So excited about Thanksgiving!

We are busy getting ready for Thanksgiving at our house. I am really looking forward to having a house full! Every year my aunt and uncle and cousins come up from Virginia for the day and it is a great time to catch up with each other. This year will be extra special since my cousin and his wife are coming with their new baby! We will have 13 people around the table this year.

I found some great things online that I printed out to make the day even more fun! I found some placemats for Jaden to color as we wait for the meal. They would be great for a children's table at Thanksgiving! Go to http://www.bhg.com/holidays/thanksgiving/crafts/thanksgiving-place-mats and you can print out several different place mats for young children to color.

We will play a Thanksgiving Trivia game that I found at www.creative-baby-shower-ideas.com/thanksgiving-trivia.html I printed out the game and everyone can play this as I finish the meal prep in the kitchen. I even have a prize for the most correct answers! This game will be fun and have everyone laughing. We'll find out how fast a spooked turkey can run and all kinds of interesting things!

My son loves crossword puzzles and I found a great Thanksgiving one at http://akidsheart.com/bible/PsalmsofThanksp.htm There are 26 clues of words found in the Psalms about giving thanks. The references are included if you need the answers. This is KJV.

And just for fun, there is a word search at http://akidsheart.com/holidays/thanks/turkeyws.htm All the words are food words and will make everyone hungry as they wait for dinner!

For decorating the table, I printed out some nice napkin rings at www.countryhome.com/thanksgiving There are also other decorations to print out there too with a vintage Thanksgiving patriotic theme.

And I really like the patterns you can download at www.BHG.com/tabledecor There are beautiful leaf patterns and also labels in nice fall colors. You can use those for place cards and all sorts of things.

Every year, we use the same place cards that our kids made for the family when they were young. We put pilgrim and indian stickers on the card stock paper and Joel wrote the names on them in his 6 year old handwriting. They are so cute! And we can't help but use them every year.

We'll have the same menu as always too.

Roast Turkey with lots of gravy
Mashed potatoes
Yummy sweet potatoes (see recipe on the side of this page)
Lots and Lots of Stuffing
Baked corn casserole
Green beans
Cranberry sauce (my mom's homemade - yum! yum!)
Rolls
Pumpkin pies with whipped cream
Vanilla Ice cream
and new this year will be mini-trifles!
In small glasses, I will layer cubed pumpkin bread, vanilla pudding, whipped cream, carmel sauce and pecans.

Tomorrow will be busy baking, cleaning and getting all the last minute details taken care of. Joel and Ivy will still have school - thankfully they can do so much on their own independently! They will be mapping out Ancient Greece tomorrow and reading the Greek myths, working in their math-u-see books, language lessons and lots of home ec. time with pie making!

Have a great Thanksgiving! Psalm 106:1 "Praise the Lord! Oh give thanks to the Lord, for he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever!"