The tree of thankfulness

I talked here about my dealing with burnout this school year.  In hopes of getting out of the gloomy state that I’ve been in, I am trying to focus on the good in my life.  And since, my attitude is the attitude my children often adopt, I’ve chosen to also have my children do the same. 

So we are making a thankfulness tree this Thanksgiving.  I cut a branch from my sweet little golden rain tree in the back yard.  (I love trees.)

We placed the branch in an old vase and used dried beans to support it.  (I also love to decorate with dried beans!)

Each day, we are writing things for which we are thankful onto fake fall leaves.  We punch a hole into them and tie a string through the hole.

We tie our leaves onto the branches and everyone takes a turn reading the other leaves of thankfulness.  I plan on tucking these leaves away in a safe spot and pulling them out again next year to share with each other. 

It’s amazing how taking the emphasis off of the bad and placing it on the good that God has done, changes my attitude and therefore the atmosphere of my entire home.