A Thanks Hunt

"Every morning when I see a new day, I can be thankful at work and at play!"  (From the One Year Devotions for Preschoolers 2).  Our children recently received a one year devotional, and the daily lessons are so well written for little people.  Well, I'll be honest, I have found the little lessons to be fabulous for me, as an adult, too!  A recent lesson stated that "even when something hard happens, God can help us find something to be grateful for....and you can always be thankful for God's comfort while you're sad."  The lesson goes on to challenge one to go on a "thanks" hunt each day.  "No matter what happens, always be thankful, for this is God's will for you who belong in Christ Jesus" (1 Thessalonians 5:18).  A "thanks" hunt...what a fabulous idea, and not just at this time of year when Thanksgiving draws near, but a fabulous idea for....every....single....day.

So, at Household Schmidt, we are continuing to give thanks and praise!

Do you see that white in the background?!?  Yes...it snowed already here this year, and as it began to resemble a snow globe outside, the girls were singing praises and BEAMING about all things snow-related.  There were going to be snowmen, and snow angels, and snow forts, and sledding, and cocoa, and marshmallows, and boots, and mittens, and snow pants, and snowflakes on their tongues and eyelashes, and the magic of it all was contagious!

The sheer excitement on Brynn's face as she witnessed snow falling so quietly from the sky was priceless!  Keep in mind, our children have been in Arizona the past three winters, so this snow thing is truly miraculous to them.  Through the eyes of a child, the world is filled with so many wondrous creations, and one of the many beautiful things about parenting and teaching is that one gets to experience that wonder all over again.

Therefore, the theme for this time of year, for this phase in our lives, for this point in our journey is truly to give thanks and praise for ALL things.  My husband and I yearn to instill that message in our children...that life will NOT always be easy, that challenges WILL arise, but that in ALL things, we can find MANY reasons to rejoice and praise a GREAT God!

We began our theme by stringing the garland "GIVE THANKS AND PRAISE!"  Here is Brynn selecting the letters and weaving them all together.  What a phenomenal spelling and phonics lesson that integrated fine-motor skills, too!  Her little sister, Clare, was helping out, too, and Mommy was corralling Elle from snagging the letters exuberantly and running away with them as quickly as possible.

Our story for the week was Cranberry Thanksgiving by Wende and Harry Devlin.

It is a charming story with a fabulous message about the danger of casting judgment on others.  

Here is a brief synopsis by the authors on their website http://www.harryandwendedevlin.com/index.html:

Every year Grandmother invited a guest for Thanksgiving dinner and allowed Maggie to do the same.

"Ask someone poor or lonely," she always said.

Thanksgiving was Grandmother's favorite day of the year. 

The cooking was done and her famous cranberry bread was cooling on a wooden board. But she wasn't happy to find out Maggie had invited the unavory Mr. Whiskers to dinner. 

Would her secret cranberry bread recipe be safe with him in the house?

The discussions that ensued as a result of our reading this story were wonderful.  And, since the secret cranberry recipe is revealed at the end of the story, we, of course, had to try it out!  Bakers Brynn and Clare are back in the kitchen learning, learning, learning.

Little hands are grating the oranges.

Both girls wanted to taste a cranberry SO badly.  The expressions on their faces tell all.

They didn't want to say that they didn't like it because they were still SO hopeful for LOVING the bread, but I knew that cranberries wouldn't be listed on their "favorite fruit" list anytime soon!

They are still SO hopeful for a positive outcome for this recipe because, after all, it WAS the grandma's secret recipe in the story.

Here is the finished product, and GUESS WHAT?!?!  The girls REALLY liked it and even want to make it again for Thanksgiving day!  This, in and of itself, was a neat lesson.  Sometimes even though all of the ingredients do not taste good individually, when mixed together, the outcome is FABULOUS!

Elle is hopeful to eat that bread, too!  I am just sure that right here she is pondering how she can get on top of the counter to devour the whole loaf while nobody is watching.  She is planning her course of action and problem solving with great skill.

Here is a link to the recipe for Grandmother's Famous Cranberry Bread:

http://www.purplehousepress.com/bread.htm 

While reading this particular story, we also discussed figurative language with the book Quick as a Cricket by Audrey Wood.

The girls got to practice writing with figurative language for Veterans' Day to honor their daddy and his service to our country.  Brynn wrote, "My daddy is as brave as a lion!"

In addition, we did a science experiment with baking soda and vinegar that connected with our baking project (and completely cleaned out all of my bathroom sinks), and we explored symmetry for Math, too!

And for Social Studies, we began learning about the very first Thanksgiving through a fabulous Scholastic on-line series called "Plimouth Plantation Virtual Field Trips." The girls were intrigued with the programs and eager to watch a new one each day!  Here is the link:

http://www.scholastic.com/scholastic_thanksgiving/webcast.htm

All in all, the week was truly a blessed one!  We all learned, too, that when an effort is made to go on a daily "thanks hunt," hunting isn't really necessary at all because the blessings around us abound.