Thankfulness

I'm having a crowd for Thanksgiving.  Yea!!

I come from a huge family, so a crowd is pretty standard.  You could call us the large loud family.  At gatherings we all talk at once and over each other.   Surprisingly, we pretty much get our info across and get the gist of most of the multiple conversations.   I guess it's just years of exposure, but we hardly notice the noise level.  New guests are a little more sensitive though.  My three sisters and I all share the same story about when we brought our future husbands to their first family get together.  Each one of them had to leave the room and take an outside break from the noise and commotion.  My husband actually said that he wanted to go outdoors for a few moments.  This was in bitter cold Pennsylvania winter weather.  So funny now, but not then.

Well, this gathering will not be any different.  I have to say though that where there's a lotta talkin' goin' on there are also a lotta spills and stains.  I've given up using fancy table coverings that are hard to clean.  We also talk with our hands, and those gestures cause some major mishaps too.

Good old Pinterest has come through again for me for the tablecloth dilemma.

Each Thanksgiving we actually stop talking before we eat and we each share what we are thankful for.
 Yes, only one person talks and everyone listens.  

Well how perfect is this?????  I have a huge roll of brown painters' paper.
 I'm going to cut placemat-size squares from the paper and put one at each place setting to catch
 all the spills--and record the thankfulness.   

Via Pinterest

And, have you ever checked the bins at Michaels??  I always find treasures.  These pencils are one of my favorite finds .  They come in all patterns--snakeskin, houndstooth, leopard.   I have enough for each guest to compose his/her thoughts.  You can really go wild when things are 12/$1.50.

I think I have the beginnings of my centerpiece.

I hope my family members will be as excited as I am about writing down their thoughts and sharing.

(Hopefully, I won't have to use so much Shout after this holiday either.)  

May your Thanksgiving be filled with fun, family, and friends.

Kathy