Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  On this most grateful of days, I am certainly celebrating the joy that giving thanks brings to me, and I am sure to count my blessings, which are many.

I’m thankful for my two babies and their new-found friendship.  Their desire to seek each other out, make each other happy, show off for each other, and love each other is overwhelmingly beautiful.  I’m grateful for each of them but also for both of them together as a pair, because most often I find myself aware of how blessed I am when I see them together.

I tried to share the idea of counting our blessings with Jax and Em yesterday, and although when I asked Jax what he loved about his life he enumerated every single car and truck he owned, he also said that he was happy for the snow, the sun, and the trees, and I was thankful that we are able to live in a place that is surrounded by nature for our little outdoorsman.  He was reminded of snow thanks to the 8″ or so that were dropped on us overnight, so we took the opportunity inside to make create something that reminded us how much we have to be be thankful for.

I saw this craft here at Paper Crafts for Children, and it is so simple it doesn’t even require step-by-step instructions.  First, cut out a tree trunk with some branches.  Second, trace your child(ren)’s hand on multi-colored paper to make fall leaves.

Then the kids and I talked about what we were grateful for and I wrote them on the hands and put the tree on green grass so our gratitude was a bit more grounded, so to speak.  The kids didn’t really understand what I meant by “thankful”, but we did talk about what they love and were able to come up with our family, nature, toys, books, and our home.  Luckily Jax was okay with me writing “toys” and not listing out every type of construction vehicle he owns; that was a close one.  Em was grateful for her bed because she was ready for a nap, but I thought that fit in the “home” category, so I think I covered all their intentions.

So much to be thankful for.  We’re celebrating with family today, I have a zillion more photoshoots this weekend, and we’re taking the kids to the New England Aquarium tomorrow as well.  Should be a fun-filled celebration, to be sure!

What about you?  How are you celebrating Thanksgiving?  Please come share your posts from this past week, and we can all reflect on what we’re thankful for together!

The Happiness Is… blog hop is simply a place to come, link up a post (not your homepage!) that made you happy recently (anything but a giveaway or review) and share it with the rest of us!  Photos, recipes, crafts, stories, moments, and anecdotes are all welcome!  Come peruse other amazing posts and meet fantastic new people in the blogosphere!  The only rule is to please grab my button (right sidebar) and link back to me in some way, otherwise you won’t be able to link up.  That way more people will come and learn about this uplifting way to promote your blog!

Also, I will link back to my favorite post of the week on Twitter and Facebook every Monday after the link closes.  It could be you!  And don’t forget to peruse past favorite links in my Happiness Is Blog Hop tab above.  If you’re featured, your link will be up there forever!  Last week’s favorite was “The Mistaken Generosity of the Tooth Fairy” over at Taking It On.  The post was so funny and made me think of all the foibles in my parenting future!  Be sure to head over there, and to pop all around, and comment on each other’s posts!  It’s no fun if no one is hopping!

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!!  Enjoy your families, food, and football!