Thanksgiving Traditions

It's really cool how you get the chance to look at the holidays through new eyes when you have kids.  We've been focused on the traditions we want to do a a family and the lessons we want our girls to learn about why we celebrate the things we do.

I'm really hoping that this activity will become a yearly tradition.

From Fall 2012

We made our very own Thankful Tree!  Each day we talk about things we're thankful for and write some of them on paper leaves to tie to the branches.  It would be a beautiful centerpiece for our table if we didn't have to keep putting it on top of the fridge so that Monte won't knock it over!  I'm guessing that the shape of our project might look different from year to year, but it's been wonderful really taking time to talk about all of the blessings we've been given!

Here are a few of the things we're thankful for:

the park
candy
Ruby

From Fall 2012

our church
pandas
naptime (hmmm... I wonder who's thankful for that?!)
the library
fun projects

From Fall 2012

sunshine
mommy's fudge
Daddy
our house

From Fall 2012

crayons
travels
Ada and her snuggles

From Fall 2012

this guy

From Fall 2012

I think we'll continue to add leaves through the end of the month, so I may come back to this post to add some more pics and ideas.

Since we were just in Minnesota/Wisconsin last weekend we were able to celebrate Thanksgiving as a family of four at home today.  We bundled up this morning for an adventure.  We took the girls on the Metro ride for the first time when we took the train downtown for the St. Louis Thanksgiving Day Parade.

From Fall 2012

From Fall 2012

We got busy in the kitchen as soon as we got home making all of the traditional flavors- turkey, potatoes, stuffing, gravy, and cranberries.  After the girls we all napped, Ruby was begging for some pie (pumpkin, of course)!  We even watched Charlie Brown's Thanksgiving before bedtime.  Perfect day!