Forming memories is one of the building blocks of successful relationships. And since you never know when you’ll bond over a specific event, activity, or topic, the key is to spend quality time with the people you love so you have ample opportunities to build memories. For example, like when my mom, sisters, and I went to Disneyland, wore matching shirts, and snapped this pic in the hotel bathroom mirror while we were getting ready (see above).

When I think of fun memories, two words come to mind: Muppets and mini horses. Let me explain.

Family Bonding Over the Muppets

After Thanksgiving dinner last week, my sisters and I piled into the car with our families and headed out for our annual tradition of going to the movies on Thanksgiving day. We had been waiting for months to see The Muppets. Who am I kidding? We couldn’t wait at all! We were dying in anticipation of reliving childhood memories of Miss Piggy and Kermie. And we weren’t disappointed.

As children, we watched The Muppet Show each week. We also saw Kermie on Sesame Street. We watched the release of the first The Muppet Movie on the big screen and the others on DVD. We wore out our tape of The Muppet Movie soundtrack and knew the words to every song. We’ve even been known to dance around the house, falling over laughing, as we listened to them in our older years. Image six adults dancing to the Muppet Movie soundtrack. Kind of embarrassing, right? But that’s what memories do. They bring out the kid in you and make you giddy at the thought.

The new movie The Muppets did not disappoint. It had lots of flashbacks to the 80s, including awesome music and a reference to my then favorite actress, Molly Ringwald.

My sisters and I laughed out loud throughout the movie. But, no part struck us as funny as when Walter did his whistling act. Our mom is a non-stop whistler. And, when Walter started whistling, we all erupted in laughter. It was too perfect! (Laughing now as I write this!)

Reliving memories was the perfect ending to a perfect Thanksgiving, reminding me of how grateful I am to have such an awesome family.

How Friendship Formed Over Mini Horses

What I love about memories is that they can help form new relationships.

This past summer, my family took a family vacay to Branson, Missouri. We went to Dolly Parton’s The Dixie Stampede and saw some mini horses race. It was all of our first time seeing a mini horse. My 8 year-old son thought they were hilarious and couldn’t stop laughing for an hour after seeing them.

For whatever reason, I brought up the experience on a drive into the city with Cynthia from Nap Warden—who we had just met—and Jen and Jill from the Mom It Forward team. Cynthia quickly informed us that her mom raises and shows mini horses. She went on to explain that some are used as seeing eye ponies. I immediately texted Troy. His response? He texted image after image of seeing eye ponies wearing sneakers no less so they wouldn’t slip. By that point, we were crying we were laughing so hard.

I’m still trying to figure out how Jen, Jill, and I can get ourselves back to Chicago to road trip to Cynthia’s mom’s house to meet her mini horses.

It sounds ridiculous—similar to why Walter whistling would make us double over in laughter—but that’s how memories are. Sometimes they only make sense to the people who share them.

What memories are you making with the people you love the most? What can you do to create memories to strengthen your closest family and friend relationships?

Here we are in the image above, including (from left): Ann Marie from This Mama Cooks, Jennifer Garner, Helen Jane from HelenJane.com, Alicia from Get Buttoned Up, and Cybele.

I don’t know about you, but when I prepare for Thanksgiving, I don’t get all dressed up. I am in my yoga pants, a sweatshirt (or oversized sweater, like I am wearing in the picture above), and often times haven’t even showered yet. Of course, I get ready for the guests, but otherwise, I try to keep it as casual as possible. I’ll spare you pictures of me, but go ahead and imagine.

And now, check out this image of Jennifer Garner.

She’s pregnant, beautifully dressed, wearing, what?, 4-inch heels? And all this while pulling a turkey out of the oven.

Jennifer and I are obviously really different. Not only do I not have her style, but I wasn’t a secret agent in a past life either! But, we do have a couple of things in common—our love of Symmetry Double Ovens and our support for the Save the Children organization.

This season, Frigidaire will donate $1 for each day you view Jennifer Garner’s turkey tips  to help Save the Children’s US programs. Just click on this Facebook link, then click the “Talk Turkey” tab and then the button, and voila! $1 dollar donated.

Check out this post for 5 ways to make a difference this season and learn more about Save the Children.

So, whether you dressed up to prepare Thanksgiving dinner or wore comfy casual attire, join with us to support important causes like education and families facing hunger this season by getting click happy and visiting the Talk Turkey tab every day between now and January 31.

What’s your Thanksgiving Day style? How do you dress to prepare meals versus when the guests arrive? Any fun fashion traditions?

10 Kids Crafts to Make This Thanksgiving Weekend

The following are 10 fun children’s crafts and activities, found on some incredibly talented bloggers’ sites, to help celebrate the season.

1. Gratitude Turkey Treat Jar by Toddler Approved
2.  Paper Bag Turkey by Martha Stewart
3.  The Thankful Turkey by Parents Magazine
4. Foot Turkey by Busy Bee Crafts
5.  Turkey Noise Maker by Craft Sanity
6.  Thanksgiving Tree by Skip to My Lou
7.  Fall Leaves Coaster by The Purl Bee
8.  I Am Grateful For (Printables) by I Heart Naptime
9.  Fall Photography/Craft Ideas by Katherine Maries
10.  Can Scarecrow by Kaboose

What fun children’s craft activities are you doing to keep your kids busy this Thanksgiving holiday weekend?

Gratitude Jar

A gratitude jar is a perfect way to help us get into the spirit of the season. This craft is really simple to make and would be a fun gift to give to your family and friends.

Materials

You will need a few things for this project:

• A medium size mason jar
• An assortment of scrapbook paper
• 15 inches of 1/4 in. ribbon
• 4×4 piece of fabric or enough to cover your jar lid
• Silk leaves
• A hot glue gun
• Computer to print tags

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Step 7. Print your thankful cards on white paper, cut them out, and glue them to your scrapbook paper. When you are finished, put your cards into your jar and put the lid on.

Step 8. Add a tag to the outside of this jar, backing it with paper. Then, punch a hole in it, and use the last of your ribbon to tie it to the outside of the jar. The one I made says, “I am thankful for you and pumpkin pies!”

Voila! You are ready to either give this away or start pulling out the cards as a family once a day to help you focus on all of your blessings.

What fun traditions do you you and your family have? How can you teach your children to have gratitude?

(Gratitude Jar Craft made by Vanessa Sperry).

All around me here in Texas neighbors are installing massive Christmas decorations. Their homes are lit up like the Macy’s thanksgiving parade. Today though, I’d like to remind each of us of the power of pausing and giving thanks.

Don’t skip over the thanksgiving season. Teach your kids and remind yourself to give. Give thanks for what you have and give thanks to others. If you can, give your time, words, and energy to someone else.

This year, I reject the tradition of a big eating extravaganza on thanksgiving. Instead, the kids and I bought dishes at target to bring to the homeless shelter. We will set a table for 10, and sit, pray, and replicate the family. We will give thanks. But we will inspire them to do something different. To give. To get out of a destructive cycle. To reconnect with family.

What do you have to give thanks for and who can you lift up today?

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Tammy Kling is a life coach, advocate for the homeless, and international author of 29 books including The Compass. Tammy is also the founderr of Write it Out, an organization that helps gang members, the homeless, and those living on the street write out their hopes & dreams via writers workshops, free journals and various other resources.

In addition to writing and coaching, Tammy is a mom of two boys, an avid trail and mountain runner, blogger, and adventure travel writer.

Just as the table is cleared and you sit down to rest for a moment it is time to head off to the next family. You are already feeling as fat as the turkey you stuffed and now you have to go eat again at the next family’s house.

It is the same conversation between you and your husband every year. Which family will we share Thanksgiving lunch with and which family will we share Thanksgiving dinner with? It is my experience that no matter who my family has lunch with that family always feels slighted as if we are not spending the same amount of time with both families.

My husband and I decided that we needed to do what was best for our family. Well, in advance of the next Thanksgiving holiday, we each spoke with our families and let them know we would rotate the lunch and dinner schedule between families. So far it has worked out well. Both families know what to expect each year. It takes away any argument about where we will spend our time.

Rotating lunch and dinner schedules are just one way to ease the pressure of satisfying parents. Another option is to have a Thanksgiving dinner at your own home before or after Thanksgiving and invite both of your families. If everyone in the family (on either side) agreed, one family could have Thanksgiving on another day. This option works well for families that have members traveling into town.

The key is doing what works best for your family and allows you to enjoy the holiday.

How do you celebrate Thanksgiving and keep both sides of the family happy? How do you make sure you see both sides of the family during the holidays?

Photo courtesy of Flickr.

Robin Greene is a mother of two, a wife and a kindergarten teacher. Robin enjoys spending time with her family and wants to have has much harmony as possible. During her spare time Robin enjoys freelance writing for mybabyclothes.com. Shop for the holidays and grab your little one the perfect baby clothes, maybe a tutu and matching baby headband for that holiday picture or a sweet baby hat to keep them warm this winter.

Here are three ways to enjoy the dinner beyond Thanksgiving day.

1. Turkey Noodle Soup Recipe

My favorite part of Thanskgiving dinner is not the dinner; it is the leftovers. And nothing beats my mom’s Turkey Noodle Soup recipe.

Ingredients

• Leftover Thanksgiving turkey
• Onions
• Celery
• Carrots
• Green Peppers
• 2 Cans Stewed Tomatoes
• 1 Package Egg Noodles (can substitute with rice)
• Salt
• Pepper
• Poultry seasoning
• Italian seasoning

Instructions

Take turkey carcass and cut all of the leftover meat off.  Put the carcass in a pot large enough to completely cover with water.  Bring to a boil and reduce to simmer for 4 hours.  Remove the carcass and put cooled pot in refrigerator overnight.  Next morning, skim off fat.  Add lots of favorite vegetables but onions, celery, and carrots are a must.  Add a can or two of diced tomatoes.  Cut leftover turkey into bite-size pieces and add to pot along with salt and pepper to taste, Italian seasoing to taste and 2 tsp of poultry seasoning.  Bring to a boil and then reduce and simmer until veggies are tender.  You can add rice or noodles (I prefer noodles!) and cook until either rice or noodles are done.  Rice should be added at same time as veggies whereas the noodles only need about 10 minutes cook time.

If you make an extra large pot, consider freezing some of it to enjoy for weeks!

2. Turkey Sandwich

The best thing to do with all that leftover cranberry sauce? Put it on a sandwich along with the leftover turkey from Thanksgiving. Just grab a roll, spread the cranberry sauce on both sides, add turkey and any other vegetables or dressing you’d like, and you have a simple lunch solution to feed the whole family.

3. Sides

But what to do with all the leftover sides? Here’s a few suggestions:

• Eat pumpkin pie for breakfast. When has it ever been too early to get in your vegetables?
• If you make turkey noodle soup, heat up the sweet potatoes and stuffing and voila! You have a delicious meal that will last for days.
• Save some of the vegetables and dip from the veggie tray to use in a garden salad.

What do you do with your Thanksgiving leftovers? What is your favorite recipe?

Putting together a book of thankful thoughts is not only a fun project for the kids, but gets them in the spirit of gratitude!

As I look back at the these little treasures we have made over the years, I am grateful for the opportunity I have had to teach my children. I want my kids to recognize their blessings not only in November, but each and every day.

This is a simple project that can be done as a family. Save your books and read them before you eat your meal on Thanksgiving day.

Thankful Hands Handmade Project

Supplies:

• 2 pieces of brown paper for outside cover
• 8-10 pieces of colored construction paper for inside pages
• 2 pieces of ribbon about 6 inches long that match your colored construction paper
• Markers to decorate your hand pages
• Hole punch
• Acrylic paint (optional if you want to put hand prints on the outside cover)

Directions:

1.) Trace out an over sided hand in brown construction paper. Decorate the front of your book. Make sure you put the date on your cover.

2.) Trace out 8-10 hands in different colored papers. These hands will be a little smaller than the cover so you don’t see them when it is assembled. Have your kids write down the things they are thankful for on each hand and if they want, they can add pictures. The year we created this book the kids wanted to put their hand prints on the cover. You can do this by brushing your hand with acrylic paint and carefully pressing your hand on the outside cover. Let it dry before adding another hand print.

3.) Put all your hands together and make two holes in your book with a hole punch. Tie the book together with the pieces of cut ribbon. You are finished. Enjoy your book during this month and for years to come.

What are you thankful for? What are ways that you and your family can focus on your blessings this holiday season?

Thanksgiving Turkey Place Card Holders

Here is a list of the items needed to make this easy craft:

Supplies:

• 1 orange pipe cleaner
• 1 walnut in the shell
• 1 acorn
• 2 small googly eyes
• 1 – 1 1/2 in. wooden heart
• small scrap of red and orange felt
• several different colors of 4 in. silk leaves
• glue gun
• small card to put your guest’s name on

What are some of your Thanksgiving traditions? How can you involve your children in your Thanksgiving meal plans?

 5 Ways to Decorate Your Table for Thanksgiving

Here are a few ways that you can decorate your table for Thanksgiving this year:

1. Choose a fall table cloth or runner for your table. I have a dark brown table and love for the wood to show so I use a runner. There are many different styles. Some are made out of fabric or place mats works as well. Here is an example of three wicker mats going down the middle of the table.

2. Decide what you want your centerpiece to be. My older sister loves to take the beauty of the outdoors and bring it to the table. She will clip fall foliage, gather berries or autumn leaves and create one of the most beautiful center pieces you have ever seen. I like to collect pumpkins, gourds, and corn husks for my center pieces. Another fun idea is to gather some of your favorite holiday decorations and use that as a centerpiece.

3. Decide what cutlery you are going to use. It is fun to have special fall plates or glasses that you use just for Thanksgiving dinner. You can use place mats or chargers to spice up a plain plate. Napkin rings can also be a fun way to get festive. You can hot glue a silk flower to a plain napkin ring to give it a homemade look.

4. Candles are a fun thing to add to your table during the holidays. I have wired pumpkins that I like to use. Nothing sets the mood more than candles so start looking for some fun fall candles that will go with your overall look.

5. To finish things off, have a place card holder at every place setting. A few years ago my kids made turkey place holders. It is one of our favorite Thanksgiving decorations. Include your kids on this project so they feel like they are contributing. There are lots of different styles so let your creative juices flow.

This year take a little extra time to make your table a conversation piece. Don’t forget to take a picture of it so you will remember all the fun things you did to make your Thanksgiving dinner extra special.

What is your favorite thing to decorate your table with at Thanksgiving? What can you do this year to get your kids more involved with decorating?