Daily Life

Thanksgiving Ideas

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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.

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

Related posts:

Events, Project 365

Happy Halloween

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What a great day! The best costume all day? Our local Christian radio channel dressed up as a Christmas station for the day. Very creative. Although it was a bit odd to listen to Christmas music on Halloween.

heading to church

As we head to church for the Harvest Carnival, Daniel worries about proper Cape Etiquette.

Has anyone else pulled out Christmas cds yet? Tim and my brother, Thom, usually have a race to see who can start listening to Christmas music the earliest. Our competitive spirit reveals itself in strange ways.

Although the children could have dressed up very convincingly as college students, they chose something else for tonight’s Harvest Carnival.

college kids

My friend Jodi surprised us with a bag of William and Mary t-shirts. Five shirts, all different! What a fun reunion gift.

Joshua and David went as Civil War soldiers. Ask Joshua how many years he’s donned some version of this costume for Halloween.

david's soldier pose

brothers in arms

Sarah was beautiful in a Belle costume. Rachel went as a black kitty and Daniel dressed in a Zorro type costume. Rachel wasn’t sure about being a cat this year but David convinced her.

“Rachel, you look so cute as a kitty. I love it when you dress up like a kitten.”

Who could resist those sweet words from a little brother?

meow

The church carnival was a great success. Tim was one of the photographers – the church mails out each group a family photo and an invitation to attend one of our services. Joshua worked at a Clothes Pin Drop booth while Rachel helped deliver candy and took over games as necessary. The younger children mainly went around gathering treats.

let's go get some candy

Gathering energy before hitting the game (aka candy) booths.

The children had a fun time at the carnival. Rachel and Daniel went out and did some trick or treating along our street after the church party. Tim had David and Sarah help him deliver candy to the trick or treaters who came to our house.

A busy Halloween.
Kathy
Project 365 – Day 304 (Notice we are racing to the end of Project 365)

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Games, Works for Me Wednesday

WFMW – Educational Computer Games

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WFMWIt’s been so long since I’ve blogged, I feel quite out of practice. Is there such a thing as Dead Air on a blog? We were traveling yesterday and completely missed posting our weekly Parenting Tip. Some people would have blogs in reserve and wouldn’t let something as trivial as flying across the country cause a slip in posting.

Those people don’t live in this house.

I’m also drawing a complete blank on today’s Works for Me Wednesday post.

Educational computer games.

With five children, a programmer husband, and several computers in the home, you can be sure we have invested money in educational computer games.

Some of Our Favorite Educational Computer Games

Crazy Machines – In this game you build imaginative machines, turn cranks, rotate gears, pull levers, create unique contraptions. You also experiment with gears, robots, explosives, and more in your own virtual lab. The early levels are fairly easy but the game gets progressively harder. All the children have taken a turn at the game, although Joshua is the one who truly enjoys it. He received Crazy Machines 1.5 for his birthday.

crazy machines crazy machines 1.5

Jumpstart Typing – We have gone through several different typing programs in an attempt to master those oh so important typing skills. Joshua and Rachel agreed that the Jumpstart version (although we have a much older one) is their favorite.

typing

Cluefinders – The Learning Company makes a 4th, 5th, and 6th grade level of the Cluefinder game as well as some other versions. The older children especially enjoyed Cluefinder 5th Grade. Amazon describes the game: The adventure begins with the ClueFinder kids shipwrecked on a mysterious island. Two of their teammates are trapped in an underground hideaway, and the ship’s captain and crew are missing as well. It’s up to the rest of the gang to find their friends and get off the island- all before a monstrous volcano blows its top. To solve the mystery and save the day, kids help the ClueFinders complete activities and collect the strange CrypTiles that will unlock the island’s secrets. The ten activities cover math, social studies, reading, critical thinking and science. Sounds like fun to me.
cluefinders

Reader Rabbit – there are probably dozens of Reader Rabbit games, and I think we’ve accumulated almost all of them over the years. We’ve played preschool, phonics, math, 1st grade, 2nd grade, 3rd grade, etc. As the computers advance (shifting from Windows 95 to 98, XP and beyond) we occasionally update our stock of Reader Rabbit games. Recently I had the older children go through our EXTENSIVE collection of computer games, weeding out the ones that don’t work on our current computer or are dull and rarely played. The Reader Rabbit cds remain consistent favorites.

Do you have an educational game your family enjoys? Leave a comment and share titles. After all, Christmas is right around the corner and I need all the help I can get. :)

For other great ideas, go to Rocks In My Dryer

Kathy

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Musings, Project 365

Pruned Branches

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This morning I was reading from the gospel of John, chapter 15, in which Jesus teaches His disciples about their foundational purpose in life: to bear spiritual fruit. I was struck by the fact that, as a branch, there is no easy path available to me that avoids hardship:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. He cuts off every branch in me that bears no fruit, while every branch that does bear fruit he prunes so that it will be even more fruitful. You are already clean because of the word I have spoken to you. Remain in me, and I will remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.

“I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be given you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” — John 15:1-8

Notice that the branch that bears no fruit is cut off and thrown away, and even the branch that does grow fruit is pruned. From a branch’s perspective, it might be preferable to grow lots of leaves and shoots, but from the vineyard owner’s perspective, high-quality fruit is desired. As I continue to live my life for God, I am becoming more open to the idea that God may prune me to make me more fruitful for him.

My Sweetie
I think Kathy makes those steps at the end of the Sunken Gardens look quite pretty.

One classic example of pruning in my life was when I squandered my ROTC scholarship, and served three years as an enlisted soldier to earn money to go back to school. The Lord pruned away some of my irresponsibility and wimpy selfishness, and built in me a sense of honor and faithfulness that He knew I would need to glorify Him.

College of Knowledge
How gracious our Lord is, to let me return to the College and finish school after the Army!

Pruning can take different forms, I think, but I suspect a lot of pruning has to do with subordinating our desires and plans, and instead serving God’s purposes. As we’ve walked (quite literally, today) down memory lane, we’ve had many opportunities to think about the actions and reactions that we (and our classmates) have made over the last 15 years, that brought us to the place we are today. It has been fun to laugh and remember and catch-up with some old friends, and to see what God has done in their lives since we were in college together. Some of the pruning has been uncomfortable, but as I look at the fruit in my own life, and in the life of our friends, I begin to understand God’s purpose and plan: to give glory to the Father.

Jodi and Alan's Great Kids
Of course, some are more fruitful than others.

It was truly a delight to visit with Jodi and Alan and to renew our acquaintance with their delightful children. Thanks, beloved friends, for sharing your family with us and for glorifying our Lord by raising your kids so well!

Alan and Jodi
Good friends, beloved by the Gardener

Tim, Project 365

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Events

Rainy Virginia

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I have been told that this area of Virginia hasn’t had any rain since July. That all ends now and really, what better way to make Washingtonians feel at home than serve us Starbucks with plenty of rain. The Starbucks I had to pay for, but the rain was on the house (car, hotel, campus, college students, and on and on).

Did we bring umbrellas? Of course not. In Washington it mainly drizzles or mists, it doesn’t actually RAIN. Here we got a massive downpour lasting pretty much the entire day.

Did we walk around the campus, reminiscing about our college days?
No.
Did we stroll down the old parts of town, admiring the beauty?
No.
Did we buy the $22 umbrella in the college bookstore?
No, but it was a near thing. :)

Thankfully we are here for several more days and the weather is supposed to clear up by the end of the weekend. I’m sure we’ll enjoy that stroll down memory lane sooner or later. Meanwhile we visited with old friends, looked at hundreds of old Intervarsity pictures, made plans to see other alumni, enjoyed couple time, ate out, shopped, got soaking wet, and went to an Inter-Varsity Large Group meeting.

The Reunion Weekend is going well!
Even with the rain.
We miss our children and entertain people with stories of their antics; it helps us feel like they are close by.

Pictures coming.
Hoping for sunshine tomorrow.

Kathy

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