Deck the Halls..or the Kennedy Household

Here's what the Kennedy Household looks like this Christmas season. Actually, the tree has looked the same for the last three years. . it's just at a different location(other than my old apartment). So just in case you forgot what it looked like...

I must note the Nativity scene (thanks Mom/Norine!) and the little stocking for the baby-to-be (thanks Teresa!). Hope everyone has a fun holiday season!

Thanksgiving 2007

We had a fun and relaxing Thanksgiving 07. We started out our Thanks-fest by getting out of work early on Wednesday(can't beat that!). On Wednesday Teresa, Jeremy and Maddy(John's sister and family) came into town from Des Moines. We ordered some pizza and started a cozy fire. Joe and Angie(John's brother and wife) stopped over with Wrigley(the dog) and we just relaxed and hung out.

Thanksgiving morning started a little early. We decided to throw the Turkey in the roaster, to give it a good 5 hours to cook. Then John, Teresa, my friend Michelle, and I all participated in a 5k run/stroll. John and Teresa ran, Michelle and I strolled. It was a balmy 26 degrees out on Thanksgiving morning, so we had to bundle up a bit. The Turkey Trot was pretty fun. There were over 4,000 participants! Michelle and I were under the impression the stroll part was going to be about a mile or so. At about mile 2.2 we realized we were actually walking the whole 5k. It was too bad that John and Teresa had finished their run about 30 min before we finished the walk part. I think at one point they contemplated to come looking for us to make sure we were all right. It was a close race at the end, but Michelle and I did a little speed walking and beat the clock, coming in at a time of 59min and 59
sec!

John getting ready to place the turkey in the roaster

John, Maddy and Teresa posing by the bird.

Teresa and I trying to keep our teeth from chattering.

John and I before the Turkey Trot.

John, Teresa and I
Michelle and I getting ready for the big stroll.

When we arrived home from the race, to much of our surprise the Turkey was already done. It only ended up taking about 3hrs in the roaster to cook. We turned it on low to keep it warm, got showered and fixed some appetizers to hold us over while we finished preparing the other side dishes. John's friend, Alex, arrived in the afternoon sporting his favorite Christmas sweater to share in the Thanksgiving festivities. Dinner consisted of: Turkey(of course), cheesy potato casserole, sweet corn, stuffing, apple/walnut salad and rolls. For dessert: pumpkin cake and pumpkin pie. We sat down to dinner about 2pm and in about an hour and two bottles of wine later(water for me), everyone was completely stuffed. The rest of the afternoon/evening consisted of sitting around watching football, napping and grazing the leftovers every now and then. Sarah and Roy(John's sister and boyfriend) stopped over in the evening to say hello and get a game plan for Sarah and Teresa's early morning shopping expedition. Yes, the crazies did make it out on Black Friday at 430am! I have to say, I was pretty impressed they actually made it.

Michelle, me and Alex preparing the stuffing.

John getting ready to carve the bird.

John and I holding the wish bone.
Michelle, me and Teresa showing off our stemware adoration's.

All in all, I have to say it was a pretty successful Thanksgiving. I've never done so many dishes or changed the garbage so many times in one day in my life, but it was all definitely worth it!! Happy Thanksgiving to all!!

Baby Room Update

It definitely feels more like a baby room now. As you can see in the 1st picture, John did the painting a couple of weeks ago. This weekend the crib was delivered. We ended up having NFM deliver and assemble it. We figured it took them about 30-45 min. to assemble, it surely would have taken us about 2-3hrs, and who knows if it would have been done correctly. It's hard to believe the due date is less than three months from now. John and I were discussing today, the pregnancy has seemed to go much faster than our engagement did. I'm sure after the holidays, the anticipation will grow even more.

I Survived!!

This past weekend was the Annual Kennedy Women's Shopping Trip. Each year the Kennedy women decide a shopping destination and plan a weekend(typically in November) to get together for a weekend of dining, shopping and fun. Basically this is a marathon shopping at it's best. We start as soon as the stores open on Saturday and go until they close. I have to say, I'm really not much of a shopper but I always have a good time. This year...Destination: Omaha. I definitely didn't get the prize for most shopping bags. I think that might have been a tie between Norine and Laura. Teresa gets the prize for the least shopping bags with a total spent of $6.36. She also was the big winner at the casino!! Here are a few other highlights of the trip:

*Free breakfast at the hotel!

*Angie's GPS getting us there and back with ease.

*Really small beds and many people in one room=no sleep.

*Angie and I getting pedicures after hours of walking the malls.

*DQ ice cream and cookies

*The Afternoon store(I think that's what it was called)--totally awesome stuff in there

*Discovering Toys R Us

*Getting a good parking spot at the Westroads Mall

*Did I mention the pedicure?

*Ah yes, and the best was getting about 10 hrs of sleep last night and feeling recovered.

Until next year... Destination: Williamsburg/Coralville

**Photo provided by Norine Kennedy**

Bullet Point Week

Ok, I know everyone loves to read bullet points. Here's a little run down of the latest...

*Wednesday-"Trick or Treat" John and I fought the urge of hiding out in the basement to avoid trick or treaters and decided to go ahead and be neighborly. We started handing out candy about 7pm, and by 745pm we ran out. Apparently I was a little too generous at first. We had about 30-35 kids in all. When the last group of kids came, I only had 9 pieces of candy left. I got a little nervous I was going to have to dig through the cupboards and hand out cans of soup, but luckily there were only 8 little goblins. As soon as they made it to the end of the driveway, I shut the light off and closed the blinds. Hopefully there weren't too many groups following them.

*Last weekend we successfully converted the basement into a spare bedroom. It looks pretty cozy. John is still trying to talk me into spending the night down there to see if it sufficient enough for guests.

*Since we got the spare bedroom moved, this weekend we are going to start painting the baby room. Home Depot here we come! Since I guess it's not good for me to be exposed to the paint, John will have to do the painting. I'll tape though.

*I'm convinced the baby has been doing Tae Bo inside of me this week. Either that, or he/she is practicing dance moves to show up his/her father someday.

*In about an hour or so, we are going to go check out the hospital and get a tour of the Labor and Delivery area. I'm sure it will be an educational experience for all.

That's all for now. Happy November and 7 shopping weeks left till Christmas.