Michelle informs me that one of the babies removed his diaper and pee-ed on the floor. What? Marc and I once had a dog visit our place and he pooped on the floor. But this was a first with a baby. Maybe this kind of thing is normal with little ones, maybe this was his way of marking his territory. Who knows, all I knew, was this was going to be the start of a wonderful adventure! Let the games begin. Babies - 1, Renkes/Lovelady house - 0.

Doorstops, everyone has these things in their home. Marc and I had no idea just how many we had until the babies arrived. Jacob, the youngest, somehow managed to gather and eat about 15 doorstops. I didn’t even think we had this many doors in our house. Ray, did his due diligence and removed the rubber stoppers on the ends of each doorstop, so Jacob wouldn’t digest them. Now, we have 15 doorstops and their rubber counter parts scattered throughout the house. Babies 2 – Renkes/Lovelady house – 0.

Guitar hero! There was a fair amount of guitar hero being played over the long weekend. Of course, Patrick wanted to play with the guitar and slam it on the floor. This couldn’t happen. So, a toy guitar needed to be purchased to steer him away from the guitar hero game. It was a major success. Babies 2 – Renkes/Lovelady house – 1. We are catching up!!!

Wedgies! We all remember this from grade school, pulling someone’s underwear up over their heads! Dennin is a special nephew and a wonderful brother. His early ‘life’ teachings included the wedgie. However, instead of giving Patrick a wedgie, he taught Patrick to give one to himself. Smart? I think so. Look at this….

Barney!! That damn purple dinosaur, I will punch him in the face and throw it in the river. I always heard stories of how adults hated this purple beast, but never understood it until the babies arrived. Patrick needed to watch this video over and over again or he would throw a tantrum. For those people around kids, you know what I am talking about. To avoid the possibility of Patrick turning into the girl from the exorcist, we watched Barney. It played so many times, that mammal and Dennin sang more songs than Patrick. What happened to sesame street? I think someone should plot against this purple beast and bring back the classics. Babies – 3, Renkes/Lovelady house – 1.

Jeter! You all know, the man in my life (behind Marc of course) is Mr. Derek Jeter. Patrick is at the age where he will say ANYTHING. So, what do you think I got him to say? You guessed.. JETER!! Babies – 3, Renkes/Lovelady house – 2.

Boobies! There comes a time when all kids need to learn human body parts. Patrick has learned a new word! We have a statue of Venus and Patrick will point to it and say this (listen carefully to the end). Michelle just shakes her head.

We did a fair amount in the five days that folks were at our place, considering the amount and ages of the people visiting. We checked out Beowulf (awesome 3D show—go see the 3D version in theatres), went to DC and did some sight seeing, sat outside at night a couple nights (it was 75 degrees), went for walks to the park, watched movies, played pool, had a lot of wine, sangria and beer (not the kids), etc.

We are coming up to D-day (departure day) and I am thinking, ‘heck’, I think we are going to get out of this alive. No major accidents as of yet. Until….. We hear Michelle come into our room and announce (to my mother) that she needs my mom’s help. Side note: Marc, me, Mammal, Ray, and Dennin were all in one room with a combo of air mattresses and beds. My mom darts of out bed and leaves the room. I am thinking to myself, here we go, we have to go to the ER for something. I start thinking to myself, where did I put my car keys (are they in my purse or did one of the kids eat them.. maybe this is why we had to go to the ER). Then I hear laughing. Not chuckles, but the kind of laugh where you just start crying. Please keep in mind its early, like 7:00-7:30 AM. My mom, Michelle and Patrick, come back into the bedroom. Believe it or not, Patrick woke up on his own and got into my sister’s make-up bag. He had lipstick, eye liner, mascara, etc all over his face and neck. The boy knows how to complete the look, he also got into Michelle’s hair products. The kid had so much ‘gunk’ on his face. Take a look. Loriane made the comment that she heard him just singing away in the bedroom, she had assumed Michelle was in there with him. We all know what happens when you ASSUME something. We had to use serious make up remover and real shampoo (not the baby kind) to get it all off of him. The laughing (the hard kind with tears) lasted throughout the bath. What a glorious way to start the day. Babies – 4, Renkes/Lovelady house – 2.

So, after five days, with six adults, three teenagers, two babies, a big Thanksgiving diner, a lot of dish washing and garbage changing, the Renkes/Lovelady house batted .500. Not too shabby!

Things I have learned over Thanksgiving 2007:

* Watch what you say around babies, they will say anything
* Never cry over spilled milk or pee on the floor
* How to put a sock on a squirmy child
* Guitar hero is one of the best games ever
* How to make a moist turkey and tasty enough that my mom wants the recipe
* You can never empty the garbage enough when dirty diapers are in there
* Strangers can become family in a matter of five days
* Wine pumps, plastic pot holders and empty water bottles make great bath toys
* Never under estimate how good a 13 year old can be at pool
* Photographers who take pictures of kids, don’t get paid enough
* Don’t attempt to shop on Black Friday, especially midnight on Thanksgiving
* Patience is a virtue
* We can easily sleep 11 people in our house
* It’s the stories above that make a family a family

Within 45 minutes after everyone left, Marc and I found ourselves at the bar. Was it a semi-crazy five days, yes! But nothing that some quality time with your spouse and a Guinness can’t fix.

Is there an open invitation for Thanksgiving next year.....Drum roll.....YES! We had a blast!

Check the Picasa link for more Thanksgiving Pics