The Thankful Tree

This is the kind of project that usually flops like a dead fish among the boys and man I live with: a thankful tree, decorated with leaves sharing things for which we're grateful.

I tried to get the boys interested when we were at a park last week, suggesting they look for a big branch to bring home. Eh, not interested.

Fine, I figured. I can do intentional gratitude all by myself.

So I snipped a branch off our pine tree, stuck it in a pot, hot-glued in place two branches I broke in the process, then cut out a bunch of paper leaves and dropped them in a basket with a pen.

You would have thought the Great Turkey had surprised them on Thanksgiving morning!

The boys happily went to town on the leaves; we're on our second basket already. "We're going to have this forever, right?" Finn asked hopefully, as he dictated his leaves.

"The thankful tree looks beautiful!" Calvin exclaimed when he came home today, right before he bounced a ball and knocked off another branch. (Hot glue is wonderful stuff.)

Among the leaves: video games, Santa, Finn, our family, eBay, going to Lake Tahoe to see Uncle Jon, the airplane museum, drums, assorted friends.

It is a beautiful tree.