thanksgiving weekend

i hope all of you had a wonderful turkey day weekend, especially roxy who was hosting the feast!

we went to my brother's in des moines. AH! beautiful des moines, iowa.

molly is doing dinner. i'm doing green bean casserole, because you know i can open a can like nobody's business. my mother made this god-awful "twice baked" sweet potato thing. with nuts on top. horrible. really just awful.

we sit down to dinner. jay's kid logan, age FIVE. FIVE. declares he's not going to eat any of the food on his plate. "I DON'T LIKE IT!" he screams. like a freakin' toddler. he is sent to his room. he comes down when he hears that it's time for dessert. molly baked apple pie. "I DON'T LIKE IT!" he screams. (neither do i, but that's okay because i brought 'puppy chow' mix.) a shouting match ensues. it's all my mother can do not to snatch up and beat the kid. and his mother. and my brother. it was a terrible display.

end of story? they make the kid a microwave pizza.

friday, molly and i went black friday shopping. we actually went to walmart where molly wanted to buy 2 video game chairs that were in the ad for $30. so we join the hoard (fortunately they were decent enough humans in iowa NOT to trample the store employees). i had to ditch my cart because there were so fucking many people that i literally couldn't move. so i find the damn video game chairs and they weigh 30 pounds and are in the biggest freaking box you've ever seen, so i grab one and then try to find molly. i give up and wait for her in line to check out. the line is so long that we have time for her to find me, go back and get a second video game chair, take turns manning the cart while the other shops. i buy a copy of transformers on blue ray that i ended up taking back today (got it for $5 cheaper at best buy) and a pair of hannah montana crocs for kate to wear around the house. so there. i've contributed to the downfall of the economy by shopping at walmart.

then we move on to target. i'm able to get the $50 DVD player i wanted for the car eventhough we've arrived a good 45 minutes after the store opened. unfortunately, we miss out on ALL the wii or DS game sales. sad news.

next, kohls. i don't need anything here. line curls around to the back of the store, so i wait while molly shops. she buys an apron for her bratty ass kid's preschool teacher for christmas. i'm thinking "i'm waiting so you can buy an apron?? i'll give you the $5 you're saving." so when she's done, i wander for a few minutes and find harry potter scene it for kate.

finally, best buy. i buy some phones for my mom.

tom and his lovely wife suzanne come up to des moines to hang with kate for the day. they go to a movie. molly invites them to stay for dinner. tacos. molly's parents are there, too. logan eats a tortilla. then molly gives him junk food all night. i want to strangle the kid. it's no wonder he's so small and pale. he only eats carbs. i've literally NEVER SEEN HIM EAT A VEGETABLE.

on that note, i've never seen molly eat a veggie, either. so there you have it.

saturday we get a big family portrait taken for my mom and my dad and maggie as christmas gifts. super fun. logan didn't eat any of the breakfast casserole molly made, so he's eating chewy fruits. i lose count at 4 bags. the little kid, lucas, who is as cute as cute can be is eating banana flavored puff things. like cheerios. kate had a turkey sandwich and mashed potatoes for breakfast, so she's not snaking at all. pics come out fair, but acceptable.

we play wii all afternoon. molly asked me not to bring raving rabbids, so naturally i did. we play that. logan can't work the wii remote and kate is irritated with his pouting and whining. they disappear. jay breaks out the rockband. SUPER FUN. we rock the house. kate joins back in and does "dirty little secret" so well that she scores a 100% on vocals.

so there's my magical holiday moment:

kate singing "dirty little secret" while her mom plays pretend drums and her uncle plays pretend guitar.