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Thanksgiving

Mon
24 ^th

100 Things That I am Thankful For

Posted by Pinparent — 14 Comments

Why is it that it takes the holidays for us to reflect on the things in our life that are most important? On New Year’s we resolve to better ourselves, on Valentine’s Day we show appreciation for our spouses & lovers and on Thanksgiving we give thanks for all of the gifts that god has given us. We should resolve to be better every day. We should celebrate our love & all of these gifts every second, but with the stresses of work, bills & daily life often we do forget. The holidays do offer a great nudge. This week is Thanksgiving. There are many things that I am grateful for but often take for granted. I challenged myself to make a list of 100 things, some are things that I cannot live without, some are the little things that make me smile, but all are things that make be thankful. These are not listed in any particular order.

1. My husband & daughter and my extended family

2. Life and health

3. A good-natured debate

4. Watching my daughter sleep

5. Low fat frozen yogurt

6. Weekends off

7. My memories

8. Sweatpants

9. Art

10. My daughter’s laughter

11. Owls

12. Changes of season

13. My mother-in-law

14. Spanx

15. Meditation

16. The money in my wallet

17. Beauty in unexpected places

18. Our travels

19. Chocolate

20. Inspiration

21. My sister

22. Color

23. Day dreams

24. Heated mattress pads

25. Inside jokes

26. Home movies

27. Forgiveness

28. Good friends that are always there

29. Books

30. Unsolicited compliments

31. Thunderstorms

32. ‘The Princess Bride’

33. Tears of happiness

34. Hugs

35. Upbeat people

36. Decaf coffee

37. Foot rubs

38. Singing when no ones listening

39. Raw honey

40. Our dog

41. All the I love yous

42. Old photographs

43. A good sneeze

44. The blogs that I follow & the ones that follow me

45. Peppermint Patties- Get the sensation

46. My mother visiting in my dreams

47. Pinterest

48. Central Air

49. Post-It notes

50. The Beatles

51. Water

52. My snooze button

53. Dance

54. Finding a solution to a problem

55. Bubble baths

56. The warmth of the sun

57. Cherry blossoms

58. Swiffer

59. Baby feet

60. Traditions

61. Drive through windows

62. “The Big Bang Theory” nerds

63. Naps

64. Movie quotes

65. Moments of silence

66. Kisses

67. Brie & jelly

68. Dimples

69. Anti-bacterial wipes

70. Netflix Streaming

71. Internet shopping

72. Sunsets

73. Family outings

74. That perfect little black dress

75. Herbal tea

76. Pearl jewelry

77. The sound of bagpipes

78. Respect

79. Moments of clarity

80. Snow Days

81. Looking up at the stars

82. Cuddling on the couch

83. Our home

84. Christmas Carols

85. The sounds & smell of the beach

86. Toe socks – Have you ever worn a pair? You would be thankful too.

87. A blank canvas

88. A quick-witted comeback

89. Girls’ nights out

90. Kindness of strangers

91. Nutella

92. The lessons I have learned from the mistakes I have made

93. Puns

94. Musicals

95. Vicks Vapor Rub

96. A lit fireplace on a cold night

97. Hair colorant

98. Over-sized sweaters

99. My glue gun

100. God for blessing me with all of these gifts

What are you most thankful for? Can you list 100 things that you are grateful for? I challenge you to post your list. Link back to me if you do so that I may see what makes you thankful.

Thu
30 ^th

Tissue Layering & Paper Plate Crafts

Posted by Pinparent — 2 Comments

There are many reasons that I love craft projects with my toddler. One of the big ones is that it keeps her mind & hands occupied. I do many crafts side by side with her, but sometimes it is great to have her work independently while I cook supper or get chores done. Arts & crafts are a far better alternative to sitting in front of the television. This is why I love tissue paper crafting. It can keep her content for long periods of time.

Tearing the tissue into pieces is fun for her destructive little hands. Layering the tissue in different colors & patterns is a great creative outlet for my little artist.

What you will need:

Different colored sheets of tissue paper

Paper plates

Vinegar

Elmer’s glue

Paint brush

Mix 3 parts vinegar with 1 part glue & stir. The vinegar will cause the colors to bleed together & the glue will adhere the tissue to the plate.

Cut or rip the tissue paper into several pieces & colors. Layer the tissue pieces & paint on the vinegar/glue mixture. Do a few pieces at a time. Let dry & then trim the excess that hangs over the edges.

Mai said that she wanted to make a fish. We picked two colors & layered the bottom of a paper plate. Let it dry & trim around the edges. Cut out a triangle for the mouth & set the triangle aside. Cut out a triangle using a piece of construction paper. Glue the triangle mouth cutout to the inside of the construction paper cutout & glue to the opposite end of the fish’s mouth. Glue a small black circle inside of a larger black circle & glue above the mouth to make an eye.

Mai wanted to make more animals. She asked for us to make animals that live on a farm. Since Thanksgiving is coming, I suggested a turkey.

Layer & brush one color of tissue to the center of a paper plate.

Form another layer around the yellow in orange & then add another layer in red. Let dry. Cut the excess paper around the edges.

Cut out a shape for the turkey body & glue to the bottom center. Cut a piece for the turkey waddle & glue into place.

Add a beak & some googly eyes. Finish off your turkey by adding pipe cleaner legs & feet to the bottom.

Sun
26 ^th

Pine Cone & Play-Doh Turkey Crafts

Posted by Pinparent — 2 Comments

One of my favorite parts of my daughter’s days at daycare are receiving her daily reports & seeing all of the craft projects that she brings home. I love seeing her beautiful crafts, even the ones that she does with someone else.

This week she brought home a lovely fall one. It was branches bound together & decorated with Play-Doh. Miss Laura said that Mai worked on it for 2 hours.

This weekend there was a sale on Play-Doh at the supermarket, so I stocked up. Mai was so excited when I came home with a box filled with 24 different shades of it. She dove right in & started creating.

She is becoming quite the little artist. Her imagination is developing so quickly. I watched her as she kneaded & forms different shapes & put them together. She explained to me as she molded her creation what she was making. “Look mama, a frog! He has a blue fly on his tongue.” I have to admit, I was very proud.

She did not stop there. “Look Mama, I made Dukey’s poop.” Oh dear! It does look like Dukey’s poop.

Since we already were in such a crafty mood & had a table full of Play-Doh, I thought we could make something together.

Thanksgiving Turkey Craft

This just require pine cones & Play-doh. I used craft pine cones only because they were handy. You can use ones from your yard as well.

Form & mold the turkey’s head to the fat part of the pine cone. Show your child how to do it & let them do it to their own.
(If your pine cone is wobbly, place a chunk of Play-doh underneath to keep sturdy.)

Form long oval shaped pieces to use as the turkey feathers.

Insert towards the back between the pine cone scales.

Again, show your little one how to do it.

Add the beak. Older children may be able to do this step, but the smaller hands might need the help. Mai asked mama to make her turkey face.

Add the eyes next.

Add the turkey’s waddle & you are done.

Wed
13 ^th

Mommy & Me Thanksgiving Crafts

Posted by Pinparent — 6 Comments

I think every parent wants & hopes that their children will show interest in things that they are passionate about. Of course they will discover their own talents and passions, but to be able to have something to share and to connect to them with would be amazing. For my husband, who is a marathon runner, he has aspirations of Mai running races with him someday. He also loves to golf. He bought Mai her first toy golf set when she was just starting to walk.

Since the day my daughter was born, I have been excited for the day that we would be able to do arts & craft projects together. I think I bought her, her first box of crayons before she could even hold one. I started her on finger paints before she turned one. I have been so hopeful that she would love art as much as I do. She likes to color and use her finger paints and she loves it when mommy draws pictures for her. She will often give me special requests by handing me her crayon and shouting “horse” or making an elephant sound. God, is she cute.

With the holidays coming, I have been daydreaming of decorating sugar cookies and making gingerbread houses but since Thanksgiving is only a couple of weeks away, I thought we could do a Thanksgiving Day craft favorite. Who hasn’t made the classic hand turkey as a child? I think most of us, probably have. I wanted to make a special turkey that joined our two hands together. Unfortunately, it is hard to explain to a nearly 2 year old toddler, that she can’t wiggle her hand around in the paint to make a mommy/daughter hand turkey.

Instead, Mai finger painted with her Cool Whip paints and had fun on her own, but did let mommy take a footprint.

I took her foot print and added it to my hand. The foot would be the wing to my hand’s turkey’s body.

I added the feet & wattle using paint & here is mommy & Mai’s hand & foot turkey.

Here is another cute and easy idea.

What you will need…

Styrofoam flower cone

Pipe cleaners in assorted colors

Googly eyes

Glue

Take the styrofoam cone and cut it to your desired height. I carved around the top also to give the appearance of a head.

Bend the pipe cleaners in half to use as the feathers.

Poke & insert folded pipe cleaners into the back of the styrofoam to form feathers.

Use an orange or yellow pipe cleaner & cut into small pieces to use for the feet & beak. Knot a red pipe cleaner to use as the turkey wattle. Glue on the googly eyes and done.

This is an easy project for kids of all ages.

Up next…Things That Make My Daughter Laugh

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