The Thanksgiving Tradition

If you've been following this blog for awhile, you may remember our Thanksgiving tradition. We have a large pot that we have always mixed our stuffing in before putting it in the turkey. From Katie's first Thanksgiving with us, she has taken a picture while sitting in the large pot. Every year we think that Katie might not fit in the pot anymore, but every year (so far), she has found a way to get in the pot. I'm going to feel a little sad when she no longer fits in there!

On my first Thanksgiving, I had plenty of room in the pot!

Now it's a little tight, but I still went in!

Thanksgiving Dinner

Have I ever said that Katie is a picky eater? Our Thanksgiving meal was full of delicious food, but Katie passed on almost everything.

I usually have some leftover fresh vegetables with dinner, but we didn't have any this year, so my meal was two dinner rolls and one cube of stuffing.

A Snapchat Thanksgiving

As always, we had to pull out the Snapchat filters to celebrate the holiday!

Pumpkin Pie Helper

As we started preparing our Thanksgiving food, Katie decided that she was most excited to help with the pumpkin pies. 

After splashing pumpkin pie filling all over my neck, I discovered that it's much safer to stir slowly.

I got the hang of things pretty quickly.

I asked if I could put the filling into the crusts by myself this year. It was my addition to dinner this year!

School Work

 Katie was so excited for her Thanksgiving Break from school this year. Tuesday was her last school day this week, and she started early on her work, so she could finish early.

Working, working, working...

Another Book

Katie has two books about Kamala Harris. Her first book was more of an autobiography, while the second was one particular story told about Kamala and her sister when they were kids. Katie likes the whole second book, but she loves the photographs at the end of the picture book.

This is my favorite picture! It shows Kamala and her sister, Maya, as grown-ups with Kamala's niece who wrote the book.

Taking Notes

Katie loves to have a white board in her room. She writes reminders, draws pictures, and now takes notes for school on it. It's so much fun for her!

My teacher gave me extra points when she saw I was taking notes while she talked!

Enjoying Christmas Movies

Katie loves Christmas movies in general, but this weekend she was so excited to watch the sequel to Princess Switch on Netflix. She had watched the original movie a lot, so it was nice to see a part two.

I was going to wait and watch this movie with Aunt Jennifer, but I couldn't wait a day to see it!

Christmas Mail

Katie was very surprised and excited to get a Christmas card in the mail from her friend, Kai. It completely made her day!

Thanks for the card, Kai!

I'll Take it Plain

Katie always has the same thing for breakfast. She either has one frozen pancake or one frozen waffle. She doesn't like anything on it. I've tried to change it up, but she likes it the way she likes it.

It's delicious to me just the way it is!

Another Book

Katie couldn't just learn more about Kamala Harris. Of course, she wanted to learn more about Joe Biden too!

I was so excited to get this book!

A Little Night School

Katie does most of her school work during the day when she is at my sister's house, but on Wednesday nights, we work a little on her PE and music assignments to get a jump on the end of the week. 

I may not be sitting up in a way that looks like I want to do my work, but I really don't mind doing it!

Doing a Little Research

It didn't take Katie long to start reading about Kamala Harris. She is so excited about the thought of the first female Vice President.

I love learning people's life stories!

A Jigsaw Puzzle

This last weekend, Katie and Jennifer decided to do a jigsaw puzzle together. 

Aunt Jennifer and I like to work together on the tricky parts.

We were so happy when we completed the whole puzzle!

A Game of Trivial Pursuit

Katie has loved playing the Disney Trivial Pursuit game lately. We tend to play in teams, and Katie always chooses to have Jennifer on her team.

Aunt Jennifer and I won our first game faster than we had ever won before!

Dreaming of Christmas

 It's always fun to look at the Christmas ads that come out and start dreaming about the holiday!

Christmas is one of my favorite holidays!

Checking the Window

 Katie always loves to look out our back window. She loves to see any differences with the trees this time of year, but she also checks for any out-of-the-ordinary animals that sometimes appear.

I love it when a bobcat or a raccoon make a surprise appearance!

Time in Bed

 Katie loves spending time in her bed, especially when the cats decide to join her!

Everything is so much better with friends!

The First Christmas Tree

There are certain times in life where the warmth of Christmas just feels so good. My sister, Jennifer, decided she'd bring a little Christmas into our life a little early this year by putting up her tree. Katie was so happy that she could help!

The first thing we did was to get all the lights connected and on the right setting.

Aunt Jennifer's tree is almost all Disney, so I try to find my favorite ornaments to hang!

Sadie wanted to help me choose a spot for an ornament.

She likes to help me out!

I loved it when it was all done!

The Victory Speeches

Katie was so excited to hear the victory speeches after the presidential election. She listened carefully and enjoyed every word. 

When the speeches first started, I was watching in my favorite twisted-up position, but...

...it didn't take long for me to turn around and give Kamala Harris my full attention.

Then it was time for Joe Biden.

Just listening to the way they spoke put a smile on my face!

My mom told me to stand by the TV for a picture, but I couldn't stop watching.

Quick! Take the picture!

This whole day made me so happy!

The Placemat

With the news of a new president, Katie realized she was going to need a new placemat.

I've had this placemat since I was three. I didn't feel like I needed a new one until now!

Blue Light Glasses

With Katie spending so much time on the computer with remote learning, I got her some blue light glasses to hopefully help the strain on her eyes. She is really good to wear them.

I got two pairs of glasses. This is my favorite pair.

This is my mom's favorite pair.

Finally

Katie has been interested in presidents for as long as I can remember. From the time she was 3, she could name every president we had ever had. She always looked forward to February because she could celebrate President's Day. It was a lot more important to her than Valentine's Day. She has a collection of books about presidents, she has visited every presidential library and historical place related to presidents that she could. She has met President Carter in person, she was in the room next to President Clinton, and she has received letters from the presidents. Party affiliation didn't matter to her.

When she was in kindergarten, we had the first presidential election that she could remember. She was excited about every candidate that came onto the screen - Democrat or Republican. I remember having my own thoughts about the candidates, but I tried to let her form her own opinions.

It didn't take long before Katie lost admiration for one candidate. No matter what your political beliefs are, character matters - especially to a child. She didn't understand why someone who was supposed to be a leader could make fun of others, call people names, and act in a way that she would never be allowed to act. Needless to say, the 2016 election was disappointing for her. (Here was her reaction in 2016.)

In the last four years, Katie has still enjoyed learning about the presidents, but a lot of the magic had disappeared. As this election neared and as she got older, she listened more to policies and formed opinions around those, but character was still the most important piece for her. She so badly wanted a leader who could be kind to others, even if he disagreed with them.

The wait for a President Elect to be announced was long. Katie checked in on the political news each night. Finally she heard the announcement yesterday morning. Of course, our cable box went out right then, but we watched streaming news on the computer to witness the moment. The joy on her face when she heard we had a new president was so fun to witness. Some of that "magic" in the presidential office returned. She was equally excited to know that a woman would be the Vice President.

It's important though to look at this through her perspective. When she saw me take the picture of her hearing the results, we had this conversation:

Katie: You're not going to put that on the blog, are you?

Me: I was going to. Why?

Katie: What if our relatives who voted for Trump see it? I don't want to 'offense' them.

Me: It's okay to have an opinion. I won't write it in an offensive way.

To the end, Katie is about character and thinks of the opinions and feelings of others. There's a lot we can learn from kids.

We all gathered around the computer to watch the breaking news!

Finally!

A New Skill

Katie recently taught herself how to make an animated video on her Chromebook. She is so excited to be able to make her own characters come to life with movement.

I get so excited when I learn something new!

Waiting, Waiting, Waiting

Anyone who knows Katie knows she has always had an interest in presidents. This year is no different. She's been waiting patiently to find out who will win this race. She knows who she wants to win and each night before she goes to bed, she checks in on her political news.

Depending on what I'm hearing, I don't always have a smile as I hear results, but this was a pretty good moment. I can feel a decision getting closer!

A Surprise Package

Katie was thrilled to get a envelope in the mail from my friend, Noreen!

I got some Halloween stickers and a card!

I always love to read the notes!

Thank you, Grammy Noreen! I loved it!

A Halloween Scavenger Hunt

Instead of going trick-or-treating this year, we did a candy scavenger hunt at home. I hid candy all through the house, we turned off all the lights, and Katie used a flashlight to hunt for candy. It wasn't nearly the same experience, but Katie made the best of it.

I didn't get a new costume this year.

Luckily, my costume from a few years ago still fit for my candy fun!

Even though it doesn't look like it, we had all of the lights off in the house.

I had to find everything with my flashlight.

I ended up with a pretty good pile of candy!