Our FIrst Thanksgiving

The last two years we have traveled to Michigan to be with our family for Thanksgiving. Since we normally go every other year we decided this year to stay home for Thanksgiving. We really wanted to do something service oriented. We searched for a place to go and serve a meal to those in need, but came up empty handed. However, the Lord did provide an opportunity to serve. We hosted two international students from the college and some other friends and family in our home.

I bought, thawed, brined, and cooked my first turkey. So intimidating, but actually not that difficult. If you've never brined your turkey I would recommend it, it was very tasty.

We also made 75 + rolls for the International Thanksgiving Dinner at the college.
To give perspective I gave Titus a bath in this bowl when he was a baby....that is A LOT of dough.
I should have done this in smaller batches...but I made due.

Faith helping with a dessert the night before. I prepped most of the meal the day before so I wasn't too stressed the day of.
That left time for a craft project I had rolling around in my head. I wanted to make a "Thankful Tree" and was able to find some great pictures for inspiration on Pinterest.
Grace helped me collect the branches to make our "tree." We also went for a nature walk and collected various nuts and seeds to fill our vase. Unfortunately I didn't get a great picture of the finished product- it turned out SO cute. Charlene brought tags she had cut on her Cricut that we wrote what we were thankful for and then hung them on the tree. Hopefully, next year we can get a better picture of it with the tags on. I saved the tags and the tree- we are hoping this will become a new tradition. I thought it would be so neat to see who all had shared our Thanksgiving table over the years.
Nana brought a great craft project to keep little hands busy- Christmas ornaments that matched the tree in their room perfectly.
Us girls love to craft together.
Our feast.
Titus a bit unsure about our guests....really wish I'd gotten a picture of all of us.
We found much to be thankful for in 2011!!!!
I hope this is the first of many Thanksgiving dinners we host with special guests around our table. I have to say it made me very thankful for all the yummy food I've eaten over the years seeing just how quickly hours of hard work is gobbled up!

A finished project....finally.

Do you ever solve one of those organizational issues at your house and it just makes you happy? (Okay, maybe not everyone gets as much joy out of organization as I do.) Almost a year ago Faith knocked over our hall tree trying to get her own coat down. It is an antique and she damaged it. I was very bummed. This piece works great for our coats and bags, but it wasn't a good fit for our kiddos. They weren't tall enough to hang up their own coats so I had to help them or have them lay them on the floor by it. Not a great set up. However, we hadn't taken time to fix the problem. But, with the girls going to school we now had coats and book bags plus their "Bible bags" they take to church to keep organized. So, I decided it was time to work on a solution.

Way back in the day when we lived in our first home we had an awesome red barn. It was storybook cute. So, when we went to leave I decided I wanted something to remember it by. So, I went out and secretly took a piece of that rustic red barn siding. I knew I'd figure out something to do with it eventually. I tried putting it in a plant and letting a vine grown up it, but that didn't work out and I am so glad. I found four old hooks in our odds and ends that came from my parents and TADA our coat solution was born:

Combined with this bench made out of someone else's great red barn that used to be in my kitchen it is a perfect fit. We now have a one-stop-shop for the kids' book bags, coats, shoes, and assorted items. Hooray!! Now if only my kids had coordinating coats and shoes in lovely shades of brown and plaids it would look all Pottery Barn don't you think?

And as my friend Stephanie likes to point out.....there is an extra hook. ;)

P.S. If you report my missing piece of barn wood I will totally deny all involvement.

"I can't. I've got a sore finger."

" I can't. I've got a sore finger."

Do you know what movie this "famous" quote is from?

If you guessed the Sound of Music you are correct! It was the adorable baby of the family, Grettle. And we had our very own sore finger at our house.
The Tuesday before Thanksgiving I hurried off to my Children's Ministry meeting while Jeremy kept the kids. Twenty minutes into the meeting my cell phone began to vibrate. Before Jeremy spoke a word I knew I was headed home. Faith was wailing in the background. He calmly told me Faith had fallen and cut her pinky finger pretty badly. Faith had been running along the couch trying to get away from her brother and fallen with "treasure" in her hand. (a silver square off a coaster) It put a good slice in her finger. I arrived home to her and our house covered in blood. And my helpful first child taking wet paper towels trying to clean in up. Since we were leaving soon for a trip and swimming was on the agenda we decided we definitely needed to take her to urgent care. They glued & steri stripped it and gave her a sticker and we were good to go! Then we headed home to finish cleaning up the blood trail from the coach, across the folded laundry on the ottoman, up the stairs, along the wall, and all over the carpet along the way. Faith seriously knows how to bleed.

But, we are happy to report her finger her finger has healed nicely and the "I can't. I've got a sore finger." excuse is no longer valid. Did I mention this happened the day after I had to call poison control about Titus drinking children's pain reliever?? Oh, the adventure of being parents of little ones.

Java Jive with Jennifer

For "J" week at preschool I got the opportunity to take Wyatt and Faith on a little field trip. Each day their snack coordinates with that week's letter. I took them to a coffee shop downtown called, "Java Jive." I was a little bit nervous since they don't really cater to the 4 year old crowd, but it went great. Wyatt choose a cinnamon twist and Faith choose chocolate ice cream and they both shared with each other. They thought it was fun sitting on the couches and eating their snacks. I even splurged on a white hot chocolate for me- yummy!

Something Old, Something New

We have something "new" on our breakfast menu at our house and my kids are loving it! Although its not really new at all. Nutella was first made in Italy as an inexpensive way for people to enjoy chocolate. After becoming popular in Europe it came to the United States in 1983.We tried Nutella (chocolate hazelnut spread) and the kids think it is quite a treat. It is actually a pretty healthy option and my kids love it on toast or graham crackers. We even like to do a thin layer with a thin layer of peanut butter. You can't beat peanut butter & chocolate for breakfast.

My favorite part is it got Gracie who had decided she only wanted cereal for breakfast eating toast occasionally again.
Its a bit messy, but definitely kid approved.
I even found a similar product at Aldi and we are looking forward to trying that out.

(The Nutella company didn't ask me to write this post, but if they want to send me some for free we'd be happy to eat it. :)

Thanksgiving Feast

Another fun Kindergarten event we got to be a part of this fall was The Thanksgiving Feast. It was such a special party. Grace was assigned to be a Native American. To earn her feathers she had to be able to recite her birthday, address, and her full name. The menu included apple cider, corn muffins, popcorn, fruit, nuts, dried fruit, and beef jerky. (And a mom brought the cute turkey cupcakes as a bonus for Grace's class.)

The parents set up the feast. When the kindergarten classes arrived they performed several poems and songs including 10 Little Pilgrims, & 5 Fat Turkeys.

November Poem:

It's November. It's November.

Let's Give Thanks. Let's Give Thanks.

Come & set the table. Come & set the table.

Turkey tastes great! Turkey tastes great.

Mrs. Pritchett's Class
Grace had the perfect hair for a Native American, we of course had to braid it.
Pilgrim Ruthie
Checking out their food.
Grace with some of her classmates (L to R) Maryssa, Sabrina, Ryan Macie, Lexie Lanie, Ruthie, Trevonte, & Grace.
Pilgrim Matthew
Pilgrim Joseph
Pilgrim Nakeenan
Pilgrim Presley
Pilgrim Brandon
Native Americans Lexi, Ryan, & Lanie
I was so thankful I was able to go and be a part of the fun. Many of Grace's classmates know me now and are always excited to see me. It really makes me miss being in a classroom. I feel God totally answered my prayers in blessing Gracie with an awesome teacher and providing a great opportunity for me to be involved in her education.

Turkey Trouble

One of the fun Kindergarten projects we did this fall was "disguising" a turkey. Grace's class read a book called "Turkey Trouble." I haven't actually read the book, but the general story line is that the turkey is trying to disguise himself so he doesn't get eaten for Thanksgiving dinner. They were then sent home a turkey to disguise and send back to school. After a bit of discussion on how to disguise our turkey we took inspiration from some left over clouds I had and chose a rainbow.

The finished project. We added a pink feather at the end of the rainbow for Faith since Grace didn't want her "color" to be left out.

The turkeys hung up outside Grace's classroom.
I noticed that several kids didn't have a turkey. After checking with Grace's teacher, Mrs. Pritchett, on my next volunteer Tuesday I brought my craft box and got to help these students dream up their own turkey disguises. It was SO fun. I am LOVING volunteering in Grace's class.

A "Sun."
A "Christmas Tree" and "Baby."
I was so impressed with all the creative ideas! I think we might have to purchase the book and do it again sometime. (Or maybe we will wait till when Faith goes to kindergarten don't want to spoil her fun....)