I just adore traditions! I love to reminisce about all the beautiful memories that come with traditions. Some of my most favorite memories of our children and our family time is centered around them! Now that our kids are a little older, it’s so fun to be able to look back at them and smile at the fun we’ve had and the love we shared over the years. It leaves me with such a warm feeling knowing what a positive impact we have had on their lives with these traditions.

Most of our traditions seem to be centered around building a strong family unit.  We’ve have always stressed to our kids the importance of a strong family. So that might be why I love traditions so much. Traditions are somewhat like habits, something you do often or repeatedly. The more often you do them, the more they stick, the stronger they become. So, I guess to me, these traditions are what help make my family stronger, closer. It’s one ‘habit’ I don’t need to break either!

With Thanksgiving quickly approaching I thought I’d share one of our traditions. I am all about showing appreciation and lovin’ on those you love! I look for any opportunity for us to spread some love, and  Thanksgiving is a perfect time to offer up some thanks and appreciation for each other!

We spend a few weeks prior to Thanksgiving writing notes to one another. Some are even in silly poetry form (those are usually the best!) Each person writes one for everyone. We express our appreciation, our love, and thankfulness toward that person.  We each also make a note for what we are individually thankful for too. With six of us, that’s a whole lot of thankfulness to share! We spend some time Thanksgiving morning just hanging out on the living room floor reading our notes to one another.  It’s beautiful! ♥

I think most people don’t take the time to even recognize about what they have to be thankful for. Busy lives get in the way. There’s also so much negativity in this world that it seems to over shadow all that’s good, all that’s beautiful.  Even if you have heard those same words of appreciation before, it’s so important to be reminded of them again and again. It makes you realize how valuable you are to someone else.  Everyone needs to know that they are valued, appreciated and loved.  In my recent post The Little Things,  I shared the importance of  making ‘deposits’, investments, into others with the little things. This tradition is a great way to do just that! It’s a  time to be selfless and reflect on those you love. It is also important to take this time to reflect on all your blessings too, on all that you have to be thankful for! Even through our storms, we always have something to be thankful for! Here’s a picture of our pile of notes from last year ☺ 

I usually leave a basket on the kitchen counter or table for all our notes. Throughout the weeks prior to Thanksgiving we just drop in our note when we’re done! This year I found a pretty box to store them in.  I also made a ‘note packet’ (see above) for each person this year too.  Sometimes I just leave the paper and envelopes near the basket, but this year I decided to separate them all ahead of time.

This tradition actually evolved from a ‘daily tradition’ we have at dinner time. Each day there is a ‘special person’. On your ‘special day’ each family member tells you why they appreciate you, or why you are special to them. It’s a great way to be positive! We even have a star box (don’t ask me how that came to be??, but none the less it’s our thing!) that we place in front of the ‘special person’. It’s really fun when the kids are bickering with one another and then have to come sit down for dinner and think of something nice to say!!  Ahhh…parenting can often make you chuckle inside!! He he! There have been many times I have wondered, “now what will they come up with today??, this ought to be interesting!”.  Let me assure you, by the time dinner is over, so is the sibling squabbling! So, this tradition has often had a double bonus! ☺ I just have to share this little side note because I think it’s really special. That star box now also stores all my son’s baby teeth – weird I know, but he somehow started putting them in there.  It’s special to me because, to him, that box represents something he treasures! So what better place to store his ‘treasured baby teeth’! I think his baby teeth are the only ones of all my kiddos that I actually know exactly where they are too! Ha! Over the years, and with growing busy kids, our ‘family’ dinner time is less frequent.  When I say ‘family’, I mean all six of us all together – at the same time!  It seems that one of them each day is missing for dinner. Big sigh! So, we just have to be more creative with showin’ some love!

You don’t have to keep this type of tradition within your immediate family either!  Why not spend some time lovin’ on other people in your life? Let them know how thankful you are to have them in your life, how much you appreciate them. Life is precious and so are the people in your life!

Since this post is about Giving Thanks, I want you to know how thankful I am for you! God has given me the opportunity to share with you what is in my heart and I am so grateful for that.  Thank you for being a part of this journey with me!  ♥

As always,  I’d love to hear from you and about one of your special traditions. ♥ Also don’t forget to connect with me through Facebook, Pinterest, or sign up for e-mail reminders.☺

Blessings!

 1 Thessalonians 5:18 Give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.