Tomorrow is Thanksgiving Day (for those of us in the United States) and the Dekker family will hopefully enjoy a fairly low-key day at home.
We have church stuff in the morning and my parents and Dave’s parents are coming over later in the afternoon for an early dinner. That means our family can enjoy a “relaxing” afternoon at home (“relaxing” is relative for us these days — you know what I mean!)
As you might remember, we “skipped” all the traditional Thanksgiving hoopla last year.
It was glorious!
I was tempted to skip it again this year, but I compromised by hosting our festivities later in the day instead of immediately after church in the morning (which always feels so rushed and crazy for me).
I’m a HUGE advocate for continually re-evaluating “traditions” and doing what feels right for YOU and YOUR family in whatever season of life you’re in. In my own experience, our family is MUCH happier, I’m much less stressed, our lives are simplified, and we end up starting new traditions that are often more meaningful and enjoyable.
If you feel like a tradition just isn’t working for you right now, take a step back, re-evaluate, say “no for now” if you feel it’s best, and move on. You can always come back to the tradition again in the future.
Life WILL continue. I promise!
My Favorite Thanksgiving Food (Tips and Recipes):
Are you roasting the turkey? Here are my 3 top tips for delicious turkey (it’s almost foolproof)!
And here are more than 50 ideas to repurpose Thanksgiving leftovers.
More Thanksgiving Favorites
- Slow Cooker Butternut Squash
- Cheesy Mashed Potato Casserole
- Delicious Sausage Stuffing
- 100% Whole Grain Rolls
- Semi-homemade Cornbread
- From-Scratch Cornbread (brand new recipe from yesterday’s post!)
- Simple Fruit Salad
- Chunky Cinnamon Applesauce
- Shredded Brussels Sprout Salad
- Broccoli Bacon Salad
- Simple Roasted Carrots
- Whole Grain Apple Cake
- Caramel Apple Pie Cheesecake Bars
- Pumpkin Pie Delight Dessert
- Bumbleberry Pie
- Cream Cheese Pumpkin Pie
Hungry yet!?!?
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Our Plans for the Holiday Weekend:
Dave and the kids are off of school for the rest of the week, so we’re gearing up for MANY games of Trouble, UNO, Sequence Dice, and Candy Land.
Nora also has a new craft project and “science kit” (from her birthday) she wants to work on, I want to do a bunch of holiday baking, and we usually put up our Christmas tree the day after Thanksgiving.
Call me crazy, but I don’t plan to do any holiday decorating outside of our tree and 2 nativity sets this year. It just feels like too much “excess” for me right now.
The kids only care about the tree and the nativity set… and we’re not hosting any parties this year, so I’m calling that “good enough”. I might do more next year. I might not!
Once the tree is up, the kids have asked to have a movie marathon (with just the Christmas tree lights on).
Dave and I aren’t big TV-watchers, but we are SUPER anxious to start watching the new season of The Crown. Hopefully we’ll squeeze a few episodes in this week!
Of course, there is also plenty of yard work to do and a few “deep cleaning” projects I’d like to cross off my list… we’ll see how much time I have and what all I actually accomplish this weekend (as always, my goals are lofty!)
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One thing we will NOT be doing is shopping…
The only thing I plan to “buy” this weekend is Nora’s 7-year-old photo book. I create, design, and order my digital photo books with Blurb, and they usually offer a 50% discount code on Black Friday or Cyber Monday.
Speaking of “Cyber Monday” I’ll be here sharing another “Favorite Things” post!
Until then, I’m taking the rest of the week off from the blog.
With so many extra-special fun things on our to-do list this week, I don’t think I’ll have even one minute to spare… and I know you’ll be just fine without me! 🙂
In the meantime, feel free to follow me on Instagram for a behind-the-scenes look at our Thanksgiving weekend!
Oh, and if you’re planning to buy a new phone this weekend, you might consider a prepaid cell phone plan… Dave and I saved a bunch by switching over!
Happy Thanksgiving!
I am certainly thankful for YOU!!!
Jody says
My sister is a nurse and worked Wednesday night. When she got off work we met at Bakers Square st 8 am. She had the turkey dinner and I had the melt in my mouth pot roast dinner. By 9:30 she was headed home to sleep and I was headed (with some left over roast beef) to take my goddog for a walk and spend some time with him while his family was out of town.
Not a lot traditional about it but it was the best Thanksgiving I’ve had in some time.
Friday I worked.
Andrea says
Sounds lovely!
Connie says
We did our holiday decorating last weekend . Not too crazy, the only extra is the kids each have a mini tree in their bedroom. Very mini, like battery powered lights mini ☺️ Just little trees we have found at local thrift stores over the last two years. We are still debating lights outside , but will probably not mess with them this year. I did some baking today, stocked up on goodies for hot chocolate and popcorn so we can watch Christmas movies with the kids the next few weekends. Headed to the in-laws for Thanksgiving dinner with a few food items all ready to go, no shopping except for possibly cyber Monday to use some Kohl’s cash . Oh, and if any salons are open Friday my oldest daughter and I may go get our nails done for our December birthdays
Andrea says
we put a tree up in our kids’ rooms too — they LOOOOVE it!
Gillian E Delledonne says
Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family, Since we celebrate Thanksgiving it’s a regular weekend for us, but we may put up the tree and do a bit of Christmas shopping before the stores get too busy. As for the Crown….you’ll love it, and that’s all I’m saying..lol
Pixie508 says
We’ll be celebrating Thanksgiving with my extended family. The things I’m bringing were prepped today and took me less than an hour of time. We alternate every year between my extended family and my in-laws. Our grandparents are in their 90s, so it’s still important for us to make an effort to see them when we can, and this is another opportunity. Since I’m not hosting, and the things I’m bringing are super easy, it’s totally low stress for me.
As for the rest of the weekend – I’m basically done shopping. If there’s a deal that makes sense, I may grab a few things online, but, probably not (we do Shutterfly, and I have a book and calendars to order, so, that might be the exception). We’ll put up our tree. You mentioned not doing much other decorating – I have a few nails around the house that I hang things on and swap out seasonally. Takes me 5min. Beyond those couple things and switching the wreath, I don’t do anything, and I’m ok with that. It’s just not a priority for me.
The rest of the weekend will be chill, with a few of our normal things. We’ll watch OSU crush that team on the other side of your state , and our boys will have their normal swim lessons on Saturday, and Sunday we’ll go to church and watch football.
Andrea says
hope you enjoyed your day!
Rebecca M Tabb says
I’m debating how all in I want to go for Christmas decoration this year. We just moved into a new larger home this summer so part of me wants to put up lots of stuff to fill the space and be pretty. But then I pulled out my Christmas stuff today and was already thinking “Hmm maybe I’ll give some of this stuff away”…
Andrea says
I have this debate with myself pretty much every Christmas! Seriously!
Last week, I thought “maybe I’ll do it up big this year”, but every time I thought about pulling the decorations out, I just couldn’t. So we’re going super simple this year — and I’ll reevaluate again next year!
Mary Arnold says
As a homeschool mom I am curious where she got the body systems science kit.
Andrea says
it was part of a kiwi crate kit I got free last year, but was saving it until she was a bit older and could do it on her own 🙂
Kerri says
Low key for us too. I am on week 14 of a broken foot and recovering from PRK (like Lasix). Going to a friend’s for Thanksgiving and only a tree for Christmas.
Andrea says
oh no! rest up and enjoy your low-key holiday weekend!
Summer says
I agree on the easy approach this season. A quiet holiday and not much in the way of decorations. Just keeping the focus on togetherness this year!!! Blessings to you and yours!
Andrea says
Thanks Summer! Hopefully we’ll both have a relaxing weekend (and Christmas season)
Nancy says
The best part about a restrained approach to holiday decorating is the easy clean-up!
Andrea says
YES! Also, I love your use of the word “restrained”!
JJ says
Love this! Happy Thanksgiving!!!
Sue says
I love this idea. I always wanted to marry an orphan growing up just so I would not have to deal with the “drama” with family at the holidays. We had what we called Jewish Christmas a couple of years ago. A Jewish friend told me what he does every year on Dec 25, “sit around watch movies and order Chinese food” so we did it and it was wonderful ! I would love to do it again.
I watched The Crown. I hope you liked it. I liked the first 2 seasons more. This one was a bit disappointing, but still entertaining.
Sue in NJ
JJ says
Our family always had “Chinese Pizza” on Christmas Eve before the evening church service. We ordered Chinese takeout and pizza and called it Chinese Pizza. Haha! But we all loved it!!!
Andrea says
our family would LOVE this — pizza for the kids, Chinese for the adults!)
Andrea says
hahahahahah!!! I literally laughed out loud when I read your comment about marrying an orphan earlier today (and then I had to read it out loud to Dave because he wanted to know why I was laughing!)
Also, we are already expecting the Crown to be not as good as the first 2 seasons — so our hopes are TOO high 🙂 But we’re still excited!
Paulette says
Ditto what Kim said! We wish your family a wonderful, relaxing holiday weekend.
Andrea says
Thanks so much Paulette!
Kim says
Your simple approach to the holidays is so refreshing. I am thankful for your wise influence in my life. Happy Thanksgiving!
Andrea says
I haven’t always been so simple in regards to my holiday decorating and festivities — but it just feels “right” for me and for our family this year! Thanks so much for your kind and encouraging words, Kim!