So Much To Be Thankful For!

We are so blessed and have so much to be thankful for! We had a wonderful Thanksgiving remembering and being grateful for all that we have.

We are thankful for this little lady who brings sunshine into the darkest days!

We are thankful that Auntie M taught Olive how to "smash" eggs to get them ready for deviled eggs, or angel eggs, whatever name you prefer!

We are thankful for Dragon Tales and that no one got hurt! (Mom will hate me for this, but it is just too funny! Olive was sitting so sweetly in Dad's chair, so we told Mom to peek around the corner. She was in the middle of peeling potatoes and leaned around the corner with the knife in her hand! When I looked at the picture, I couldn't stop laughing because all you see is her hand and the knife! Mica of course joined in until Mom got annoyed with both of us and made us leave the kitchen.)We are thankful for time in the kitchen with Honey learning all of her secrets!

We are thankful to have PROOF that Mommy won the wishbone contest fair and square.
(and this should serve as proof that I always win fair and square)

We are thankful that even though Gigi wasn't up to joining us for lunch, we were still able to spend time with her and make her feel special. We are thankful for Olive's personal chariot...

We are thankful that Daddy taught Olive how to place an ornament precisely where it belongs.

We are thankful for little chairs to sit in to admire Honey's Christmas tree...

We are thankful for nighttime Bible stories with the ones we love!

We are so thankful!

November projects

I have always had a thing for fall decorating. It is really close to being as great as Christmas decorating for me. I love the colors, the textures, the smells, all of it. This year Olive and I worked on a few extra projects to add to the decorations.

A paperbag turkey, painting made with leaves and a simple square turkey were made with pride.

We also made this cute "Thanks" banner to hang on the mantle. Everywhere I look, banners and buntings are such a big deal, so we made our own. I bought chip board letters and covered them with scrapbook paper. Olive got to paint and glitter some simple fall wooden shapes. She was so proud! Anytime someone came over, she would tell them "I made it!" and point to the pumpkin.

My favorite project is one that will become a family tradition. I know lots of people do different ways to record what they are thankful for. We made a blessing board from a cheap framed picture. We took the picture out, put scrap book paper in and glued on leaves that Olive had painted. Every night before bed we would sit down and talk about the things we are most thankful for and then we would pray and thank God for these blessings. Most nights, the same things emerged, but we ended up with a pretty good list. I loved her honest answers about what she was thankful for!

It was a little sad to take down these special projects today, but knowing what comes next, it makes it okay! On to some Christmas projects!

Kids-Giving!

We had some friends over today for a "Kids-Giving" and they had a great time! We started out by creating "costumes". They got to choose if they wanted to make a pilgrim hat or a Native American head piece. And since most of them had no clue what we were talking about, the feathers did the convincing and that was the most popular choice. Olive and Avery diligently working on their headpieces.Eleanor and Cora adding the shapes!

Our single male warrior, Luke, feathering his head piece!And sweet Lil representing the pilgrims with pride, adding her shapes.

It was so funny after they were all finished, they went into the bathroom to look at themselves in the mirror! Avery would help them stand on the stool to see themselves!
Next it was time to make fancy bread for our sandwiches. They used milk with food coloring in it to paint on the bread and then we toasted it to make sandwiches.

Such lovely birds!

Dig in!

We made another craft using feathers and egg cartons. The feathers were hard to stick in. Avery and Olive proudly displaying their finished birds. Cora and Eleanor stuck the feathers in and then pulled them right back out, so they ended up with bald turkeys. I guess theirs were ready to be cooked! We are so thankful for special friends and making special memories!

Happy Birthday Daddy!

We wanted to make Stephen feel extra special today so we started out by surprising him with breakfast before church! He also got to open his presents and special card.
Olive proudly displaying the special picture we made for him. She keeps pointing to it and saying "my feetsies!"

Showing Daddy some birthday love before church!This morning Olive would say "Happy Birthday Daddy! You should bring us some cake!" Apparently she thinks the birthday person is responsible for the cake. We got to it and made his favorite, and it was made with love!

We are so thankful that my Mom volunteered to come watch Olive so we could have a date for Stephen's birthday! We haven't had a date night in a super long time, so this was a huge blessing! When we got home from dinner, we got to enjoy the special cake. I can tell you that Olive was definitely the most excited about this! Helping blow out the candles!

Yum!

Happy Birthday Stephen! We hope you had a great day and that you know how much you mean to us! We love you the most!

Leaf Pile!

Saturday morning we loaded up and went to the donut shop. I was actually allowed to go on this special day because it was Daddy's Birthday Eve and we were celebrating. When we got home, we made a big pile of leaves in the front yard to play in. Olive had a BLAST! At first she only wanted to jump in if I held her hand, but by the end, she was running from across the yard and jumping in! We were so lucky to have a warm day so she could play outside and in short sleeves! I have to warn you, this is a super long post with tons of pictures, but they are some of the favorite pics I have ever captured of her "in action"! When she woke up from her nap, she immediately asked to go back to play in the pile. Here is hoping for more warm days so we can leaf jump!
(Side note about the butterfly shirt, in case anyone has noticed that every post from a Saturday she is wearing it. She wore this butterfly shirt ONE time to the donut shop and it has since become her "donut shop uniform". She refuses to wear anything but this shirt on Saturday mornings. Silly girl!)