Thanksgiving

3 posts

5 Thanksgiving Books to Read with your Preschooler

Family fun Mom Life

The Importance of Reading

Around the age of 5 years old, children will begin to read. It’s an exciting time in the life of a child. One of pride and accomplishment, another step in the direction of independence. The road to reading begins LONG before your child reads or even says their first words. Research even recently proved that reading aloud to children actually changes their brains. – Read about the study here. 

When should I start Reading aloud to my children?

Now. Right Now.

I believe that no time is too soon to start reading aloud to your children.

Even when your baby is still in the womb, reading to your children will create such a special bond. Your baby will start to become familiar with your voice. I remember when my first daughter was born. Even in her earliest days she knew our voices and would love to listen to her dad read stories to her.

Preparing Our Hearts for Thanksgiving

Happy First Week of Fall!

It doesn’t feel like Fall here in South, Florida with temperatures still in the 90’s. However, since Pumpkin Spiced lattes have arrived, it must be time to start preparing our hearts for Thanksgiving. Last year during the month of November we worked on memorizing a bible verse together and created a little bucket list of things to do together.

This year we have been reading through several books to help prepare our hearts for the season. Also, since the girls are a little bit older (4,3 & 2) they are able to understand more about the first Thanksgiving.

Top 5 Thanksgiving Themed Books for Preschoolers

These books are not ranked in any particular order. These are just five of the many Thanksgiving themed books we have been enjoying this season. This post does contain affiliate links. If you make a purchase it won’t cost anything extra for you, but our family will receive a small commission. I thank you for your consideration and support.

‘Twas the Night Before THANKSGIVING

Written and Illustrated by Dav Pilkey.

This story is about eight students who ventured off onto a field trip to see Farmer Mack Nuggett and his 8 tiny turkeys. During the field trip, the students learn about the farm and befriend the turkeys and you won’t believe how the story ends…

My girls loved the rhyming and adorable watercolor styled images in this story.

Balloons over Broadway

Written by Melissa Sweet, A Caldecott Honor Winner

A Thanksgiving tradition for our family is to participate in a turkey trot.  However, for many families, it might be to watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Balloons over Broadway is a whimsically written story based on the history of the Macy’s Day Parade.

In this book, you will learn all about how Tony Sarg began his work for Macy’s by designing the window decor, and eventually started the famous balloons we watch each year on Thanksgiving morning. This book was also awarded The Robert F. Sibert Medal.

 

The Thanksgiving Story

Written by Alice Dalgliesh and Illustrated by Helen Sewell

This book is a great way to introduce your preschoolers to chapter books. There are limited images in this book, but with 5 short chapters (2-3 pages) this book is a great tool for 1) teaching your child about Thanksgiving and 2) reading comprehension and recall. This book also received the Caldecott Honor.

 

Turkey Trouble

Written by Wendi Silvano and Illustrated by Lee Harper. 

Follow along as one turkey discovers he’s in trouble. This cute little story is a quick and easy read for your family. One that’s sure to make you laugh.

Bear Says Thanks

Written by Karma Wilson and Illustrated by Jane Chapman 

The “Bear Books” are a popular series of stories written by Karma Wilson. Each story teaches an important lesson for toddlers and preschoolers. Bear Says Thanks is no different.

This story recreates the first Thanksgiving, and Bear learns to be grateful. With large beautiful images and limited text per page. this Story is perfect for your toddlers and preschoolers. It is also an option for beginning readers.

These are just five of the books we’ve been reading to our family. There are so many more available. Comment below, what are your favorite stories to read to your family during Thanksgiving?


Looking for more fun things to do with your Preschooler for Thanksgiving? Check out this Pinterest board

Feed FIVE people a Thanksgiving Inspired Meal for 15 Bucks!

Mom Life
Happy Thanksgiving!

Here in the Jimenez Family, we believe that Thanksgiving deserves plenty of attention and recognition. We do not feel it appropriate to put our Christmas tree or decorations out until after Thanksgiving!

Does anyone else feel this way? – Just us? 


 This year is a magical season of life for us. Our girls, ages 3,2 and 1, have simply fallen in love with holidays and love to celebrate them. I mean, it took at least a week for our three-year-old to understand that we couldn’t just go trick-or-treating every day.  Since our girls are really into the holidays, we wanted to make them last and create many positive experiences for them. So I got the idea of hosting a Thanksgiving meal, just our family!

Traditionally we spend Thanksgiving Day in Miami with my husbands family, and then Friday – Sunday in Orlando with my family (2015 Thanksgiving Vlog). We have a wonderful time, but this year, as I said, I wanted to extend the Thanksgiving Celebration and being a family of five on a single income, I knew I had to do it for as inexpensively as possible!

So, when I found a great deal on Chicken at the grocery store, I knew it could be a reality! Here is how I put together a beautiful Thanksgiving inspired meal for my family for under 15.00!

I purchased the chicken at my local *Winn-Dixie, but all other supplies were purchased at Aldi. I’m a new convert to the Aldi obsession and plan to do a full blog post about shopping at Aldi and what I love to buy, so stay tuned!

Menu (with Aldi Pricing)

  • Sweet Potatoes (.89 3lb bag)
  • Marshmallows (.89 1lb bag)
  • Frozen Corn (.99)
  • Frozen Green Beans (.99)
  • Carrots (.69)
  • Stuffing (.89 a box)
  • Apples (3.99)
  • *Boneless Chicken (4.71 4lbs)
TOTAL: 13.15

Putting it all together! 
In general, we keep our meals pretty simple, so adding a few extra side dishes to our dinner was no problem. 
Vegetables
  • Steamed with a little salt, pepper, and butter
Sweet Potatoes
  • I used my slow-cooker technique to make the sweetest, sweet potatoes ever! 
  • Topped with Marshmallows and melted for a bit in the oven after the chicken was resting. 
Chicken
  • Baked until done with seasonings I had on hand (salt, pepper, onion powder, garlic) 
Stuffing
  • I purchased it but didn’t make it. When I do make it, I like to add apples, onions, and some celery for flavor and crunch. 
Dessert
  • Apple Crisp! 
My husband looked up a recipe, I halfway listened, and improvised on the recipe to create something new, the end result was delicious so I thought I’d share! 
Instructions:
In a bowl mix:
  • 5 Peeled Apples (3 granny smith, 2 Fugi)
  • Juice of 2 limes
  • Cinnamon
  • 1 tbs sugar 
Once combined, add to a square baking dish
In a separate bowl, mix:
  • 1 stick of butter 
  • 3/4 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup sugar
  • 3/4 cup oats 
  • a splash of vanilla
  • cinnamon 
Once it has reached a chunky consistency, add it to the top of the apples and bake at 350 degrees for 40 minutes. 
Serve with Coffee and enjoy!

Over dinner, we read some books from the local library and spoke about gratitude. It was a fun little evening for our family, and I think one we will add to our family traditions! 
I hope this post inspired you to create beautiful memories with your family!  If you decide to take on the challenge of serving a Thanksgiving-inspired meal for under 15.00  I’d love to see photos and hear stories so be sure to reach out on Instagram or leave some comments below! 
Happy Thanksgiving!

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DIY Turkey Shirts

2 comments
Family fun

Thanksgiving is just around the corner, and we have been having a BLAST getting ready! My girls and I are memorizing a bible verse together and talking about the things we are grateful for each day.  I even have an entire Pinterest Board dedicated to creating a memorable and magical Thanksgiving with my girls! You can read all about the activities we are doing, in this post.

In 2012 my husband and I decided to make the commitment to complete our local Turkey Trot every year, no matter what. At the time, we didn’t have any children and were very new to running and our weight loss journey’s so the commitment was made.

By 2013 I was expecting our first daughter (in January), but I held my commitment and completed the Turkey trot

In 2015 my husband and I woke up to POURING rain, so we left the girls with their grandparents and ran the Turkey Trot, just the two of us. 
2016 I started the tradition of dressing up in festive Turkey Apparel, and since it was really last minute I opted to dress as a “burnt turkey” – Let’s be real if I attempted to cook a turkey, it’d either be raw or burnt.  
This year I decided I wanted to dress the whole family up like a flock of turkeys for the event, so off to the internet, I went. While scrolling through Amazon, I found an adorable shirt that would be SO easy to make. So, I did and the whole project cost less than 10.00! 
Here is the breakdown of cost from Walmart
Shirts: FREE* I recycled shirts from other projects
Rit Dye: 2.97
Googley Eyes: 4.97
Felt: Free* I already had these items on hand in my crafting supplies
Felt at Walmart is about .97 a square 
Hot Glue Gun / Glue: Free* this is another item I had in my crafting supplies 

Total Spent: 7.94 + tax
My Inspiration
As you will see in the video, this project was as simple as cutting and gluing the shapes onto my shirts. This craft can easily be done as a family project too! I opted to complete it when my older two children were asleep, but I know they would have been able to handle this with no problem. Just be sure to be mindful of the hot glue. 
If you liked this video, and want to see more quick and easy budget-friendly DIY’s be sure to subscribe to my channel and leave a comment. Your support of StorybookErin is greatly appreciated. 
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