Thankful

Kamri and I spent Lyla's naptime using the Cricut machine to cut out leaves for our thankful tree. We started this tradition last year: Every dinnertime in November we each write down something we are grateful for and then tape them up to a tree on the wall. At Thanksgiving dinner we read over all of them. I hope to get the tree made tomorrow but I wanted to get started.
I love that the kids were so excited to start. Kamri's first "thankful for" was music, then she wanted to write two more which were family and that we are having a baby boy. Hayes's was we are having a baby boy and that we get toys at Christmas. Bracken's was having an enjoyable job that supports his family and that Lyla loves to cuddle with him when he gets home from work. Mine was that Kamri helped me so much today. Although Lyla couldn't say it, I imagine she was grateful for dinner, she was being adorable carrying her plate and fork around begging for food while I was finishing up making it. It was one of those magical dinnertimes for me, we had fun talking, laughing and I didn't feel stressed rushing to be on time to something else. Although there are times I wonder if family dinnertime is worth it amid tantrums and plates of untouched food, tonight was a payoff for me of why it is so important.

I'm grateful for this time of year and the extra emphasis on remembering to be thankful for all our many blessings.

And here is a cute picture of Lyla that Kamri took when she was playing with my phone.