9th Day of Thanksgiving: The Tree Revisited

Whew! I’m thinking through Wednesday’s post to sum up this year’s EyeJunkie experiment in giving thanks, and I think I need to lighten up a bit for a few days. So…

What’s a 12 Days of Thanksgiving without a few lists? You know the ones. The “what I’m thankful for” lists. I have an expanded Tuesday Ten one I’m brainstorming for tomorrow, but I thought I’d share a few things from the Thanksgiving Tree we’re decorating this year. I’ll admit, we haven’t been quite as faithful with the everyday part of it I had planned, but that’s usually the way it works. It’s been a fun experiment that excited the boys, which made me excited, too. They don’t really understand the concept of giving thanks completely. But, they’re learning. (Aren’t we all?) And, this has been a fun way to help them. For a celebration-junkie like myself, hearing them shout “our Thanksgiving Tree” as they ran toward their breakfast poptarts was enough incentive to add the tradition to next year’s November as well. Enjoy the fruit of our thanksgiving “ornaments!”

Little Drummer Boy:
Our Thanksgiving bracelets [the little tags we put on the tree that they enjoyed wearing on their arms first]
“I got to see the lions and tigers”
Our food
The little pumpkin [the one holding the "Thanksgiving bracelets"--it's the little things, people]
Our new curtains [there's my good catch in training]
G-Mo, Paw-T and Aunt B

Squiggle Bug:
Our family of scarecrows [the ones sitting on our porch which we say goodbye to each morning]
The Thanksgiving Tree [that's my celebration-junkie in training]
Our trucks [all 6,377 of them]
Riding in a racecar buggy at the grocery store [thank you, Kroger]
“I got to see the giraffes”

Baby Girl:
[we added things about Baby Girl we were thankful for, and she shouted them out in her own special language]
She is curious [translation: Mommy hasn't had a heart attack (yet) while Baby Girl's in this stage]
Baby Girl’s toys
She loves spaghetti [and we have the Spray 'N Wash stock to prove it]
She’s almost grown up [apparently that will make her even more fun]
Her rash went away quickly [see item about emergency room]

Quiver:
Three gifts: LDB, Bug & Baby Girl
Good weather on our zoo trip
The work we have
God’s forgiveness
Mommy

Me:
Medicine [shortly after a weekend with our first two trips to the emergency room -- minor problems, but traumatic (for Mommy) nonetheless]
God’s word
No rain on a particularly long day out of town for a meeting
A fun zoo weekend together with G-Mo and Paw-T
Saturdays

Tues Twelve 110309: Fall on the Farm

This week’s Tuesday Ten Twelve list features things I love about Fall on “the farm”–one of my favorite places on earth. These scenes were captured on our recent sojourn for the Busy Bee Birthday Bonfire Bash, a family tradition.

1. Unswept cobwebs.

2. Wagon rides.

3. Yellow.

4. Brangus.

5. Red.

6. New heights.

7. Contemplation.

8. Aging vibrantly.

9. Overgrown paths.

10. First looks.

11. Shared gifts.

12. Beauty in unwatched places.

[This post is brought to you with special thanks to G-Mo and Paw-T, who gave us a Canon PowerShot SX20IS digital camera for the Montgomery adults' collective birthdays. Astounding life documentation on the way!]

Sowing Gratitude

November is here, and yesterday I pulled down our Fisher Price Little People “First Thanksgiving” set from the top shelf to much fanfare with Little Drummer Boy and Bug. It’s become a tradition that gets the boys excited–so much so that Bug took the horse and cart along with Boy Pilgrim to bed with him for nap time. This was after Little Drummer Boy sat at the kitchen table and acted out his own version of the First Thanksgiving celebration slash car chase and Transformer storyline–all in an attempt to avoid Baby Girl stealing the show, literally. Her first interaction with the set came later when her greatest joy was to toss the First Thanksgiving basket and all its contents around the living room, which I’m sure gave Girl Indian Native American a whopping headache. It will be the first of many times this year that I fetch the prize pumpkin and turkey platter from under the couch.

In this day of instant and almost constant excess, it is a continual challenge to know how to instill gratitude in the hearts of my sweet gifts. Unfortunately it’s sometimes a continual challenge to know how to instill gratitude in the heart of their Mommy and Daddy as well. Still, carved in between “trunk or treating” with the Montgomery volunteer fire department/scarecrow contingent and the much anticipated Christmas season, I like to give Thanksgiving its due. So, on November 1st, we get down the Little People set and the few Thanksgiving books we have to savor for the next month. Little Drummer Boy and I read The Pilgrim’s First Thanksgiving and Over the River and Through the Woods last night for what may become a nightly occurrence during this month, and we’ve even found a few library books to keep us in the mood. Of course, I’m sure Charlie Brown will make an appearance at some point as well.

This year, we’re starting something new. I saw a blog post a few weeks back about an interesting way to get the whole family involved in giving thanks–a Thanksgiving Tree. [Through much kicking myself as I've searched my browser history, I've yet to find the link again, or I would gladly post it here. If this is your idea or your blog post, please let me know, and I'll be glad to offer credit where it's due!] The Thanksgiving Tree I saw was a lovely collection of tree branches gathered as a display. Each day family members said one thing they were thankful for, no matter how silly or serious,and wrote it on a paper tag to hang on the tree–ornaments of gratitude to inspire more thankful hearts. I loved the idea the moment I saw it, and the rest of the Montgomery clan concurred.

When we spent a weekend on “the farm” a few weeks ago, one of our missions was to find THE Thanksgiving Tree for us. Bug was convinced we should be looking for a Christmas tree, but was easily persuaded once he realized sticks were involved. Boys. Sticks. No-brainer. From that point forward during our long walk / wagon-pull from the farmhouse to the usually cabled road we call the “back back” all eyes were peeled for the best branches for our tabletop–at least when they weren’t peeled to cows, rocks, flowers, bugs and each other. When we were nearing the barn on the return trip, we settled on a tiny little deciduous version, no leaves attached, that we all determined was perfect. It came apart in two pieces when Quiver pulled it from the ground, but we were undaunted. This was our first Thanksgiving Tree.

Yesterday was the day to install it on our table. I had a pumpkin basket (whose top also doubles as a great hat) that was the perfect container. We decided that the giant collection of “flint rocks” my three boys (two little, one big) have collected in hopes of a future fish tank could be pressed into service to hold the branches in place. Please don’t ask me what “flint rocks” are. It’s been explained to me, and folks of the boy variety in my house can easily recognize them. Though, honestly, it still escapes me, but back to the show… After some great help from Little Drummer Boy to get the turkey table runner just right and get the rocks dropped in one handful at a time, the Montgomery Thanksgiving Tree took its rightful place. Memories. We’ve talked with the boys several times about how we will each be able to hang something on the tree at supper time each night until Thanksgiving. I knew this idea had tons of joy-potential when the first thing Bug said upon walking into the dining room this morning was “our Thanksgiving Tree!”

And, so it begins. Our month-long quest for Thanksgiving. In 2008, I wrote my first 12 Days of Thanksgiving series in the days leading up to Thanksgiving Day, which I’ll be writing again this year beginning November 15. And, some other thankful posts will probably pop up along the way as well as reports from the decorating of the Thanksgiving Tree. I’d be delighted for you to peek through the window at our attempt at sowing the seeds of gratitude in all our hearts. We’ll see where they blossom.

I’m convinced that gratitude is an antidote to worry and complaint, and it’s the catalyst for kindness and generosity. In times of joy, in times of hardship, I need it. We need it.

“In everything give thanks…”

1969

It’s a momentous day, junksters– one that’s been forty years in the making. Just for fun, I give you 40 fabulous things that made their mark on the world in 1969…

1. Apollo 11 moon landing

2. Gap founded

3. “Sesame Street” first aired

4. First Quartz watch sold

5. Woodstock

6. Boeing 747 made maiden flight

7. PBS established

8. “Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid” film released

9. Wal-Mart incorporates as Wal-Mart Stores, Inc

10. First Concorde test flight in France

11. First human eye transplant

12. First ATM machine installed in US

13. UNIX first developed

14. Monte Python’s Flying Circus first aired

15. Beatles “Abbey Road” released

16. Led Zeppelin debut album released in U.S.

17. “The Godfather” published

18. “Bad Moon Rising” released

19. “The Brady Bunch” premiered

20. “Laugh-In” premiered

21. First in vitro fertilization

22. First internet invented (arpanet)

23. Artificial heart invented

24. Allman Brothers band formed

25. Microprocessor invented

26. “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” film released

27. First person sailed around the world solo without stopping

28. Dave Thomas opened the first Wendys restaurant

29. Women were first allowed membership in the Future Farmers of America

30. “Scooby Doo Where Are You” premeired on Saturday morning television

31. American Heritage Dictionary first published

32. Strategic Arms Limitation Talks (SALT) began in Helsinki

33. First Major League baseball game played outside the U.S.

34. First crossing of Artic Sea ice

35. Walt Disney World construction began

36. Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine” released

37. Doobie Brothers band formed

38.Pontiac Firebird Trans Am debuted

39. Marcus Welby, M.D. premiered

40. and I WAS BORN–4o years ago today!

Growing old new is so rewarding. I highly recommend it.

Tues Twenty-Two 092209: I Love Autumn!

According to Answers.com, Fall begins this year at 4:18 CST today — the moment of truth when the sun starts heading toward the Southern hemisphere. Wow! Excitement abounds. Autumn is my favorite time of year. I think I’ve said it before. In celebration of the day, I give you a biggie sized Tuesday Twenty-Two: Things I Love About Fall — the silly and the profound.

1. My Birthday — the big 4. 0. this year! Stay tuned in October for 40 awesome things that happened in 1969, including me!

2. Squiggle Bug’s Birthday — We brought him home from the hospital on Thanksgiving Day in 2006 and have been thankful ever since.

3. Crunching leaves under my feet.

4. Wearing long sleeves.

5. That blue sky. You know the one.

6. Crisp nights.

7. Busy Bee Birthday Bonfire Bash — the annual weekend on the farm turned shared celebration of our fall birthdays, complete with bonfire, hot dog roast and s’mores. Oh, and the best gifts — dirty-faced kisses, hugs, and giggles!

8. College football. And the much-applauded living room tailgating parties they inspire. (With popcorn.)

9. Decorating our house with pumpkins and scarecrows — with three helpers and one Quiver to climb up in the attic.

10. The GREAT new brown striped bamboo placemats I bought this weekend. And trying my best to wait until October 1st to put them out. Just because anticipation is so fun.

11. Boots.

12. Sitting on the front porch swing in a sweatshirt.

13. Candy corn.

14. “It’s the Great Pumpkin, Charlie Brown” — and the 6734 times we’ll watch it.

15. Fleece.

16. Holding hands.

17. Garnering a grateful heart.

18. Mama’s sweet potatoes with orange slices.

19. Making turkeys out of oreo cookies, candy corn, malted milk balls, and chocolate icing. Hello sugar!

20. Robert Frost’s “Nothing Gold Can Stay” and “Reluctance“, both wonderfully melancholoy in contrast to my general autumn mood.

21. Orange.

22. Turning over a new leaf.