that holiday between Halloween and Christmas

So I may say this every year but Thanksgiving really means something to me.  I can't tell you many memories of Thanksgiving as a kid.  I don't have any.  I just remember getting out of school, occasionally getting together with extended family and that's it.  We didn't watch football games or do crazy Thanksgiving traditions.  It was just that holiday between Halloween and Christmas.  I do remember that my mother refused to put up anything Christmas until after Thanksgiving Day so when I was in Jr. High and High School, it became a tradition to put up Christmas decorations the day after Thanksgiving Day (no Black Friday sales for us--I'm not even sure Black Friday was a big deal back then).  And really has an adult, the feeling hadn't changed much. Thanksgiving wasn't a big holiday.  I do remember our first Thanksgiving together, I was pregnant with Sam and we had the big dinner at our house.  I couldn't sleep and got up late to clean the kitchen.  At about 1 in the morning, I felt Sammy move inside my belly for the first time.  That was the only exciting Thanksgiving I could think of.....until four years ago.
Thanksgiving 2009 was the life changer.  We scheduled my cesarian section for 7am on the Friday after Thanksgiving.  I stuffed myself ridiculously b/c I knew I had an eight hour fast waiting for me that night.  We got up early to beat the Black Friday traffic to get to the hospital.  We didn't even know if the baby was boy or girl.  We already had one of each, why not be surprised?  And surprised we were when we got our brand new boy, Joseph Kalen Eber.  Fast forward three years, the Thursday after Thanksgiving...one whole week since the holiday and we found ourself again welcoming a brand new boy into our lives, Ezekiel Robert Eber.
This year we celebrate Kal's fourth birthday on Wednesday, Thanksgiving on Thursday, and Zeke's first birthday on Friday.  What a great way to remember that Thanksgiving is the holiday of Gratitude, Blessings, Family, and Love.  For all the chaos that next week will bring, for all the many pounds we will gain from feasting and birthday cakes, I'm so thankful for my family, my children, my two little guys.  I'm so blessed to have these special people in my life.  I'm so happy to have a family to love and care for. 
Yes, Thanksgiving is the holiday between Halloween and Christmas but it is so much more to me.  I have two little boys that bring LIFE to this holiday (no pun intended).  They make it meaningful, they make it blessed, they make it special!  And that makes me grateful!