November Gratitude Tree
I am feeling like Supermom right about now! I had mentioned back in September a Gratitude Tree project that I want to do with the kids this November ...and even I would have bet against me remembering to get it together. :-P I am SO EXCITED that I actually figured out a cheaper-than-Pottery-Barn-and-still-creative way to do this, and that I was actually READY on November 1st!!!
It's a simple concept: have the kids write what they're thankful for each day on a leaf, and stick each leaf on a big tree picture. I googled a bare tree coloring page, JB printed it out poster-size, and we tacked it on the wall last night. Today, I googled a few plain leaf coloring pages, saved them to my desktop, and opened, automatically traced, & cut them out with my Silhouette SD, (like I did the UGA decals, but just on cardstock, instead of vinyl.) Now the kids have cool leaves to write their daily thanks on to make our fall tree beautiful, again. :-)
We're starting out with their true child hearts: Will wrote that he was thankful for "legos, iPhones, & toys." (No, he doesn't have an iPhone, but he plays on our old ones that now act as iPod Touches w/ the phone capabilities deactivated.) Annelise wrote that she was thankful for "playing princess." Hopefully we'll work up to deeper things as the month progresses, but I'm going to do my best *NOT* to prompt them. ["Aren't you so thankful for this dinner Mommy made?" "Wow, I bet you're extra thankful for your soft bed!" ;-)]
As for me, I am thankful today for lots of little stuff - the perfect encouraging word re: knowing how loved I am that I should fear nothing (here's the link - SO WORTH 20 minutes of your time!!!), having the kids' Gratitude Tree ready to go on time, mailing my BFF's bday present & knowing it will be on time, hanging up the laundry w/o feeling irritated by it (for *once* :-P), the new coffee shop that opened here beside the baseball fields & just down from football, & JB just called from his short biz trip... ♥ ♥ ♥
It's a simple concept: have the kids write what they're thankful for each day on a leaf, and stick each leaf on a big tree picture. I googled a bare tree coloring page, JB printed it out poster-size, and we tacked it on the wall last night. Today, I googled a few plain leaf coloring pages, saved them to my desktop, and opened, automatically traced, & cut them out with my Silhouette SD, (like I did the UGA decals, but just on cardstock, instead of vinyl.) Now the kids have cool leaves to write their daily thanks on to make our fall tree beautiful, again. :-)
We're starting out with their true child hearts: Will wrote that he was thankful for "legos, iPhones, & toys." (No, he doesn't have an iPhone, but he plays on our old ones that now act as iPod Touches w/ the phone capabilities deactivated.) Annelise wrote that she was thankful for "playing princess." Hopefully we'll work up to deeper things as the month progresses, but I'm going to do my best *NOT* to prompt them. ["Aren't you so thankful for this dinner Mommy made?" "Wow, I bet you're extra thankful for your soft bed!" ;-)]
As for me, I am thankful today for lots of little stuff - the perfect encouraging word re: knowing how loved I am that I should fear nothing (here's the link - SO WORTH 20 minutes of your time!!!), having the kids' Gratitude Tree ready to go on time, mailing my BFF's bday present & knowing it will be on time, hanging up the laundry w/o feeling irritated by it (for *once* :-P), the new coffee shop that opened here beside the baseball fields & just down from football, & JB just called from his short biz trip... ♥ ♥ ♥
I did this last year as our "Thankful Tree". We are doing it again this year and I am excited about it.
ReplyDeleteLast year on FB I was thankful for something every day in Nov leading up to Thanksgiving...this just reminded that I missed yesterday and need to start! Thanks for the reminder! :)
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