Thursday, November 1, 2012

Thanks Giving ideas for Thanksgiving season

a sweet moment ... something done once … or something shared enough times to be considered a tradition …


I have always been a “collector” of special moments … thoughts, words, actions, acts of caring that create a sense of belonging, or affirm, or encourage, or enhance, or rebuild, or restore, or build something new. Moments that just seem to say “I care about you” or “you care about me”.

memory moments.

I first began experiencing these moments in my growing-up home. I didn’t realize, at the time, that I was becoming a “heart collector” of moments. That realization did not happen until I, myself, was a new parent.

Through reflection, I realized what a gift my own childhood had been. As a young parent, I set out to create that same celebratory life for my family … “intentionally” creating memory moments.

It wasn’t until our family traveled through some challenging years that I realized what sustenance and joy came from not only from giving or making sweet memory moments, but also from receiving such moments. Getting past my own life challenges to invest in the life of another kept me focused on gratefulness. Receiving these gifts from others, during difficult times, also kept me focused on thankfulness.

Through both the light and through the darkness, I have continued to be a collector of memory making moments ... because I believe in the power of love and of sharing love. After some pretty spectacular family memory making decades, I promised my children I would “write down” our own memory moments … or ones they have since started in their own families … along with others that we might have enjoyed experiencing … or ones we might want to try in the future. Thus, my book (my passion!) “Love Lifts … through the generations” was  created … over 1300 ideas for creating a legacy of memories, traditions and acts of caring through all the ages and stages of life (“sample” memory making ideas at www.MomentsPublishing.com under “excerpts”).

so … book written.   book published.   promised kept.

but … I am still hooked …

and I am still "collecting" …

so … through this new wee blog, I would love to just continue sharing thoughts with you that, perhaps, might strike a thought for you from time to time ...

I will share periodically ... memory making ideas for not only for holidays … but also for times like the birth of a child, the growing up years, for that day when a child graduates or begins to build his/her own home, for the marriage of a child, for the grand era of GRANDparenting, for reaching out to others past our own family in acts of kindness or service, for parties and celebrations,  for new jobs and for retirements ... and for “just because” moments …

I would love for you to journey along … and  I invite you to share your own moments through your comments to a post … because we can all learn from each other … and together, we might just build up a bit more love for all of us … and maybe together, we can grow a “resource” here for sharing love and acts of kindness and caring for those days when thoughts just don’t come as easily …

so … for now … a few ideas for this season of  “Thanks Giving” …

• send Thanksgiving cards to family and friends instead of Christmas cards … (“I thank my God in all my remembrances of you” Philippians 1:3 … include a family photo) …

• leave “We are thankful for YOU” gift bags of fall treats at your neighbors’ doorstep … with a note signed by each family member … or leave treats anonymously … or give them to community workers … to your clergy … or mail a “thankful” box to those serving in our military …

• place an “empty” chair at your Thanksgiving table in honor of those family members who are no longer present with you … or light a candle on the mantle to remember those loved ones …

• give everyone a pressed “leaf” (or leaves) ... (or a real leaf from the yard)...  http://www.etsy.com/listing/83101816/real-pressed-leaves-50-qty-dried-autumn
when they arrive Thanksgiving Day … ask family/guests to write on the leaf something for which they are thankful … spread the leaves around the dinner table centerpiece or place in a basket to read together after dinner … (save the leaves from year-to-year for your “growing” centerpiece of “thanks” giving) …

• make an annual “vegetable” turkey or “fruit” turkey for a Thanksgiving Day appetizer (fun to make while the Thanksgiving Parade rolls across the TV     screen) … a creative tradition from my childhood (we always used an acorn squash for the base and a crooked neck squash or zucchini for the head/neck with wood sticks to hold the “feather-veggies”) … some sample pictures of other styles at: http://www.eatingwithfoodallergies.com/turkeyveggieplatter.html
and at http://www.apartystyle.com/search?q=fruit+turkey+instructions ... or
fill a “carved out” pumpkin with your favorite dip, surround with veggies to serve with left-over turkey sandwiches …

• make a photo placemat or photo name card for each family member for Thanksgiving Dinner …

• place 5 kernels of corn on each person’s dinner plate on Thanksgiving Day … in remembrance of this same gesture offered by the Pilgrims on their Second Thanksgiving … as they recalled God’s provision during the Pilgrim’s starving winter time after their First Thanksgiving (for a family “readable” version of this great story taken from “The Light and The Glory” by Peter Marshall and David Manuel, please email me (Karen) at info@MomentsPublishing.com) …

• create a fun “kids table” if several tables are needed … cover table with “draw on” brown paper tablecloth, offer Indian headdresses and Pilgrim Hats … and add other fun ideas: http://www.hgtv.com/entertaining/kids-thanksgiving-table/pictures/index.html ...

• encourage the kids to put on a Pilgrim’s Thanksgiving Story for the whole    family … write your own script or read from a favorite Thanksgiving story book as kids enter the room “dressed up” in simple costumes … (or act out the “Five Kernels of Corn” story that is referred to above …in honor of the Pilgrims)… add some special music to the beginning or end of the play like “We Gather Together” http://www.spritzels.com/thanksgiving/gather-song.html ... perhaps close with a blessing from Numbers 6:24-26 …

• create a “Thanksgiving Gratefulness Basket” … each day of November, family members write (or draw) something for which they are thankful … a new thought each day … keep strips of paper and pens near the basket … the family gathers together Thanksgiving evening to read the grateful notes and to remember…

• create a “thankful garland chain” of thankful notes throughout the month of November (or trace each member’s hand… and cut-out “the hand” for the note writing) … hook new links (or hands) to the chain after dinner each night … or make a “grateful tree” with sticks secured in a can … write what you are grateful for on colorful paper leaves and attach to the “stick” tree …

• begin a Gratitude Journal that can be kept and added to each Sunday night throughout the year in a special family time … maybe while eating cookies? …

• send letters of gratefulness to family members who cannot be with you for Thanksgiving Dinner this year … “I give thanks for you because …”

• purchase a smooth, large tablecloth … as family and guests arrive, trace each person’s hand and let them sign their name/year and write beside their “hand” two things for which they are thankful … continue the tablecloth “hand” tradition each year … fun to watch hands and blessings grow …

• ask if anyone would like to share a favorite Thanksgiving memory during     dinner … or a favorite family memory since last Thanksgiving …

• spend time as a family thinking of a special family project that might be experienced as a family in the upcoming year … for someone else who may not be as blessed … parents can offer “pre-thought” suggestions and children can offer their ideas as well …

• create fun Fall/Thanksgiving desserts: “Pumpkin Rice Krispie Treats with Tootsie Roll Stump” http://grinandbakeit.com or search the web or magazines for a new special, fun, creative dessert … or gather around an outside fire pit for ‘smores Thanksgiving night …

• share favorite scripture before or after the meal … family members could take turns reading … (Psalm 31:19, Psalm 95:1-6, Psalm 100, Psalm 107:1, Psalm 145: 7, 1 Chronicles 29:11-13) …

• end Thanksgiving Day with a family game of football or … a favorite Christmas movie … the presentation of new winter pajamas for the kids (matching?) … a Christmas ornament exchange that has some special meaning (names drawn earlier) … take the annual family picture while everyone is together … decorate a gingerbread house together … sing Christmas carols as the family looks forward to celebrating the Christ Child …

• leave an “I am thankful for you” note under family members’ pillows … or write a note on their bathroom mirror (with special erasable window/mirror pens) … or leave note of gratefulness for that person in their car, or on their bike … or on their walking cane … or in their brief case …

wishing you and yours a blessed season of “Thanks Giving” …

for life’s moments, Karen

www.MomentsPublishing.com
www.MomentsPublishing.blogspot.com

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and ... if you are looking for a Christmas gift idea … or a 31 day Christmas Devotional … or a reading for family devotionals, may I  invite you to review “Behold the Gift … the Blessings of Bethlehem” available at www.MomentsPublishing.com (excerpt from the book is available on this website) ... reflective words written in humble gratefulness ... seeking to comprehend The Gift given to us that Bethlehem Day ...