Thanksgiving is such a wonderful holiday! A special time set aside just for spending time with loved ones and indulging in all the goodies we normally avoid. A time to reflect on our blessings and express our gratitude to others.

This year has definitely seen it’s share of ups and downs testing my family and I’s endurance and convictions. The most challenging being a 4,000 mile relocation from our home of 17 years, especially considering it was from one extreme climate to another. I am continually amazed by the resilience of my children and their passion to jump into new experiences. I love seeing the world through their eyes!

I have certainly been blessed with family and friends who are loving and supportive, a husband who is beyond compare, children who brighten each and every day of my life and a growing fan base of FreeBirthdayTreats.com that keeps me motivated!

My thanks to all of you for your kind words, encouragement and funny emails that keep me smiling.

May your Thanksgiving day be filled with love, lots of laughter and awesome food!

Guest post courtesy of Lisa Kothari.

It’s autumn and Halloween is right around the corner and Thanksgiving is a mere 4 weeks later.  What is wonderful about these holidays is they fall within the autumn season and use the same color scheme.  As a result, many of the things you purchase for one can be used for the other.  This reduces the amount of money you need to spend on the kids’ fun during this season.

Here are some examples:

Cookie Cutters: The simple pumpkin cookie cutter you chose to create marvelous pumpkin invitations and decorations for your spooky Halloween party can be used at Thanksgiving time to make pumpkin sugar cookies, pumpkin bread, brownies, etc.  Pumpkins are as festive at Halloween as they are at Thanksgiving.

Tablecloth: Use an orange tablecloth for your Halloween party table, and then trim it up using brown ribbon and scalloped scissors to create a formal tablecloth for Thanksgiving.

Purchase plain orange and white tableware, e.g. napkins, plates, cups, for Halloween.  Use the leftover supplies for Thanksgiving as well.  Provide your children with brown markers and draw turkeys on their cups and napkins to make them into festive Thanksgiving tableware.  You may use the good china for the Thanksgiving meal itself, but this will be great for snacks before the meal and to serve leftovers on.

The bales of hay and Indian corn you purchased to make your yard, front porch, door, and even serve as a table centerpiece during the Halloween season can all be used during Thanksgiving as well.  The items will keep fresh throughout the entire autumn season.  You can also use the cornhusks to create dolls and puppets for more Thanksgiving decorations or plain fun!

Mini pumpkins and gourds look as festive for Halloween as they will for Thanksgiving.  Have the kids draw faces on the small pumpkins and turkeys on to the gourds.

Any leftover orange balloons can be blown up for Thanksgiving and the kids can either draw with brown magic markers or use other craft materials to create turkey balloons.

Have the kids roll up large orange napkins that you may have used for your Halloween party and create napkin rings using white and black construction paper rings (the Pilgrim colors, of course!)

Did you bob for apples at your Halloween party?  Use apples to create Apple Candlestick Holders.  Core out the center of the apple to fit a candle snuggle.  Older children can carve out patterns on the skin of the apple, or just keep them plain red.

Have fun decorating for the two holidays in one fell swoop!

~ Lisa Kothari is the creator of Peppers and Pollywogs, a Party Expert and author of Dear Peppers and Pollywogs – What Parents Want To Know About Planning Their Kids’ Parties.

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Celebration

It’s that time of year again when we go hog wild cooking up all sorts of yummy creations in our kitchens to share with family and friends. This of course leads to a “gorging feeding time” in which we all pay for later and start planning our New Year’s resolution of “I’ve got to lose some weight!” Sound familiar?

This year most of our family will actually be in town for Thanksgiving which will bring the group total up to around 30 people. Grandparents, aunts, uncles, grand kids, cousins will all be in attendance. We’ll have the usual dishes…stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, gravy… along with the turkey, but will also have salmon and ribs. It’s a big group with alot of big guys with very big appetites! lol

Our “assigned” dish is the infamous Green Bean Casserole, although we tweak our green bean casserole recipe just a bit by substituting the regular cut green beans for the French style green beans. And as soon as I get done with this  post…my son and I will be venturing into the kitchen to make pecan pies. One of our favorites.

What are you’re family favorites? Have a recipe you’d like to share or link to your own blog post? Leave a comment below!

Giving Thanks

It’s also a time in our family to reflect on the good things in life. With so much turmoil from the recession, it feels good to focus on something positive. We started a new Thanksgiving family tradition last year that we all ready enjoy. Each person makes a Giving Thanks list which we share after Thanksgiving dinner. Some of the things on my list are:

1. To the Lord for every blessing he sends my way;
2. For my family’s good health, good humor, unconditional support and love;
3. For the joy the kids bring….when they’re being good!
4. For our jobs and health insurance;
5. For the roof over our heads, the food in our bellies and laughter around the table;
6. For all my online friends that take time to chat with me (Twitter, FaceBook, MompreneursOnline, TwitterMoms…);
7. To all FreeBirthdayTreats.com website and blog RSS and Newsletter subscribers and FaceBook Fans for helping this business grow.
8. For cooler days!

Why not make a Giving Thanks list of your own? They’re fun to do, there’s no right or wrong way, just jot down why you’re grateful. While you’re at it, why not make a list of all your accomplishments as well? Thanksgiving is a great time for reflection!

If you’d like to take this a step further, check out TweetsGiving 2009, which is a global celebration that aims to change the world through the power of gratitude.

With that said, it’s time to wrap this up and get baking!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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Thanksgiving is the perfect time of year to show our gratitude and what could be better than getting the kids involved by using these handy free printable Thanksgiving coloring cards created by Chuck E. Cheese’s. It’s a fun Thanksgiving activity designed for kids to be creative and say thank you by sending Thanksgiving Cards to friends and family.

Want to reward your kids for their good manners, well Chuck E. Cheese’s has a special Magical Manners Reward Calendar just for them. Kids receive 10 free tokens if they complete five (5) days of good manners. This offer is only valid for a limited time. It ends on December 31, 2009.

Chuck E. Cheese’s has 13 more Reward Calendars just in case you’re interested. They are:

• Sports Awards NEW
• Tooth Fairy Award NEW
• Getting Dressed NEW
• Reading Rewards NEW
• Active Kid
• Homework Helper
• Potty Training
• Sleep All Night
• Magical Manners
• Doctor/Dentist Good Patient Award
• Stop Thumb Sucking
• Clean Your Room
• Teeth Brushing

Please share your Thanksgiving traditions by leaving a comment!

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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A Thanksgiving Scavenger Hunt for kids would be a ton of fun and an activity to keep them busy over the holiday break. Mike is back with a great group of clues:

• For this clue, to find out where you are going, look in the horn that is overflowing. (Cornucopia)

• Find the next clue or your plans may topple! Check near a bird who says gobble, gobble. (Turkey)

• Your next clue, from what I’ve heard said, is near something a pilgrim might wear on their head. (Pilgrim’s hat)

• These once grew on trees and have been changing color, sometimes they are raked, but are now a clue cover. (Autumn leaves)

• For your next clue, just take a short walk towards a corny old friend who grows on a stalk. (Corn cob)

• Your next clue is squashed in a familiar place … a month ago many of these were carved with a face. (Pumpkin)

• I’m crispy and sweet and taste good in pie, I’ve got your next clue so come right on by! (Apple)

• Do you “pine” for a clue? I’ve got what you need! If you were an evergreen, I’d be your seed. (Pine cone)

Have fun hunting this Thanksgiving holiday!

By Lisa Kothari, Peppers and Pollywogs

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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What do grocery stores do with all those left over pumpkins? Well, in my hometown Anchorage, Alaska, the Anchorage Daily News reported that over 1,600 pumpkins were donated to the animals at the Alaska Wildlife Conservation. Definitely the right way to start off the month of Thanksgiving.

My family and I had the pleasure of visiting this conservation on our way to Girdwood, Alaska and had a blast seeing the wildlife up close. If memory serves me right, I believe someone got licked in the face and it wasn’t me!

I was born and raised in Anchorage and even though I haven’t been back as often as I’d like, I still call it home. When you’re planning those summer vacations, I highly recommend heading up to the Last Frontier for an Alaskan vacation. Start your research with Alaska HDTV. Scott and his crew have some amazing video, podcasts and TV shows about Alaska.

And if you are traveling up during your birthday month, be sure to visit FreeBirthdayTreats.com to see what the great State of Alaska has to offer by way of birthday freebies and discounts.

To find local businesses offering birthday discounts & freebies for adults, kids and pets, visit: Free Birthday Treats.

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There are many kids who are little chefs in disguise, and even if they aren’t, come Thanksgiving, when everyone is in the kitchen, the kids will appreciate helping you out!  It’s a great way to get them involved in the excitement of the big meal.  Children will appreciate contributing in any way that they can.

When thinking about some tasks they can do, keep in mind both the child’s age and the amount of time a task takes to do.  Make sure that the kitchen fun is age-appropriate, i.e young children should not be using knives or other sharp objects preparing food, and these types of objects should be out of reach so no accidents take place.  You may want to provide an apron to your little chef to protect clothes and help them get in the mood. Also, remember that kids will not want to be in the kitchen the whole day, as there are parades to watch, the football to throw, and perhaps a turkey craft to do.  So, keep their time in the kitchen limited to keep them excited, but not bored and restless.

Here are some great cooking ideas for the kids:

• Mash the potatoes
• Fill the pie shells with the filling
• Stuff the celery with cream cheese
• Arrange the vegetable tray
• Set out cheese and crackers
• Stir Jell-O
• Freeze ice cubes with cranberries
• Stuff the turkey
• Place ingredients in the salad and toss
• Whip the cream
• Fill the deviled eggs
• Rolling out the pie crust 

All of these will be fun.  If you have older kids (tweens and teens), perhaps they would like to peel potatoes and/or make the pie filling.

This is a great Thanksgiving Day activity and will really get your children into the spirit of the feast!

By Lisa Kothari, Peppers and Pollywogs