Thanksgiving Shirts

Again, while surfing Pinterest, I saw the cutest idea for a turkey shirt but the link didn't work.  So I used the picture and created my own version.  Although I'm a beginner at sewing, I thought this would be fairly easy.  I was right and it turned out to be a lot of fun until Buddy announced that he didn't want to be a turkey, he wanted a lion.  Maybe next project!  : ) 
Here's how I made our turkey shirts. 

I started by making a pattern on Word using the shapes tool.  Sweetpea's pattern is smaller than Buddy's since her shirt is smaller and I didn't want the turkey to overwhelm her. 

Brown fabric and at least two colored fabric pieces are needed for the turkey.  Using the pattern, I traced out all pieces and cut them out.

After arranging the turkey the way I wanted on their shirts, I used an iron-on adhesive to keep the pieces in place.  I mainly did this since I am new at sewing and don't trust my pinning skills yet.  I sewed around the body and all the pieces and then added a face as well.  Attaching the wiggly eyes turned out to be the conundrum.  All the glue I had at home would not hold up to washing in the washing machine until I found Liquid Stitch.  Now the eyes are attached and the shirts are ready to go!

Overall, I am very happy with the way they turned out.  Neither turkey is perfect but I know the kiddos will look cute!

Thanksgiving Bow

Thanks to Pinterest, I found this adorable turkey bow for Sweetpea and decided it couldn't be that hard to make.  After reading the tutorial, I gathered my material and got to work.  In the end, instead of sewing it all closed, I just used craft glue.  Sweetpea's bow is pretty small and it would have been hard for me, a beginner at sewing, to make it look right.  I love the googly eyes too!  The greatest thing about this bow is that it took about 20 minutes to complete...and then time for the glue to dry.

I can't wait for her to wear it to our church Thanksgiving dinner and on Thanksgiving Day. 

Handprint Turkeys

Yesterday, Buddy, Sweetpea, and I made our version of the Handprint Turkeys at Meet the Dubiens.  I've used paint to make their handprints before but it always makes me very nervous.  Instead we decided to trace hands on construction paper to make the turkey feathers.  A lesson learned for me was to not just make up crafts on the spot and to take time to do a little prep work.  Buddy and Sweetpea were not very patient as I cut out their hands though they did draw a bit on their background paper.  Then even after we had glued down the feathers and body, they had to wait again while I cut out the shapes for the face.  Older children would be better able to cut out their own shapes but Buddy is not quite there yet with his scissor skills.

Here are our finished turkeys.  This is Sweetpea's and obviously I helped her place the face pieces and draw legs.  She had fun holding onto the colored pencils and pushing down the shapes.

Buddy was able to add his turkey's face by himself.  He didn't like the idea of a waddle so he drew a mouth.  Then he added eyelashes to the turkey as well.  I love how his turned out!

These cute turkeys are now hanging on our dining room wall and I'm getting more and more excited for Thanksgiving day.

Thanksgiving Projects

Today I was thinking about various Thanksgiving crafts and I wanted to post some of the ideas I've found either through Pinterest (anyone else as addicted as I am?) or through searching blogs.

I hope to make these Pilgrim hat cookies soon because I love all the things they are made from!   They would make an adorable treat to take to a school Thanksgiving party or just for an office surprise.

This turkey craft is a great way to get children to think about things they are thankful and write onto the feathers.  Depending on the age of the children, more parental guidance may be needed.  Buddy has been thankful for his Buzz Lightyear toy so this craft is a great way to capture the age of your child!

I love handprint activities for my children and this handprint turkey would look cute on the wall year after year.

2 Teaching Mommies has a Turkey unit with lots of fun activities.  They also have a Thanksgiving unit too that would be great as well. 

Happy Thanksgiving crafting!

Thanksgiving Cookies

Yesterday, Buddy and I made cookies for his turn to bring snacks to school.  After they cooled, I decorated them and was pleasantly surprised at how cute they turned out.  Best of all, they were simple and easy. 

I used our Sugar Cookie recipe to make the cookies with Buddy and he helped use our turkey and leaf cookie cutters for the shapes. 

During nap time I whipped up the icing and the cookies were completely decorated in twenty minutes.  The eyes were made using those tiny ball sprinkles which was the most difficult part because they were hard to hold onto and place in the icing. 

Overall, this was a simple Thanksgiving treat and a fun snack for Buddy's class.  If I were to make more, I'd add orange colored icing for the leaves and more colors on the turkey but these were nice and simple treats.  Happy Thanksgiving!

Intentional Acts of Kindness Week 1 Wrap-up

Week one of Acts of Intentional Kindness was an interesting way to start the month.  I am realizing how selfish I tend to be and have decided that even if my children aren't around that I am going to be more kind.  Here is a wrap-up of what Buddy and Sweetpea and I did or, at least, tried to do. 
As I mentioned last Tuesday, we started the month off by writing our World Vision child a letter.  Buddy has wanted to pray for Emous each day since he drew the picture to mail. 
Wednesday: We brought Daddy a Sonic drink to enjoy before he had youth group. 
Thursday: I was able to be a nice driver since part of one of the main streets in town is under construction.  It was sort of sweet as the lady in the other car almost didn't believe that I was waving her into the lane.
Friday: I tried to let someone go in front of me at Walmart but I'm realizing that no one wants to pass "the pregnant lady".  I tried this again in Hastings while waiting for coffee on Monday but again, no takers. 
Saturday: Jon took all of us shopping for our Operation Christmas Child box items.  Buddy and Sweetpea had a blast choosing small toys to pack. 
Sunday: This turned out to be a harder day to be intentionally kind and I didn't have anything that we did together.  But I'll try to be more prepared for next week. 
Monday:  While we were at the library for story time, Buddy shared his puzzle with a younger child.  He even helped this little girl complete the puzzle when she started to have trouble.  Because of this, he and I had a really great discussion about other ways he can show kindness without a Mommy prompt. 

I'm looking forward to seeing what this next week holds and encouraging kindness with my children!

30 Days of Intentional Acts of Kindness

Today is the beginning of 30 Days of Intentional Acts of Kindness with your Kids.  I've been thinking for a few days about how we would start this new project with Buddy and Sweetpea.  My original plan for today had to be changed so instead I had Buddy and Sweetpea draw pictures for our child that we sponsor through World Vision. 
I have a list of about 12 ideas to start and I hope to have the chance to be spontaneous as well throughout the month.   I don't want to do our ideas in any specific order but I didn't want to have to scramble each day to come up with something new.  Here are a few of the ideas that I have for us to do this month.

1. Write our World Vision child a letter.
2. Pack an Operation Christmas Child box.
3. Take a plate of goodies to our librarians.
4. Pay for some one's fast food in the line behind us.
5. Take mini loaves of banana bread to our neighbors.  (We still haven't met them)
6. Be a friendlier driver.
7. Let someone go in front of us in line at Walmart.

Buddy and Sweetpea had a great time today drawing and "writing" letters and I hope they enjoy tomorrow's idea as well.  There is still time to join in the 30 Days of Intentional Kindness with I Can Teach My Child.  If you are looking for ideas, you can check out the links at I Can Teach My Child. 

Ideas for November

November is right around the corner...hard to believe!  Here are a few ideas for personal growth and gratitude during the month of November. 

Motherhood Your Way has a Printable Gratitude Journal and several ideas on how to use it during November.  I plan on printing this out and working on having a grateful attitude.  If I can look for the things I am thankful for instead of frustrated with, then everyone in my household will be happier!  Maybe after 30 days, this will become a new habit. 



I Can Teach My Child is hosting 30 Days of Intentional Acts of Kindness With your Kids.  It is a take off the Acts of Random Kindness and, as the title states, tries to become more intentional and purposeful.  I like that these Acts of Intentional Kindness should include your children because it teaches them about how to treat others.  I hope Buddy and Sweetpea already see Jon and I being intentionally kind to others but for the 30 days of November, they will be involved as well.  Plus it will tag right back into a review of the Fruit of the Spirit for Buddy.

Since November 1st is Tuesday, I thought I would post these ideas early so that if you and your family are interested, you have a little time to prepare and plan.  Happy Early November!

Black Friday

I have never been brave enough to go to the store on Black Friday until this year.  We had decided not to go until we saw a few deals in our area for J and H that we thought were worth it.  Jon and I went with my brother and sister specifically for a Buzz Lightyear toy for J.  My brother decided he would be the one to stand by that section.  As I walked with him over to where they had the Buzz's stacked, we were joking about having him throw elbows and push people down.  I wished him good luck and went to my station to wait until midnight. 

While waiting, unbeknownst to me, my sister was texting him joking about not falling down and getting trampled.  I then texted him to check on him and see how the crowd was in his area.  His response to me was "Would this be putting too much emphasis on stuff?"  I blew it off at the time and we finished our Black Friday shopping in under 20 minutes, thanks to teamwork. 

Later that night as I tried to go to sleep, my brother's text kept coming back to me.  I reflected on how easy it was to get caught up in the frenzy of "stuff" and how because it was set up like a competition, we had bought more than we intended.  I thought about how Jon and I had already talked about doing a smaller amount of presents and how we had already begun to fail. 

As a mommy who wants to be faithful with my children, I do not want them growing up caught in the consumerism of Christmas.  I want my children to know that Christ is the meaning behind CHRISTmas.  Black Friday and Cyber Monday are easy ways to justify spending more money because it is just a "great deal".  My goal this year is to make our family Christmas purposeful and Christ oriented.  I want J and H to remember that Jesus's birth, not presents, is the reason we celebrate.  I'll be posting over the next few weeks with crafts and activities that J and I will be doing to be more intentional in celebrating Christ's birth.  If you have any other ideas or suggestions, please feel free to comment and participate.  Hope you enjoy and have a great Christmas season!

Family Time

My family arrived today for Thanksgiving!  I have not seen them in about 3 months which is the longest I have ever gone.  They were supposed to arrive around 7:00-8:00 p.m. but instead surprised me with a knock on the door at 1:15 p.m.  It was such an awesome surprise!  J and H were glad to see Grammy and Papaw, Aunt Kara, and Uncle David.  We'll pick Aunt Sandi up at the airport tomorrow. 

This is why I love Thanksgiving...the feeling of complete gratitude to God for my family.  I am going to soak them all in for the next few days while they are here.  We're also going to show them around our new town and eat lots of wonderful food.  I plan on taking lots of pictures too.

Thanksgiving time is also a favorite because Jon and I were married four years ago tomorrow. These four years have been awesome and I hope to have many many more.  I love my husband and am so thankful for him and all that he does for us.  Thank you Jon! 

I wish you all a very blessed and Happy Thanksgiving! 

Book Recommendations

J loves to read and has loved to read since he was about 3 months old.  He and I would sit for hours when he was little and read together.  The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle was his favorite book.  It is a great book that helped teach J his colors and numbers. 

H,on the other hand, will not sit still for books hardly at all.  We read one book at a time because if I try to do more than that, she is too squirmy.  Her favorite that she'll sit through mostly is Chicka Chicka Boom Boom by Bill Martin Jr and John Archambault.  This book was a favorite when I was teaching and a fun way to work on ABCs.

Currently we've been reading Feeling Thankful by Shelley Rotner since it is Thanksgiving time and we've been talking about giving thanks to the Lord with our Memory Verse (Psalm 136:1).  J loves the pictures of real children and real things that correlate with the text.  I add my own twist at the end which is the copyright page but if a page has words, J expects you to read something.  I close with "And I'm Thankful for God who made the whole world!"  H has sat through this book, I think, because of the great photographs.

At our church library, J chose 9 Fruits Alive by Mindy Macdonald.  This is our second time checking this book out.  The first time, I chose it to go with our Memory verse which was Galatians 5:22-23.  J has enjoyed the rhyming rhythm and the simple definitions of each Fruit of the Spirit.

My recommendation is a book for stay at home moms or moms who are transitioning to staying home.   Who Got Peanut Butter on My Daily Planner by Cindy Sigler Dagnan is a great book that I have read several times.  I love this book because it has practical tips for organizing and caring for my family and keeps a sense of humor about serious topics.  She also addresses ways to overcome perfectionism and tips to keep your priorities in focus.  And a bonus at the end...recipes!

 

I love to read and love hearing about a new book.  If you have a favorite book, feel free to let me know in the comments!

Honesty and flopped cupcakes...

I said that I would be real and honest so here goes.  J loves to cook so I thought we could make a Thanksgiving themed treat.  I found some adorable cupcakes pictured online and charged into baking.  In my head, I thought this would be perfect since we had a Sunday School picnic today.  I made the cupcakes last night since it was easier to have that already finished.  This morning J and I made a Creamy Cocoa Buttercream Frosting. (I love homemade icings so much better than store-bought.)

J's favorite part!

I realized we did not have the candy corn featured in the picture so we ran to the store to get some.  That was my first mistake as the store was super busy.  The second mistake, I could not find candy corn anywhere!  So improvising, I grabbed marshmallows and toothpicks.  In Jon's words, this is the "creepy turkey" that was made.   Oh well, the children at the picnic ate them and enjoyed them. 

I attempted to save the turkey by cutting the marshmallow in half and removing the face.  It still didn't look quite right. 

But the important part was that J still loved making them and of course, eating them! 

If you are looking for other Thanksgiving ideas to do with your child, here are a few ideas that I will be doing with J next week. 
Give Thanks Turkey  Another fun craft!
Thank the Lord Song  J loves to sing so this is perfect for him.
Thanksgiving from Totally Tots  Activities geared towards younger children.
1+1+1=1 Thanksgiving Ideas  These are mostly activities for older children but we're tweaking a few of the projects for J. 

On another note, I will be taking Sundays off for a Sabbath from blogging so if you receive updates via email, you will not receive an email on Monday.  Thanks!

Thanksgiving and Psalm 136:1

This week our memory verse has been Psalm 136:1 since Thanksgiving is next week. J was so proud to

say his Bible verse this week.  Hope you enjoy the video! 

 J and I have been doing Thanksgiving activities also.  Today, we made the paper plate turkeys from Ramblings of a Crazy Woman.

J loved painting the plates!  He then painted with watercolors while waiting on the paint to dry.

Here J is glueing on the eyes, beak, and wattle.

A finished turkey face!

Now for the feathers...

The finished turkey and a happy J!

H was occupied with her one of her favorite toys, our

Vtech Discovery Nursery Farm.  She loves how it plays music when she pushes different buttons.

Earlier in the week, we made a cornucopia from ChristianPreschoolPrintables.com.  I pre-cut all of the foods since J is still learning to use scissors.  He loved coloring (even though the colored pencils did not show up very well in the photo) and my favorite part was listening to him say
"corn-ca-co-plia".

Thanksgiving is one of my favorite times of year because it isn't about gifts or things. In my family growing up, it was about getting together with family and spending time together.  We cooked, ate, laughed, and cleaned up as a family.  The food was awesome and so delicious but the special time that was spent just catching up and visiting was the best part. That is the tradition I hope to instill in J and H.  Jon and I differ in our opinions over cornbread dressing or stuffing but we completely agree that we want our children to have thankful hearts.