Happy Monday! Hope your Thanksgiving plans are coming together. I am really looking forward to eating some yummy food and relaxing with family. Natalie can’t wait for the cranberry sauce – apparently it’s her favorite! And Delaney is really looking forward to the mini pumpkin cupcakes (muffins) we are taking for dessert – she is not a pie kind of girl.

I’m coming up on my three-year blogging anniversary, which is hard for me to believe! It has been (and continues to be) so fun to share a little bit of our lives with you. So, thank you for reading and leaving comments and using some of our ideas with your own families – it means the world to us!

I’ve added an Amazon button to my sidebar – if you are inclined to do some holiday shopping over at Amazon, I would very much appreciate a click-through from my site before you shop. As an Amazon affiliate, I earn a small commission on purchases made through my site – of course, at no extra cost to you. Thank you for supporting Let’s Explore!

Also, if you are not already an Amazon Prime member, this would be a great time to take advantage of the one month free trial. We love our Amazon Prime membership and find it to be a great value. The free 2-Day shipping and no minimum order size is just my cup of tea. :)

The girls and I have two more simple Thanksgiving craft projects to share with you – both would be great ways to keep the kids busy on Thanksgiving Day. Stay tuned later today for the scoop!

A few weeks ago, I had the honor of doing a phone interview with Melitsa of Raising Playful Tots.  We had a great conversation about my favorite topic – play!

If you are interested in listening, the interview podcast is now available over at Raising Playful Tots (along with lots of other great interviews!).  I hope you enjoy it and come away inspired to play!  :)

A big thank you to Melitsa for inviting me to contribute!

{We made it back from Disneyland – had a totally fabulous time!  We are also in the middle of buying a house and selling ours, so I’ll be checking in here as much as I can in between craziness!  I’m trying to keep the house clean, so no messy projects for us….  See you soon!}

There’s been a lot of soul-searching (and late-night tossing and turning) in these first days of 2010. I don’t always feel so reflective as a new year begins, but this year my mind has been swirling! My life has become extremely full lately, with running a business, blogging, homeschooling, and all the other great parts of my everyday life.

After much thought and discussion, I have decided to close the Let’s Explore Shop. This was a difficult decision, and not one I took lightly. But, I know it is the right one for me and my family right now. Running an online retail store was a big adventure for me – I learned SO much, met so many fantastic parents and teachers, and shared my passion for open-ended, creative play. It was an amazing opportunity and a huge undertaking, and I know it has helped me prepare for whatever adventures are coming my way down the road.

A big, big, gigantic thank you to all my customers and supporters – I read and re-read every lovely comment and e-mail and they mean the world to me.  Thank you, thank you, thank you!

I am looking forward to returning some balance to my life, with more time for reading, crafting, and of course, playing with my girls!  (Maybe some writing, too….)

The good news is:

1.  I will still be here blogging away – hopefully even more often than before.

2.  We get to have one more big sale as a final hurrah!

Starting today, everything at the Let’s Explore Shop is 40% off. Some items are in very limited quantities, so keep that in mind. If you would be interested in spreading the word about the closing sale, that would be much appreciated.  Feel free to grab the graphic at the bottom of this post.  :)

So, here’s to changes and new adventures!  Happy playing!

The blogging world is pretty awesome, and I feel so lucky to be a part of it!  I am always flattered and quite thrilled when I see one of my blog posts or a note about my shop appear in someone’s blog.  So, a big thank you goes out to these bloggers for sharing a link or two this past month:

The Artful Parent

Believing Nature

Chasing Cheerios

Crafty Crow

eensies

Family Revised

Good + Happy Day

Her Cup Overfloweth

Kiddio

Many Little Blessings

Mom Advice

No Time For Flash Cards

One Crafty Place

One Pretty Thing

Playful Learning

Simple Mom

Wise Craft

World of Julie

There’s a whole lot of creativity and inspiration to be found in these blogs – happy blog-surfing!

Amy