The Thanksgiving Tree

Well, here we are in the middle of November - a limbo between seasons, it seems. The green of summer is long gone. The beautiful foliage of autumn is gone. Wayne, Cole, and Heather are waiting impatiently for snow covered grounds for their winter fun to begin. It's not as easy to find reasons to get outside. But after several days of being couped up in the house with some nasty colds and a couple of tummy bugs, we were going a little stir crazy around here. I was trying to think of a fun outdoor activity for the kids on this cold, blustery day when it finally dawned on me that it was time to partake in a tradition we started last year, inspired by Family Fun magazine.

The Thanksgiving Tree.

I bundled the kids up and we headed out in search of the perfect tree (ok, branch really). We walked the perimeter of the hay field, closest to the house (it's deer hunting season here) inspecting small shrubs and branches, looking for the perfect size and shape. We made a game of our walk, trying to identify trees by their bark, now that there are no leaves. Some were easy, like the papery white birch and the gray grooviness of the ash. Some were not so easy. Maple trees are plentiful here, in Vermont, but without their leaves, the trees are rather nondescript. The young maples were smooth and grey, while older maples are more rough, cracked and mossy.

We did find the perfect branch, Wayne cut it off with pruning shears. Then he and Cole filled a plant pot with soil from the garden to support the branch.



We brought the tree inside to the dining room where we decorated it with leaves we had cut from construction paper. The idea is for each of us to write on a leaf, each day leading up to Thanksgiving, something for which we are thankful.
Wayne decorates the high branches. Cole and Heather take care of the low branches.
This was Cole's sentiment for today:

And Wayne's:

Then this was my most recent attempt at a portrait of the three of them together. We might not be able to do a photo Christmas card this year.

By the time Heather is 7, I should be able to get a decent photo of the three of them.