Exercise in Thankfulness

Dear Ian,

Happy Thanksgiving!  I know the last post could have seemed a little depressing, so I split our Thanksgiving posts in two this year.

Now that you are a big three year old guy, you are grasping concepts that are a little more advanced.  This year, we decided to tackle the understanding of Thanksgiving and the meaning of thankfulness.  Mommy and Daddy sat you down and gave you the definition of thankfulness as something that makes your heart so happy that you have or something that you are able to do.  To make it more personal and tangible in your little brain, we planted a Thankful Tree in our dining room.  Well not really.  Sorta...

Mommy made a brown construction paper tree trunk, and every day we added a leaf or two to our tree.  On each leaf, we wrote down something for which we were thankful and added it to our tree.  It turned out really cute.

Here's our tree on Thanksgiving day.  As you can see, we had a lot to be thankful for.  Some of the things that you listed were... creative, but they are things that make your heart happy, so therefore they are valid. 

Some of them really make me laugh.  Especially the one where you said you were thankful for Golden Corral.  Lord.  That restaurant has become your all-time favorite.  It almost seems like it deserves a post of its own.  Note to self...  Anyhoo.  You were thankful for Daddy a couple of times, and I am thankful that I made the list of things you appreciate as well.  It was really neat to watch you really think about what you wanted to put on a leaf for the day.  Daddy and I also got into the fun and filled out a leaf or two.  You would decide every morning which of us would get the privilege, and it was good for us, too to think about for what we are grateful. 

We spent our holiday today out at Grandma and Papa's farm with them and Uncle Gary and Aunt Megan and Payton and Taylor.  I am recovering from the surgery I mentioned in the last post, so it was so very helpful of them to host us.  I did make corn casserole to take out, so I didn't feel like too much of a slacker.  We ate a ton of food, you and Daddy got to go on a hayride (no bumpy rides for Mommy for a while) and you got to practice shooting your BB gun that you got for your very first Christmas.  You actually did really well and hit the target a few times.  Daddy also took a good long while explaining safety and rules.  After it got dark, we all sat around the fire pit and roasted marshmallows, too.  It was a really nice day.

You and your paper plate target.  Four of the holes are yours!  One was Daddy's

We will get to have Thanksgiving Part Two this Sunday when Uncle Brian and Aunt Maggie come down, and we will need to do something special with Grandma and Grandpa Brooks, too.  Mommy is just moving slow as I heal, so I'm having to break up all of our Thanksgiving festivities.  We are so lucky to have such a close and loving family.  And it's one of the things for which I am most thankful.

We're so blessed, and we love you,
Mommy and Daddy