Full of Thanks

Adding children to our family has made me recall and reflect on the family traditions that Kelly and I grew up with and spend waaayyy too much time thinking about the traditions we want for our own family.  I actually felt pressured last year to have elaborate holidays with all kinds of meaningful traditions.  But then reality kept hitting me over the head and reminding me that HB was only eight months old and he wasn't going to remember if we did things the same since he was an infant or not.  As we head into our second Thanksgiving with children I wanted to share a few of our Thanksgiving traditions which are not guaranteed to stay the same forever.  :)

Last year (or was it the first year we were married??) we shared a meal at some friend's house and they had a jar on their table that contained little slips of paper with notes about what people were thankful for (Thanks Amy!).  I loved the purposefulness of this activity and the conversation starter that is also provided for dinnertime convos.  We adopted this tradition for the month of November with the hope that it would increase our gratitude for the things we take for granted.  We wanted to extend our Thanksgiving from one day to a longer period of time.  Most nights we each take a moment to write down something we are thankful for.  At the end of the month we read them all out loud and then save them for our family scrapbook.  {Note: I have not yet scrapbooked this page yet.  Surprised?  I didn't think so.  I hope I can break the cycle of not scrapbooking for a whole year.}  As a twist on this tradition, I wanted to share something about each member of my family.

1. My hubby: I am thankful for your tireless work ethic.  You do what it takes to make ends meet without complaint.  This does not go unnoticed.  I am grateful for the chance you have afforded me to stay at home and raise our children.
2. My son: I love our snuggle time.  You would sit on my lap for hours as long as we read books and paged through magazines.  I cherish this time as I know someday you won't want to sit on momma's lap any longer.
3. My daughter: Your facial expressions are priceless and you are only six months old! It's almost like you know a secret.  I so look forward to the day we become friends.
4. My Lord: last, but surely not the least.  I am grateful for the depth of your grace for I have faced my own dire need for this more in this last year than ever before.  Thank you for doing for me what I could never do myself by sending your Son, Jesus, to die on the cross for me.

Without making this post too long, I wanted to share one more tradition that is a bit more light hearted: watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade.  My paternal grandmother, Katherine, and now my Dad always turn this on on Thanksgiving morning.  And with that said here are a few fun facts to end today's post.

• There are 50 million viewers who tune-in to watch and 3.5 million on-site spectators!
• The highest balloons reach 60 feet high!
• The parade started in 1924, running a total of 86 times only taking a break for three years during World War II.

Thanksgiving 2012: Thanksgiving Day humor and gratitude