"Get yourself somethin' real nice Clark!"

So, some of you might think after reading this that I'm a cold, empty person inside! I'm hoping that I get a few shout outs on the comment section of this post and a few "holla's." Ok, we went to see my parents for Thanksgiving this year. We haven't been to my parents house for Thanksgiving in 9 years! The whole time we've been married we've either gone with Matt's parents, been in NC or at home with a newborn. Now that we are staying home with our kids for Christmas, we go see grandparents the weekend before Christmas and the weekend after. So, I told Matt that we needed to start trading out Thanksgiving with our parents. One of my brother's went to Abilene with his in laws and the other was still playing in the high school football playoffs. So, we're gonna have a relaxing Wednesday-Sunday with all the attention, a little relaxation and maybe a date night right? WRONG! Thanksgiving Day was fine but my mom had to work Friday. Matt and my sister in law decided to wake up Friday morning, b/c she stopped to spend the night Thursday night, and go to Super Walmart at 5am for Black Friday sales on some toys they were eye balling. If any of you live in a small town that ONLY has a Walmart, don't weather that storm with a bunch of rednecks that have been camping out since midnight!! Remember that Friends episode when Rachel and Phoebe go with Monica to find her wedding dress and Rachel sits down and just blows her whistle? Matt said he got trapped by crazy folks and four shopping carts and all he could do was sit down! Later that morning, Matt, my dad and sister in law and her kids decide they're all gonna go to my brother's football game at Texas Stadium. So, I stay home with Hayden, Carson, and my nephew Chance. I spend all day with three kids, with my oldest being the biggest terd ever. Lovely day! Oh, and did I tell you that my brother and sister in law brought their 105lb lab? "Just make sure he has water and food and let him out to pee throughout the day.....and whatever you do, make sure he has his leash on or he'll run away." Two hours into me "babysitting" the dog, my grandmother comes over and Chance and Hayden run out to greet her and leave the front door open. Who gets out? Yes, Bear the dog starts running around the culdesac my parents live on. I can't gimp around and chase him down so I call my sister in law and she tells me to get in the car b/c he loves car rides. I'm standing at the door keeping Carson in the house yelling "Bear, you come back Bear!" My 82 yr old grandmother gets in her Suburban with the drivers side open and is doing donuts in the culdesac trying to catch the dog! (Matt said "Andrea, that's why you have a camera phone!") Our neighbor down the street comes and catches him and drags him inside! A few hours pass and I have the kids asleep and decide to take Bear out to go to the bathroom. When you have a hard time walking from the couch to the kitchen, putting a 105lb dog on a leash isn't a good idea! Bear took off b/c he heard some dogs barking and drug me through the leaves in the yard but I didn't let go!!! Matt comes home Friday night late with me draped across my bed crying because I'm so tired and mad at Hayden, who has been so bad at bed time that he woke Carson 4 times!! Does anyone else think it's the biggest pain to have your children out of their element at bedtime? When my whole family is home at Christmas, me, Matt and the two boys sleep in one room, 4 people in another room, three in the other bedroom and the two oldest kids sleep on couches. No fun at bedtime!! To make this Thanksgiving even a little more "interesting," we've started to realize my parents get on our nerves! Don't get me wrong, I love my family. It's a blast when everyone's home and when we lived 1400 miles away I missed them so much. My parents are about to be 60 and I swear they act like they're 85! We sat in my bedroom and said "ya wanna go home?" So, we packed up and came home. I think maybe we realize the older we are getting and now that we have our own family, that our parents aren't so normal anymore. We can drive 2 and half hours from my parents house and talk about all the things they do that drives us crazy! I'm sure there's some of you out there who love hanging out with their parents and are thinking "poor Andrea, her family must be really bad." Honestly they aren't bad, we're just starting to feel like we are messing up their routines a little. When we got home to our humble abode, I did snow angels on the carpet b/c I was so excited to put the boys in their beds, watch the Sooners play on myTV, then sleep in my comfy bed. So come on folks, be honest....anyone else's parents drive them a little crazy? (Note: this picture isn't really my family!)