This is what happens

when kids wake up at 7:00 and Mom wants to sleep until 7:30.oh well...at least they are having fun together!

I know I am biased,

but she really does get cuter every day!

Christmas Traditions

I know it isn't even Thanksgiving yet, but since we have been eating turkey for a full week straight now (since our ward Thanksgiving Feast), it feels like it has already come and gone. So I bring you this post and hope you'll forgive me for jumping the holiday gun!

Over the past month as we have recorded our blessings each day, I have been craving a similarly enjoyable and magical Christmas season and wondering to myself how I can possibly pull that off with 3 kids, Seth in the midst of finals, shopping for gifts, ward activities, parties with family and friends, and all that comes with it. I have been reflecting on our holiday traditions and how, so often, the things we really want to enjoy as a family take a backseat to all that we "have to do". So, I determined that I wanted to get everything possible done in advance so that we could really enjoy the season. My shopping is 90% done, Christmas projects are about 50 percent complete, I have gifts ready to ship this weekend, and have all the major stuff we don't want to miss on the Calendar.

In the process of these preparations, I remembered my post from last year about our traditions and I was so excited to add our new traditions! In fact, I was so excited that I want more fun ideas for new traditions.

So, tell me, what are your favorite holiday traditions?

Thanksgiving Feast

Morgan's teacher sent me a picture from their Thanksgiving feast today

(and with a little photoshop magic - voila).

It made me wish I got to go to preschool every day!

When Morgan got in the car I asked him about his feast.

"What did you have?"

"Carrots, corn, chicken (meaning turkey), rolls, olives..."

"Olives?" I asked.

"Yeah, you know, the black oval things that you put on your fingers."

Oh, so that's what an olive is...

Mama

Our week has been crazy...
baby shower for darling sister-in-law at my house
Thanksgiving Dinner for our ward (close to 200 people)
Squeezing in a quick date to the temple

busy work schedule

busy school schedule

lots of cleaning

lots of shopping

lots of finishing touches

And then today was even crazier...
Teaching primary
Doing sharing time
Tithing Settlement
Tests and quizzes and papers due (for Seth)
Thanksgiving dinner for my dad's side of the family at my house
and lots and lots of snow falling outside

and I am totally worn out after all of it.
But tonight, we listed our Thankful Things in our Gratitude Journal like we do every night:
Seth was thankful for our amazing neighbor
I was thankful for church
Morgan was thankful for Playing Wii with his uncles
Chloe was thankful for magic wands
and as I went to put away the book I jokingly said,
"What are you thankful for, Brynnie?"
and you know what...
She dove toward me and nuzzled her head and said
"mama"

Plain and simple...
today was a beautiful day!

Morgan's Recipe for Thanksgiving Dinner

Warning: reading this might cause you to pee your pants,

disturb your co-workers or wake your sleeping baby

Morgan brought home some Thanksgiving recipes today

(complete with side dishes and deserts)

written by none other than the kids in his Preschool class.

So here is Morgan's Recipe for Thanksgiving Dinner:

We get a turkey. We don't shoot them we get them in a bag at the store. The yellow bags have stuffing - we don't get that bag because we don't like stuffing. Get the red and white bag because it comes without stuffing. Sometimes you can give turkeys to people who need them. Go home and put your turkey in a pan. Turkeys have bones in them. Put some pepper and salt on top of the turkey. Turn your oven to 19 degrees. Put it in the oven. Cook it for 18 hours. Make some gravy sauce, mash some potatoes, and cut up some bananas and strawberries. Get some butter and rolls. Then make a peanut butter sandwich when your hungry for lunch. Make some chocolate/vanilla/strawberry ice-cream for dessert. Put some sprinkles on it. Be thankful for things.

Yesterday was a pretty great day

I had conversations like this...

Morgan: "What is tomorrow, Mom?"

Jen: "Nothing."

M (excitedly): "Nothing? We get to stay home?

J: "Yep - maybe we can make pancakes."

M: "No...I just want to read books."

J: "Right, we can have pancakes for breakfast and then you can read books or play in your room or whatever."

M: "I am so excited to stay home and have pancakes for breakfast and play in my room and read books and play with my sisters!"

And this...

Chloe (crying and very upset, all of a sudden): "I need my phone."

Jen: "We left it at home, we'll have to get it when we get back."

C: "But I need my phone right now, I can't hear out of my fingers."

(referring to using her fingers as a phone)

Got compliments like this...

Chloe: "Mom, you have pretty pretty eyelashes!"

And took pictures of this...

It was a day I wanted to capture in a bottle and keep forever!

An Exercise in Gratitude

In attempt to actually be as good a mom as all of you think I am (haha, j/k), our family has started a new November tradition. It started out as an idea that could double as a way of counting our blessings and providing fall decor, but in the first couple of days, I realized that my plan was a little more complex than my time permitted, so,

the Tate Family Gratitude Journal was born...

and it is still cute enough to leave out as decor, just not in the same way I had planned.

Every night, we go around and list our "thankful for's" and write them down in the book. I plan to keep it with the Thanksgiving decor (or maybe the Halloween decor, just to make sure it makes it out of the holiday decor box before Nov. 1) and pull it out each year to add to it. The only problem has been coming up with a title for it (as illustrated above by the big empty piece of paper where the title should be).

Any ideas (other than the most boring backup plan title "The Tate Family Gratitude Journal")?

It has been so fun to hear what the kids (and Seth) come up with. I have loved each answer, but here is a sampling of my favorites.

Morgan has been thankful that he got to be number 2 on the airplane to Hawaii in his preschool class so he got to sit next to Paul, that we took down the Halloween decorations and put up Thanksgiving decorations, and Christmas.

Chloe has been thankful for her friends (which she says almost every night, by the way, and usually lists names), Heavenly Father, her princess crown, and my favorite by far...her friends in her dancing class (except, she doesn't take dance...

hmmm, maybe a dancing class in her dreams?).

I have been thankful for my sewing machine, a sweet husband who rakes leaves and scoops poop, pictures, and healthy bodies and bright minds.

Seth has been thankful for days off, Hawaii, smart cute kids, and Brynnie's sturdy frontal bone.

and Brynn, well, I assume that she is thankful for the same things every day...

food, a clean bum, and a family who ADORES her every second of the day.

Hope you are having a happy season of THANKS!