Claiming Thanksgiving

I've felt a little vague about the big holidays since becoming an adult; in part I've known that this was because I did not live in the States as a child, and that the way of celebrating, the very holidays themselves, are not my own. Its always felt difficult to put my own mark on holidays traditions when the holidays aren't 'mine'.

Yesterday was Thanksgiving, and the kiddos and I had the morning to ourselves. Baby Girl asked what our plans were, and when I told her that I had planned to go to a local park for a walk, The Little Guy piped in with 'That's what we do to celebrate'.

And I realized that he is right!

It is what we often did to mark the big holidays when I was growing up: go for a walk as a family!

And that one comment helped me realize that we DO have our own family traditions around the holidays.

We do one big feast with friends and family, simple meals and snacks for the rest of the day.

We go for a walk as a family.

We spend our time together, slooooow down and enjoy each other's company.

There is usually a board game or two involved ...

We have FUN!

But more over we keep it simple. Not much hoopla, not too much fanciness beyond getting out the nice glasses and digging through the stack of cloth napkins for the nicer ones.

I'm realizing that we do have traditions throughout the year, but they are simple ones for sure.

What do you do to celebrate the holidays? Simple or fancy?!

A Year of Gratitudes

I've been actively working this year, on gratitude, on being more grateful, and slowing down to say thank you more. All good things.

I recently heard about a different way of looking at gratitudes from Julie Bogart (the owner of Brave Writer, and all around homeschool advocate and Wonder Woman). Her advice was to look for the surprise of happy each day - the little things that make us happy. Isn't that lovely?!!

One of the things Julie Bogart mentioned was that finding things each day to be grateful for can start to be a burden ... "oooh! the stress of finding three things to be grateful for today ... "

So! It's Thanksgiving! Perfect time to be thankful, look for gratitudes, and start paying more attention to those Surprises of Happy!

1. Dinner ready in the crock pot at the end of a long and busy day.

2. Being invited to the museum that The Little Guy had set up in his bedroom ... it was pretty amazing! He set up different exhibits and artifacts, created a tour guide brochure and a map. It, and he, are pretty awesome <3

3. Sunday night with my Scholé Sisters; wonderful friends who amazingly share my love of things literary, cerebral, goofy, raucous and irreverent. They're wonderful.

4. Children old enough to do painting projects without making a huge mess. 

5. Moby Dick. 

Yes - I'm reading Moby Dick (well, technically, I'm listening to it on Audible), and so far I'm enjoying it. Let's see if it lasts. 

6. Being mostly caught up with laundry. 

7. Half an hour at Target. Alone. It was pretty glorious. 

8. Having friends who challenge me to think outside my box, push me to go beyond my own preconceived ideas. 

9. Branston pickle. 

10. Scalding hot showers.

And you?! What is on your Gratitude List these days?

I'd love to hear from you! 

Thanksgiving Comes Again!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

A Slow Down Kind of Day

Life has been particularly busy over this past couple of weeks, too much for this Simple loving mama.

We are getting ready to celebrate Thanksgiving later this week, and I am taking this opportunity to slow down.

A simple meal with family, a long walk in the blustery cold, playing silly games with my silly Little Ones and catching up on some down time are on my schedule for the next couple of days.

My only rush is to finish a craft project that I have been thinking about for a while, and now I would like to have it completed for Thanksgiving. So tea and crafting are on the books for this morning!

Hoping you , too, have the chance to slow down a little this week.

A Nature Shelf! {week 3, November 2012}

With Thanksgiving coming up this week, and this being the third week of the month (the week that you add something representing the animal kingdom), it just had to be a turkey!

I had grand plans to knit a little turkey, and found a pattern that seemed easy enough (I used this pattern from Valley Yarns) but my knitted turkey was not turning out to be as easy as I had hoped. (I should add that this pattern called for work on double pins, a first for me, and one that I obviously need to practice when I have more time and less pressure!)

So yesterday evening I sat down with my trusty bag of wool roving and my felting needles, and made this little guy; I think he looks like a Turkey Fairy, with his lovely wispy tail feathers!

I used this tutorial for the needle felted turkey, and it was so easy to make. I'm looking forward to The Little Guy's reaction and hearing what he names him :-)


What are you adding to your Nature Table this week? Are you planning to decorate your dining table (Thanksgiving or otherwise!) with something representing nature? Feel free to share; I'd love to hear from you!