Thanksgiving Anticipation and Decorations

Big Brother has been brimming with excitement about Thanksgiving for the past week or so.  His anticipation has  been building ever since we let it slip that Grandma would be here for Thanksgiving.  Tired of repeatedly helping him find the current day on the calendar ("Mama, which square are we on today?"), I crossed off all the days that have passed with a red marker and put a blue star on Thanksgiving.  Now he's eagerly and frequently counting down the days himself.  This morning when I dropped him off at the nursery for Bible study I overheard him invite the nursery attendant to our home for Thanksgiving (concluding with, "Let me know when you decide if you can make it").

He came home from preschool today and announced, "We need to get this house decorated for Thanksgiving!"   He has been obsessed with paper chains ever since Aunty K introduced him to the idea a few months ago.  I'd been planning to have him make one to decorate for Thanksgiving, so we jumped on it.  I wanted to make it a gratitude chain, so after we cut the strips, I had Big Brother dictate to me people and things for which he was thankful (my favorites on the list:  snuggles, that baby came out of your tummy, Jesus loves us).

Then he glued them into a chain.  He has become very aware of patterns lately, so was careful to keep the three colors in sequence.

We hung the finished chain across the curtain rod of one of our living room windows.  My intention with this chain was to start at the beginning of November and add to it daily.   Then life happened and I refilled a bunch of sippy cups . . . maybe next year . . .