November and Thanksgiving

This is one of my all time favorite months.  I think it’s because to me, this month is a time to celebrate family, friends, blessings, and gratitude. It has been this way as many years as I remember. My mom was a school teacher, and for those of you with teacher friends, you know they celebrate every holiday to it’s fullest….and my mom did. I remember Thankgiving dinners at my grandmother’s home where we all stood in a HUGE circle of cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, sisters, and brothers and we held hands. The circle was bigger than the dinner table, so we had to stand by the table…not around it. We took turns saying what we were grateful for. These moments left an impact on me and the lesson I carried was to rejoice in the small blessings, feel grateful for not only myself, but grateful for the achievements of my friends and family. And…as it was an unspoken tradition…one of us kids would always get the giggles before the prayer and sharing was finished and I learned that gratitude can = joyful giggles. At the beginning of November, these memories flood into my heart and soul and even as I am typing I have a big smile on my face!

Because of this, I will be closing the Etsy shop during the week of Thanksgiving. We plan to enjoy time with family and I want sure that my kids have the memories of family, love, and quality time that I have. As most of you know, I do a good bit of freelance work as well, so I will still be around and online, but if you need anything from the shop, please make sure you order before or after. I also wanted to remind you of some of the free printables I have available from last year (and I will have new ones for this year soon!) Download the Tent Cards and Banners Here!