All Partied Out

I have been on hiatus the last two days. Or is it three? I don't even know. I'm hungover from too much turkey, too much stuffing, too much junk food, too much beer, too much football, too much of everything! It seems like we've done lots of partying this week.

Thursday, of course, was Thanksgiving. We just had Aaron's brother's family over and there's only four of them, but it sure did seem like we had a lot of food and dishes and action going on. Here are two of our dinner guests here.

Because the grocery-store-sack-vest and headdress are such a popular Preschool/Kindergarten project this time of year, it was no surprise to learn that Avery and her cousin, at different schools in different grades, had similar Thanksgiving outfits this year. And they wore them proudly, the entire meal. Actually, the vests were hanging on the backs of their chairs because those square corners on the sack/vest jabbed them in the neck when they tried to eat, but the head bands stayed put.

Friday there wasn't much of a party, but we did meet Aaron's dad for lunch and pigged out on Olive Garden. Dad was buying, so we really did it right. Full entrees all around and a yummy pumpkin cheesecake for dessert. My sister in law and I ordered one to share and were mortified when the waitress said "Didn't you get enough pumpkin pie yesterday?" which felt like code for "Hey Fatty, it looks to me like you've had quite enough pumpkin pie, but if that's what you want, I'll bring it." Yeah, we want it. And we ate almost the whole thing. And it was good. And it's worth my pants being too tight today.

Yesterday was a real party. The OU/OSU football game was on TV yesterday. It's a big game for my husband and I because of our opposite school affiliations, so we decided to have a few people over to watch the game. Avery loves to be involved with any kind of party, so we really hammed it up yesterday. The girls wore their "Bedlam jeans", which I made using craft glue and which have completely fallen apart after one wearing. But they were cute for a minute.

Everyone in our house knows there's a party if there's curly ribbon on the light fixture (something my mom always did for us on our birthdays and a tradition I've continued for my own kids...they LOVE it), so we did red ribbon for the Sooners and orange and black for the Cowboys. (The Cowboys got beaten horribly and I don't want to talk about it, so we'll just focus on the fun parts of the party.)

We also sorted M&M's and Skittles, taking out all colors except red and orange. We had football serving platters, red plates and orange and black cups. I think Avery liked decorating as much or more than the actual party. I let her take a few pictures of "her" table. I took one of these and she took the rest...guess which ones were hers?

Avery told me that she thinks I "buy really good party stuff" and this football bowl was one of her favorites.

I like her close-ups. It probably helps that she's eye-level with the table top.

Ok, I won't bore you with any more food pictures taken by an overly excited 4-year-old. The point is, we partied. A lot. And we are all partied out. I want to spend all day laying in my jammies, watching movies like Steel Magnolias or Beaches and holding my snuggly baby boy. Ah, that sounds like Heaven. I'm going to put a movie on right n.....Oh. Wait. We have a 6-year-old's princess birthday party to attend today. (How could I forget? Avery has been whining all morning that she is going to have to dress up like a girl today.)

What's that Robert Earl Keen song? "The Road Goes on Forever and the Party Never Ends?" I don't think it's quite the rowdy, drug-induced partying that he was singing about, but it sure hits home today.