Thanksgiving crafts

The older Jamie gets, the more I love holidays. And I already really loved holidays, so that's saying something! Since we spent almost half the month away from home, I felt like we didn't have nearly as much time to celebrate Thanksgiving as we did with Halloween, so we have been trying to squeeze a lot in since then. There aren't as many fun Thanksgiving books as Halloween books at our library, but we have read several, and we have made a few Thanksgiving crafts too.

Hand turkeys:

Jamie has always loved having his hands traced to a weird degree, so he loved making these.

(in the circles on top of his, he was trying to write "Happy Thanksgiving")

 

Native American headbands:
Jamie colored the headband, chose where each feather would go, and even got to help with the glue! He was so excited. It was cute.

 

 

 

Pilgrim hat:
This was less successful because there were fewer things for Jamie to help with and it was harder to gauge the size. Oh well!

Thankful turkeys:
Found this idea on pinterest. Jamie was so excited about the googly eyes. I had him color the feathers first and then I wrote down things he was thankful for on each one. He didn't really know what that meant, so I asked what made him happy. Pretty cute answers: "coloring the feathers," "Mommy's home," "Daddy at school doing his work," "Daddy comes home," "Mommy and Daddy and Jamie together." He also got to help glue it together. This one was the biggest hit. He has been carrying his "thankful turkey" around with him a lot since we made it.

Jamie has also been getting really excited about Christmas, but I haven't let him do much with that yet. We'll wait til after Thanksgiving. But I did let him choose one ornament from the store already since we'll be decorating the tree shortly after we get home. It was funny because every time I pointed out another ornament he decided that was the one he wanted. He had finally settled on a Santa one, but then changed his mind one last time. This is a funny pose, but it was far and away the best shot of him showing the ornament.

We are very much looking forward to Thursday! I am so thankful for my cute, sweet, smart boy, for Thomas getting off school if only for a couple of days, and for getting to spend the holiday with family members. Happy Thanksgiving!

general update

Jamie and I spent the first 12 days of November in Missouri at Grandma and Grandpa's house. While I prepared for my thesis defense and then worked on revising, acquiring signatures, random paperwork, and getting it printed, Jamie stayed busy playing with his grandparents. That kid LOVES his grandparents. Oh my goodness. I took almost no pictures while we there, partly because I was busy and partly because I knew we'd be back next month. But here are a few that I did snap. 

making a fire with Grandpa--a daily occurrence

Story time!

Thomas left the same day we did to go to a conference in Boston. After he got back, he spent a ton of time working on his big paper for the semester and no time at all grocery shopping--when Jamie and I got home, all the produce in the house consisted of wilted lettuce, jalapeño peppers, and garlic. Yum.

Since returning we have been busy unpacking, reading books about Thanksgiving, making Thanksgiving crafts (those will get there own post later), and getting ready to pack up again and head to Atlanta on Wednesday. We're very excited to be with family this year, as we have just been on our own for Thanksgiving since moving to Knoxville.

Also, Jamie got his 4th haircut yesterday. I was never pleased with his last one, so it was about time... 

election day

The most political post you will ever see from me....

 

Jamie proudly displaying his "I voted" sticker.

thesis defense

Had my thesis defense this afternoon, and I PASSED! I am so happy that I finally did it! Now all I have left is formatting, proofreading, getting it printed, and getting all the appropriate forms turned in. Next month I will officially have my master's degree!

Halloween

We had the best Halloween with our little hobbit! The day before, he got to wear his costume to storytime at the library, and on the day of we were so happy to have beautiful weather so we could get some pictures of him outside. Trick-or-treating was so much fun. I'd forgotten just how fun it could be. We went over to a neighborhood and ended up going around with a couple little girls and their dad and grandma. One of the girls became quite enamored of Thomas and wouldn't let anyone else hold her hand--it was so cute. Before we headed home, we stopped by a Halloween party a friend was having. We had a great night! I love holidays with my boys :)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Additionally, here is a video of my little hobbit. He has candy in his mouth, so sorry about that, but it was Halloween. What can I say?

[Oh yeah, I made Jamie's costume, except for the white shirt ($2 at Goodwill) and the ring ($2.50 on ebay with free shipping). The vest pattern can be found here (fabric came from a pair of $4 Goodwill men's trousers) and the pants here (I just made them shorter). The cloak was mostly freehand but I made the hood with these instructions (same site where I got instructions for his Jedi costume last year). I have so much fun making his Halloween costumes!]