Mom's Gratitdue Turkey

Now that Halloween is over I have started to think about the season of Thanksgiving. It seems like the last few weeks life has been really exhausting and my patience has been very thin. Sometimes I feel like it is so easy to get upset at my kids about the ridiculously little things and even easier to forget to focus on the simple and good things that they do all the time. So I've been thinking of ways that can help me remember to tell my kids thank you for the good things they are doing and how to encourage them to do those good things more. I came up with this little guy. 

This is my Mom's Gratitude Turkey. I laminated the body but not the feathers. We taped the body up on the fridge where we can all see it. This helps me to remember that at least a few times a day I need to point out and make kind of a big deal about the good things they have done. When I do this, they get to pick out a feather, we write what the good thing was and then we tape it onto the turkey. (This is why I didn't laminate the feathers.) My kids are getting so excited about how big our turkey tail is getting and I feel like we are starting to focus more on the good things happening around us, which has allowed me to focus on the hard stuff as much. Does my patience still get thin? You bet, but its not as often and its easier to get it back. It's really hard for those negative feelings to stick around when I am actively working on telling my kids good job and giving them hugs and loves.  

There is both a colored and black and white printable. Hope you enjoy this!

Christ Christmas Tree Ornaments

I love finding simple ways that remind us of the real reason we have Christmas. I made these with my cub scouts this week and they turned out so great I wanted to share. They are easy and fun to make. Hope you enjoy. 

                                         

What you'll need-

• Popsicle sticks (6-12 per ornament depending on the design you chose).
• Paint and paint brushes
• Elmer's glue or hot glue gun. 
• Pictures of Christ
• Ribbon 
• Scissors
• Pen

Wooden Snowmen

These are incredibly easy and cute winter decorations that anyone can do.

My sister-in-law started these for us and then let us do the finishing touches. 

What you will need:

Wooden Log

Fleece for hats and scarves

Hot glue gun

Scissors

Black sharpie marker

Nose (Adelaide made the noses from a 

fallen tree branch in her back yard.)

Drill for making nose hole (optional)

Free Christmas Advent Ornaments

Hello all! Its officially the Christmas season. Fa-la-la-la-la, la, la, la, la! One thing I enjoy about the holidays is all the fun stuff there is to do. But at the same time, there is almost too much to do. So I thought I'd put together a fun little printable to help make things go a little smoother. I am calling it Christmas Advent Ornaments. What you do is print out the ornaments and the ornament cards, these have ideas on them of things to do each day. I have also included blank ornament cards so you can write in your own activities. Cut them out, glue the ornament and card together, laminate (optional), and then hang them on a garland, on your tree, put them on a Christmas chain, wherever your heart desires. Then each day you pick one and do that activity that day. These are easy, mostly free (definitely in expensive), fun activities the entire family can do and enjoy. 

Hope you enjoy these. Please let me know if you have any problems opening the files.