A Thanksgiving Feast

About a month ago, I saw a cute costume idea for Halloween. Indians, but with a different spin, made perfect for the 4 and under girl crowd.

I decided immediately that our Thanksgiving feast must include two little indians.

It was quite easy to pull off. Make a few tutus (took about 30 minutes), use leather fringe to create belts and armbands (not pictured), and use a leather strap and some feathers to create a simple headdress.

Add some braids and wah-la! Instant cute Indians to celebrate with! We had taken the whole week to learn about the real first Thanksgiving (or Harvest Feast as it was called) that took place in 1621. We read books and made suitcases for our voyage, made packing lists (Jackson included the iPad…shocker!), and wrote stories about what it would be like on the Mayflower. We wrote about what our days would be like around our village, and learned about the traditions and lifestyles of the Wampanoag tribe who kept the Pilgrims alive those first grim years. One of our favorite books was one of the Magic Treehouse books called “Thanksgiving Thursday”.

Our Thanksgiving Feast was loads of fun! It was a great celebration with mine and Greg’s family included, which was wonderful. My Dad and stepmom came up to Jan’s house, along with the Strachan’s (Greg’s brother and his family) and friends of Jan and Jerry. It was a lovely time…there is just something about a house full of people and food!

It really isn’t a holiday without a game of football in the street.

London loved playing “brown ball”. Funnily enough, neighbors noticed the two girls playing in the street and brought their families out to see the “little indians”, lol! They got lots of compliments on their attire!

This striking gentleman is just growing, growing, growing. I thought he looked taller; sure enough, I measured him and he’s grown over an inch in the past two months!

I love this picture. Nana’s piano has always been a place that the children love to go. I have memories of Jackson sitting there, banging on the keys when he was just a wee lad. All three of them together on that bench is just precious to me.

The day after Thanksgiving is spent decorating our house for Christmas, both inside and out. In the evening, we always have chili and cornbread, and then put up our Christmas tree. We pop popcorn and put on Elf.

We have favorite ornaments. The train was from the year we went to the Polar Express up north. We also have the bell that Santa gave Jackson (no, we don’t “do” Santa, but the kids know of him and the story) on a ribbon hanging from the tree. Every time we go to Disney we pick up an ornament, no matter the time of year. So far we have 3. I’m sure there will come a time when Mouse ears are easily spotted among the greenery. And, of course, we have our “Our First Christmas” ornament…one of the very first we’ve every received. It always has a center spot on our tree, and I love hanging it each year.

I can hardly believe that its all up again. This year has flown by. Sadly, this was the last time we will decorate this house for Christmas. A tad bittersweet, actually. When Christmas is over, we won’t just be packing up our holiday stuff, but our entire house.

I think I will relish in the calm before the storm.

So, onward with steaming cups of cocoa and twinkling lights.

If only the temperature would get below 80. 🙂