It’s in one week! We’re counting the days till our Thanksgiving feast with our kids, grandkids, and parents. I’m chomping at the bit (which is literally what I’m going to be doing next Thursday–chomping every bit)!
I love to get as much done as possible ahead of time, so when the kids hit the door I can turn (almost) all of my attention to them.
As I mentioned in an earlier post about Thanksmasbirthday, this year we’re going BIG. Wednesday night we’re celebrating our family members who have birthdays in November or December. Thursday is Thanksgiving, of course. Then Friday morning it’s an early Christmas! Woo-hoo.
More about the birthday party and our Christmas celebration in future posts! Stay tuned. For now…
The Thanksgiving Part
I love to set our table the night before our special meal. This year I used our white china–I have a few different patterns of all-white that I like to mix and match.
I’d been eye-balling these pretty salad plates at Pottery Barn for a while, and finally broke down and bought them. I love it that each plate (they come in sets of four) features a different design.
I also love mixing new with old. I found these chargers and napkins at Hobby Lobby. I’m going to ask our grands to write everyone’s names on cards to pop into these cute pumpkin place card holders, also from Hobby Lobby. But the silver was a wedding gift. That makes it 41 years old. I might love it more now than I did when we received it!
Check out my last post for the menu and recipes that are going to make an appearance on this very table!
Let’s Pause for Thanks Giving
As I prepare for the arrival of our clan, I love to fill the house with music. It energizes me and gets me in the mood even more!
I’m not ready to blast Christmas music yet. I love it, but I don’t want to miss the joy of “just Thanksgiving.” I usually ask Alexa to play one of my “happy” song lists (which seems to be heavy on ’70s music!) But this year, as I try to be very intentional about each thing we’re celebrating, I wondered how many Thanksgiving songs there are.
The first that came to mind is “Over the River and Through the Woods,” which some people consider a Christmas song. It’s not. Go ahead, I’ll wait while you Google it.
See?
My Top Ten
I did a little digging and found SEVERAL Thanksgiving songs. There are instrumentals specifically written with the idea of playing in the background while you eat and converse. There are several for kids. And, there are current ones.
I came up with some old and new–just like I did on my table! I’m putting them on repeat this whole week. I’ve linked to the YouTube videos of them below.
- Thank You by Keyshia Cole
- Thank You, Lord by Chris Tomlin
- Turkey Chase by Bob Dylan (instrumental)
- Thankful Kelly Clarkson
- Everybody Eats When They Come to My House by Cab Calloway and His Orchestra
- Grateful by Lucy Kalantari and the Jazz Cats
- The Thanksgiving Song by Ben Rector
- The Table by Jonathan Traylor
- Gobble Gobble Turkey Wobble by Koo Koo Kanga Roo (if you hadn’t already guessed, this is a kid’s song, but it’s a really good kid’s song!)
- The Thankfulness Song by The Veggie Tales (also for the kiddos)
I’m so tickled to have some new-to-me songs to enjoy while I prepare this week!
Are you familiar already with all of the songs on my list? Do you have a favorite? Let me know in the comments.