Thanksgiving 2014

We honestly didn't do a lot leading up to Thanksgiving this year. Zero crafts at home! (I did one cool counting game with corn...but that's not a craft!) They made some at Super Saturday at the library and I loved the turkey Lorelei did with water color paint at school. From what I gathered, the teacher talked them through drawing the turkey (maybe started with the circle in the middle?) and then they painted it. Just love it. She also made pilgrims out of paper plates that she was very proud of.

Working hard counting corn for preschool!

We did continue our tradition of our thankful tree, which was up in the hallway this year. The kids told me what they were thankful for and then drew it on the leaf. Lorelei was doing a great job sounding out the words and writing them as they sounded. It was the first time she has done this much, so that was really fun to see. The night we made them, we then read over our whole tree in the hall after it was put up, per the kids request. I was glad they were so excited for it. :)

The "thankful for" items included... (next year I need to do a better job keeping track of who said what, but I think I remembered most of them correctly)

Lorelei: Dad and Mom, the library, books, candy corn, a dog, Makin, markers, candles, dance, 1C, school, cup, food

Makin: Mommy, Daddy, candy, cream of wheat, Lorelei, tow trucks, raisins and grapes, cupcakes, remotes, 1C, race tracks

We headed to the Oklahoma panhandle to celebrate this year. I realized this is the first time in our 9 years of marriage we were not home for Thanksgiving! It was great to see my family. :)

Bits of fun around the farm included...

A close-up view of the cattle because Papa made sure to put the hay-bales in the pasture right behind the house.

Lots of games (especially with Uncle AJ,  favorites were Mickey Mouse Yahtzee and Dinosaur Matching.), hot wheels and marble works. 

This was our first time back since my parents had added many gems fom my grandparent's house to their own house. This included a lucky cricket, which is supposed to stay on the mantle and bring you luck. Makin loved drinking out of the Little Foot cup. (Not from my grandparent's house, just cups mom saved, thank goodness!) These cups have so many memories from my childhood! Loved seeing my kids using them.

Sunrises with Aunt Heather on the back steps. What a view. :) 

You can see Makin's head peaking out from under the blanket.

Our Thanksgiving lunch was just our family and we all enjoyed it. Mom always goes all out, not only with the food, but also the table settings. :) Also just had to make sure to show Makin with his disgruntled look in case you think he is perfect. :) Lorelei loved having sparkling apple cider for our celebration.

What is this thing?

Couldn't resist that caption! :) We decorated for Christmas the day after, and the kids enjoyed checking out the record player and listening to Nana's old records. Muppets 12 Days of Christmas has great memories for me!

Love this one!!!

We celebrated an early Christmas on Saturday.

After family pictures for my parent's Christmas card. ;) 

This little boy was waiting all morning to open presents, so when he finally got the ok, he zipped through them so fast we could barely watch! Lorelei was actually sick part of Fri and Sat, so she had minimal reactions and I didn't get any pictures of her opening presents. Brad did catch her bug on the way home, which made for a long drive, but that's just the way it goes sometimes!

So thankful for a wonderful family!

Thanks for having us!