Toddler Thanksgiving...

...This past weekend, AR and I hosted the first Toddler Thanksgiving to celebrate the many friends she has been blessed with. I even cooked my very first turkey, purely by accident and we're lucky it wasn't a chicken, but that's another story for another day. On to the party, shall we?

I sent a quick FB invite out to her friends that read:

"Gobble, gobble! Join us for the First Toddler Thanksgiving at AR’s place. Bring your little Pilgrim or Indian with a big appetite to celebrate the friends we’re thankful for. Please sign up to bring a dish to share with the other kids and mommies. We do have one sweet potato allergy but other than that no known allergies. Lunch will be served around noon with crafts and games to follow!"

We hung a sign on the front door that read, "AR is thankful for..." and surrounded it by pictures of her friends that were coming to the party. At the end of the party, each mom took home the picture of their child.

I made a "Gobble, Gobble" banner for the window over the food table and bought orange balloons that I taped turkeys on. Each kid took home a balloon as well.

I had a smaller kid size table in the kitchen. One side had turkey apples and the other side had cardboard, clothespin turkeys.

A closer look at the cardboard, clothespin turkeys. I simply cut out a turkey body out of cardboard, drew on a face, and wrote "Thanksgiving 2013" on the back. Not sure that they'll see another Thanksgiving, but just in case. I bought regular wooden clothespins and dyed them orange, red and yellow with Rit dye. This was perfect for the kiddos, all mainly 18 months give or take, to practice their pincher grasps and fine motor skills.

This is the close-up of the apple turkeys. I had this in mind as a healthier dessert. I took an apple and put coffee stirrers around it. Each kid got a bag of fruit loops, again fine motor skills, to string them on or gobble up themselves. The face is a pumpkin marshmallow on a coffee stirrer and the gobble, or whatever that red thing is called, is licorice.

For the craft, I had already glued feathers made out of scrapbook paper on white cardstock. Each mom painted their kids foot brown and used a Sharpie to add on the eyes and legs. I bought red and orange fingernail polish, because I found it was easier, and less wasteful, to paint on the beak and gobble.

I didn't forget the mommas! I made them a take-home container filled with pumpkin bread and pumpkin cookies. I used leftover scrapbook feathers to label them.

We all enjoyed a huge feast of turkey, cranberry salad, cheesy corn, mashed potatoes, fruit, macaroni and cheese, cookie cake and more. We pulled out all the toys and the kids played while the moms chatted after we all filled our bellies. It was a fun afternoon of friendship, but this momma was worn out by the end of the day! Anything for my AR, right? #lovemyAR