Holiday Traditions

I know I haven't posted in a week. I've been busy doing schoolwork, packing, homeschool group stuff, and yard sale stuff. Fun Fun! Over at In Pursuit of Proverbs 31 Amy is hosting a contest for a Toshiba HD DVD A2 Player! So I am participating and sharing my family's holiday traditions.

We don't do a whole lot for Thanksgiving but the last few years we have started a "thankful garland." The kids really like this and it helps everyone's perspectives. The first year I cut out about 50 orange construction paper pumpkins. I took green curling ribbon and stapled it all he way around the living room wall near the ceiling. Each day the kids would tell me something they were thankful for and I would write and draw it on a pumpkin. By Thanksgiving we had a pumpkin patch hanging on the living room wall. The following year we did fall leaves. Now that was a lot of cutting!

For the past 5+ years we have done a "homemade Christmas" with the kids. This has been so much fun! It makes Christmas a very busy time, but I like it so much better. It takes the focus off "commercial Christmas" and puts th focus back where it is supposed to be. I make the kids simple homemade gifts. I have done pajamas and a baby blanket, and my husband made a baby cradle one year. Last year I gave my oldest daughter a "mommy and me" journal. I took a picture of me and her and posted it on the front cover of the book. Then I wrote a note to her on the first page. She loves journals and doing copywork, so she loved this gift! For other family members I have painted stained glass windows, made kitchen goodies, and personalized scrapbooks. I even made my mom a cookbook last year full of y favorite recipes and a decopage cover. My husband has made deer jerky too. We have had so much fun!

Another family tradition is the Jesse Tree. Every year we work through the Jesse Tree. It takes a full month, but is reall fun. One year I painted a tree onto a piece of butcher paper and hung it on the wall and then the kids taped the paper ornaments up each night. Another year We used a real twig stuck in a coffee can. I made felt ornanments to hang on the tree. I'm not sure we are going to get to do it this year since we will be on the road. :( There is a link on the left side menu about the Jesse Tree if you are interested.

The first picture is the framed scrapbook page I made for my sister's dog. The second picture is of the stained glass window I painted for my sister. And the third picture is Shelby helping making hamburger meat and summer sausage. Last year we gave away homemade summe sausage. YUM!