November 24

Abby and I have a long-standing tradition of doing some casual (read: we don't go out on Thanksgiving night nor are we up at the crack of dawn) Black Friday shopping, so the streak continued this morning. I pulled her initially-less-than-enthusiastic teenage bum out of bed at 8:15, and we headed out to Starbucks before hitting our usual stops to stock up on questionably-named lip gloss (for me), pajama pants (for her), and actual, practical clothes (for the Little Boys). (And also a few other things that are surprises for various folks later on.)

I'm generally open to new experiences and new people (and in fact, I've met some pretty awesome ones over the last few years), but there's really nothing like sharing traditions with my kiddos. I could say that it's just a shopping trip, but it's really much more than that: it's a time for us to laugh together (usually at the weird things other people do), make decisions together, and just have a good time. And for all of that, I'm extremely thankful.

P.S. She totally has crazy-eyes in this pic and would be oh-so thrilled to see that I used it, but hey, it's reality. :)