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....

Halloween Fun

YIKES!  It's almost 11pm and what am I doing??  Scrapbooking and blogging!  I've made it this far (scrapbooked the pages), I may as well share them with you before I go to bed, right??  (Yeah, tell me that in the morning when I'm the cranky, tired one!). 

So, here is our Halloween adventures this year!  The pages may look redundant (the design is, the pictures are not!), but the first two pages go in Carson's scrapbook and the second two pages go in Logan's scrapbook!  If you'd like to get a better look at the page, just double click on the image and it will blow up the page for you (that way you can read the journaling).  Anyways, I'm going to let the pages speak for themselves and go tuck myself into bed (guess I'll be taking a nap tomorrow, huh?)

Again, as usual, I'd LOVE to hear your comments!

Carson's Album

Carson's Album

Logan's Album

Logan's Album

Celebrating Carson's Birthday

WOW...this weekend was a super busy weekend!  Not only was it Halloween, it was also Grandma Marla's 60th birthday and Carson's 6th birthday!  Since we had such a busy Saturday (Carson's actual birthday), he chose to have a family celebration on Halloween! 

After we went trick-or-treating (of which I will blog more about later), Carson got to open a present from Grandma/pa Mitchell...his very own Woody doll! (which he was quite excited about!...THANK YOU grandma/pa!)  Logan got a Jessie doll for his birthday and they both got a bunch of Toy Story 3 toys at their birthday party, so now they are ready for a real PARTY!!

Proud Carson with his Woody doll

He also got to pick a special treat to have for his birthday celebration...and Carson wanted me to bake him a "Cars" cake.  After explaining that fancy cakes are for birthday parties (isn't that sad...I wouldn't figure out how to make him a Cars cake), I convinced him that I could bake him a checkerboard cake, which he thought was pretty cool!  Of note, when I turned 18 years old, I made this very cake for my birthday!  Pretty nostalgic, huh (there was even a note in the cake tin box in my own writing how to convert semisweet chocolate to cocoa powder)??

Happy 6th Birthday sweetie!



Checkerboard Cake...pretty cool, huh??

It tastes pretty yummy too!

This morning, Carson told me that he wanted to have a tea party with Woody and Jessie.  I asked him if he could use mommy's coffee cups (the ones that wouldn't bother me if they got broke) and he says "NO, I want the fancy cups!!" (and he knew right where they were, too!).  So, out came my deceased grandmother's (both grandmothers, as a matter of fact) tea cups and tea serving sets (as I explained that I would cry if these got broke...heaven forbid you make your own mother cry!!).  And then he decided that a lit candle was necessary to set the 'mood'!  How cute is that??  We've NEVER had a tea party and Carson had a lot of fun having one with his new buddies!

Carson drinking the yummy pretend tea!

Woody and Jessie having some tea with Carson!

Year after year, I always forget that October starts the busy holiday season in our home.  We have lots of family birthdays in October and the hustle and bustle of gift giving and receiving begins.  Then comes Halloween, Thanksgiving and then Christmas!  There is only 55 days left until CHRISTMAS!!  How much shopping have YOU done??  I'm about 3/4 DONE!!  WOOHOO!!