Christmas Gift Tag Printables

Every year, without fail, I run out of gift tags.  I don't know why I just don't stock up on like 5000 tags, but no, I always end up having to write the name of the giftee in sharpie, like the classy gift giver that I am.

But this year, THIS YEAR, I will be prepared.  So you'll be seeing a few sets of these gift tag printables before the holiday season is out.  And no one is getting a sharpie labeled gift from me.

Just click the image to download these free gift tag printables, or you can click here.

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Peonies and Poppyseeds printables are for personal, private, non-commercial use ONLY. Absolutely no redistribution allowed. Thanks!

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The Letter D for Preschoolers

We've missed a few weeks of our little preschool, but I don't sweat it too much.  We have plenty of opportunities to do little things throughout the day that aren't exactly "in the curriculum" but involve numbers and letters and colors and stuff anyway.  So it's all just dandy.

This week we're going to be talking about the letter D:

• We'll be watching the Storybots letter D video, and also this other semi-cute video on youtube that has some kid drawing animals that start with D.



• Then we're coloring this letter D worksheet, and this D is for Dragon coloring page (except that we had to draw eyelashes on the dragon before we could color it because apparently it just wasn't girly enough).

• And then we're going to be doing this door activity sheet.  (Just click on the picture, then when it's all huge and stuff right click and either save or print.)  You need to print the door sheet on thick paper and then cut around 3 sides of each door so that the door can "open".  Then adhere a separate paper to the backside so that it's on there really well, but you still want those doors to open.  Then have your child draw something different behind each door, just make sure the things start with the letter D.  (The sheet has suggestions if you need help coming up with D things.)

And that's pretty much all we'll be doing, officially school-wise speaking anyway.  Because we have other stuff to do, like finding all the Christmas decorations that are still semi-packed away in random places from our last move.

flu-ish

I have had the NOT flu this week. It's been fabulous. It just wouldn't be a holiday if I wasn't sick.

Meanwhile, Christmas is coming up, and have you noticed what toy is making a comeback? FURBY.

I hated those things 10 years ago, and I continue to wonder at their making. AND, now they're electronic and cost like fifty bucks. Excuse me while I die in shame and horror for America's toymakers.

Moving on to my next random thought: I was worried about missing assignments for class tomorrow, but when I just checked, I had already DONE all my assignments ahead of time, because I'm organized. But also frazzled, which is why I couldn't remember that I had already done my homework. I win at life.

Box of Thanksgiving Printable

Click the image to download or click HERE.

This free printable will provide a way for your friends, family, and guests to express their gratitude on Thanksgiving day.  Just print, cut, and put the box together, then set it out on Thanksgiving day.  Provide small slips of paper and pens, and invite everyone to write the things they are thankful for on the papers and put them in the box.  The goal is to have an overflowing box of thanks by the end of the day!

Disguise the Turkey Printable Game

My kids only have a day and a half of school this week and they're going to need something to do.  I figure this Thanksgiving printable game will at least keep them occupied for a few minutes.

This turkey is a master of disguise, otherwise he'd be eaten for Thanksgiving dinner!  This free printable works best when you put magnets on the backs of each piece so your kids can disguise the turkey over and over!

Just click the picture or click here to get this free printable.

(The printable includes one turkey and 10 pieces.)

10 Things

Ten things I'm thankful for RIGHT THIS SECOND:

1. kids that like to cook
2. my husband
3. heating pads
4. medicine
5. naps
6. free moving boxes
7. nice neighbor kids
8. pumpkin cake
9. pencils
10. books

Life as usual

I have so much homework to do this weekend it's a sin.

Plus, I just kicked all the kids out of my house, because they were being loud, and I can't think, plus I also want to put on my pajama's, and I'm not going to do that with non-family in the house.  I have some standards, people.

Meanwhile, I just realized that Thanksgiving is NEXT WEEK.  I should probably make a plan for that.

I think I'm going to make mini pies, because I like to have different flavors, but I don't like having whole pies left over. I feel like mini pies would fix that. Plus, then I could have a lemon meringue pie all to myself.

I also decided that I am only going to buy ONE yam, because every year, I buy more than one, and every year, I'm the only person who eats them. Last year, I finally convinced Thaddeus that candied yams were the most delicious part of Thanksgiving, but he's only one person.

I'm also going to get a smaller turkey. Plus, we need to eat all the freezer meals that I have, because soon, the turkeys are going to be el cheapo, and I will buy as many as fit in my freezer. I love having an extra freezer.

Next, I need to be annoyed about the stupid school fundraiser. I HATE THEM. There's a "fun run" on Monday, and we are supposed to pledge money for laps. Then, the school will get 10% of the proceeds. TEN. PERCENT. So if I pony up $100, my school only gets $10. I don't think so. The other 90% is going to cover the t-shirts that every one has already gotten. It's going to cover the server fees for the personal web pages that you stupidly gave to all of the children. Here's a plan, DON'T SET UP A WEB PAGE FOR A KINDERGARTENER. I swear, I get all angry about it, because the school has assemblies about this, and  then I have to be the big meanie that says NO. Shame on you, No-Fun Run.

And now it's dinner time, and it's Friday, and we're going OUT for pizza. Isn't that so exciting?

Free Thanksgiving Printable Place Cards

This last set of Thanksgiving printables will surely put the finishing touches on your perfect family dinner.

To get these free Thanksgiving printable place cards click on the image, or just click here.

Print the cards, cut them apart, then write the name of each guest in the box.  Fold the cards in half and place them around the table at each place setting.  It will add that perfect touch of fun to dinner, plus then no one will be fighting over where to sit.

Attendance

Monday was  Veteran's Day. My kids were out of school, Troy was off work, and I didn't have to go to class either. Except that I was wrong, and I WAS supposed to go to class, and instead missed two sessions and now I have NO IDEA what is going on in my psychology class.

Plus also: Troy and I have very different ideas of school success. I'm happy that I have showed up, and he wants me to get an A+ in all my classes. In fact, he doesn't like my attitude of "An 'A' is an 'A'" because there are different KINDS of A's. People, here is my math for school: what is the LEAST amount of work I can do and still get a 90%? And then I adjust accordingly.

Meanwhile, let's talk about Taylor's night time prayers. They're very cute and insightful to life, because she likes to individually bless people.

"Bless Dad to be safe. Bless Mom's (legs/arms/brain) to feel better. Bless Thaddeus ear to feel better. Bless Blayne's tummy problems to feel better. Bless my eczema to stop itching. Bless Daniel to.... um... bless him to uhhh.... make Daniel to grow taller. Amen."

It's funny, because it sounds like Daniel is the only healthy person in our house. Which is probably about 98% true, and is awesome to hear from the five year old.

Free Thanksgiving Printables: boxes and wrappers

This next set of Thanksgiving printables are really going to help you make your treats and munchies look fab-o.  Plus, they're super easy to use.

Get these free Thanksgiving fryboxes and candybar wrappers by clicking on the picture, or just click here.

The mini candybar wrappers are super fast, plus mini candybars can stave off any annoying relative who would otherwise be asking you if the turkey is finished every two minutes. 

The mini fryboxes are perfect for other munchies.  Just put them together and fill them with cookies, nuts, gumdrops, candy corn, popcorn, or whatever.  Then your guests can just grab their own box and much away.

Check back later to get the last part of our Thanksgiving printables!

Free Thanksgiving Printables: Cupcake Stuff

If you've ever hosted a big family Thanksgiving, you know it's not just about preparing the dinner - you have to have snacks and goodies ready too. Because people get munchy waiting for the turkey to finish cooking.

 And by people, I mean men and children, because they fear total starvation if they have to wait another 15 minutes to eat. (You know I'm right.)

So this year, not only can you have munchies and goodies at the ready, they can be adorable as well.  Just use our free Thanksgiving printables!  First up, cupcake stuff:

Click on the picture to download these free cupcake wrappers and toppers, or click here.

Use the cupcake wrappers to go around the base of your cupcake and then top everything with one of the flags or 1" circles.  Just adhere a flag or circle to the edge of a toothpick and insert the other end of the toothpick in the top of your cupcake.  You can also use the little flags for straws in drinks or other stuff.  And the 1" circles can be used for lots and lots of things - just get creative!

And check back later this week, because we have other Thanksgiving stuff to make your big family get together a big success!

has it really been two weeks? Gah.

I feel like the worst blogger ever. I HAVEN'T EVEN SHOWN HALLOWEEN PICTURES.

And I'm not going to do that right now, because that would mean I need to go get my camera, which would also mean that I would have to locate said camera. It's just a lot of extra work, people.

Meanwhile, I've decided that the hardest part of school is attendance. I have no problems with the work, it's just the showing up for class that I hate. And not all classes, just some classes. Luckily, last week we discovered I had a stress fracture, so I decided to miss two days of classes. Instead,  I stayed home and "rested" and by "rested" I mean that I didn't walk 800 miles through the forest to get to class. I painted my house while mostly standing on one foot, or at least putting all my weight on the other leg. I'm not good at mandatory rest, alright? Also: every time I park at school, I debate about getting a handicap placard. I totally qualify, PLUS, good parking EVERYWHERE.

And on that note, I'm out. I have to get up for school tomorrow.

Printable "Thankful" Banner

I wanted a new Thanksgiving banner for my wall this year, so I made this one.  Except that I can't decide if I like it, or if I think it's the ugliest banner ever created by mankind.

 Ugly or not, it's free, so go ahead and click on the picture to download it.  Or just click here.

I think I'm going to accordion fold some scrapbook paper for behind each medallion like I did with last year's banner, and maybe I'll make my mind up on liking it or not.

too many tomotoes

Before the first frost set in I picked a bunch of super really green tomatoes from my garden.  I know that you can finish ripening a tomato on your window sill, but I wasn't super if that would work with these because they were just so very green.  But there was like 10 of them, and I wasn't going to just let the frost get them.

Well, good news, really green tomatoes will, in fact, ripen on your window sill.  It just takes FOREVER.  At least mine did.  But eventually I had juicy red tomatoes, and I had TEN of them at one time.

Some people might be able to use 10 tomatoes quickly enough without them going bad, but no matter how much I try my family just aren't big tomato lovers.  (Sometimes my boys claim to love them, but that's when Venus is in retrograde and the north star points west, or in other words, it's RARE.)

So I had to do a little tomato saving trick that I learned from a friend a few years ago and I wanted to pass it on to anyone else who ever finds themselves with too many ripe tomatoes at one time:

And there you have it.  You can easily save your extra tomatoes before they go bad. 

Plus it makes cooking super duper easy later because you don't even have to remember to thaw the tomatoes out before using them - just open a frozen baggy toss them in the pan while you're cooking sauce or whatever.  They thaw and cook quickly.

The Letter L and the Number Five

We keep missing weeks for our little preschool activities. But......oh well. So this week we're talking about the letter L and the number 5. This is what we're doing:

• We're watching the letter L Storybots video over and over (and then we're going to go around the house singing "la la la la la la...." because the song will undoubtedly get stuck in our heads).

• We're also printing out the letter L coloring and tracing pages from www.storybots.com because right now my kids can't get enough of the Storybots, and it's helping them learn their letters so, YAY.

• We are also going to print and play with the letter L file folder game from greenjellowithcarrots.com (and we'll be getting in some numbers while we play because you have to count the lady bug spots to know where to place each bug on the game).





 

• We are also going to make ladybugs out of paper plates, except that our lady bugs are going to have 5 spots.  I'm getting this idea from www.clickacraft.com

• And lastly, we're going to print this cute butterfly worksheet that has nothing to do with the letter L, but everything to do with the number five.  This worksheet is from www.netmums.com