Thanksgiving

I have always loved Thanksgiving. But this Thanksgiving was one of the sweetest. As Ben put it, “I feel like I am making a memory” and I think we did.

Thanksgiving School

My intent was to be able to do school while doing my CNA class, but the reality was that it didn’t really happen. I was able to do it the first week but after that it just got too demanding and I needed to put my attention to my school. Jacob did what he could on his own, but everyone else was pretty much on their own. Doing school is such a BIG part of our day and our lifestyle that it has felt like a giant hole missing in our lives.

Enter Thanksgiving School.

As much as we probably needed to jump into our regular studies, I just wanted to be together. Sarah was still not feeling well and so we all went into her room and did school together while she rested in bed. We brought in Lydia’s TV and put on a fireplace scene and the coziness was amazing. We loved the crackling of the fire and it did a lot to set the tone.

Day 1 of Thanksgiving School was all about the history of Thanksgiving. We listened to a song and read some poetry and scripture. Then we watched some videos about the story of the Mayflower and the first Thanksgiving and learned who Samoset, Massasoit, and Squanto were.

We looked at some beautiful art depicting the first Thanksgiving and read a brief history about it. And then we did some journaling. I haven’t incorporated a lot of journaling in our homeschool but we all really enjoyed it. I loved what the kids did with it and I think it really solidified what we learned that day.

We took a break for lunch and then came back to our “virtual fireplace” and we read and read and read some of our Thanksgiving picture books. It was simple and such a tender time for us together. It was the perfect beginning to learning together as a family.

Day 2 was about gratitude! We listened to our favorite Thanksgiving song again and read some more scriptures. Then each of the kids made a gratitude placemat. It was fun to see where each of their minds went as they decided what they were grateful for. They turned out so cute. The kids then worked on some coloring pages as well (and we had to turn on our virtual fireplace again!). Then we had a yummy Thanksgiving “sn-unch” as we like to call it (snack lunch).

After lunch, I had to take Lydia to therapy and we never quite made it back to what we were going to do. The last half of the day we were going to talk about pumpkins but we made turkey peanut butter cookies instead and the kids had so much fun with that. It was such a great two days. It really helped set the mood for a wonderful week and also just our family being back together again.

<<< I used the Give Thanks curriculum from The Mindful Heart and it was WONDERFUL >>>

Baking / Cooking Day

Wednesday was dedicated to ALL things in the kitchen. The night before, I shared all of the things we were going to make for Thanksgiving and each of the kiddos decided one thing they wanted to help with. They were SO EXCITED for this!

Turkey going in to brine!

First up, Jacob picked the strawberry pretzel salad. This is easily the kids favorite item on our Thanksgiving menu. Jacob did a great job!

Next was Lydia with the cranberry sauce. I never liked cranberry sauce much until I started making it homemade and it is delicious! Lydia was startled and mesmerized by turning on the blender once we had cooked everything together. She even had some and seemed to enjoy it!

Next up was Biscoff pumpkin pie with Sarah. We tried this pie last year and everyone fell in love with it. Sarah did most of it on her own and I will be happy to pass the baton over to her for all future pie duties 😉 While we were making it, she said, “I really love doing this.” It is the simple things and these days filled a core memory for me.

Last of the day was Benjamin with the rolls. And let me tell you, this was a highlight for me. Ben is my sensitive little man and was so tender with me that night. As we were making the rolls he quietly said, “I feel like I am making a memory right now.” Melted my heart. Later that night when I was tucking him into bed, we had this conversation (which I immediately wrote down because I just know I needed to remember it):

Ben: Today was the best day.

Mom: I’m so glad you feel that way. I loved today, too.

Ben: Well, of course it was the best day, you made it that way.

And then I cried happy tears (because I am a crier) and also because this was one of those happy mom validation moments. It really was one of the best days.

Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving morning, Mark came home from work and we started our day of good food with German pancakes!

I’ve learned from years past that I’d much rather spend ALL of Wednesday in the kitchen and that way I can enjoy the day of Thanksgiving so much more. All we had to do after breakfast was get the turkey in the oven and cook the potatoes and let them do their thing in the crockpot.

We all snuggled up and watched the Thanksgiving Day parade and even watched a little bit of the American Dog Show. Much laughter and “ahhh”-ing was done!

The one word to describe Thanksgiving this year was cozy. The kids were thoughtful in their gratitude at dinner. This year we were thankful for good friends (like really good, wonderful friends), our home, our learning, our earth, and good doctor’s for Lydia (that is what Sarah said – she is the tender hearted).

This year my thoughts were about joy. I was reading this week in my scriptures and study about joy. And joyful is how I would describe this week. And I thought of it as a sweet tender mercy that I felt joy and was able to acknowledge it in the moments this week. This week was something truly celestial and I am so grateful for the true joy I was able to feel.

I am grateful for this season of gratitude.