Celebrations and holidays

The past few weeks have zipped by, quicker than I could have imagined. We celebrated two birthday and Veteran's Day last week, and E's birthday was this week. Its mind boggling to think how two of my babies are already in school, and E is in preschool now. Crazier because at one point we thought for sure we were done expanding our family, but still left that door unlocked-and now as I sit here 38 weeks pregnant, I'm so glad we did. E woke up Tuesday morning, and the first thing out of his mouth (maybe because I called him Birthday Boy) was "Its my birthday!" Total excitement and sheer happiness, no toys to thrill, just knowing cupcakes were on the counter cooling made his day. We had an easy dinner that night of hot dogs & mac & cheese, such as it was on a school night. E had his favorite breakfast (pancakes) which were leftover from dinner the night before, but he was still overjoyed at having them. Last week we did the same thing for R & G's birthday-dinners at home, cupcakes to share with school. Keeping the celebrations simple was initially thought of as a necessity, but I really think it turned out well. The kids just want to snuggle with Mom and Dad, and R just wants to spend time w/ his wife. No fancy gifts could take the place of time together.
I think we're ready for Thanksgiving next week. Providing we're not in the hospital, I have plans to cook up a storm-or at least as much as I can handle, as well as volunteering on the agenda. Invitations have been extended to local friends who may not want to be alone on the holiday-so we'll see who shows up.
Christmas planning is well underway. I took advantage of a holiday deal & spent $10 on 8 games that will be donated/used in gift exchanges. I'm spending the $5 per boy limit on a new basketball, football, & golf balls for the boys. My MIL and SIL are coming down for Christmas and this year its the gift of time and memories that the boys will get from them. I'm looking forward to lounging around w/ family, and enjoying each other. No stress, just bliss.