We are thankful for......

Happy November!!!  I am excited about so many things that will go on in November. The feast of course, spending time with family, preparing for Christmas(OH the crafts!!), but most of all being thankful.  Although we should be thankful every single day, I like to take this month and really spend time on being aware of what we are thankful for.  The most important thing I am thankful for is my faith and trust in God. Without His amazing Gift, His son Jesus Christ,  I would be lost, but by grace I have been found(saved!).  Thank God!
So I wanted to start November off by sharing something our family started last year.  LOVE!! THIS!! The picture above and in my header is my Thankful Acorn.  I got this great idea(not the acorn basket)last year from my dear sister in law(Thank you Renee!). 

Each day leading up to Thanksgiving you write down one thing you are thankful for.  

Everyone in the family participates.  For younger children you can write for them.

Or if they are learning to write you write what they are thankful for and they can copy it. 

Being thankful is not always easy. We had to help the boys on this last year.  They automatically were thinking of God each day to be thankful for.  And that is awesome to be thankful for God, but we tried to show them ALL the temporal blessings God gives us too.  Things we take for granted daily.

After Thanksgiving take all the little cards and place in an album.  This way you can go back and see what everyone was thankful for the year before. 

I also added a picture of all our guests at our Thanksgiving dinner.

That album was just finished last week!  I am so proud I got it done before November. It was worth the wait.....I found a little scrapbook album for 50cents at Target.  And it all fit perfectly.

Anyway back to the Thankful basket.  

I have had this sweet little acorn basket for years, but you could use just about anything.  The acorn basket was perfect for this tradition our family started.  And to be honest I never could figure out what to do with it.  Now it has a purpose.

When we started this last year it was around the middle of November. But I strongly feel we have so much to be thankful for that the whole month will be easy!  Even for little ones. 

Last year I simple cut construction paper into little squares.  Then I added some Fall stickers to each square. Simple is my name.  Some days the boys wanted to participate and other days they did not.  But I did indeed force them to sit and think about all the wonderful things God had given them.    

We did try to make this something we did as a family. If it didn't work out for us all do it, we still did it! I am planning to do it each night after our family Bible study each night.......if I remember.  Last night we finished up our Bible Study and I almost forgot.  As I put the salt and pepper shakers away in the hutch there sat my Thankful Acorn. I was so happy for the reminder.  Unfortunately I had no paper ready.  I quickly cut out four squares of brown construction paper and we were set.  Minus the cute stickers.  After we cleared the table I cut more out to last a couple of weeks.  I have already enjoyed looking at what the boys' were thankful for last year.  It will be a good way to see their growth in thoughts, words and handwriting skills.  Last night I was thankful for the gift of children. 

What a blessing we have from God.

 

What kind of traditions do you and your family celebrate around Thanksgiving?

I would love for you to share.