Thanksgiving

With Thanksgiving a day away I know it has me reflecting on what it is that I am thankful for.

(This is not listed in any order of importance just off the top of my head)

Being cancer free
Being a Mom AND Nana
My beautiful daughter
My job, home, car
My Savior
My friends
The Earth
Ice Cold Pepsi
Dark Chocolate
Peanut Butter
Love, laughter
Freedom
Democracy
Trees
Water
Photography
And so much more...

I am sure a lot of you are getting ready for Thanksgiving.  I ran across a few items in the Family Fun magazine and I thought I would share them with you.  Family traditions are great but it might be fun to interject a few new things to 'spice' things up!

There was a reader, Deborah Zelasney of Branchubrg, NJ who uses a unique way to keep the kidlets busy while the meal is being prepared.

She says, "Every Thanksgiving I create a scavneger hunt for my son and his cousins to complete while the adults are cooking.  The night before I make a checklist of crazy items for them to find the house, like a sock with a hole in it, a box of spaghetti, a tiny bar of soap...The kids work together to gather evertyhing on the list and usually by the time they finish, it is time to eat!"  I don't know about you but I love that idea.  It definitely cuts down on the question, when are we going to eat!

Another fun activity is an outside game, providing the weather cooperates!  It is called 21 Turkeys. 

"Before or after the big feast try this fun varation of the basic football toss.

Players stand 10 to 15 feet from one another and throw the ball back and forth.  A pass to the receiver's chest area earns the thrower two 'turkeys'.  A toss that is catchable but forces the receiver to extend his arms scores one turkey.  Lastly, a ball that lands beyond reach gets zero turkeys.  The first player to earn 21 turkeys wins!"

If the weather doesn't cooperate and everyone is stuck inside here is one more game that I read about in Family Fun.  It is a fun twist on an Easter tradition, it is called Drumstick Hunt.

"Drumstick Hunt
To play the game:
Following the directions below, make one fewer drumstick than you have players (the hider doesn't need one).  Someone hides the drumsticks around the room while the other players keep their eyes shut.  The players then race to find the drumsticks.  As soon as a player has one, they stop looking and wait for the others to find theirs.  The first person to find a drumstick gets to hide them in the next round.

To make the drumsticks:
Trim the top of a brown paper lunch bag so that it's about 7 inches tall.  Smooth the bag around your fist to shape it, then stuff it with newsppaer or scrap paper.  For the bone, unfold two white napkins and crumple one of them into a ball.  Drape the second napkin over the ball and tiwst it to form the darrow part of the bone.  Insert this end into the paper bag, and secure it with tape."


Please be sure to give an extra squeeze when hugging your family members, even the aunt you might not always get along with.  We are all here for such a small amount of time and each one of us is so precious.  Time moves so quickly that before we know it those we thought we would have time to talk to are gone.,  Treasure the stories, jokes you will hear and the memories that you will be makiing in the days to come.  Over the holidays you usually over eat but you can never get too much love and laughter from you friends and family.  

Keep smiling and remember God loves love you and so do I.

Gobble, gobble!

L