it’s the last minute….
you have your kids at home, grandparents and cousins are about to come into town. Life has been pretty crazy lately and you’ve barely had a chance to think about what the next few days will hold. You know you’ve got to feed everyone but what about the rest of the days everyone is at your house?
We love the long Thanksgiving weekend. Some years we travel and some years we stay at home. Sometimes it’s just our little family and some years we have lots of family around.
You probably already have some family traditions in place: thanksgiving dinner, black Friday shopping, or watching football and the Macy’s Christmas Parade.
In case you aren’t sure what to do with that downtime or wish you could start some of your own family traditions over the next few days…
Here’s a little list for you:
*We have a relish tray of delish snacks and goodies that go out around 11am on Thanksgiving morning. I’ve really never thought about the presentation. Usually, everyone decides they are suddenly hungry and chip bags are ripped open and eaten as they are poured into the bowl (unless the bag just starts getting passed around). We all eat and gab as we put the food out for everyone. Truly, I’ve never thought about making it look nice…I’m too busy thinking about the actual dinner later that day. But look at how awesome this is! It makes me want to make some little toothpick flags and set up a visual feast that would make any stylist proud.
*If you have a family that likes to get crazy beyond the usual board game or puzzle these game ideas are hilarious! The idea is for Minute to Win it. I don’t think you have to download all of the details or go into the depth that they do on the site but you could definitely do the activities and just time each other for fun. I know I would be dying laughing watching my family do this stuff. If you’re looking to laugh together…I think this is the jackpot!
*My sister is the pie artist. I’ve never made a pie by myself in my life. I have gotten to take pictures of her working with her girls and my girls making pies and I adore watching her. She’s so patient and fun and includes the girls in every step of the process. If you’re feeling up to making a new tradition at your house of combining generations into step-by-step pie making you may want to try out some these pieces of art…just for fun…
*Each year we usually make our favorite soups and deliver them to homeless people either on Thanksgiving day or the day after. Often times it’s the day after because it seems like there are a lot of places that give Thanksgiving dinner on Thanksgiving day (another great tradition: work at a soup kitchen on Thanksgiving). The day after though is the day that is forgotten so it seems like the perfect day for some warm soup and bread. We go around the city delivering. If soup isn’t something you’re up for there’s always hot chocolate (lavender optional).
*The Thanksgiving break is the perfect time to create homemade familyness gifts for Grandparents. I love this easy and fun idea for kids! I envision Saturday morning with pumpkin muffins baking, Christmas carols in the ringing from your iphone dock, and these cute mugs being created for favorite Grandmas and Grandpas.
*Worried about getting awesome pictures during this holiday while everyone is together? Make sure to check out Brooke Snow’s idea: create a shot list! Her list is for Christmas but I think it would work perfectly for Thanksgiving. It could include things like: Grandma and Miriam working together in the kitchen, all of the little girls gathered around Danita making pies, everyone gathered around the fire, the boys setting the tables for dinner, details of our tables outside in the backyard before we eat, Mike and Emmett chopping wood, Emma and Mike getting the fire started, all the boys crushed onto the couch tickling Grandpa. You don’t have to get every shot but it solidifies in your mind when you want to make sure you pull out your camera. Otherwise, it’s easy to come to the end of your holiday weekend and realize you forgot to take out your camera even once! Knowing ahead of time when you want to get those awesome moments recorded will help you remember to snap away.
So what are your last minute Thanksgiving weekend plans? Or your favorite familyness tradition? I want to hear! (do tell! in the comments)
Familyness is here.
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6 Comments
Wonderful ideas, as always, Davina! I hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving!
beautiful ideas!!!! a little late to the party but i do hope you had a fabulous thanksgiving 🙂
Thank you, Renee. 🙂 even though these are last minute Thanksgiving ideas you could still do them. 😉
Super fun stuff, Davina! My kids (ages 4,6, 11) will love the artwork on the mugs as a family activity- great ideas and I love how you link us right to sites for the details.:) Familyness is becoming a priority in this home!
You’re welcome, Carrie! 🙂 I’m excited about the artwork mugs, too. I’d love to see how your kids’ mugs turn out! Yay for familyness! I look forward to seeing you around here. 🙂
What great ideas! I’m loving the shot list idea you shared from Brooke! 🙂
One of my favorite traditions is called 20 Questions…it’s a bunch of conversation starters. Each person writes down one question on a slip of paper to put in a bowl. We then take turns pulling out a question and having everyone in the room respond. We have questions like: what is your favorite color? If you didn’t have to work what would you love to be doing? Name a place you’d love to visit and why? What’s your favorite song? It’s a lot of fun!