A FUN Kids Table for Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is one of my most favorite holidays! I love getting up early, having my coffee while reviewing my cooking schedule for the day, and having friends and family hang the whole day before dinner. We always have our kiddos eat with the adults, but this year I also wanted to add a kids table that focused on fun and creative activities that are also in the spirit of the holiday. Head over to Honest to Nod to see how we plan to do just that!

Thanksgivings

This past year has brought a lot of changes for us. Some sad things, but a lot of really great things for which we are incredibly grateful. Kane's new school does a terrific job of getting the kids (and in turn our whole family) to think about the things that are truly important in life, to be aware of how incredibly fortunate we are, and to think outside ourselves and about others who are not so fortunate. We've developed a new dinner time routine of having Kane announce a Quaker query (sometimes they are from his school, sometimes he makes them up), followed by a collective moment of silence, sharing our thoughts about the query, and then Cam rounds it out with a Jewish blessing. Hey, it works for us.

In Home Entertainment: Thanksgiving Tablecloth and Giving Thanks

We somehow ended up hosting Thanksgiving this year at our house, which is actually always fine with mom because she never actually cooks anything. I was born just about a month before Thanksgiving and mom and dad didn't want to travel. So they had everyone to our house and had a newborn excuse to have the meal catered. Mom has clung to that excuse and even took it a step further this year -- the turkey will arrive fully cooked.

So, to balance our laziness in cooking, we thought we'd work a bit on holiday decorations. Both Cami and I brought home a huge bounty of school-made decorations, which we rounded out by putting together a pretty fabulous (if I do say so myself) "tablecloth." First, mom covered our dining room table with kraft butcher paper. Then I traced the outline of a plate at each place. Cami and I worked together on the seating assignments (on which we miraculously agreed) and I wrote each person's name at their place. As Cam and I vigorously do-a-dotted the paper and stamped leaves on it (by using the do-a-dot markers as "stamp pads"), mom wrote down what we claimed to be grateful about for each person at their place. We threw in a few extra thanks for other family members, but don't worry if you don't see your name on the list below. We're grateful for you, we just have very limited attention spans for comprehending the vague idea of gratefulness.

Here are our thankful lists -- Happy Turkey Day tomorrow!

Kane
- Uncle Steve - tackling (daddy has promised us a family football game of epic proportions and directions that we can tackle Uncle Steve)
- Nona - for coming from New Jersey
- Grandpa D-Rock - sending us cards
- Aunt Veronica - tackling with me and Uncle Steve (apparently Auntie V can also be tackled)
- Daddy - laying down with me
- Mom - making this wonderful dinner (ha!, says mom)
- Cami - for coming right to her dentist appointment when I call her (she didn't even have a cavity either)
- Doggy - giving him toys
- Grammie B - going with her on vacation
- Grandpa B - letting us fish with him
- Aunt Carrie - talking with me on the phone
- Cousin Jackie - seeing him for a couple of days
- Cousin Graham - being just born
- Dr. Uncle Mark - helping me when I was sick

Cami

- Uncle Steve - tackle (Cam is ready to play, yo)

- Nona - talking to Nona

- Grandpa D-Rock - talking to D-Rock

- Aunt Veronica - tackle

- Daddy - tackle 

- Mom - tackle (we all better watch out)

- Kane- tackle

- Doggy - tackle

- Grammie B - cooking with her

- Grandpa B - playing

- Aunt Carrie - playing

- Cousin Jackie - talking

- Cousin Graham - talking

- Dr. Uncle Mark - playing

And I Want to Thank You: Giving Thanks

Inspired by No Monsters in My Bed's periodic "Grateful Lists" (oh those kiddos are going to love looking back on those later in life), momma and I decided to make Thanksgiving cards using the marbled leaves we made, some of my drawings, and things for which I was thankful.  Of course, we never quite got it all together (explaining the concept of thankfulness took a bit).  But we have the base there and we'll save the cards we made to send out next year.  Here are a few of the things I am grateful for this year:

1. "Being happy."
2.  "Because you let me help you make the cake."
3.  (about Grammie B) "Taking me to her house."
4.  (about Nona) "Chairs.  Sitting down with us."
5.  (about daddy) "For spending a lot of money."
6.  "For putting baby sister down." (for her nap)
7.  (followed by) "My sister."
8.  "For sharing at the museum."
9.  "For giving back." (as related to sharing at the museum)
10. "For dad."
11.  "Just Kaney."
12.  "The car."

Cam has yet to get much of a word in edgewise.  She seems to have taken to brute force lately to get her point across, which doesn't really match up that well with our "thankfulness" exercise.  We're sure that when she can talk better, up there on her list will be that she's thankful I piped down for a bit.

Happy Turkey Day!!! We'll catch you on the flip side!