Being Thankful!

WOW...it's that time of year again...time for Thanksgiving and time for being Thankful!

I am trying to instill in our boys some family traditions and hopefully teach them some things along the way. After chatting with a mommy friend of mine last week I got the crafty bug in me and picked up a few good ideas from her (Thanks Liliana!). I also feel like I have been running around with my head chopped off, so I thought slowing down for some crafts would be an excellent idea!  We also needed a few more Thanksgiving decorations in our house, so I enlisted the boys' help and we got busy! The first thing we made was a "Be Thankful" banner that hangs above the kitchen counter (a place that we are always eating at...so a good place to remind us to be thankful...). They had a blast putting stickers all over the different letters...and it was even a good lesson in reviewing the alphabet with the boys!  Gotta learn as you go, right??

While the boys were sleeping, I started cutting out a bunch of different colored leaves that I printed out on the computer.  I didn't think I would finish cutting them all out so I could save some for them to cut out, but before I knew it, the boys had slept 3 1/2 hours and I was done cutting (don't worry...I didn't spend all that time cutting)!  It was also dark by that point and pouring down rain...but I was determined to finish my project and I really wanted it up and ready for the boys to see...so outside I went with a flashlight and my hood on my head, hunting for some small branches!  I was very delighted that I found 3 perfect branches in the dark!  WOOHOO for me!!  So, this is our THANKFUL TREE!  On the leaves, we write things that we are thankful for.  Logan and I both wrote 'Water' since we are having well issues currently with our neighbors and often forget how something as simple as water goes unrecognized!  Carson wrote 'Learning' and Dad wrote 'My family'.  The boys LOVED the activity! 

After dinner last night, we had pumpkin cake for dessert and after Carson ate his dessert, he got down, grabbed a leaf, went to dad and whispered something in his ear.  Before long, Carson came to me with a leaf that said 'Cake'...he was thankful for cake!  How cute is that?? And, a nice way for him to say thank you to me for making him some yummy dessert!  LOVE IT!

Despite those two fun activities yesterday, Carson looked at me later in the evening and said "So, what's next mom!"  He wanted more Thanksgiving activities.  So, off to the internet we went and found these cute little turkeys!  I love it when I have all the items on hand for the activity...that I am thankful for!!  We started our paperplate Turkeys last night and finished them this morning...and boy are the boys proud of them!


Logan's Turkey



Carson's Turkey

On Thursday, I venture on a big trip to California with the boys...all by myself!!  We are going to Bakersfield to visit my parents and also going so I can attend my 20 year high school reunion!  I'm excited to see some friends that I haven't seen in 20 years...not sure I will even recognize them, but I'll try.  I'm not as skinny as I was hoping I would be, but this is me...in all it's glory!  I bought a cute little outfit (thanks to my George Girls Shopping Trip) and that makes half the fun, right??  Wish me luck as we go on this adventure together!  I'll update everyone when we return!

Before I go....what do you have to be thankful for??  And how are you teaching your children to be thankful?  I'd love to hear your answers to these questions....