Happy Thanksgiving 2016 -- Reflections on Thanksgiving

Today I am spending time with my family. On the third Thursday of each November the United States takes a break from our busy lives to celebrate Thanksgiving. Most schools teach about the first Thanksgiving in Plymouth Colony.  Many Native Americans see Thanksgiving as a day to mourn because of this. I can understand this view and see why it could be a day to mourn for the groups of people who were so brutally oppressed and had their land and in many cases lives taken away from them. However I like to think about Thanksgiving as a day where my family stops our busyness and takes time to thank God for our blessings. It is a time where we get to gather with the people we love and enjoy some quality time together. My family has the traditional turkey meal with stuffing and potatoes and vegetables and homemade cranberry sauce (Hazel and I always make it). We try hard not to have too much food so that we can actually just enjoy the meal and company. So as much as I understand what Thanksgiving means to Native Americans I think most families in America do not think about the first Thanksgiving all that much as part of the meal or at least I hope they do. I see it as a time for family and God. How do you see it?

 Our guests are greeted by our colorful turkey on our door this year. Hazel and I put this turkey together from a Paper Source kit. 

Happy Thanksgiving to you all!! I am thankful for each of you as a reader of Crafty Moms Share!!

Chapter Books for Various Ages: Beginning Readers through Adults

Disclosure: I was sent these products free of charge. All opinions in my review are my own and I did not receive any other compensation. As always I am providing links to the book for your convenience.

Today I am sharing five chapter books with you and each is for different level/aged readers. We will work from youngest to oldest. The first book is the fourth in a series Hazel fell in love with. It is The Princess in Black Takes a Vacation by Shannon Hale and Dean Hale and illustrated by LeUyen Pham. We shared/reviewed the other versions: First, Second, and Third. I began reading this series to Hazel and the newest book she read to me!! Now Hazel loves to bring these books with us when we visit my parents. If she gets bored she pulls them out and reads them to herself. They are fairly easy reads and have pictures throughout the chapters. The suggested grade levels is kindergarten to third. 

Advent, Christmas and a Tea Party Crafts & More! -- a Crafty Weekend Review & Link Party

Disclosure: I was sent these items to review free of charge from Oriental Trading. All opinions in this post are my own. I did not receive any other compensation for this review. I am including links to each item for your convenience but do not receive anything if you purchase them.

We are getting ready for our busy December which includes Advent (which starts next Sunday), Christmas and Hazel's birthday. Hazel decided she wants a fairy tea party this year for her birthday party. We recently received a few products from Oriental Trading to help get ready for all three things. We will go in order starting with Advent.

Photo Gifts with Tiny Prints

Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links and I will be compensated if you make a purchase after clicking on my links. Please consider making a purchase and supporting Crafty Moms Share. Since I do not accept advertising, this is my only income from this blog. Click pictures for links. I was compensated for this post.

Are you still trying to figure out the perfect gift for your kids to give your husband or perhaps a grandparent? This year Tiny Prints saved us with one of their Deal of the Day and we got this photo mug for free. We just had to pay for shipping and handling. Hazel helped me design it and is very excited to give it to Steve this Christmas. He is one of those impossible to buy for people. He usually only tells his mother what he wants from her because she will buy for him no matter what. He always tells me he doesn't want anything. Ugh!!  Photo gifts from Tiny Prints are the perfect gift for dads, moms, grandparents and more! Then I saw that the Deal of the Day was a free Tiny Prints Custom Photo Mugs that was white so I went for it.

Sharing Saturday 16-47 a 2 week party!!

It is time for Sharing Saturday!! With Thanksgiving next week I will be spending next weekend enjoying quality time with my extended family, so this party will be two weeks long!! Be sure to come back next week and share with us again!! This is a link party to share all of your child-oriented crafts, crafts made for kids, activities and lessons as well as your parenting and/or teaching posts. On Sunday night we also host Crafty Weekends for all your crafts (done by any age), patterns, and craft product reviews! It is the perfect place to share your creative side!! And for all of your cultural posts come share them at the monthly Creative Kids Culture Blog Hop (a new one starts this week).

Thank you to everyone who shared with us last week! I always love seeing what everyone has been up to and your creative ideas!! Our features are just a sampling of them so if you haven't checked them all out, you should! This week we have two groups of features: November Features and Every Day Features.