Thanksgiving awaits us in just 9 days. Our family is hosting as we typically do, and it's my absolute favorite time of year! Our festivities this year include, along with both sets of grandparents and my aunt, my nephew in college who is near. He'll bring along friends, too, who may not be able to travel home, and I'm excited to open our home to a new set of companions.

We may have to break out into two tables for the first time. My children might experience the kids' table for the first time ever. Did you enjoy any holiday meals from the kids' table? My maternal grandmother often hosted our Thanksgiving, and I have memories of many years (as the youngest grandchild) spent at the table that was adjacent to the main action - the kids' table. To be fair, the kids' table had a lot of antics to be enjoyed so it wasn't a disappointment to be sitting there.

What if it were a treat? Or if you're looking for ways to keep your children busy while the meal is prepared or football games are watched? I've discovered these five great projects from creators who know what they're doing that I wanted to share with you. Such great results!

FAN TURKEYS

Hand turkeys have had their time. Let's try fan turkeys! For this you'll need some construction paper, markers, and glue. I love that it's more detail-oriented but can amuse the young child, tween, and maybe even teen. Googly eyes are always a nice addition. Check out all of the instructions over on A Girl and a Gluegun.

THANKFUL HEARTS

I love this gesture of gratitude that Katie and her family did over on Lasso the Moon. On Thanksgiving day, they gave family and guests small plush hearts and thanked them (one on one) for little and big things they do for them. On one sheet they wrote down who received each heart and why.

Throughout Thanksgiving Day, our family will take on the task of giving away as many hearts as possible. To give them away, we need to notice something that a person does for us, without being asked, that shows they care about us. (This can include neighbors and others, but I think we’ll just be sticking with the members of our family this year.) We give them one of our hearts, thanking them for the thing they’ve done for us, recognizing the reason why they’ve done it.

And there you have a lesson in gratitude for all to enjoy.

FIRST THANKSGIVING NAPKIN RINGS

This one will delight even the youngest set. While the turkey is roasting, pull out those collected toilet paper tubes to convert them into one of a kind napkin rings. If you head over to Crafts by Amanda - warning she has a ton of amazing projects for kids and adults - you get all the details on how to make your pilgrims just right.

THANKSGIVING TREAT BOXES

And if napkin rings weren't sweet enough, how about these adorabel treat boxes? They'd be fun to craft in advance and use as placecards, or to leave ready to decorate for your young guests. Wouldn't these be a fabulous take home treat, along with tons of extra turkey, for kids traveling near and far? Learn all the details over at A Pumpkin and A Princess.

OMBRE PINECONES

This is the perfect project for the teens and tweens who may not be delighted that they are relagated to the kids' area. Raid your backyard or any craft store this time of year. Grab some paint brushes and set one example on the table to follow. The ombre effect is really pretty and metallic edging would be great, too. With a bit of sparkle, the kids can feel like the are getting ahead on their Christmas decorating. Oh, wait, kids probably aren't worried about that. :)

Wishing you and your kids a fabulous Thanksgiving. How do you keep your kids happy and entertained while hosting?

xoxo, MJ

P.S. Need some more ideas to make this Thanksgiving the best? Check here.

Hello lovelies!! Welcome back after what was a truly special Thanksgiving for us. How was yours? We hosted and ate and ate and ate. It was all good, all around.

We are in full steam ahead mode for Christmas decorating around these halls which basically means that there are bags, and boxes, and boxes of bags in every corner of the house. My hubs spent all afternoon on Sunday (where he found the energy, I will not know) getting the exterior decorating done and now it's up to me to lead the charge on interior design.

 

We have a tradition of building our artificial tree on Thanksgiving Eve, with my parents and aunt, and hanging our stars of gratitude first. It's now also become a tradition that I misplace the directions for said tree, and we have to guess what branches go at what height. Our artificial tree is nearly 20 years old, and my husband and I celebrated our first Christmas holiday as friends decorating it so the tree has layers of meaning and nostalgia to make up for the bare spots and weak limbs.

This year the kids wanted to see the ornaments so I gave them the job on Thanksgiving day to hang our special ornaments from vacations and performances past. I was surprised to see how attached each one is to certain favorites, and how many stories they know of objects older than them.

Last year we began a new tradition of cutting our own tree at a local nursery. This particular location is all about the experience of the event - with hot cocoa, sleigh rides, Mrs. Claus and Santa - and I eat it up.

I feel guilty cutting down a living, amazing tree, but I also know how much we'll love that tree for the next month or two. And just how much it will add to our holidays.

So on the day after Thanksgiving, with my parents and my aunt, children and husband, we trekked out to chop down our tree. We found the perfect-for-us Frasier Fir whom we proudly named Christofir. :)

He's yet to be dressed with loose tinsel and white lights, but his smell has filled our car and our home with the fresh scent of Christmas!

So what's your tradition: real or fake? Or a bit of both? I've seen some amazing ideas floating around Pinterest for trees made of tape or trees made of books. Are you creating your tree this year? 

xoxo, MJ

PS. Join me tomorrow for another great Fresh Holiday Tradition!!

Happy American Thanksgiving!! And apologies to my vegetarian/vegan/meatless friends who may find the picture below a little gross.

The turkey has been stuffed, roasted, basted, carved, gravy'd, and eaten. In fact we've gone all the way through the courses to both pies - pumpkin and pecan, and I am feeling overloaded. Overstuffed. Overeaten.

And a bit like my cup runneth over.

With gratitude.

Thanksgiving does that to me. It makes me gush a bit.

So bear with me. I started this wee blog nearly two years ago as a way to create and share and frankly force myself to get a lot of the projects that I've wanting to do ..done. And it has done that.

It has also brought into my life new connections and friends from across the globe and right in my own home town. People who somehow know me more or at least differently than some of my own family because they've taken the time to read my words, to look through my photographs, to follow my ideas. And that, my friends, is a pretty amazing gift.

And so this Thanksgiving toast (raise your wine glass or your milk glass with me) goes out to all of you good people who found Pars Caeli, found me, over these last two years and have supported me with your comments, your retweets, your likes, and even just your reads. You've encouraged me and pushed me in new directions just by the click of your mouse.

Time is our most precious gift, and I'm so grateful you've spent your time over on these pages. And even if you stop by just now and again and even if you've never let your presence be known, I'm grateful for you and your gift of attention. 

You rock.

Happy Thanksgiving!

xoxo, MJ

PS. We're cutting down a tree in the freezing snow tomorrow. Wish me luck.

Happy Thanksgiving Eve! We don't use that term enough, do we? But tis true, turkey day is tomorrow, and I, for one, am running around trying to get suck up our dust bunnies and chop celery till the cows come home (sorry for today's late post!). In Northern Indiana today it looks like we're in the middle of a snowglobe, and we can't help but dream and think about the holidays ahead.

I have to spend two minutes giving a very warm and special thanks to the talents behind the Fresh Holiday Traditions series. We've been sharing some of our favorite ways to give thanks and live it up for Thanksgiving, and now our eyes turn toward Christmas! But right before they do, here's a fabulous list of Thanksgiving activities that you can do tonight with the kids or tomorrow with the extended fam:

• Gratitude Journals from Lulu the Baker
• Pumpkin Pancakes for Thanksgiving Breakfast from Classic Play
• Gratitude Star Garland from Pars Caeli
• Stamped Thank You Notes from Alexandra Hedin 

Melissa of Lulu the Baker is sharing her December 1st Party tradition today. It's just adorable. And right up my alley. Imagine this: Christmas tunes, tree decorating, and gobbling gingerbread cookies. It's a tradition she's passed down from her mom to her children.

If you try any of our projects or traditions, post a picture of it twith the hashtag #freshholidaytraditions. We'd love to show it off!!

Our team here is welcoming one set of grandparents tonight and more come tomorrow. The turkey is in the fridge ready to be buttered up, and the house *almost* smells good now.

Off to finish up the final finishings. Wishing you a lovely Thanksgiving Eve! If you need a little break from all the togetherness tomorrow, check back in here for a special holiday message!

xoxo, MJ

 

In my childhood bedroom, I often strung construction paper Christmas tree garlands and hung homemade Valentine hearts from the ceiling. Even as a youngin, I loved to decorate for these special occasions and create my own "decor." As a little girl I could rattle off my three favorite holidays, in order: Christmas, Valentine's Day, and New Year's Eve (probably not the normal conversation starter but it worked for me).

No doubt Christmas topped them all for the p-r-e-s-e-n-t-s and good music. Valentine's Day was filled with pink and chocolate. And New Year's Eve was so exciting and hopeful and late-night.

But Thanksgiving? Well, Thanksgiving never even made a blip on the radar screen.

Fast forward a few decades later, and here I am mom, wife, and hostess for the annual Thanksgiving dinner.

And guess what? My favorite holiday, hands down: Thanksgiving.

So today I'm giving it up for Thanksgiving with my top 4 for the holiday:

1. Having a four-day weekend that many people honor for leisure. I know this is up for debate with increased shopping schedules, tough economic/working situations, and a lot of football. But speaking just for myself, the hectic work life powers down for four full days, and I sink into the beauty of family and home and pure relaxation. No extra projects creep into the fun of Thanksgiving...and time off really is time off.

2. Having everyone in one spot. The older I get, the more sacred this becomes for me. Don't get me wrong, this is also the element that causes me the most stress; however, I always overthink it. Truthfully, I hit the pillow every Thanksgiving night so grateful to have my parents, my in-laws, my aunt, my children, and my love all in one space - happy, healthy, and very full from a savory meal we were able to provide.

3. Having teamwork. Wednesday evening and most of Thursday is spent in food preparation (and a whole bunch of parade watching). My husband and I plan the meal together and dance around one another in the kitchen all day, prepping each dish and attending to the big bird. It's a total team effort that fills our house with the smells that are family, holidays, and gratitude. And we have hours and hours just to marinate in the experience together.

4. Having time to be grateful. At Christmas, I can get distracted away from Christ's birth with toy overload and travel prep. At Thanksgiving, I take the time to pull away just a bit from the must-do list and gaze at all I've been given. I watch the scene of my children laughing and playing make believe with their grandparents. I peek in on my daughter sharing her latest secrets with her grandma. I take a deep breath by the fully extended dining table, covered with recipes we've tweaked and enjoyed as a family for years and years. I feel the sentiment in this year's toast to good health and family, and whisper a petition for yet another next year. It's a day of very active prayer, very present moments where I feel and express the gratitude that I am graced to experience the other 364 days.

And I'm so very thankful for Thanksgiving.

xoxo, MJ

One week from today, Americans will gather in the homes of friends and relatives to enjoy each other's recipes and companionship. Our traditions may vary from home to home, but the sentiment of gratitude threads through all of the football watching, strained family moments, and even food preparation/clean up.

On this week's Pennies for Love, Joy urges us to slow down before the day and write a note. Pen a message to the one you love: your husband, wife, boyfriend, girlfriend, best friend. And let them know just how much they mean to you every day of the year.

It begins with a simple "I am grateful for..."

Joy is sharing an example of this practice at work in her life and some simple suggestions to get you started on your note of thanks.

We will be hosting Thanksgiving in our home, as we've done for 10 of the last 11 years. Filling my home wih the ones I love most and the smells of Thanksgiving is one of my favorite experiences of the year. On the day, I love the hustle of timing our courses correctly and the bustle of entertaining children and adults with projects and stories.

But before all of this crowd pleasing occupies my time and heart, I'm going to sit down and write one simple note of thanksgiving to the man I love.

Thanks, Joy! And happy Thanksgiving.

xoxo, MJ

Happy, happy Wednesday, friends!! It's time for another wonderful Fresh Holiday Tradition. This time we hear from the extraordinaire, Alexandra, with a clever way to incorporate your children and their handwriting into thank you notes for the season!

As a mom, I'm always looking for ways to teach and to practice gratitude with my three children. After birthdays and holidays, we write out thank you cards, but as we all know this can quickly become a tiresome chore.

Ta da. Try this! Alexandra asked her son to write the words Thank You, and she converted his handwriting into a stamp (via a handy dandy eraser),

Click on over to get the details! I could see this method being an amazing way to use children's greetings for Christmas on envelopes or gift wrap. Or how about an I love you stamp put on every correspondence to Grandma and Grandpa?!

Too cute! Don't forget to check out our other projects in the series:

• Gratitude Journals from Lulu the Baker
• Pumpkin Pancakes for Thanksgiving Breakfast from Classic Play
• Gratitude Star Garland from Pars Caeli

It's my favorite day of the blog week! Time to share another Fresh Holiday Tradition with you.

This week I'm super duper pleased to share with you a homespun piece of Thanksgiving decor that you can easily transition into a Christmas garland when the time is right.

My husband and I have hosted our parents for Thanksgiving here at Pars Caeli since we were married in 2002. As a nervous newlywed, I decided to start a tradition with our guests. Mailed to them about a week before Thanksgiving were paper stars on which they were asked to write people/experiences from which they were grateful. Every person received three stars that they were to sign and date.

11 years into this tradition, I have an album of stars from all of our family members - featuring the words we thought our infants might use for their favorite objects to the wisdom of my husband's grandmother on the blessings of family and good health. Reading my father's words for "his soulmate" and my little girl at 4 writing that she was grateful for her friends...well, it gets me a little emotional every year.

We put up our tree the evening before Thanksgiving as food prep is also at its peak.

We hang only white lights and these white stars on the tree for a few days surrounding Thanksgiving, and the beauty and simplicity of the words and light is really gorgeous.

As we add our ornaments for Christmas, we keep the white stars on the tree to remind us of the real gifts we've received.

This year I'm putting some of our favorite gifts on a star garland that will hang for Thanksgiving as well as offer a foundational layer on our Christmas tree.

Have you ever made Baking Soda/Cornstarch clay? If not, you really need to carve out some time to do so. The bright white color is brilliant.

I followed this recipe from Full of Great Ideas:

• 2 cups of baking soda
• 1 cup of cornstarch
• 1.25 cups of cold water

1. Combine and mix the ingredients in a pot.

2. Continue to mix as you turn on medium heat. Stir continuously until the mixture pulls away from the side of the pot and becomes more of a ball. This took about 10 minutes for me.

3. Take out the clay and put it in a bowl. Cover the clay with a wet, cool paper towel and allow it to cool off before working with the material.

4. Once cooled, the clay will feel like stiff mashed potatoes (in my humble opinion). Roll out your desired amount to about 1/4" thickness and begin cutting with the star shape.

5. I added one gift to each star and kept the descriptions simple (eg: humor, home, my teacher). Also since I wanted to make a garland of these, I added two holes on either side of the star for stringing. Simply use a pencil, eraser end, for these. Using stamps purchased from the dollar bins at Michael's, I stamped in our gratitude, playing with the depth for each letter.

6. Set your oven to 220 F. Place all your stars on a cookie sheet. Set the timer for 45 minutes. Inspect. As the clay bakes, it will turn even whiter. When it's thoroughly white on one side, remove from the oven and turn over on the other side to bake for another 45 minutes. Be careful not to turn up the heat to speed up this process as you run the risk of burning and changing the coloration.

7. Let the stars cool. Once cool, string ribbon through the holes and find the perfect location to show off your Thanksgiving gratitude. And right after the Macy's Day Parade, take it over to your Christmas tree!

We're looking forward to another fun project next week! Until then, let us know how your holiday prep is going!!

xoxo, MJ

Check out the other posts in this series…

1. 5 Minute Gratitude Journal on Lulu the Baker
2. Pumpkin Pancakes on Classic Play

Hands down, fall is my favorite time of year. I adore the color changes, smells of leaves and pine, and preparing our home for the goodness of Thanksgiving. As we all well know, Christmas sneaks up on us so fast after turkey day that we sometimes have little time to prepare. This year, it's going to be different (I say that every year but this year it's true), and I'm bringing in some creative mamas to make it so.

Today I'm delighted to announce a new series in collaboration with some of my favorite ladies. We're teaming together (again) to bring you Fresh Holiday Traditions! Beginning tomorrow and launching every Wednesday through Christmas, we'll be sharing traditions from our homes, projects for celebrating the holidays, and always ways to get your kids involved in all the fun!

This team worked together on the Endless Summer Projects series, and these busy bloggers have been up to some good, good things since we were last together. Check out who I have the privilege to create alongside:

Melissa from Lulu the Baker is a class act with a kitchen full of amazing recipes, charming crafts, and undeniably great photography. She's also a Style Spotter for Better Homes and Gardens. You can follow her journey to build her dream house! You'll find her here every Wednesday talking holidays with us. Melissa is kicking off the series tomorrow with something extra special for Thanksgiving.

 

 Alexandra Hedin is joining the crew to bring fun to every party! You'll find her not only at her blog this holiday season but also over on Martha's, BHG, Sweet Paul, and Good Housekeeping. And now you can catch Alexandra here every Wednesday to help you turn your holidays into something extraordinary.

Jen over at Classic Play is the epitome of cool mom plus! She has her own series on PBS called Adventures in Learning that showcases unique ways to teach and hang out with your kids. Her images and illustrations will delight you over these next weeks and help you, too, add a little extra cool to the holidays.

And, for me, I'm whipping up a few of my favorite ideas for the holidays. I promise you, you'll find something new and intriguing to bring to your family celebrations.

Let's help each other and make this an extra special and extra low stress fresh holiday!

Until tomorrow. xoxo, MJ

PS. If you have some fresh holiday traditions or inspirations you want to share, tag them with #freshholidays and I'll post them up for all of us! Many, many thanks!

Ever since my craft date with Renee, I've been thinking about a fall banner to hang in our home. Homemade pom poms, something catchy in paper? In an attempt to be resourceful, I took a look-see in our craft cabinet to assess: modeling clay, glitter pipe cleaners, some beads...

Bingo: Mini popsicle sticks.

Now before you give up on me, let's look past the camp frames and pencil holder possibilities of the past and consider these magic sticks like small scale wooden pallets. Stacked together, they make a great flat canvas.

Painted with a gold leafing marker? These canvases might even sparkle.

To make your own, pull out your pack of Woodsies mini sticks, some cardboard, twine, glue or Modge Podge, and a gold paint marker.

Stack your popsicle sticks on a narrow piece of cardboard. Glue them in place, making sure to cover the edges of the cardboard.

Draw or stencil letters or symbols on your squares. Paint the remainder with your gorgeous gold marker. If you're really into highlights, add some with white chalk.

Bend the top portion of your cardboard rectangle.

And glue the twine (I braided mine for a bit more heft) to the back, folding the cardboard over it.

 The effect of the gold on the natural wood makes the sheen an interactive element in the banner.

I decided practicing gratitude was a mantra we could all use for fall and all year through. :)

This little project has me thinking of other banners, runner, placecards, and signs I can make using these super inexpensive and super easy to paint popsicle sticks.

What do you have hiding in your craft cabinet that can be reworked into something gilded?

xoxo, MJ

Hey, friends! How are you? Happy Monday after Thanksgiving...and welcome to the month-long countdown to Christmas. :) How did the holiday treat you? We hosted all the grandparents and my aunt, too, and we cheered on my oldest in her second Nutcracker performance. It was all good, and we are all good and tired from the food fest and extreme Christmas decorating.

The hubs and I have been hosting Thanksgiving for the last decade, and every year we send our guests a little homework in the mail. Three paper stars. With them they bring three paper stars filled with three (or sometimes more if they can write really small) things for which they are grateful. My dad and hubs work diligently to build our slightly lopsided artificial tree the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and on the big day, everyone hangs their stars filled with names of important people, faith, health, and particular graces handwritten on each.

Some years the words are easy to predict... new babes and grandchildren enter the picture, anniversaries remind us of those we hold the most dear, new opportunities fill the shapes before us. Sometimes it's the surprises that get you...

The stars remain as our first decoration on the tree and our traditional ornaments get added to the branches around them.

In a black, leather bound binder I've kept all of the stars through the years, and I love looking through them and remembering the gifts of years past and seeing how many remain throughout the seasons.

The Christmas season is full-on upon us but maybe we can keep the spirit of Thanksgiving alive and well amidst the hustle and preparation of it all.

We'll be reading and re-reading our stars (and those of our loved ones) and trying our best to focus on the gifts we've been given as we work on the gifts we are to give.

Happy holidays, my lovely friends. May this one be particularly merry and bright.

XOXO, MJ

PS. In case you want to add some stars to your own festive fun, here's our perfectly imperfect pattern.

Today marks the final post in our Turn It series, and I am so grateful to Joy for her incredible creativity and generosity of spirit. I have been inspired by these posts, and challenged to turn the negative into a helpful positive. We hope you've enjoyed the journey, too. Here are three very practical ways to make tomorrow a great one! xo, MJ

Well friends, the holiday season is officially here! We’ve made it to Thanksgiving day, which means that many of us are headed out to feast with family and friends. While this is meant to be the happiest time of the year, it can sometimes be tough to be with people we wouldn’t generally spend time with otherwise.

Once upon a time, I dated someone whose mother was very difficult to be around, and we spent Christmas at her house that year. We were expected to sit in front of the television for the entire three day period and do nothing but watch terrible TV movies. At one point, I tried to sneak away to read for awhile, and she commented loudly, “Oh, are we too boring for her?”

Luckily, I really enjoy my family and James’, so I don’t end up in these awful holiday situations -- but that experience did teach me a few coping mechanisms. Should you find yourself dealing with a difficult family member this season, my hope is that these tactics will help you turn a dreadful situation into a happy (or at least tolerable) one.

Take a clue from Downton Abbey.

If you’ve ever watched Downton Abbey, you’ve witnessed the conversational choreography that we seem to have lost somewhere along the way. Practice being a great conversationalist by being curious and letting that difficult family member talk about his or her interests for five to ten minutes, seeing what you can learn from the chat. Then, politely excuse yourself by helping out in the kitchen, using the restroom, or heading out for a breath of fresh air. You’ll find that sometimes these individuals just need someone to pay attention to them for a few minutes, and then they don’t need to get attention by being nasty.

Become Martha Stewart.

In other words, bring along a project that everyone can contribute to. As the project coordinator, you’ll get to focus on it throughout the holiday, while each person adds their little touch. Create an ornament making station, make wreaths, make a scrapbook, work on an advent calendar. When you have a project to focus on, you have something to direct conversation toward.

Move it.

So much of the holidays is about sitting down and eating, but getting up and out puts everyone in a much brighter mood. Turn on the Wii and dance or bowl, go for a walk outside, or consider a short hike. I once read that it’s best to have difficult conversations while doing an activity, like driving. It rings true for family get togethers as well -- even if you don’t have anything particularly difficult to discuss, the forward movement opens up the door for communication that might not come naturally while sitting across the dinner table.

Thank you so much, Joy!! I can attest that even a walk around the neighborhood can bring a fresh perspective to a group stuck in a rut. Wishing all of you a blessed Thanksgiving.

Any other helpful ideas to Turn It for the holiday season?

Today's gift of gratitude comes from my lovely friend, Claire, an amazing artisan, creative, and hilarious Irish women. I'm so glad I can bring her story to you.

This is a photo of a mailbox (or post box as we call it here). But it is not just any mailbox. Unlike the other thousands of red mailboxes you will find in every community here, this one is painted gold. It is found in the tiny village of Eglinton in County Derry near me, and it is painted gold for a special reason.

It recognises the achievement of Jason Smyth, who won a gold medal for Ireland in the Paralympic Games at London 2012 and set a new world record in the 100m to become the fastest Paralympian of all time, in an incredible 10.46 seconds! He is visually impaired and you can see his incredible achievement here. 

This summer was an amazing time in London and I was lucky enough to be able to attend some of the Olympic events. You can see how excited I was to see the water polo!

(Photo 2)

The swimming, women's fencing final and Olympic Park were all brilliant to witness, and perhaps the best thing was the great organisation and the changed atmosphere in the city. Instead of the usual silence and avoidance of eye contact I actually had some lovely conversations with people on the Tube, as the pride and interest in the Olympics united locals and visitors alike.

So in these weeks of giving thanks, these sporting achievements and the great experience I had at London 2012 are a great reason for me to be grateful. However, the focus of my gratitude today is on the unbelievable achievements of the Paralympics. The TV ad before the start of the Paralympics proclaimed, 'Meet the Superhumans' and this was so true. Every single athlete had battled not just the sacrifices of the the four years of dedicated training to achieve the highest standard in their sport, but each one also had conquered a personal disability. In doing so, they had won the hearts and admiration of those watching and helped us see their ability first, instead of their disability.

Just over four years ago I had a fairly serious car accident which left me with very reduced mobility for much of that time and pretty much turned my life inside out. Despite my determination not to let my long term pain condition define me, it is sometimes difficult not to concentrate on the things I cannot do, rather than those I can, or on what I have lost rather than the experiences I have gained.

As I watched those Paralympians, each of whom had suffered much more than I ever would, I was humbled by how each one of them was entirely focussed on what they could do. Humbled enough to get off the couch and get into the gym and the pool for the first time in several years. Thankful for the mobility I still have and thankful for the ways in which I can still get active.

So as you watch Jason Smyth sprint to a world record, I hope that you too will be thankful for your ability to get off the couch and live a full and active life. He certainly deserves his golden mailbox!

Claire

Happy Monday, friends! How was the weekend? I hope the time change was easy on you. I was so delighted when my children woke me up at 6:45 on Sunday (I was prepared for a 5 am wake-up call).

I've got Thanksgiving on my mind. You? I'm just beginning the process of menu planning and decor prep. Since we moved into real life Pars Caeli (our home), we've been the hosts for Thanksgiving, inviting my in-laws and my parents as well as my grandma-in-law and my aunt on rotating years. My hubs handles the big bird, and I tackle the everything-else on the menu.

Do you save old menus? I'm kind of a fanatic about it for big family meals. I have our Thanksgiving and Easter menus and shopping lists from the last 10 years all tucked in a binder together. We have old favorites we repeat (that harvest stuffing is a must), and I try to rotate in some new, even trendy, treats every year. Many of these lists are on calendar planner pages or used envelopes, a few on lined paper or legal pads. Every year around this time I read through them and remember the tastes and delights of our years together.

We have a fun Thanksgiving tradition for all of our guests that I'll be sharing with you next Monday! Today, here is the special family recipe for an amazing stuffing that you'll enjoy for days and days after the turkey and family have left. It's adapted from a 10-year old recipe that Parade magazine published. My husband, mom, and I have made this together almost every Thanksgiving Eve, and the laughter and tears (from the onions) make the stuffing ever more savory.

Harvest Stuffing (that's a little piece of Heaven)

You'll need these to stuff a 15-18 lb turkey:

• 2 T of vegetable oil
• 4 C each chopped red onions and celery
• 2 T minced garlic
• 2 T dried thyme
• 2 T dried sage
• 2 Granny Smith apples, diced
• 1.5 C each dried cranberries and dried apricots
• 2 C chicken broth
• 12 C cubed (1 in) bread, toasted

Heat your oil in a large pan, stir in the onions, celery, garlic, thyme, and sage. Cook over medium-low heat for 15 minutes. Add the bread and fruits. Toss well. Drizzle the broth over the mixture to moisten and season with salt and peppers. Be sure it's cool before stuffing it in the turkey!

So simple and tasty!

What's your Thanksgiving favorite?

XO, MJ