Thankful Books

Ten years ago I made my girls a "Thankful Book". I filled it with photos and pictures from magazines - things that represented the people and things in their lives. I would read it to them every day, and as you can see from the photos on the front, they were pretty little!

The next year I had them make their own book, and we have continued the tradition every year since.

They still have fun adding to their book daily. They usually work on it while I'm reading something aloud to them. But the really fun part, is when I get the past books out and they look through them. Each year they laugh at the spelling and drawings from when they were really young. They even laugh at some of the things they included (like the year my youngest daughter recorded that she was thankful for the flu shot - because she had just gotten it the day before).

And I love seeing how they have grown - a physical representation of their artwork and handwriting over the years. I'm so glad our family portrait has evolved from the circle headed stick people to a much more realistic representation.

I don't even know what I had in mind when I started this tradition. I think my objective was just to teach the girls to spend time intentionally being grateful. What this little annual tradition has accomplished, though, is so much more. I hope this experience is a memory that will stay with them through their lives.

I'm linking up with Little Things Thursday