Thanksgiving X3!!!

Alright here we go. Our families all live four hours away from us so it starts out with the LOVELY long trip back home (a couple of days before turkey day). Screaming, crying and fighting is ALWAYS involved and I am often wondering WHY I choose to put myself through this agonizing trip so willingly!!

Now I have my Mom, my FIL AND my MIL to see. For the life of me I still have yet to figure out why we can't have one dinner. Our families get along but it has yet to happen.

ANYWHO. I stay at Mom's with the kids and I am awoken with the awesome smell of onions and celery being sauteed in butter for our stuffing. My mom, love her to death, is a high strung person and no matter how smoothly things are going she always is waiting for that one thing to happen so she can spaz for a reason! My side of family will arrive in waves and suddenly there are 35 to 40 people packed into her house and you know ALL the men are in front of TV gabbing about football. The women are cooking and talking about the latest family gossip and talking bad about the uncle that NEVER comes to our gatherings. It's time to eat (we eat around lunch) It never fails that my Aunt Paula has to stand up and say a prayer that takes 20 minutes. Not being a religious person, I will look at my hubby and my Uncle Wayne and we will all snicker to one another. I am always left to be the last one to eat as I seem to be the one taking care of ALL the little kids (it's always been that way...no clue why ). Then my family has to FLY over to my FIL to do it again. All that food, games and the talk turns into: "you better not have anymore kids," and "when are you coming home next?" and we always get political, and my FIL will no doubt tell the same stories he does EVERY YEAR!! Then we'll zip, zam, zoom down to the Burgh to be with my MIL. Yes that means MORE FOOD, by this time it's a 'do I have to?' feeling. Our stomachs are soo full that one more bite feels like we'll explode. But we eat and eventually we'll pass out and be racing to beat each to the bathroom, HAHA!!

We don't get home often as a family so picking one house this year then someone else's the next doesn't work. So we're stuck having Thanksgiving dinner 3 times. BLAH but YUMMY!!! But I'm not quite done yet, SORRY!!

The holiday isn't over until we are home in Harrisburg and that means that we will get stuck on the turnpike for HOURS trying to get home. And when that happens I am ready to cry. The kids will be 1000 times worse because they have done all possible things to entertain themselves so they turn there attention to each other.

So Jackson will be screaming bloody murder because he wants out of his seat. Josephine will be saying "MOM" every two seconds, D'Andre and Max will be threatened a billion times that I will "pull this van over and beat your butts if you don't stop!" And my husband will either be asleep or he'll be making matters worse by trying to discipline and irritating the older ones who start the back talking because they KNOW I dare not get out of the traffic because it'll make the trip take that much longer!! Oh yes the joy of being with family!! I actually LOVE it but am dreading the drive now!!! HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!! Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO ME!