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For as much as we love Christmas, Thanksgiving might be a very close second on our favorite holidays rankings. Yes, we broke the rules this year and pulled out our Christmas decorations, music and movie a little earlier than tradition, but we didn't skip over Thanksgiving. No, we embraced it with both arms and bellies.

With things still out of whack due to the Covid-19 pandemic, everything is looking a little different, especially in how we celebrate the holidays. For Life in the Higham House, we are beginning to recognize that things will probably be different for a while, and not necessarily because of Covid. 

This Thanksgiving there was just 5 of us gathered around the table. Our oldest chose to stay at college for the third year in a row, leaving us with our first empty seat. Our number 2, spent the morning with us, but later left to have dinner with his girlfriend and her family. Out second empty chair. And while this might be a bit upsetting (at first it was), we are coming to grips with the fact that the holiday's will from now on be a little different.

We love to remember the past. Early in our marriage, we made the trips back home to be with family. Packing up the car and making our way to Philadelphia or Baltimore. Then the kids started coming and for a number of years we continued to make the trip, especially for Thanksgiving. But as our lives changed, more kids, big roles in ministry, commitments and sporting events, making the trip home became more and more difficult. Eventually, we had to to make the tough call and just say that we wouldn't be traveling on the holidays. I'm sure this brought dismay and sadness to our parents, but isn't this the way? At some point, going "home" for the holiday's means "staying home" for the holidays.

By staying home we were able to establish our own traditions, creating our own family memories. And with each approaching year, we looked forward to practicing those traditions and creating even more memories. But somewhere in the backs of our minds, we knew our time would come. The time when we would have the empty chairs at the Thanksgiving table.

Yes, we feel the sadness and loss of not having our family all together for Thanksgiving, however, it is forcing us to rethink and reinvent our holiday traditions. This year has helped us turn the page and begin a new chapter in our story.

We realize that if we want to keep our kids plugged in around the holidays, we need to stop living in the past, and start looking towards the future. We often find ourselves remember what it was like with little kids. When we do this, we want to hang on to what was. But we don't have little kids anymore. We have young adults and teenagers. And what our young adults and teenager want to do, isn't what we've always done. Sure, they appreciate the traditions and fond memories, but they're beginning to look ahead at what their lives are going to be.

As parents, we have fought for our family. We have worked hard to be intentional and to make our time with our kids matter. And so this year, we ventured out to start a few new traditions that we hope will help all of us make this all important life transition.

This Thanksgiving we introduced the Family Holiday Game Time. Amy and Breya, came up with the idea of family games while on a walk together. The idea comes as we look to elevate the holiday experience to something more that just sitting in our rooms on our various devices. So with a little planning, Breya came up with a handful of games, while Amy went and shopped for some fun, silly prizes.

Now let me be honest, I wasn't sure how this would all go down. But I liked the idea of trying something new. Well, by the end of the day, I'd say the games were a big hit. We played, we laughed, we knit-picked the rules, laughed some more, and made some brand new memories. It ended up being one of our favorite Thanksgivings, and now we have a new tradition!

I have always held to the hope that as our kids begin their families, our home would be the place where they want to be for the holidays. I dream of having a house that is able to welcome all five kids and their spouses, and the grandkids, for the holidays. I don't suppose that we will all live near one another, but that coming home would be something they would look forward to. And in coming home, we would have the Hallmark holiday as a family. But to get to that place, we have continue to create the space for new ideas, new activities, and new traditions.

Yes, we missed having our two oldest boys at the Thanksgiving table. And yes, we know that at some point someone will say, "we just can't make it home this year." We'll cross that bridge when we get there. But we're not there yet. Christmas now just a couple weeks away. It's time to begin thinking and plan for our time together. Oh, there will be games and prizes, and the opportunity to create a new way of doing the holidays.

- the higham family

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If a year had a tagline, I think the tagline for 2020 would be something like, 'It's been a crazy year.' I've heard this phrase, or a phrases like it, over and over again. Yes, it has been a crazy year, maybe one of the crazies in recent history. (Or at least in my history.)

I thought about creating a list of the events of 2020, but this blog isn't about the events. Yes, it's been a crazy year, but it's also been a year that has come with a truck-load of good things. But many of these "good things" have been missed, or sidelined due to all the larger headlines. 

This week we want to focus on those good things as we kick off,  A Week of Thankfulness.

1 Thessalonians 5:16-18 reads, "16 Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus."

Rejoice always. Pray continually. Give thanks. In ALL circumstances. In a year like 2020, how does one rejoice always, or give thanks in all circumstances? Well, I think we need to be a little more intentional as we take time to look at the good things God has done.

Now, don't just laugh me off and click away to another web page. Let's think about this.

It's easy to focus on the negative things of the year because we hear the headlines everywhere. Just watch the news and you'll hear plenty of negativity. We then think about the negativity we just heard. As we think about what we've heard, we begin to feel the weight of the negativity, and it effects the way we feel. That negativity then becomes to the topic of our conversations. Those conversations further fuel our feelings, and those feelings dictate our moods. And before we know it, we're miserable.

Now hear, I'm not dissing the news or down-playing the importance of recognizing our emotions. What I am saying is, if we're not careful, our emotions will run away with our lives. 1 Thessalonians reads, rejoice always, pray continually, give thanks in all circumstances. (my paraphrase) This isn't meant to be a whatever kinda' verse. We don't ignore what's happening around us. But we take the time to look, take stock, and be aware of what God is doing in, through and around us. I think when we do, we might find it a little easier to do what these verse call us to do.

So this week, we're kicking off a Week of Thankfulness. Thanksgiving is always a time to slow down and reflect on the blessings and good things we've received over the last year. And while it might be super easy to highlight the 'craziness' of the year, let's sit down and consider the good things, the blessing that we have been given in 2020.

I'll start us off.

Family. A few years ago, we sat down and talked about what we wanted our family time to look like. Our kids were growing up, fast. It wouldn't be long before they were young adults and looking to begin their own lives, families, and traditions. We didn't want to miss the time we did have with our kids. But, life was changing. Our kids were changing. Their likes and dislikes, how they spend their time, who they wanted to be around (and who they didn't want to be around), interests, hobbies; everything was changing. When they were little, we could "plan" the fun. Family outings and trips, holidays, vacations, fun moments and creative activities made for special and meaningful family time. But now family time was becoming a little harder to find.

We decided that we wanted to make the most of every and any opportunity we might have with our kids. One huge blessing that has come out of this season has been an increased time with our kids. Because of the various restrictions and guidelines that experienced this year, we have been blessed with an incredible amount of time as a family.

Early on (March through August) all seven Higham's were under the same roof. Schools were closed and travel was limited, that meant we were home. So we took advantage of that time. We explored our state and visited different parks and locations. We put up a backyard pool, planted a garden, and enjoyed our yard together. Game nights, cook outs, trips to the local park, movie nights, and visits to some of our favorite restaurants with outdoor seating. And let's not forget the conversations and laughed we shared around the dinner table. All of it, priceless. 

​But, that's the blessing. This year has been a year for us to be with our kids. That while in this fast-paced reality of the teenage years, we have time to be with our kids. So it's back to the game nights, movie nights, family outings, dinner table conversations, and spontaneous moments of laughter, story-time and fun.

We never would have thought when we set out to be more intentional with our kids that it would result in having this special time with our teens. And here we are at the start of the holiday season and we have no place to go. We're looking at the possibility of being virtual and at home through the end of the year. While that might make some cringe, we're delighted.

So we're kicking off this Week of Thankfulness by acknowledging and saying we're thankful for our family time. 2020 may have had it's moments of "craziness," but it also gave us a year of special memories and fun.  And, that is something we can rejoice in and be thankful for.

- the higham family

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Welcome back for part three of our series, Thanksgiving Treats and Snacks!

So far we've enjoyed making Thanksgiving Turkey Cookies and Thanksgiving Pretzel Rods. Two simple, fun and yummy snacks to make with your kiddos. Today we have our last delicious treat, Thanksgiving Turkey Cookie Pops.

These Turkey Cookies Pops might have been a more challenging than we thought. Though, we could have taken the time to slow down a bit and plan ahead a little better. We learned a few things while having fun making our cookies.

Lesson three: We used two methods for attaching the eyes and beak. Breya used chocolate to add the eyes and the beak. Jay used red icing to adhere the eyes and beak.  Both methods work, just be sure to the melting chocolate is cool. If you notice in the picture, Jay's cookie (the one on the left) looks a little flat. That is because the chocolate wasn't cool enough.

The best thing about making these treats is the experimenting and learning as you go. We will definitely make this treat again.

We have a number of fun Thanksgiving and Christmas activities, treats, and ideas to share with your family. Be sure to be checking in with Life in the Higham House. You can sign up for our weekly newsletter to stay up to date and connected with us.

And of course, be sure you're following our social media for pictures, updates and fun things we're doing during the holiday season.

- the higham house

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We're back with part two of our Thanksgiving Treats and Snacks series. We really did have a great time creating these amazing works of art. 

Today we are making Thanksgiving Pretzel Rods. We scrolled through Pinterest looking for yummy treats, and came across a number of different pretzel options. We narrowed the selection down to three treats that we thought would be easy and fun for kids to create and enjoy.

The first is what we're calling the, Turkey Pretzel, with an Oreo cookie backing, candy corn, candy eyes, and chocolate. Tip: let the chocolate cool and harden with the cookie attached. Then add a fresh covering of chocolate when adding the decorative pieces.

All three pretzels are easy to make. It can be a bit messy, and you do have to be careful working with hot, melting chocolate. Aside from that, we think you'll have a lot of fun creating with your kiddos!

​Below is a list of ingredients and our vlog episode with Breya and Jay!

We hope you have fun with these delicious treats. Be sure to join us again on Friday as we post our part three of our series! We'll see you then!

​- the higham house

* THIS POST CONTAINS AFFILIATE AND PRODUCT LINKS THAT DIRECTLY SUPPORT THE HIGHAM'S, AND HELPS TO KEEP FAMILY FOCUSED, FAMILY FRIENDLY CONTENT POSSIBLE. THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING OUR MISSION. *
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