Sights to be Thankful for

A thankful pumpkin is something that my family works on during the month of November. November in Pennsylvania is filled with many things “Fall.”  One of those things includes “peeping” the changing colors of leaves on trees. That means, if you live or travel near deciduous trees, admiring the beauty of the flora kaleidoscope. Mountain areas and state forests are popular places for that.

Tastes to be Thankful for

Another November Fall thing is the many tastes.  Popular ones include apple cider and pumpkin spice. Other favorite flavors are caramel apple and candy apple. Then there is homemade pumpkin pie or homemade apple pie. Fall certainly has some comforting flavors and scents.

Thanksgiving

Near the end of the month we celebrate the holiday, Thanksgiving. Besides football, a big parade, turkey and pumpkin pie, Thanksgiving is a time to be thankful. Really, we should be thankful always.  However, Thanksgiving is when we are reminded of this.

We encourage our boys to be grateful and show appreciation when someone does something for them. They are reminded to “say thank you” when given a gift. What a blessing it is when they don’t need to be reminded to be thankful.  That seems to happen more often than not.

Thankful Pumpkin

For our family, the whole month of November is also a time for the ‘Thankful pumpkin.’ Beginning in 2018, we have enjoyed this activity. Every night after dinner we go around the table and say one thing that we are thankful for from that day.  We encourage the boys to say something different every night. With a fine sharpie, I write what each person says. It reminds us how truly blessed we are.

This month-long activity is simple to do and gets kids to realize there is so much to appreciate every day. Additionally, the supplies needed for this activity are minimal.  I use a fine tip sharpie marker to write on the pumpkin. For the pumpkin, I purchase a 6-8 inch foam craft pumpkin.  Near the end of October they can be found in many craft stores.  Also, foam craft pumpkins can be found in many stores that have Fall decorations. 

I hope you enjoy this activity.  Also, I hope we can look back over the years and realize how very blessed we are.