Thanksgiving Ideas

This time of year is busy for many families. Planning trips to visit distant family members or just planning a huge meal to feed those many family members who are traveling into town. I can't wait until my daughters are old enough to truly help me in the kitchen during these festive holidays. Just the other day I baked a whole mess of Chocolate Chip Oatmeal cookies and Sofia stood on a chair in our small kitchen and helped me pour each ingredient in the mixing bowl. She had a wonderful time "helping" mommy. She didn't quite understand that the cookies had to be baked first. That was pretty interesting to teach her that part. She did know how to eat them once they were out of the oven!

Thanksgiving and Christmas are two great holidays to cook up a HUGE meal, regardless if you have many people at your home or not! I love baking the turkey and make all the sides from scratch. One of my very favorite Thanksgivings was the very first one my sister's spent with my dad when he returned from overseas. We went to go and live with him and had recently met his girlfriend at the time, Kippie. She invited me to help her make some pies at her apartment and as an added bonus I could spend the night with her. This was my very first time making a pumpkin pie from scratch! It was so much fun! We carved a pumpkin and then cleaned it all out. We roasted the pumpkin seeds which were so yummy. Then we had to cut the pumpkin into chunks and boil it and then puree it. It was a long process but it was so worth it because that pumpkin pie was so good! That has to be one of my favorite memories of living with my dad, was that first Thanksgiving with him.

When I was in the Air Force and stationed at Barksdale I didn't have the opportunity to make it home for Thanksgiving one year and so I cooked the entire Thanksgiving meal by myself and had other airman who couldn't go home over to my place. I loved it! I was up all through the night cooking and baking which made my apartment smell so good for days!

Now that I have my own family I love cooking and baking things from scratch for them. Malachi loves all the smells that fill the house when I am baking up goodies. This year we are heading to his father's home for Thanksgiving. This is a really special treat for Malachi because he hadn't heard from his father for over15 years until recently. I suggested that we make a trip to visit him and Thanksgiving just happens to be a great reason to do so!

I am hoping that one day we can have family and friends at our home for Thanksgiving or Christmas Supper. We don't have a huge home, but we could find some way to accommodate a lot of people if we had to.

I have printed out some very cute coloring pages for Sofia to do in celebration of Thanksgiving and Christmas. If you are a homeschool family or just want some fun activities to do with your children here are some links for some great printables:

For Pumpkin Prayer, Thanksgiving Day Minibook, Happy Birthday Jesus, Candy Cane Christmas (you can attach a candy cane to this and have your child share it with someone else), Symbols of Christmas go to this link: http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/MiniBooks2.html

For other Thanksgiving activities go to this link: http://www.christianpreschoolprintables.com/Thanksgiving.html

And for a few Turkey File Folder Games go to this link:

http://www.filefolderfun.com/SubjectThanksgiving.html

 

For other ideas for Thanksgiving crafts to do with your sweet ones check out these links too:

http://www.kinderinfo.com/category/crafts/thanksgiving-crafts/

http://www.kinderinfo.com/thanksgiving-apple-turkey-craft-for-kids/

 

If you are like me you want to be able to cook up a great big meal without having to take out a loan! The Hillybilly Housewife has some great "Frugal Recipes" that you may want to check out.

http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/holidayrecipes.htm

She has a great recipe for a "Gingerbread House":
http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/gingerbreadhouse.htm

Need a recipe for a great soup to serve on Thanksgiving? Here is a recipe from the Hillybilly Housewife: http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/thanksgiving-soup.htm

You can check out the Hillybilly Housewife's Latest Newsletter for more recipes and information on Thanksgiving at http://www.hillbillyhousewife.com/blog/?page_id=553

For more cute ideas for recipes or fun activities with your sweet ones for Thanksgiving you can go to the Family Fun website at http://familyfun.go.com/recipes/index.html?CMP=KNC-FFGoog100705_ffn_google_recipes-hv_recipes

I thought this "Clay Pot Turkey" is a neat little craft to do for Thanksgiving. This could be used as decorations for the dinner table! You can check out this craft at http://www.kinderart.com/seasons/claypotturkey.shtml

 

There are so many neat things we can cook/bake for Thanksgiving and even more fun things we can do with our children. Let's do our best to include our children in all the things we do to prepare for Thanksgiving. If you are baking or cooking, include your children and have them help measure ingredients. (Makes for a great math lesson for all you homeschoolers out there!) Have hubby take pictures of these special moments. During arts and crafts time remember to snap a few pictures and put them in a special memory book. You could even have the children make a memory book out of construction paper or have them decorate an inexpensive photo album. (You can find really inexpensive ones at the Dollar Store, Dollar Tree, Everything's a Dollar, or Walmart. Target might even have a "Cheap goodies" section)

I pray that you all enjoy your Thanksgiving and that you remember to thank the Lord for ALL He does for you!

Serving God and My Family,

Crystal <>< (SAHM)