{Day 24: Lovely Gratitude Trees}

I don't remember the exact quote and I don't have my own copy of the book so I'll try my best to accurately convey this idea. 

In The Bench, a novel fictionalizing life on the Michigan Supreme Court written by former Chief Justice (and founder of Cooley Law School) Thomas Brennan, the main character's father was a man who always had the best of everything, and even when it wasn't the best, it was the best to him. 

I absolutely love that idea because it's such a great example of how to show gratitude. As I told you all yesterday, having a good attitude is something I need to work on sometimes. Especially when I don't get a lot of sleep. And the dog has gotten sick on the carpet. And we're late for school despite a certain someone (me) having had a professional morning makeover.

Source

So, this seems like a perfect time to start thinking about November and how I can cultivate a spirit of Thanksgiving for the entire month. I love this beautiful collection of branches from Emily Rose, the Simply Vintage Girl. The "leaves" are notes about what she is grateful for.

Unfortunately, the big guy is not a fan of bringing branches indoors. He has a (legitimate) concern about bugs being inside the wood. Which is a huge bummer because I found the biggest, best branch at school the other day and brought it all the way home. Since he does make a good point and I would prefer to keep him in the house (plus I haven't yet figured out a way to make the branches safe--there must be a tutorial out there, right??), I think we'll draw a tree. 

But not just any tree. Oh no! This will be a special tree.

I also read about a fun game to do with the kids. Rather than just write the things we are thankful for on the leaves, we also have to write things that would be bad, like a broken leg. Then, you pick a "leaf" and find the good. So, in the broken leg example, you might say "It's good because I get a cast that all my friends can sign."

And I would turn not enough sleep into gratitude that a certain little snuggle bug still needs her mama.  :)

Linking up to The Inspired Room's Fall Nesting party today. Hope you'll check out what other bloggers are doing for their Holiday Nesting.