Thanks-living

I recently heard a friend use that term on her blog, Thanks-living...about living your life like every day is Thanksgiving, living in a state of thankfulness, contentment & praise. I feel a little bad for good ol' Thanksgiving because before the turkey is even cool, it seems all the attention has shifted to the next holiday around the bend, Christmas. Now, I LOVE Christmas, but I'm just saying that Thanksgiving often gets the short end of the stick. This year, I was encouraged by the way so many people took the time to post (on blogs, Facebook, etc.) daily in November on what they were thankful for. We enjoyed doing that as a family, but I will be honest & tell you we lost steam mid-way through the month...he kids started getting silly & already the pace of each week was accelerating with programs & parties galore....but I do look forward to pulling those things out next November to look at as we add new thankfulness!
But really, why wait until November? I guess I'd like to challenge myself to keep a list somewhere (& not a mental list because my mind is increasingly turning to jelly) all the time of thankful things...a mentor calls them "I Spys"...like, I Spy something awesome that God has done for me! For now, my blog is a good a place as any, so hold me accountable for being thankful!

And while we're talking thankfulness, I realized that I never got around to posting our Thanksgiving Day or the kids' Thanksgiving celebrations at school. So here is a little thankful recap!
We started off the week before Turkey Day celebrating with a special Thanksgiving Chapel service that the 1st grade classes led. Sophie was chosen to hold & lead the pledge to the Christian flag (Attention, Salute, Pledge!) She did a great job!

 Then the first graders all had a letter of Happy Thanksgiving & said something they were thankful for that began with their letter...Sophie's letter was S. She said she was thankful for our Savior, Jesus who came to die for us! I can't think of anything better to be thankful for!! 

 They also sang several songs & recited passages of Scripture. Lucy definitely agrees with me, it was a wonderful program & sweet chapel service full of thanksgiving!

 Jeff & two of his sweet girls!

 Me with Sophie & Lucy

 Okay, this picture was just too cute to not include it!

 After the Chapel service, we headed right over to Darcy's preschool for her Thanksgiving feast & program, too!

 I am thankful for Darcy's sweet & wonderful teachers who do SUCH cute & creative things with their class! Darcy is learning SO much this year!

 They made these adorable t-shirts with three things they are thankful for. Darcy's were God (yeah!), Kate (a sweet friend) and cupcakes (that's truly Darcy!)

 They sang some adorable songs....like "I'm glad I'm not a turkey" which has been on repeat in my head for weeks now!

 And then they enjoyed some delicious food! Chicken nuggets, mashed potatoes, mac-n-cheese, salad, fruit, veggies, cornbread, CUP-CAKES...it truly was a bountiful feast!

 Here is Darcy with her sweet friend, Kate!

 Kate had that she is thankful for Darcy on her shirt

Darcy with her lovely teachers, Ms. Cindy & Ms. Amy

A few days later, I spent the morning helping out in Sophie's first grade class with their Thanksgiving Centers. It was a super fun morning of learning all about life long ago when they celebrated the first Thanksgiving. They explored plantation life & learned all about how the pilgrims lived & what they might have eaten. 

 The kids were supposed to dress up like a Native American or a Pilgrim.

Native American costumes are a bit easier to make (we recycled one made for a Thanksgiving program last year!) 

Mommy & her sweet little indian!

And once again, I headed directly to the preschool, this time for Drew's Thanksgiving party!

That's my sweet boy!

 Singing songs (well really standing around, hand-in-pocket, not singing the songs!)

 Food, now that's something to sing about!

 Oh, soooo thankful for that cute grin!

 Drew with his wonderful teacher, Ms. Kelly.

 After all that celebrating, I was thankful that we decided to keep our own Thanksgiving celebration simple & sweet...a nice, low-key day! We alternate years between my family & Jeff's family. It was our year to be with my side, so my parents came over for Thanksgiving lunch.

 Oh, we did make our own butter! Sophie did this at her Thanksgiving Centers & it was so easy! Just fill a small jar 1/2 to 2/3 full with heavy cream. (We used a stage 2 baby food jar.) Shake vigorously for 5 minutes or so, until you notice a little butter ball inside! Pour off the buttermilk (or save for another use.) 

 We didn't even cook a turkey this year, but still had TONS to eat!

 Chicken with chipped beef, spiral cut ham, & London Broil!

 Accordion baked potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans, corn, rolls, cranberry-orange relish...are you hungry yet!??

 Finger licking good!

 After lunch, Drew was ready to play outside!

 The weather was so mild, we left the sliding door open for most of the day with a lovely fire going in the fireplace!

 Sweet Lucy girl napped while we were eating

 But she got her share of the love & attention when she woke up!

 Don't hate me because I'm too cute!
And now I'm sure you're thankful that wraps up our Thanksgiving celebrations recap!