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Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Our THANKS Giving Tree

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Thank you Nana & Grandpa

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Our typical day before Thanksgiving usually consists of cooking a few side dishes while devouring an edible arrangement sent from Nana and Grandpa. Little L was old enough to partake in it this time around, much to his delight. He nearly leapt out of my arms squealing "yum, yum!" when it arrived at our door.

Did you notice in the pictures above that C has purple streaks in her hair? The girls decided to secretly paint their nails this morning. They swear they asked Kevin if they could. He swears he told them only with me...That was fun to wake up to. I am still cleaning nail polish off of their clothes, bodies and just about every surface in our home.

For us, Thanksgiving isn't about pilgrims or discovering this land (The Native Americans had already 'found' it, thank you very much) but about gratitude for the blessings in our life. With this in mind, we made a THANKS giving tree as a visual reminder of what we are thankful for. We went out in the forest behind our house to find a branch and then stuck it in an old Martinmas lantern filled with pebbles. I printed out the tree leaves from Ann and had the girls write what they were thankful for on the back of each leaf.When they finished, they hung their leaves up on the tree. There were quite a few leaves and I was nervous at first that they wouldn't be able to think of that many things they are thankful for, but they filled them up and even wanted more. There were some rather serious thank yous like K's "thankful for the life I've been given" and "C loving me" but also some ones we giggled at like C's "pumpkins"and"food".  Little L dictated a thank you to me (at least that's what I told the girls) saying "thank you for my sisters". I am thankful Kevin gets the day off and we will actually get to spend some time with him.

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Comments (15)

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Happy Thanksgiving Nicole!! I am very thankful for friends like you who brighten my day when I need it. I hope you all enjoy tomorrow!!
This is so wonderful. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours. Thank you for sharing such lovely things here, I stumbled upon your blog a couple of weeks ago and I'm very pleased I did! I'm loving all the hand knits by the way!
1 reply · active 639 weeks ago
Thank you and so glad you are joining us here :)
Lovely idea. I love seeing pictures of your kids in the gorgeous hand knits. You are a wonderful mother. ;-)
Happy Thanksgiving! What a beautiful idea for a Thanksgiving tree. Also, I really really want someone to send me an edible arrangement now. They looked too wax like in the commercial I saw a few years ago but your real life one looks fantastic!
I never would have noticed the purple if you hadn't mentioned it. (:
Have a great day with your family, Nicole!
Oh I love you little tree, and how sweet to use a Martinmas lantern to tie the festivals of the season together. I think we will copy your tradition next year when my little ones can understand gratitude a little bit more, for right now I am thankful, for the sweet and honest thank yous a one and two year old offer when served their meals or handed a blanket or toy when they ask.
Wonderful life style...
Many blessings to all of you!
Silvia
great idea and way of living!!!
have a good thanksgiving
ciao ciao
eloisa
Such a beautiful idea, dear; thanks for sharing! We did something a bit similar - I made the children 'Thanksgiving books' - I printed off images of vintage Thanksgiving postcards, glued them to cardstock, and put some paper inside. These were to be filled with things the children were thankful for, poems of thanks, thoughts of thanks, or pictures of things to be thankful for. I made books for my husband and myself, also. I hope you and your lovely family have a blessed Thanksgiving. : )
1 reply · active 639 weeks ago
The tree is beautiful! And thanks for the giggle about the nail polish. I know you aren't giggling, but perhaps in a few weeks you will be!
1 reply · active 639 weeks ago
Hee,hee. I was giggling inbetween scrubbing. Those silly rascals of mine!
What a lovely tradition! I grew up in Germany, so the celebration of Thanksgiving is relative new for me (we are living here now for 6 years). Your Martinmas pictures call my memories of our traditions and celebrations home and makes me want to share those moments with my children....
I am happy to visit your beautiful place here and am always inspired by your gorgeous work! Thank you for sharing your life with us! Happy Thanksgiving!
The fruits look very delicious. Gonna try it here I guess.

Love,
M.

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