Thankgiving planning and printables!

November is here!! And Thanksgiving plans are in full swing. I made a handy dandy printable planner. I'm trying to stay organized--a must when having 31 people for dinner. Whether you're planning for 5 or 50 this free printable will help you keep your planning all in the same place. Leave a comment, if your interested in a matching shopping list.

So there will be 19 kids over here. Whew! Gotta keep them busy. Last week I posted the activity placemats we're planning to use at the dinner table. Here's another idea I came up with for after dinner. Kids love competition, so I also created some Nerf gun targets. Click the image to print these free printables so you can have your own Nerf gun shoot out.

Turkey Target Free Printable

Pumpkin Target Free Printable

Just tape the turkeys and pumpkins to the outside of a window and let the games begin. You can keep score and give prizes or just shoot for fun. Make sure to use the darts with suction cups.

May your homes be blessed and full of peace! Enjoy!

P.S.- I'm not a hunter but I do know that you're supposed to shoot a turkey in the neck. ;)

One Big Happy Family!

This is my family. Huge. I know. And this is almost 3 years ago. Since then, add Taylor's Fiance, Christine, Paula's two girls, Maddie and Rosie, and Amber's baby girl, Lacie.  That makes 12 adults and 19 kids. Yep, I said 19 kids.

Children are a blessing and a gift from the Lord. Psalm 127:3 CEV

Guess what!? They are all invited for Thanksgiving! I think it's been since last Christmas that we were all under one roof. I can't wait! Yep, we're crazy, in terms of today's world anyway.

I know, I know, it's not even Halloween and I have Thanksgiving on the brain. Having 31 people over for dinner is a big deal. Thus, planning starts now. I have a good size house but we're still going to eat in shifts. This is actually a good thing. All the kids will eat together at 5:00. Then we can send them to the family room to play and watch a movie while the adults eat together in peace, hopefully ;). Any suggestions for a Thanksgiving movie? Other than Charlie Brown, I couldn't think of any.

Free Birds

Free Birds, a new animation about turkeys is coming to theaters November 1st. This would be great for next year. The kids already have it on their radar. Family night at the movies, coming soon.

I've also been thinking about the dinner table. I'm going to put out markers and crayons and cover it in brown craft paper for coloring (and easy clean up). I think Thanksgiving placemats would be fun too. Pinterest saved me once again. Here's three coloring placemats with activities I found for Thanksgiving.

(source: Confetti by Lexi  confetti.typepad.com)

I love the T H A N K F U L letters down the side. Reminds me of Grandma Marion, my mom's mom. She would write adjectives using our names in our birthday cards plus it gets kids thinking about being thankful.

(source: It's All Rainbows & Unicorns)

This is great! We could do this one each year to see how much they change.

(source: Modern HomeMakers)

There's something about word searches that kids love. My husband and I love them too. Whenever we go on a date we ask for two kids menus and race eachother. So much fun and free entertainment on a date.

As for food, that's easy. Potluck style is the way to go. Feeling like I have a great start already.

Hope you are enjoying the Fall and are busy planning for the holidays. 

Making Your Home a Haven

P.S. I am following Women Living Well's Making Your Home a Haven Challenge this fall. We're praying for peace in our homes. Visit www.womenlivingwell.org to jump in on the challenge. We can all use a little more peace in our homes especially before the holidays.

Peace. Out.

Meet Howie

Howie is the newest addition to our family. He's named after our dear friend, Pastor Howard.

Picking up Howie was quite exciting or should I say nerve racking. Josh found a breeder online near St. Cloud. After having a delicious but wild (Jack would be the wild part) dinner at Red Lobster, we went to pick out a bunny.


The evening sky was filled with twisting clouds. We wanted to make this quick so we could hurry home for a front row seat of any developing storms.


We arrived at a small hobby farm. Seemed to be an average 70's style rambler with an old barn in back. The driveway was full of muddy puddles which made me think maybe wearing heels wasn't such a good idea. We got the boys out of the truck (Natalie was with Grandma) and were greeted by a young guy covered in piercings and tattoos. Here begins the creepiness. We carefully walk back to the barn to be met by a huge dog barking ferociously at us. Jack was terrified; I admit I was too.


We entered the barn to find it filled with all sorts of animals. Ducks, chickens, llamas, and lots and lots of bunnies. I tried to remain calm by showing Jack all the animals. The spiderwebs, stench and eeriness of the place felt like something out of "Texas Chainsaw Massacre". Freaky! Both Josh and I were wondering, is he bringing us back here to kill us? Thank God we survived. The young man turned out to be very friendly and knowledgeable about rabbits. Although knowledgeable, we questioned in our minds why anyone would keep so many animals in such a small space.

Avoiding droppings all over we made our way to the back of the barn and decided on a spotted mini rex. At least that's what I think that's what he is. On the way home Josh and I laughed about how scary that place was. I am so happy I didn't go on my own to get the kids a bunny.


Alive and happy to be home we set the bunny down for the kids to get a closer look. Now the scary part is watching Jack try to carry him and Levi petting (more like hitting) the poor thing. It's been almost a week and he's survived thus far. He lives in a rabbit cage that I found at a garage sale for the super bargain price of 20 bucks. It has a shingled roof and a nice pullout poopie tray (for Josh to clean).

Although I haven't held him yet, I'm happy to have a pet for my kids. So far Howie seems to be a good choice: cute, mellow, easy to clean and outside.

Looking forward to more hoppy moments with our floppy-eared friend.