The concept of being thankful is one that I want my boys to really "get", but a difficult one to teach to wee ones. I have said this before, but I want thankfulness to ooze from every part of our family. Spilling out into the world around us. A few weeks ago, I was tagged by Selena to post five things for which I am thankful.
And by the way, I am barely resisting the strong urge to type "to post the five things I am thankful for". Which would be bad grammar, but completely correct in Texas where I grew up. But in Texas we also say we're "fixing to go for a dip in the tank".
Oh, thankfulness...yes, thankfulness. Thankfulness for me seems to fall into two categories. Big, overarching ideas of thankfulness like my close friends, my family, our great house, my faith and my children. But there are also many small, almost insignificant things. Things that might go unnoticed if not given their proper time in the spotlight.
Things like homemade cinnamon rolls from Alicia's recipe, still warm from the oven. Finding the sun pouring onto our bed at 4:15 p.m. every afternoon and stealing my youngest from his sword fight to share it. Like listening to the older two sound out each letter of every letter every word of their Little Bear book. And being so excited about it I want to jump out of my skin. Thankful that S will be home for the Thanksgiving holiday in a few days. Watching the leaves turn yellow on the maple tree we planted four years ago. Reconnecting with old friends after 20+ years. A glass of wine after a crazy day. Meteor showers. Listening to Robert Earl Keen and Kasey Chambers on Pandora. A thank you note sent by someone for something you didn't even remember doing.
One of the ways our family tries to make thankfulness more tangible is by keeping a seasonal thankfulness journal. A place where each year our thoughts, drawings and inspirations about thankfulness are recorded. Here is a link to last year's post about it. This year, I wanted it to look a bit different on the outside. So, I made a journal cover out of soft brown felt leftover from the leaf garland and used Ian's handwriting from a school project for the lettering. I am still in love with the way they make their S's and N's and use every opportunity to capture their penmanship just where it is. And there are five trees for the five of us. Zane's tree is yellow because his favorite color is yellow and I think always will be. Wyatt's tree is the circle tree because he is so into drawing those shapes lately. S's tree has branches because he continues to push me out on a limb *pun intended* and get me out of my comfort zone. I spent a few moments last night reading over the journal entries from the past few years. And being thankful all over again for those things that were important to us then and recording these new not-so-insignificant small items of thankfulness as well.
So, if you feel so inclined. Please share a few of the little things you are thankful for these days. Perfect timing to do so don't you think?
P.S. And yes, I am most certainly thankful for the people who lived in this house before us who installed the wonderful oven so many of you commented on. And believe me, it will be used to its fullest this week. We are expecting twenty two thus far for the Thanksgiving meal on Thursday. But who knows, we may find a few more people between now and then who might need a table to sit around and a place to share the things in their life for which they are thankful.