thankful 4 hugs

I am thankful for so many things this year. One is my daughters pre-school teachers. To let them know how much we appreciate their hard work and dedication I made these little favors for them. I filled cellophane bags with Hershey Hugs. To make them a little more special I ordered some stickers on etsy that say Happy Thanksgiving with a picture of a turkey that I stuck on the bottom of each one. I stamped "Thankful" on one side of the "4" and "your hugs" on the back. I tied them up with some brown satin ribbon and will deliver them to school tomorrow. You could make these with different candies and messages or use them as favors or place cards at your Thanksgiving dinner.

fabulous fowl

An annual Thanksgiving tradition in our family is to take a trip to the Gozzi Turkey Farm on Rt. 1 in Guilford, Ct. to see these magnificent colored birds. It truly is quite a site. Last year we went at least three times. Here is an article from the NY Times from 1989 that describes the farm in more detail. You can order fresh turkeys for the holidays or just go check out the fabulous colored birds out front. If you live in Ct. or happen to be driving through for the holiday I suggest you make the trip to Gozzi's- It's free and fun!

book nook

I love reading picture books to my children. We have a special book shelf that I use to highlight holiday books and I switch them every month. In September there are books about going to school, October has Halloween books and above you'll see a picture of our Thanksgiving book collection. The children get excited to read these "new" books every month and I try to add a new one to our collection every year. If you don't have a book case you could also use a window sill, basket, or small table. It is like having your very own library right at home. As the kids get older I can start highlighting special authors or topics that they are studying in school.

tepee treats

(photo courtesy of Barnes and Noble)

(picture courtesy of Family Fun)

It was my turn to help out in my daughters pre-school last week. The calendar said they were going to read "The legend of the Indian Paintbrush" by Tomie de Paola and do a tepee craft. I always like to bring something fun in to school when it is my turn to help so I decided to make these tepees out of ice cream cones. I used mini cones and followed the directions for the recommended frosting. I had to put on two layers of the frosting and still wasn't totally happy with the results. I think next time I will use melted white chocolate instead. Instead of using cake gel to decorate them I brought in "easy writer" decorating pens. The pens come in the four primary colors and were a great way for the kids to personalize their tepees. I packaged them in small cellophane bags and the kids were able to take them home. This would be a fun activity for kids to make while waiting for Thanksgiving dinner.

christmas cards

I just ordered my Christmas cards! I am trying to get as much Christmas stuff done early since I will be having baby #3 just after the New Year. I have found a system for ordering cards that works for me so I thought I would share. Every October (starting when my daughter was a newborn) we have a photographer come to the house or a nearby location to take our pictures. I try and choose coordinating but not matching outfits for all of us. I find that it is a wonderful way to document our families growth over the years. In early November we choose one of the photos for our Christmas card. I always use Tiny Prints and have been happy with their services. They have good discounts, a large variety of cards to choose from, and downloading a picture is easy. They even let you compare different personalized cards so you can see what they will really look like. I got 15% off my order plus free shipping. The picture above is one of the shots from our photo shoot but not the one we chose for our card. If you are looking for a new place to get cards I suggest you give Tiny Prints a try.