I’m passing along two fantastic ideas from a friend of mine. De’Etta is an Air Force chaplain’s wife, living in Texas, with 9 children. She is a constant source of wisdom and encouragement as she homeschools her children and shares her life openly with other moms.
Thanksgiving Tablecloth – Every year each of the people joining De’Etta and her family for Thanksgiving write their names on a table cloth. After the holidays, one of the girls embroiders the names onto the table cloth. Over the years she not only has a record of the children’s signatures as they change and mature, but also remembrances of loved ones who celebrated with them. What a wonderful memory maker!
Thanksgiving Tree – another rich tradition. A basket of leaves sits in the entryway, throughout the season people are encouraged to grab a leaf and jot down something they are thankful for and then add the leaf to the tree.
We made a similar tree in 2003, using handprints as the leaves. We had many people coming in and out of our home that year and it was very meaningful to see the different shapes and sizes of the hands on our Thanksgiving Tree.
Okay, so it doesn’t really look like a “tree,” but we loved it.
If you have a Thanksgiving tradition that has blessed your family (or read about one you are eager to try), please share. I’m in the mood to begin warming the home for the holidays.
Kathy
great ideas!
We’re going to do a Thanksgiving tree this year, too! I ordered a bulletin board tree and leaves from Oriental Trading. I just don’t have time or the brain cells to make one on my own!
Oh, I forgot! Something we’ve done in the past (but not been very good at keeping up with) is to keep a Thanksgiving journal at the table. Whenever we eat dinner at home, we would sing the chorus to “Count Your Blessings” then go around the table and have everyone name one thing they were thankful for. Then, I would record them in the book. The book was ongoing from year to year so we could look back it at. But as I said, we’d manage to do this 2-3 times a “season”. Not a very good record! LOL!
we will miss you at Thanksgiving. dad
Sweet sweet Edgrens. Always doing something creative and thoughtful! Can you tell I’m a fan? I love you, Aunt Kate
Great ideas! Thanks for sharing these with us.
Kathy, I love these ideas! I am focusing on being more deliberate in my thankfulness, so I am going to do the tree idea. My nieces will love to help me make the “leaves” after school.
Have a blessed day, Heather
I knew that was an older pic, as your big boy looked positively SMALL. ah, how time flies.
I love both of these traditions.
I posted pics of our Thanksgiving tree today. It was a lot of fun!