Post Thanksgiving...and the Giveaway Winner!

I hope all of you had a wonderful Thanksgiving!

For the first time in years, we didn't host it at our house, and it was nice little respite. And the food was scrumptious...
There's always too many of us to ever sit around a table (and unless one of the relatives buys a house with a dining room big enough to host a Henry the VIII type,12 foot long table- it's just not going to happen.)
We always just sit around wherever we can and chat while we eat way too much of everything.

Here is just a small fraction of our crowd, on my sister in law's (not shown) back deck:
(Um, also not shown is a brother in law, who's baby son seems to be hiding him!)

And it's always followed by a rousing game of this...


It's kind of a tradition that at least a handful of us play every year.

However, the following day- on my second trip out of the house on that mad, crazy shopping day... it was easy to guess what my mood quickly turned to...

My family and I were at the mall, taking turns separating and then meeting up again while we shopped for one another. I was waiting on one of the chairs in the mall, shopping bag in hand along with my purse and youngest girl's coat, and getting very warm. So, I took off my jacket and made a mental note to be sure to not forget it.

And you can see where this is going...

A little while later I got up to meet my family a few feet away and then separate one more time...and it was then that I realized I didn't have my jacket.

My little black leather jacket that my husband had gotten me a couple years ago.

I ran frantically, my little girl who was now with me nearly flying behind me in the wind...but it wasn't there.

My husband and I searched, I checked Lost in Found and left my name with them...and even prayed we'd find it...but evidently someone was thrilled that they could so easily steal a leather jacket and get away with it.
It was Black Friday, alright...
So, needless to say, I felt sad that one of my favorite jackets was gone...and even sadder that I had been so careless.

But I keep telling myself that it was an incredibly long day fighting the crowds and I was exhausted... And that losing a jacket is not the end of the world. It is just a thing, after all.
But that night I was emotionally and physically done in, and it was good to just go to bed and snuggle under the covers watching one of my favorite "modern movies" - Family Man, that happened to be on TV...all I needed to make it complete was a few pounds of chocolate.


But hey, I didn't completely forget to have the drawing for participants in my Home School Open House giveaway!
I must first clarify something...in the picture where my six year old is showing her Mayflower craft, I need to tell you that on hers, she insisted I cut a different way so that the ship would not just simply go back and forth a couple inches...no, it had to zig zag around or it just wouldn't do.
So her Mayflower really had quite the voyage! ;)

Anyway, as you'll remember, those who put the button in their sidebar were entered...and participants in the Open House got their name thrown in twice!

So, only moments ago, my oldest daughter picked a name...and she giggled because the name written said....

Miss Piggy! Yes, from her blog, The Funny Farm. I've known her for almost as long as I've been blogging, so I was thrilled that she won!

She'll be getting a fabulous ornament which I'll be mailing out this coming week. Congratulations "Miss Piggy"!

And again, a huge thank you to all who participated!

Tomorrow I hope to read up on how all of your Thanksgiving weekends went...but in the meantime, it's off to bed!

Blessings!