Thanksgiving Smells Delicious

That title is a bit misleading. I'm not talking about the leftovers that can stink up your fridge days after the holiday, or the way Aunt Gertie shows up on Thanksgiving wearing her dime-store perfume that lingers for weeks after she goes home.

No, I'm talking about the cinnamon, pumpkin, turkey-in-the-oven smells.

Which Thanksgiving scent brings you right back to a meal at your grandma's house?

Right now, my house smells pretty amazing. Today was our fall soup feast at our church. I made my favorite Chicken Tortilla soup.

Thank you Barefoot Contessa!

I've been MIA for awhile, but wanted you to know I plan on posting quite a bit this week. There's lots going on in our neck of the woods and I plan on sharing.

Our anniversary is Tuesday, and I think it's time for a mushy-gushy post to my hubby. Whaddya think?

Turkey Memories

Thanksgiving is just about over. As Mr. Tom Turkey gets ready to make his exit, it makes me a little sad. I hate endings.

But, like the words from that 80's song, "Every new beginning starts with some other beginnings end." It's time to say hello to Black Friday and the start of the Christmas season.

Any of you getting up with the early bird to shop tomorrow?

Before I say goodbye to my absolute favorite holiday, I thought I'd share a few pictures of our amazing Thanksgiving celebration.

...and by the way, I have the MOST DELICIOUS apple cake recipe EVER! What was your favorite dish this Thanksgiving?!?

Make a Smilebox photobook

Happy Thanksgiving Friends!

Wishing you a lovely, turkey-filled day!

Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations. Psalm 100:4-5

God Bless Our Turkeys!

Wordless Wednesday....well, sorta...

Our Thanksgiving Tradition

Does your family have a Thanksgiving tradion? How about a Thanksgiving tablecloth? Do you even know what a Thanksgiving tablecloth is? Once you see what it is, you will want one of your very own!

Click here to read all about our family's Thanksgiving tradition.

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

From our home to yours...

My Thankful Heart

“Enter His gates with thanksgiving And His courts with praise. Give thanks to Him, bless His name. For the Lord is good; His lovingkindness is everlasting and His faithfulness to all generations.” Psalm 100:4-5 This scripture is so beautiful. My words fall so very short in expressing how they make me feel. Being a faithful word gal, I looked up ‘thanksgiving’ in my 1828 Webster dictionary,

Thanksgiving, n. The act of rendering thanks for expressing gratitude for favors or mercies. 2. A public celebration of divine goodness; also a day set apart for religious services, especially (I just love this.) to acknowledge the goodness of God, either in any remarkable deliverance from calamities or danger, or in the ordinary dispensation of his bounties.

I have so much to be thankful for I couldn’t begin to list them all here. I just keep thinking about how when our little ones first learn to say thank you, how precious those words are to me. I am not talking about the ‘Thanks mom’ I get when I take care of my family’s needs. I am talking about the heartfelt, ‘Thank you mom’ that I get from children whose words are tender while at the same time their arms are reaching out to hug me.

We will be asked this week what we are thankful for. Before we get caught up in the Macy’s parade, football games, way too much turkey and stuffin, take some alone time for just you and God. Reach out to Him and thank Him with your heart.


**This picture above was taken quite a few Thanksgivings ago. It is one of my favorites of our children. What am I thankful for…for a God who loved me enough to send His son to die for me. For a God who is so good and loving that everything I am and long to be is only possible because of Him. For a God who even in the trials and heartaches of my life has shown me the blossoms and sweet fragrance of His grace. Just look at the picture above and see four of my most precious blooms. How can I not be Thankful?**

A Fun Craft To Do With The Kids

I was blown away by how many of you went out and purchased your own Thanksgiving tablecloths this week. It touches my heart to know that other families are going to have this same wonderful Thanksgiving tradition. So I decided to show you a creative little idea I came up with a few years ago (check out picture).

I put paint on each of my four children's hands (they picked out the colors of their own fingers, I mean feathers). Next I pressed their painted hands against a heavy piece of paper, card stock heavy. Have extra paper on hand in case of mistakes. Our youngest was three years old when we did this and he just couldn't figure out how to open his fingers. Afterwards, I added a few touches myself like, the eyes, the beak and the turkey feet. I also wrote their names by their hands (I wish I had let them do that instead) and of courss added the month and the year. When I was done I wrote on the bottom, 'God Bless Our Turkeys'

I purchased a nice gold frame to jazz it up and now it is an heirloom that I hang on our wall every Thanksgiving holiday. Just like the tablecloth, with each passing year it becomes more and more precious to me.

Our Thanksgiving Tradition

"Enter into His gates with Thanksgiving..." Psalm 100:4

Six years ago I was reading a magazine and saw what I thought was a wonderful Thanksgiving idea. The next day I ran out and bought a linen tablecloth and some fabric pens from the craft store. When the holiday arrived, after the family finished their turkey dinner, I got out the pens and passed them around. Everyone took their turn at writing down on the tablecloth what they were thankful for.

As the years have passed, this linen tablecloth has become more and more precious to me. Notes of my family's gratitude, for children, spouses, our country and our God, now dance across the pale yellow cloth. All of the grandma’s and grandpa’s in our family have signed it, each small child has outlined his or her hand on it. Now every Thanksgiving you will find guests gathering around the table reading and laughing at the memories. The children who are too young to read, look to find their handprints to see how much they may have grown.

Getting to read messages left by relatives and friends every year is something I am so thankful for. Though they may not be able to share in person each and every turkey dinner with us, their words remain to touch our hearts and to remind me to offer up a prayer of thanksgiving for each and every one of them.