4 hours ago
I have been getting the Home And Haven seasonal bundles this year, just to add a little fun to our homeschool, and one of the winter bundles included a "Thanksgiving" category. One of the worksheets had gratitude conversation starters, and I thought I would borrow a few of the questions and share my answers here, just for some pre-Thanksgiving fun!
What experience in the last year are you most grateful for?
I think the experience I'm most grateful for this year is our trip to the Ark Encounter. It is such an odd distance away, where it would be easier to fly, but flying would make the trip so much more expensive. But it is also far enough away that it feels on the verge of too far to drive. I don't think we would have made it there at all unless our good friends had been game to go with us, and thankfully they were. Traveling together is probably one of the truest tests of a friendship, isn't it? Traveling with these particular friends was a delightful experience and not difficult at all, and I am experienced enough in my life to realize how rare it is to find a friendship like that! I'm really grateful for a meaningful trip and friendship at it's best.
What is your favorite part about your home?
I think my favorite part about our home is our woodstove. I loved our wood stove so much at our last house, that I just had to have one here too. It's adds so much coziness to these colder days, and it makes me not mind the brown ugliness of November. At first I did NOT love the woodstove though, because every time we tried to light a fire in it, smoke would pour into our house. We finally got a specialist out to look at it, and he told us that the builder had installed the top part of the chimney incorrectly. Apparently the pipe of a chimney or stove has to be taller than the tallest point in your house, or the smoke will not go up and out. Something to do with air pressure and suction. Another reminder that building a house correctly is even more scientific than I sometimes realize.
What book are you grateful for?
Aside from the Bible, which is certainly a given, I'm grateful for Christmas At The Vinyl Cafe. My penpal, Felicia, sent me a copy for Christmas last year, and it was so delightful that I fully intend to read it again this year. It's a collection of humorous short stories surrounding the holidays, and it's one of those books that makes me laugh and cry. Sometimes you need something that makes you forget political divisions, that makes you appreciate the common human experience of modern holidays - good, bad, and ugly and glorious. It's a good book.
Who did something nice for you today?
This has been a particularly nice mail week - my sister-in-law sent us a really thoughtful package with cotton plants, which is cool for the kids to see because we do not have cotton plants here! It's interesting for them to see a crop specimen from another part of the country.
I also received an unexpected mystery package in the mail with a copy of Jotham's Journey, which is an advent book I was trying to get from the library to read with the kids this year. I found out it was from my Aunt! She read my mind, and I'm so excited to own a copy and to start it with the kids!
What is a smell you are grateful for?
I'm getting over a cold this week, and I weirdly lost my sense of smell, which almost never happens to me. I miss good smells! Right now I wish I could smell all the wreaths I've been seeing at the stores. Is there anything more Christmasy than the smell of a pine tree? I'm grateful they smell like that.
What memory always makes you smile?
I was thinking yesterday about a childhood tradition we had - every year we kids would go on a shopping day with my dad to find gifts for my mom. We'd start early and be gone all day. We'd always eat at Arby's for lunch, and we would always stop at Best Buy for a new Christmas CD to listen to while we were driving. After we had found all her gifts, we'd end the day with meeting my mom for a movie at the theater. We'd wrap all her presents together too, and my dad would label the gift tags with characters from Christmas movies. I so looked forward to that shopping day every year - it was special to go shopping with just dad.
I also decided to throw in a little Thanksgiving this or that, just for fun - I got the prompts from this article. I looked through a few this or that graphics on image search too, but I found alot of the questions ridiculous. Thanksgiving parade or dog show? I didn't even know dog shows on Thanksgiving were a thing. Turkey or tofurkey? Really? Who in their right mind would choose the latter if they weren't vegetarian/vegan? Honestly.
Anyway, here we go!
Host or attend? I usually love the idea of hosting Thanksgiving, but this year especially I am overwhelmed by the idea of it. It's been a really weird November, and I'm just mentally drained. So attending wins this year.
Turkey or ham? I think I'm going to have to go with turkey. Hams are more of an Easter thing for me.
Travel or stay home? I don't believe I've ever actually traveled for Thanksgiving, not more than a couple hours anyway. I have to pick stay home, because it's really been my only experience of the holiday!
Stuffing or potatoes? Potatoes! Confession: I've never actually liked stuffing. I don't know why I don't.
Large gathering or just a couple of loved ones? Large gatherings are always fun!
Dress up or comfy clothes? I actually like dressing up for Thanksgiving. I don't get that many chances to wear nice clothes, so I take my opportunities where I can get them. However, about an hour after dinner and halfway into my second piece of pie, stretchy pants are nice.
Pumpkin or apple pie? Pumpkin pie all the way, because it's so iconic for Thanksgiving. Apple pies are appropriate any time of year, but you only get pumpkin around the holidays.
In case I don't post again this week - Happy Thanksgiving, friends! I hope you can see the goodness of God to you more clearly than ever this year, and spend some time thanking the Giver of all good gifts.
This year I’ve really been leaning into the Thanksgiving holiday with the kids - mainly with our Thanksgiving tree, gratitude journals, and lots of picture books! We have read so many Thanksgiving picture books so far this year, probably three times as many as I’m including in this post. The ones here are my favorites for the Thanksgiving season. I know it’s a little late to get these from the library now, so maybe just bookmark these for next year!
Just For Thanksgiving Fun
The Night Before Thanksgiving by Natasha Wing - This is a play off of the classic Christmas poem, and I thought it was so cute, especially with the sweet illutrations.
How To Celebrate Thanksgiving by P. K. Hallinan - This is a picture book, in rhyme, that celebrates all the fun of Thanksgiving Day (including eating so much you feel like you might burst). Cute illustrations, fun poem.
Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin - This is the first time I've read this one, and the quirky story of Grandma's special cranberry bread recipe and how it's nearly stoled made me laugh.
Thanksgiving In The Woods by Phyllis Allsdurf - This book is based off of a family who celebrates Thaksgiving each year by having dinner in the woods - this is one of those times where the illustrations really make the whole book. This book is so pretty.
A Turkey For Thanksgiving by Eve Bunting - A fun story about Mr. Moose tracking down Turkey for Thanksgiving. My kids where laughing at this one!
Franklin's Thanksgiving by Paulette Bourgeois - My kids love watching Franklin, and this book had the typical mild dilemma that the show often features - Franklin invites too many people to Thanksgiving. It was cute!
Over The River And Through The Wood by Matt Tavares - I'm sure you recognize the first lines to this poem - somehow I never realized it was about Thanksgiving!
Historic Thanksgiving Tie-Ins
Berenstain Bears Thanksgiving Blessings by Mike Berenstain - This obviously isn't serious history, but on the way over to Grandma's House For Thanksgiving Dinner, Papa Bear tells about the Pilgrim bears that came seeking religious freedom.
Squanto And The Miracle Of Thanksgiving by Eric Metaxes - This is a Thanksgiving classic for us, telling the story of Squanto's life and how God used him to help the pilgrims survive.
This Is The Feast by Diane Z. Shore - Another one where the illustrations really shine, telling a little history about the first Thanksgiving.
Meaningful Thanksgiving Books
Sharing The Bread: An Old Fashioned Thanksgiving Story by Pat Zeitlow Miller - This book features a poem with a fun beat to it, all about working together to make Thanksgiving dinner.
A Thanksgiving Turkey by Julian Scheer - This book was slow going at first, but the ending just got me. One of those times when I feel silly tearing up a little as I read to the kids. I think I resonated from this one especially coming from a hunting family.
Thank You For Thanksgiving by Dandi Daley Mackall - It's the classic problem - everyone is going around saying what they are thankful for, and someone else says what you were going to say! I really liked how this one pointed back to being thankful for our Savior too.
Thanksgiving Graces by Mark Kimball Moulton - As Grandma invites more and more people to dinner, the narrator wonders if there will be enough - Grandma talks briefly about the parable of the fishes and reminds her grandson that they can stretch the food to include others. A sweet story about hospitality at Thanksgiving.
Thankful by Eileen Spinelli - A sweet "gratitude list" type of book, but I especially liked this one.
Give Thanks To The Lord by Karma Wilson - Another beautiful Thanksgiving book, this one taking inspiration from Psalm 92.
One Chapter Book
Rush Revere And The Brave Pilgrims by Rush Limbaugh - This is our favorite Thanksgiving historical fiction book - all about the journey of the pilgrims from Holland to the New World, including good history about the first Thanksgiving. It's so imaginative and fun with the time-traveling horse, Liberty! We like it on audio, but the actual book has some wonderful art pieces and fun illustrations too.
That's all I have for now, though I may add a few more titles if we read any other noteworthy ones this week!
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Update: I did add four other books to this list of our favorite books for the Thanksgiving holiday - you can read those here!
For the first time this year, I set up a "Thanksgiving tree" to do with the kids. I was inspired by some friends of our from church who do a Thanksgiving tree every year with their kids by writing things they are grateful for on leaf cut-outs each day.
I am working through a Gratitude morning time study with the kids, and so we've made it a habit to write in these printable gratitude journals, and then we pick a few of the things we are grateful for to write on the leaf cutouts and hang on our tree. I got the tree and leaf cutouts from Hobby Lobby. The tree also will double as Christmas decor over the next month as well!
The kids have so looked forward to hanging their gratitude leaves on the tree each day, and it's been a fun way to refocus on thanking God for all His goodness to us as we approach Thanksgiving! We will definitely be doing a Thanksgiving tree again next year.
I hope you all are having a lovely start to Thanksgiving week!
I started a Scripture memory journal this morning, this one, and I'm excited about memorizing a few new Scripture passages. I have attempted for a few years now to memorize Hebrews, and I am up to Chapter 7, but it's been difficult to stay motivated. I fully intend to finish Hebrews, but I thought I would try out the passages in this memory journal to give me a jump start on making Scripture memory a habit again.
Though I am usually staunchly against Christmas music before Thanksgiving, I have found myself eyeing some advent playlists on Spotify this morning. I am the only person in my family with this no-Christmas-music-before-Thanksgiving rule, and Derek sweetly tries to honor it, but I am slowly getting in the Christmas spirit. We have a birthday party with friends today, and I may just surprise the kids with a little Christmas music on the way down.
Derek is actually hunting today, and I have spent the morning praying that he'll get something and we'll be able to fill our freezer. If ever there was a year where I'd love to have inexpensive and healthy meat stocked away, this is it. The gas pumps and grocery store checkouts have become increasingly painful places, but I am also thankful that while the rising prices make my budget tighter, requiring me to be a little wiser with my spending, the Lord has provided and blessed us during this season. I think I mentioned that Derek got a new position with a new organization earlier this year, and it has been a better work environment overall, and a blessing in ways that I wouldn't have anticipated early in the year. One way is the additional monetary wiggle room that has eased the inflation pressure.
Last night I took Wyatt to a game night for the boys at our church, and while he participated, I sat in the church lobby and tried to start a Christmas newsletter. I usually don't send out family newsletters at Christmas, but since I haven't been updating on social media this year, I figured a newsletter was warranted. I have to tell you, I had a terrible time of it. Maybe I am just in a dry spell when it comes to writing? Are Christmas newsletters always this difficult to write? I couldn't decide how to start the letter out, and I didn't get around to writing about our year at all yet. I did end up typing short paragraphs about each of the kids, but then I realized just that filled up a whole page, and all the newsletter-writing advice tells you to keep Christmas newsletters to one page only. Surely I get a pass since I have so many children? Any newsletter-writing experts, please give me some advice.
I don't really know what my point is with this post, I guess I just wanted to drop in and say Hi! on a rare quiet Saturday morning! For the first time ever I successfully finished my 31 day blogging project in October, but I suppose I needed a couple weeks to recover. This is me getting back to it on the blog.
Is it okay if I leave you with a quote? I picked up Morning And Evening by Charles Spurgeon again this week, and this quote was one that stood out to me. This subject of sanctification, and how God puts things in our lives in order to draw us closer to Him, has been on my mind lately.
"Some plants die if they have too much sunshine. It may be that you are planted where you get very little, you are put there by the loving Husbandman, because only in that situation will you bring forth fruit to perfection. Remember this, had any other condition been better for you than the one in which you are, divine love would have put you there...Be content with such things as you have, since the Lord has ordered all things for your good. Take up your own daily cross; it is the burden best suited for your shoulder, and will prove more effective to make you perfect in every good word and work to the glory of God."-Charles Spurgeon
Happy Saturday!
Happy Reformation Day!
We actually have been celebrating Reformation Day all week, because today is busy with church and other activities. But really, is there a better way to mark the day than to fix our minds on Jesus by worshipping at church? Sounds like a great way to celebrate to me.
For my last day of my 31 Day Blogging challenge, and as a little Reformation Day gift, I am sharing a free prayer journal I've put together!
Last week, after I was reading in the book Face To Face: Praying The Scriptures For Intimate Worship by Kenneth Boa, I decided to look for a prayer journal printable I could use to write down my prayers as I read through the Scriptures in that book. I was hoping for something that followed a similar prayer format, but I didn't find anything, so I decided to make my own.
These prayer journal pages have a section for each type of prayer covered in Boa's book:
Adoration:
Praising God for Who He is.
Confession:
Asking forgiveness for our sins against God and others.
Renewal:
Asking God for help against temptation and for personal renewal.
Petition:
Requests for yourself.
Intercession:
Requests for others.
Affirmation:
Agreeing with God's will in prayer, and submitting to His will.
Thanksgiving:
Praising God for what He has done.
There are 31 of these daily prayer pages in the document, so you only have to print once and you should have enough pages for one month's worth of prayer time.
I included pages to record prayer requests, including check boxes for marking off each time you prayed, a place to write applicable Scripture verses for that request, and a place to record when the prayer was answered or to carry it forward to the next month. I put in a few pages with Bible verses on prayer as well!
I also highly recommend purchasing Face To Face if you struggle with prayer time as I often do. Though the prayer journal can be used easily without it, I've found this book so helpful for adding Scripture to my prayers, reminding me of important areas to cover in prayer, and keeping my mind focused (which is always a prayer challenge for me)!
Download the prayer journal here!
I hope you enjoy the prayer journal - it's my gift to you! Thanks for hanging out with me this month, friends! I have more posts planned for the next few weeks, so stay tuned.
For first birthdays I always went a little over the top, and because of the effort I put in and the memories of my sweet little one-year-olds loving the presents and cake, a lot of the first birthdays are making the list. However, I've done several less elaborate party themes that were still fun and cute (and cheap!), so you can see all of my party ideas by clicking here!
Without further ado:
This was Wyatt's first birthday party, and with him being my oldest and this being my first opportunity for a themed party, I put a lot of thought and crafting into it!
This birthday party theme just came to me one day while I was reading Eric Carle's book to Clyde! It was probably one of the easier parties that I've done.
This party takes the cake (pun intended) for being the easiest party in this list! Just add a bunch of pink and yellow decorations, get some lemonade-flavored treats, and you are good to go. I even had a little yellow dress for Gwen to wear for her party, and she looked too cute.
I really had a vision and invented this theme for Clarice's first birthday. This one may be near the top of my personal favorites list, mainly because of the PERFECT cake my sister made for the party!
I really struggled with picking a theme for Georgie's first birthday, because it fell right during the fall. I wanted a really cozy vibe, but something that looked girly too. I saw a donut board on a different blog, and decided right there to get Derek to build me one and just go with that. It turned out so pretty!
I am going to cheat a little and add one non-birthday party to this list, because I think the decorations were so cute and could be used easily for a birthday party theme! This was actually our 4th gender reveal party, and it was so fun.
When we do themed parties, I tend to do them thoroughly, because most years we don't do formal birthday parties at all. Most years we celebrate quietly with a birthday cake, a family outing, and presents before watching a movie as a family. I suspect that the quiet birthdays will be just as special to my kids someday as the years we did a big party.
Happy Saturday!
(Photos in this post courtesy of our trip to a local corn maze last weekend.)
We are two months into our first year homeschooling four kids at the same time. Even though one of them is only in kindergarten, and her schoolwork doesn't take very long, it's still been a bit of a challenge for me to figure out how to balance everyone's needs. However, overall, I think it is going really well!
Homeschooling four kids at once used to sound quite overwhelming, but as with everything in motherhood, I found this is another area where you just grow into it. I have learned a few things in homeschooling my older kids that have made even this year, when I have more homeschool students than ever before, a manageable adjustment.
Bottom line: it's doable, and we're making it!
I thought I'd share a few things that I have learned in homeschooling multiple kids. There is nothing revolutionary here, but every homeschool mom is different, and we all learn different things at different times that work for us. Maybe some of this will sound familiar, but maybe some of it will give you new ideas as well!
1. Morning Time is the best thing we do in our homeschool.
As my kids have gotten older, I've prioritized morning time more and more, and I think it's one of the most valuable parts of our homeschool day. I don't homeschool my kids just because I want to teach them to read or do arithmetic - I want them to learn Bible verses, to have time to do Bible study together each day, to memorize a catechism, to sing hymns, and to watch all these things sink into their little hearts. I want time to enjoy a good book with them, to introduce them to good music and poetry. All that happens during Morning Time, and our homeschool wouldn't be as fulfilling without it.
(This is where I finally give you my October and November "Minimalist Morning Time" pages! Download them by clicking below. To be honest, we are still working through our September memory work, but I still had fun putting these pages together since I want us to memorize all of these Scripture passages, hymns, and poems eventually. I'm sorry the October pages are so late, but I think it worked out well to group October and November together. The Westminster Shorter Catechism questions for October were rather heavy, since they were presenting the problem of sin. The November questions tell us the solution, our Savior, Jesus Christ who died in our place! It's nice to post them both at the same time so we get the bad news and the good news at the same time.)
2. Combining subjects is critical for saving time.
As much as I can combine subjects, I do. We usually do things like history, science, and Bible together - any content-based subjects are easy to do as a group. I usually pick something that is geared toward my older kids, and then let the little kids listen in and pick up things wherever they can. But occasionally I'll do a book that is more directed toward my younger girls, and sometimes my big kids enjoy joining in on that too! We've even got to the point where some of big kids can do other subjects together, like writing lessons. Gwen and Wyatt have been doing the same writing program this year, and having a buddy has seemed to be motivating for both of them!
3. Overlapping subjects is an option.
For the subjects that I can't combine for my kids, like math, I've learned that I can sometimes overlap those subjects so I'm working with two kids at the same time. For instance, I might explain a math concept to one of my older kids and get them working on a worksheet, and then while they are doing that, I'll start explaining a math lesson to a second kid. Sometimes I have to come back to the first kid for answering a question or re-explaining something, but I'm still getting through two sets of math lessons at once this way, and it's quicker than doing a lesson with each kid start-to-finish consecutively.
4. They become independent quicker than you think.
When my oldest kids were just starting school, I thought it would be forever before I'd be able to get them to do any work independently, but it actually happened quicker than I thought. The age this happens is going to vary by kid, but I've noticed this year that all my efforts to gradually move them toward independent learning have started to pay off. One of the big kids is actually done with schoolwork before I even make breakfast in the morning, and while the other requires a little more supervision, I can usually hand over a stack of books and expect that they'll get things done by themselves. I look over their work later, and will sometimes call them back to talk through the lesson or concepts, but it's surprised me how much they can do by themselves this year.
5. I've come to accept that this is my full-time job.
As a second generation homeschool mom, I had some expectations of how our homeschool would go based on my own homeschool experience. I remember as a kid finishing up my work by lunch or early afternoon and having lots of time to read and play, and I loved being homeschooled because of that. That was a major plus to me as well when I decided to homeschool my kids - I wanted them to have that time to explore and be kids.
What I didn't realize is that just because I finished school quickly as a kid, didn't necessarily mean my mom was finished. As a homeschool mom now, and especially a homeschool mom of five kids from 4-10 years old, I've started to realize that even though my individual kids will have plenty of time for playing or reading during the day, I myself will probably be working through lessons with various kids from right after breakfast until mid-afternoon (or sometimes later). I think this will change a bit as more of my kids become independent with their school work, but for right now I've accepted that this is a major way I'll be spending my time during the week for the next couple years at least. And I've learned to be okay with that.
This homeschooling-lots-of-kids thing is a full time job - and, though it does take a lot of work as a mom if you want to do it well, it is a fulfilling and enriching job. I've come to accept that and treat it with the same seriousness that I would treat a job outside the home. And you know what? We all are enjoying it more as a result of this attitude shift of mine.
6. It's okay to just call it quits for the day, even if we might not have gotten to everything.
In this stage where I am homeschooling four kids at once, and trying to figure out how to balance that, I've learned it's a virtue to know when to quit. Sometimes we can't fit in every subject every day, and it's rare that we attain my "ideal homeschool day". When things are taking longer than usual, or we have some frustration happening (from the kids or me), or we are all just exhausted from a particularly busy weekend, it's okay to put the books aside and start fresh the next day. I've become better at balancing the need to stay "on schedule" in our curricula with reading my kids' moods and putting their individual needs first. It's freeing to know that even if we close the books early some days, it will all even out by the end of the year.
I know I'll have to remind myself of everything that I've written here when I add my fifth child into the homeschool mix in a couple years! But I'm sure I'll discover more along that way that will make that new season manageable as well.
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