Advent usually creeps up on me without warning, but having the extra week between Thanksgiving and Advent has left me impatient for it to begin.

It’s one of the most stressful and exciting aspects of the Christmas season: creating our family Christmas card.

It was all fun, and there is leftover pie for today. What more can anyone expect from Thanksgiving?

It’s easy to be grateful in the happy moments, when the turkey and stuffing are on the table and a fresh pumpkin pie awaits. But can we also be grateful in the sadder times?

Gratitude doesn’t always come easily, but there’s almost always something to be thankful for, though it can take time to see it.

With a pumpkin cookie in hand, how can you feel anything but grateful?

Our 7-year-old climbs into bed next to me, and I know I should get up. But he wants to make conversation, and I can never get enough of that.

Saturday starts as all Saturdays do, with children who bound out of bed before their parents do—a good sign since we were at the pediatrician’s office yesterday.

Our children are off today, so the morning starts with a sense of calm. There are no lunches to pack, no last-minute homework assignments to do, no field trip forms to forget.

I’m chronicling our daily lives on the blog this week in the Week in My Life challenge, so I could probably have given myself a break from 7 quick takes.