"Remember Me"-Themed Thanksgiving

 

I hosted Thanksgiving for our family this year.  The last (and the first) time I hosted was five years ago when Guy was baptized.  So it was time.  My children were so excited to host.  They love, like I do, planning parties and being creative and planning special things for their loved ones.  So this was a really fun family thing to do together.  But with Steve working on finishing the basement, and two little babies that we didn't have five years ago, this was a major undertaking which took a lot of work and teamwork!

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Turkey T-shirts

I saw these t-shirts on Pinterest and could not resist making them with the family at FHE this week.  In a world where holidays are being celebrated less and less in schools, this old-school mom is doing her best to keep holiday fun alive!  

We bought these basic tees at Walmart, along with materials needed for the craft: craft felt and heatbond.

We "eye-balled" all of the pieces for the face and feathers and arranged the faces during FHE.  Then I finished ironing them on and then stitching around the pieces on another night. (You can see the tutorial here.)

Truth be told, Autumn was my most excited turkey.  Scarlett had to be bribed with gum to wear hers to school...which could have something to do with the fact that she bought a t-shirt just a little too small for her and the shirt was a boy cut, which she didn't like either!

Guy was pretty proud of his t-shirt, although he opted not to have tail feathers.  He added eyebrows to his face, making it quite expressive!

Here was a picture I took at family scripture study this morning.  I feel like someone's watching me now...all the time with these shirts!  Gobble! Gobble!

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Thanksgiving Hostess Gift

Like many of you, we're focusing on showing gratitude for others as a family this month.

We talked a little bit about who we should show gratitude to and what we should show gratitude for...and practiced a few ways one can show gratitude.  

We wrote thank you notes, took cookies to a few friends who have helped us recently, and the kids and I made hostess gifts to bring to family in a few weeks.  

We saw this hostess gift idea at The Idea Room.  It's very simple to create.  I bought the wooden spoons at Walmart, the kitchen towel at Target, and I already had the other tools needed.

Using metal letter stamps, we stamped words like "blessed" and "thankful" and her last name on the handles of our wooden utensils.  Then we used a skinny permanent marker to make the letters stand out a little more.

I used a piece of masking tape to try to make my lines straight.  It helped, but I'm not great at this kind of stuff, so it's not perfect!  But it's really a foolproof craft for the most part and quick to create.  I'm hoping my sister will enjoy them!  I know she's working hard to facilitate a nice Thanksgiving for all of us, and I want her to know how much I appreciate and love her!

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Happy November!

We had an awesome Halloween and October full of fun and spooky activities, but now it's November, and that is quickly becoming my favorite time of year.  I've been super busy volunteering at school this year, and I'm in charge of a service project that is finally coming to fruition.  So I'm pretty excited about that.  (In fact, I need to shower and get to school real quick to help out!)

This weekend, once the tricks or treats were over, we worked together as a family to winterize our yard.  We were so proud of the kids for working together and having such good attitudes doing what we asked of them.

I snapped this picture of Steve reviewing the triumphs and lessons learned of our day working together.  It was mostly triumphs.  I love how the kids are fixed on Steve's every word as he doles out fatherly praise on them each individually.

Scarlett saved this leaf for me which she is sure was made by her personal leprechaun.  We love all types of magic fun around here!

Guy continues to be an amazing big brother and a super-duper family historian.  He participated in someone's Eagle Scout project on Saturday, taking pictures of tombstones in a local cemetery, then digitizing the information and uploading to a family history site. He was jazzed about it and bore his testimony in church that he felt the Holy Ghost very strongly during the project.

I have much to thank God for in my life, and I bet you do to.  I love a season that is all about saying thanks.  I am also grateful that my gratitude calendar (that I threw together years ago) is holding up!  Each day, we write down one thing we are grateful for on a slip of paper and place it in the pocket.  (I fill the pockets with stickers for the kids to take once they put a slip of paper in.)  After we eat Thanksgiving dinner, we open the notes and read them aloud.

Have a great Monday!

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Gingerbread Houses

Yes, the Thanksgiving story still has a few more installments!

After we watched Guy enter into the covenant of baptism, which was just the total highlight of the week/year (!!) we laid low for the afternoon.  My parents had to go home, unfortunately!  Some kids played at the park or in the yard doing all the normal shenanigans that cousins do when they get together.  Then we ate this delicious pasta bake that my Bro-in-law Eric baked up.  (He served a mission in Italy, so the man knows pasta!)

After our bellies were once again fueled...it was time to decorate Gingerbread houses!!

I baked and assembled all of the gingerbread houses beforehand, and there were six of them total, so it was quite an undertaking.  But let me tell you...our house has smelled wonderful for weeks now, as these houses have been a major fixture!

We had tons of candy and lots of interesting varieties to work with.

The kids just went to town...and so did the adults.

Again, another activity that was easy for all to get excited about and that brought generations together.

Of course, there was a bit of nibbling going on.

Hansel and Gretel had nothing on us.

Some houses were neat and tidy....

...and some houses were, ahem...a bit more expressive!

Just lots of happiness and Christmas cheer to go around...and family bonding.

We were all feeling pretty proud of our creations, when we decided to call it good, take a group cousin photo with the houses and move on to watch a Charlie Brown Christmas or something...when the crash happened.

Yes, The Crash.  The Great Gingerbread Crash of 2013.

In the midst of sweeping up random candies from the floor, the table on which our houses rested had a leg give way...and all six of our gingerbread houses went on a swift, downhill trip to the floor.  

The kids, who were in the basement at the time, heard the crash and knew immediately that something had happened to their houses...They came scrambling upstairs screaming and gave a unified, horrified cry!  In the end, we all had a good laugh, and ate the pieces of candy which had come loose.

The interesting thing that my Mom and others pointed out was that NONE of the houses cracked or came apart, because they were so well-built.  They were built on a "firm foundation."  Our families, like our houses, can also be built that strong...hard times will come, unforeseen crashes will happen, but if we make sure to build a strong family unit, on a firm foundation, there is nothing that we can't withstand together.

This family gathering has been proof of that!

I have posted my gingerbread recipe on here before, but here it is as well as the icing recipe:

Gingerbread Recipe

Combine:

8 cups of flour

2 tsp ground ginger

1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground cloves

Set aside.

In another bowl beat:

2 1/4 cups shortening

with

2 cups sugar

Then add

2 eggs

1 cup molasses

2/3 cup light corn syrup

Finally add flour mixture to sugar mixture.

Add the last bit by hand if necessary.

Refrigerate for firmness or roll out the dough and cut-out immediately.

Bake on a greased cookie sheet at 375 for 10-20 minutes.

Voila.

The Gingerbread House Icing Recipe is as follows:

Beat 2 egg whites until foamy.  Add 1/4 teaspoon cream of tartar.  Gradually add one pound of 10X sugar.  As the icing become stiff, add water by the teaspoonful (about 5 tsps).  Icing should be soft but not runny.  (Add sugar or water if needed.) Beat icing for 5-10 minutes.

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The Candy Bar Game: Where Everyone Wins

This face.  This face, this face, this face!

This is the face of getting "oh-ed!" during The Candy Bar Game.

I first played The Candy Bar Game at my in-laws house when they were serving a mission in Atlanta.  That Thanksgiving in the mission field was one of the very best we've had.  It was simple, sweet, and filled with the comfort and joy of the holy spirit...and we got to see an entire family baptized into the church!

After dinner that year, we took supplies for the candy bar game over to an investigator's house to play, and the kids in that family went nuts over it.  Because that memory was so special to me, I decided we needed to play the candy bar this Thanksgiving as well.

I bought a ton of candy bars and wrapped them (because who doesn't like to unwrap stuff?) and we played it together on Thanksgiving night.  It involves rolling dice to get a certain number.  If you get the number, you can pick a candy bar from the middle of the circle.

There is supposed to be "stealing" of candy bars from other players too, but we didn't go in that direction, since we had a lot of young children, and getting your candy bar stolen from you on Thanksgiving is just unbearable!  

There was lots of laughter and excitement.  The game was a real hit.  And, of course, there was the moment that Cara unwrapped the STARBURSTS...and the crowd went wild.

I had no idea that Starbursts would be the star of the show!  I should've known.

Tomorrow, I'll tell you about:  Guy's Baptism Day!!

PS - Forgot to include this picture of my niece Adelle.  I took it while the cousins were running around playing Capture the Flag in the back yard on Thanksgiving evening...before the candy bar game.  Is it possible that time was slowed down for us during our special family gathering?  How else were we able to pack SO much in during the times that we had together?  I do not know!

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Flicker Little Candles: Lighting the Menorah

All season long, our Scarlett has been singing this song that she learned at school:

"Flicker little candles,  flicker bright for Chanuka.

Sevivon go spinning, round and round for Hanukkah.

Flicker little candles, all eight nights of Hanukkah.

Sevivon go spinning, Hanukkah is here!"

We love to celebrate Hanukkah!

And while I'm never quite sure which spelling to use, we know what Hanukkah is about.  It is a time to stop and recognize the miracles that the Lord has performed in our lives in the last year and throughout history.

Growing up, our parents made sure that we observed Hanukkah (minus the gifts) and understood its significance.  Growing and learning under the influence of good parents, grandparents, and a seminary teacher who had a genuine understanding of Jewish heritage and God's dealings with ancient Israel, we have a special place in our hearts for our modern-day Jewish friends.

We also know that God still works miracles.  

My sister Cara, in particular, has a strong testimony of this, as she experienced some wonderful miracles in her life, due to her great faith.  But it doesn't take big and showy occurrences to recognize God's hand working in our lives. 

Since Hanukkah fell on Thanksgiving night, Cara lead us (and her son Peter) in the lighting of her Menorah.  We then took turns, as we sat together as a family, sharing the miracles that we have seen in our lives this year.

The miracle that I shared, I have shared many times in the last month or so.  As I was seeing to all the details of this reunion/Thanksgiving week, I realized just how much food I was going to need to gather, prepare, and provide.  I thought, "Where in the world am I going to store this much food, for this many people, for a week?"  I realized I needed an extra freezer, and I immediately started writing a list of reasons (in my head) that I'd give to convince Steve to buy us one!

No sooner did I start thinking this did the thought enter my mind, "No, if the Lord wants us to have a freezer, he will provide one."

I put the entire issue out of my head, and forgot about asking Steve to get us a freezer.  Anyway, I had too much to do to dwell on that.

About a day or so later, I received a phone call from a friend.  She said that another family had moved and left their large chest freezer behind...would we like to have it?

All I could do was look upward and smile.  Of course.  Of course, the Lord would take care of this major detail for our special gathering.  He can part the Red Sea.  He can move mountains.  He can make oil last eight nights when there is only enough for one.  He can easily arrange for me to have a needed freezer.

The Lord doesn't always reach in and give us just what we think that we need in every situation.  But from time to time, his hand is obviously revealed.

Today, especially, I pray that the Lord will reach in and reveal his hand in a situation that I care very much about.  I hope that I can have the faith of a grain of mustard seed, and that the unchangeable, Father of us all, will work miracles in all of our lives.

Thank you, Cara for conducting this very meaningful part of our Thanksgiving evening!

Up next:  Thanksgiving Part V: The Candy Bar Game

PS - Almost forgot to mention...My sister Cara wrote a song a while back.  She put the words to My Gospel Standards to music.  I taught it to my children and together with some of her kids, we sang the song to her.  It is a special song to us, and she is a special person for creating something that my kids can use to feel confident in living their beliefs.  Thank you, Cara!

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Scrabble Tile Ornaments

Every year our family chases down Thanksgiving dinner by creating a craft together, usually a Christmas ornament.  This is very enjoyable, but mind you, the main purpose in doing this is to kill time between first and second dinner!  Ahem.

But seriously, it's our very favorite tradition, and it's always fun to find out what we are going to attempt to make together!

This year, I found this Scrabble Tile Ornament online, and knowing my parents' great love of Scrabble, my love of words, and Steve's infatuation with staying up until 2am drilling holes in Scrabble tiles--I knew this would be a perfect fit.

We had a whole list of words to choose from--stuff like, love, joy, peace, hope, Christ, wish, mistletoe, wisemen...elf.  On and on.  I think I liked "joy" and "wish" the best.  Because I feel like this year has been a year of wishes coming true for our family.  And when I look into my children's eyes I still see the magic of wishing, and I want to remember that hopeful, happy state forever.

These ornaments couldn't have been easier to assemble.  As I mentioned, Steve drilled the holes beforehand, and I prepackaged the materials/words beforehand, so that when it came time to craft, all one needed to do was pick a baggy/word and go for it.  Using the thinnest floral wire, we simply assembled the letters and beads by twisting the wire behind each bead.  Add a bell at the bottom and a bow at the top, and you're good to go!

Seriously, though...did you think that I was finished?  Nope, just getting started.

Next up: Celebrating Hanukkah and His Tender Mercies

Yeah, I'm still talking about Thanksgiving!

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