Yes, I know Thanksgiving was yesterday...

Last year and the year before, I had the kids make a Thankful Tree and a Thankful Turkey.  Don't they look so proud?  (I guess I didn't blog about the turkey from last year but I have it stored away in my closet.)

This year with both kids in school and afternoons full of homework and practice and Faith Formation and all three of us just being worn out, I never got around to making anything crafty.

However, I did want the kids to at least make a list of things they are thankful for.  So I put "Things I Am Thankful For" at the top of a sheet of paper and asked the kids to start writing.

Peter didn't want to do it because "that's too much like school work!"  And Sarah who is usually game for something like this seemed pretty disturbed from the start.

So Peter sat at the table and in less than 30 seconds had written:

God
Mom
Dad
Gramae (Grandma)
Grendpa (Grandpa, of course)
DSi
Home
World
Food
Plants

And when he was done said, "There. Can I go play my DSi now?

O.k.  Not quite the spirit of thankfulness I was looking for and then out of the middle of nowhere, Hurricane Sarah swept through and made landfall right at my kitchen table.

She began to scream (yes, scream!) and cry that she wanted to do it like Peter. 

"Of course you can do it like Peter!  That's what I want you to do!  Make a list, just like Peter!"  My frantic smiles did nothing to calm her and I knew I was in for at least a ten minute storm.

"NO! NO!  I WANT TO DO IT LIKE PETER!"

Oh.  I get it.  She wants to be able to write her words like Peter and of course, she doesn't know how to spell everything.

"Honey, why don't you tell me what you want on your list and I can write the words for you!"  More frantic smiling.

"NO! NO!  I WANT TO DO IT LIKE PETER!"

"Well, honey, why don't you tell me what you want to write and I'll tell you how to spell the words."  More frantic smiling.

"NO! NO!  I WANT TO DO IT LIKE PETER!"

At this point, I was done with the frantic smiling and had to pull out the old, "Well, if you can't calm down, then you are going to have to go sit in your room for a while."

"I just want to do it like Peter!" 

She was so mad!  Certainly not how I wanted our Thanksgiving Thankful List making to go.  So I let her tantrum for another couple of minutes and then she began to lose steam and sat at the table and proceeded to write the following list without any help from me:

God
No
Now
Am
A

I cracked up when I saw it and it almost made the 10 minute screaming and crying fit worth it.  She just wanted to make her list on her own.  That girl is an interesting and sometimes annoying mix of stubborn and independent. (And if Sarah Palin is not the first female President, then maybe my Sarah will be!)

And if God and a few kindergarten site words are all that's on her Thankful List, then I guess I'm o.k. with that.

Our Thankful Turkeys

Last year we made Thankful Trees and it was a tradition that I wanted to carry on every year while the kids were young.

This year we decided to do Thankful Turkeys.

Peter was being a grump and after writing out three things he was thankful for, he gave up and had me write them down for him.

Sarah wanted to write everyone of hers which is why none of them are legible. I do commend her for the effort though.

Peter's list included the following things:

God
Toys
The Doctor
Telephone
Mom and Dad
Max and Ruby
Himself
Friends
Grandma and Grandpa
The Computer

Sarah's list included the following things:

Family
God
Food
Flowers
Ball
Pumpkins
The World
Clocks
And a couple of other things that I can't remember and can't decipher.

My hope for my children is that they remember to be thankful to God for all that he provides for them. Because really, it's all his anyway.

Happy Thanksgiving!

My Little Pilgrim

On Tuesday, Sarah's 4-year-old preschool class performed their Thanksgiving play.

The class was split up into a group of Indians (Native Americans, if I'm forced to be politically correct) and a group of Pilgrims.

Each student had one line to memorize. Sarah's line was "The boat ride from England was long and hard."

She memorized it with no problems and by the day of the performance she had memorized most of the other kid's lines as well.

She said her line loud and clear and I video taped it all. That evening after dinner, we hooked up the recorder to the TV so that Daddy and Peter could see the show.

Sarah was quite pleased to see herself on TV.

I wasn't able to get a picture of her during the show because I was videotaping it. Although I did try to hold the camera with one hand and the recorder with the other but all the shots were blurry.

Apparently multitasking photography is something I'm not capable of doing well.

But I got a picture of her back in her classroom before she took off her costume.

Doesn't she make an adorable pilgrim girl?