For reals. Because, you see, every time he comes home, his wife hands him a to-do list that's like thirty lines long. And she doesn't pick nice, simple tasks. She really puts him to work.
What a Scrooge, right?
In my defense, it's because my house has been in the same partially-finished state for the last two years. We made a ton of progress in the first year we lived in our home, but since then... well, we've had another baby and started homeschooling and Casey traveled like 275 days a year.
We put together a really adorable kids' room for Leah and Logan (which I still haven't taken photos of) and re-did the nursery for Olivia (which I still haven't taken photos of. Are you sensing a theme yet?), but almost all of the other home improvements have been put on hold. Sometimes it feels like an indefinite hold.
So, when Casey had a few days off before Thanksgiving, I set him to work. Because, this year? That dining room was getting it's final face lift. It's time!
While that project is still in progress, I can show you one of my favorite little additions. This is one of my favorite November traditions. Two weeks before Thanksgiving, we start our Thankful Tree.
This year, because of our re-model, it has a new home in our almost-finished dining room (see the baseboards there? SCORE!!!!)
Every night at dinner time, we each take time to discuss and record what we are thankful for that day.
It didn't take very long for that tree to begin overflowing with all of our blessings!
I so enjoy the process of intentionally pausing to reflect and appreciate how very full our lives are. We have so much to be thankful for!
I'm pretty sure this tradition has been popular for a while, and to be honest, I don't even know where I came across it. We've been doing it for a few years - maybe three now? - since Leah was old enough to participate.
But this is definitely our best version so far.
It's so fun to hear the sweet expressions of gratitude from my children's hearts. There are a lot of your more "standard" thankfuls, along the lines of I'm thankful for my family, food and home (which are still important to remember!), but also the more specific ones where we really get to hear their individual voices come out. Those ones are my very favorite.
From Logan: I made an "I" with legos today. My Scoutie toy. Pumkin bread. Mac and Cheese. (As you can see, his currency is food!)
From Leah: My brown teddy. My warm sheets with snowflakes on them. Going to the store with Mommy.
It is awesome to pause and reflect. More than that, though, it is just wonderful to hear my children's voices raised in praise as they think about their own blessings. It's a tradition we'll hang onto for a few more years!
No comments:
Post a Comment