THANKSGIVING ‘09

Todd & I and the kiddos enjoyed a very nice and relaxing Thanksgiving with Grammy Anne, Gramps & Uncle Chad.  We had all the fixin's of a traditional holiday dinner.  With Grampa’s perfectly cooked bird and Grammy’s yummy stuffing, it was just right.

The kids wanted to bring their Thankful Thoughts to read at the dinner table.  Todd & I hadn’t seen what they wrote- except a few of Alyssa’s that we helped her spell.

After dinner we played a game and ate desert.  Later on Todd & Tyson enjoyed going to the Jazz game.

We are very thankful for John and Anne.  We love them very much!

HAPPY HAPPY JOY JOY

Another Birthday for me, one year older and wiser too.  Well, ok so maybe not wiser- but definitely happy!  Todd and the kids surprised me with a yummy gummy bear cake.  Yep- and the gummies even spelled my name.

While Todd was out with his buddies the other night, I took the kids to the store to pick out some fun little ornaments for their own little trees.  We grabbed some hot chocolate and decorated the night away.

Tyson and Alyssa both had Thanksgiving Feasts at school before the holiday.  Tyson’s teacher said they could dress up if they wanted.  We happened to have a friend with a cool native American outfit- Tyson was so excited to wear it.  Todd was worried he would be a nerd.  I said I didn’t really care because this little boy was so happy wearing it and felt confident with it.  So I tried to nurture his feelings and off he went for the day.  But not without warning him that some kids might poke fun…he still said, I know, it won’t bother me.  That’s what made MY day.  When he came home he was in an even better mood.  Not a negative feeling in sight.   Whew!

FESTIVE FAMILY FEAST

Last weekend Cameron & Sarah’s family Traveled the roads to spend the night with us.  Carson & his kids came out as well to enjoy a family finger food feast with all of us.  We had a lot of fun.  We missed all the others who were not able to make it this time.

The Twins & The Tweens

Da’ Boyz, (Gaming of course!)

The Girlies just a  move’n & a groov’n

Da’ Babe & Da’ lovah’s.

 

VALUES

I loved coming across this quote a few weeks ago.  It was a nice reminder for our family’s continuing focus on our mission statement values.  We have a lot to learn! 

We have started on another one this past month and will continue it through this next month.  I will have more on that in a few days.

Respect for Ourselves and Others

“Ask yourself these questions: Am I an example of respect in my home by the way I treat those I love the most? What is my demeanor during a sports event? If my child has a disagreement with a teacher, coach, or peer, do I listen to both sides of the issue? Do I show respect for the property of others as well as take care of my own? How do I respond to others with whom I disagree in matters of religion, lifestyle, or politics? “As parents and leaders exemplify and teach respect for others, we confirm in the hearts of our children that each of us is truly a child of God and all are brothers and sisters through eternity. We will focus on the things we have in common—on the qualities of heart that bind the family of God together, rather than on our differences.”

Margaret S. Lifferth

WISHBONE BIOLOGY

While harvesting yummy meat from our Sunday Turkey, Tyson says:

“Dad, I want to keep ALL the turkey bones, so I can put them back together.”

SMILE

 

DO YOUR PART

We had fun racing this new set of wheels around the street for a while the other day.  Because you know- it’s not everyday you get to play in a CLEAN trash can!  Now we’ve got to figure out how to sort and separate responsibly.  Tyson was very efficient in collecting and having it half way full by the end of the first night.  He even brought our family in for a council meeting to explain what we could recycle and what we couldn’t.  Complete with a sample of each type of material.  Thanks Ty!

THANKFUL 4 VISITORS

 

Thank you for visiting!  I’m not too good at giving instructions- but I’ll give this a try.  I’ve had some requests for more details on how the November calendar that I posted a few weeks ago was made.  

My kids have loved this thankful thoughts calendar.  I'm so glad I made it.
Even when I missed a day of reminding them to write a thankful thought- I went in to the calendar and saw that the pocket was already filled. 

Here's some of the details on how we made them.  let me know if you have any other questions!  I'm always happy to share ideas, recipes and whatnot with anyone.

*also for my visitor(s) click HERE for another calendar that I have from last year at Christmas time.  The paper one is a kit that I bought.  I don’t use it.  It is just for decoration.  But the same concept.  It is done with a plywood background and had a fold over pocket.  The crate is one that I use.  It is made of felt and has 3 in deep nooks to put fun things in.  It also has the Christmas Story Bible Verses written inside each day for us to read. 

THANKFUL THOUGHTS ADVENT

The calendar is made of paper.  We thought about felt or material,  but for this specific calendar- wanted to go with paper.  You could laminate the pocket folders if you wanted to give a little more protection to them.  They seem to be just fine though with only paper slips being put into them.

 

1. Frame- minimum should be 16x20.  If you don't have one- The DI or salvation army should have plenty for around $5.  Mine was brown so I spray painted it.  You can also do this calendar without a frame. but I would recommend a piece of plywood rather than foam core.

2. Background- foam core cut to size.  Covered with wrapping paper.  I recommend ONLY gluing or taping on the back.  Otherwise the glue might bubble underneath causing it to look warped.  My wrapping paper is from Target.

3. Pocket folders- we decided to only put 24 pockets on the calendar.  That number seemed to fit the best.  Even though Thanksgiving ‘usually’ falls on or after the 24th, we figured that was a good number and we could stop a few days early.  (Which I am actually planning to take the thoughts out and display on leaves on a tree for Thanksgiving Day) 

We didn’t make a specific size pattern for the pockets.  It is really going to depend on what size of frame you decide to use.  My pockets are pretty small and vertical   apx.  2.5 x 3  -  The other calendar shown is horizontal an apx.  3x4. I believe.

One calendar has pockets that are made just with a front and glued directly onto the thick brown wrapping on the board.  Mine are made with a back ground paper that is glittery, and then the front of the pocket with a different paper that is patterned.  The front of the pocket is apx.  2.5 x 2.5 square.  I made the front pocket portion first and added the embellishments.  I inked the edges to give it a softer look.  Then I glued it to the back glitter paper and cut the back from there.  I wanted the glitter paper to show around the entire pocket so I just free handed the cut.  REMEMBER to only glue the edges of 3 sides of the front pocket paper so that it remains a pocket for filling. :0)

If you find a 2 sided paper that you like, you can always cute your pocket long and fold it over so that you only have to glue the sides.

The paper I used for the front of the pockets was actually taken from note cards found at TARGET.  The other paper on both calendars is found at Roberts. 

4. Embellishments- go wild!  Depending on the look of your calendar you can find stickers from various craft stores.  I also went into the jewelry isle and found the cute black iron lace leaves.  I also grabbed a pack of real leaves at the craft store and have just a few pockets with those.  I used pearl brads, black jeweled brads, ribbons, glittered metal frames for the family photos, and some metal plaque embellishments as well.  I found these items at Roberts & Ben Franklin craft stores.  Sometimes WalMart and the Dollar stores have great sticker finds as well. Cheaper too.  When using stickers, I put glue on the back of them to make it more sturdy.

5. Next just glue the pockets onto the background.  I am used to be very particular about my lines matching just perfectly on things- now I find that if I let go of the ‘perfection’ issue when doing these crafts- I actually GET THEM DONE- opposed to waiting for just the right everything.  That includes eyeballing and finger measuring my lines.  I like to start with bottom row and work upwards on the sides and then a row in the middle then fill in from there.  The spacing seems to work best that way.  Make sure to leave room for the letters at the top.  Find some fun lettering that will fit across the top.  I had some random chipboard letters and glittered letters from a few years ago that just happened to work out for me.  The other calendar title is made with lettering from a scrapbooking cricket machine.

I spent a good $40-$45 dollars on this calendar.  The bulk was the embellishments I chose.  The calendar can be done very cheaply though, with some creative stickers and cut outs from fun holiday paper or dye cuts.

If you make one- I would LOVE to see how it turns out. 

Email me a photo or a link to your blog!  I would love that.  simply4candy@gmail.com.  ;0)

SATURDAY SUNSHINE

Today was beautiful in our neck of the woods.  The surprising warmth of the sun was welcome by all once again during this usually cold month.  Our family went on a little hike.  We thought Todd was going to be out of town for the day, and when plans changed, we were happy to have him with us.  So we played. 

CLOSING OUT

Teaching respect is one of the most important jobs we have as parents. The best way to teach children respect is show respect, not just to other adults but to your children.

Don’t confuse obedience with respect, fear also instills obedience.

Know this; if a child is not respectful at home, they are not going to be respectful outside of the home. Let’s take a look at ways to help teach your child respect.

Listen to Them and They Will Listen to You

When your child is talking to you are you listening or are you busy doing five other things? I am not saying multi-tasking is bad, but listen to what your child is saying. Pay attention to what they are doing. Everything else can wait a minute or two. Make eye contact with them. Ask yourself, how many times you have had to say, “Look at me when I am talking to you,” and then think about how often you look at them when they are talking. Let them know they are important to you and worth taking a time to pay attention to, and then they will do the same to you and others.

Honesty is the Best Policy

Is it possible to respect a liar? Would you lie to someone that you respect? I don’t think so. If you do something wrong, admit it and apologize for it. While it may change the perception that our younger children have of us that we are perfect, it will show them that even mom and dad make mistakes and when they do they are able to admit it and apologize for it.

Jennifer Shakeel

……………………………………………………………

I wanted to quickly take time to close out my thoughts on our family value for last month which was RESPECT.  I am glad we took an extra month with the kids on this one.  It is definitely a repeater.  One that needs to be honed in on quite often.  We did pretty well with it.

The best thing I learned though, and really took to heart is what I highlighted in blue above.  Not to confuse obedience with respect.  That one sentence really goes along with the foundation of the gospel principal of free agency and choice.  It gives us self empowerment, choice AND accountability.

The past couple of weeks we found ourselves reminding one another that we were easily forgetting  to be respectful towards each other.  Yet it was in the little daily things that I noticed we made such progress.  Kinder voices and smoother days  were had by us all.  The kids really listened.  We even started family scripture study 5 nights a week.  Todd thought, no way will they sit after dinner and listen.  But they did.  They are.  We keep it to a chapter a night, and sure enough they have learned to sit and listen while we sit around the table.  Just 10 extra minutes.  It worked!  Even during one of the busiest times of the night- and I think it did, because we have been able to incorporate at a time when the value we were working on, went along with learning to have more respect and reverence.  Happy days.   They have been good reminders to Todd and I about things we as parents need to work on.  As we have listened to their thoughts, and slowed down to show more respect to them as valued members of our family, they have showing us increased respect. 

I also learned that even though there were times that Tyson was asked to do something and he said no thank you at times, even though he ended up having to mind and do it most of the time- I realized that he was respectful and polite in his responses.  Also, even though Alyssa had times of pouting and pulling fits- especially when she couldn’t go with daddy in grandpa’s truck with the boys :0) – Once I finally got her in the car and was able to talk with her, she would calm down and I could explain why she couldn’t go.  I couldn’t be mad at her for her feelings of sadness.  But I could explain that she needed to learn how express herself better and that is showing more respect. 

I have also created a file for each of these values and have printed out some very good information on line and from books that I am able to share with our family as we study our values.  With this value, I found some really great stuff.  By having these materials, I am able to build one on top of another and quick reference something that I want to continue to focus on.

THANKFUL THOUGHTS ADVENT

A friend & I made these Advent Calendars for November.  These pictures don’t show all the fun details, but each square is a pocket that represents the first 24 days in the month.  My kids have little paper sticks to write on, and my neighbor has cute cut out leafs to go in her pockets.  The kids get to write down something they are thankful for each day in the month.

We have been excited to get these started for the kids since last month’s holiday, though lots of fun…is definitely not centered around the same spirit that these up coming holidays are. 

Another idea that I thought was neat that was sent to me was to have a cute jar filled with different things each day that we can be thankful for and suggestions on activities for the kids to do each day that represent their thanks.  We are sticking to the advent to keep things more simple around here as the hustle and bustle picks up so quickly for us.  But I love the jar idea and wanted to document it possibly for another month or year. 

HALLOW’S EVE

The first 2 photos are on the night of our ward Halloween Party.  Todd was a party pooper and didn’t dress up with us this year… Boo!

The next photos are on Halloween.  The kids had a great time Trick R Treating.  We enjoyed the annual bon fire & hayride to the local Spook Alley down the street.

October ‘09 we bid you adieu…

  

WITCH WAY

The kids were out of school on Friday.  A family of friends dropped by  for a while.  So we watched a spooky movie and then went for a chilly walk down the Witchy Trail.  This year the kids found the Witches Rainbow, where a bag of treats for each of them were hung.  They found a Ghouls Grave, Ran down the familiar Skeletons Ribs, and even passed by the Glowing Green Goblin Swamp.  We took a different path home past Witchy Fingernails & took a swing near the Dead man's Tree.