Our Gratitude Tree

My blogroll inspired me time and again this season.  I loved all the Thanksgiving banners, decorations, uplifting thoughts and projects I saw so many crafty, creative, on-top-of-it moms blog about.  I have spent way too much time reading blogs and filling my head and 'bookmarks' with ideas and recipes...so fun!  

This week for FHE we made our gratitude tree {before the stomach bug of the YEAR hit}.  I love this representation of our blessings, a constant reminder of the reasons for the season adorning our dining room table in the center of our home.  We can add to it at will and it can never be full enough... overflowing with our many blessings.  I snapped a couple of branches from a maple tree to get us started.

I found some darling colored die cut maple leaves at our local teacher resource shop.

Each of the kids wrote or drew all the blessings they could think of to adorn our tree

We punched holes & tied with hemp string...Everyone got to hang their own

Mom...I think they really miss you.

Our Thanksgiving Table

don't you LOVE this mercury??  Thanks, Carole!

Little Christmas Treasures???

Now that half our kids are literate (that sounded bad...like they ever were illiterate?!) Let me start again. Now that most of our kids are old enough to express themselves by writing/drawing, etc. we started a new tradition this year that I HOPE will be a treasure.

Every Family Home Evening in December (starting last night) we will set aside time to write notes/thoughts to each other and place in one another's stockings. We all started writing a note/thought to Brayden. Next will be McKenzie. The kids can stick little random notes in each other's stockings throughout the week, but everyone is to receive one from each family member. No one is to peak at them or read them until Christmas morning. The main idea is that along with Santa's loot, we will all have special notes from each other to read when we open our stockings!

This way, Christmas day is filled with treasures and special thoughts...along with all the gifts. My hope is that this will help our children to think about serving and helping each other and to look outside of themselves during this 'all I want for Christmas' commercialized season. My aim is for this to bring an extra feeling of happiness, togetherness, and peace to this household that I typically refer to as organized chaos!

It will be nice to have these little treasures for years to come...if they can be civilized enough to write thoughtful notes to each other instead of expluratives that often come out of their mouths to each other! Why is it that during November & December the kids seem to test the boundaries and Mom & Dad's tolerance? Every year! Last year McKenzie & Monson got COAL in their stockings...no kidding. We'll see if we can avert that craziness this year!

Last week I HAD it with the things they were saying to each other and how they were treating one another. So, for FHE we made a LONG list of words and phrases that were being banned from our home. I won't share them on my blog because you might just think we're terrible parents (no, they weren't swear words, but when you read them all at once in a row they're pretty offensive and made me laugh out loud in bewilderment because it's amazing the things they learn to say).

Anyway, the incentive was that if they could get to Christmas Eve with only 5 offenses then they would earn a 'prized gift' that they each picked out and really wanted. Bribery? Yup. Sometimes it works. By day THREE two of the kids were out already. Any guesses? Our neighbor brought over his cool air hockey table for the kids to use and that caused 1/2 the problem. We know now that Santa isn't bringing air hockey anytime soon! I tried. Any other ideas? It's hard to be a parent to so many age groups! My fear is that my three sweet little girls will turn out demented by listening to and watching their older siblings much of the time. They're all growing up MUCH TOO FAST! Help!