Thankfulness

Crochet Christmas stocking

Baby angoras
I have found that being thankful can be one of the hardest character traits to teach our kids (and myself). In this world of the "have everything you want" society, we take alot for granted. I am trying to get my kids to think of just one thing a day they can be thankful for. Even though we homeschool, which keeps alot of the "junk" out of our home, this task can be difficult. I try to remind them they ALWAYS have three meals with snacks in between, every day, warm beds, all the clothes they could possibly imagine (even if they are hand-me-downs or Goodwill specials)and we still struggle. This morning I made blueberry buckle (from frozen blueberries we "put-up" this summer). My youngest decided he didn't like it before he even tried it. In our house that can be cause for severe punishment LOL, or I could turn it into a teaching moment, which I did, although I am not always tactful in the way I do this. My kids are spoiled (my oldest prefers the term blessed:)) most mornings they get muffins, pancakes, fresh bread, eggs from our chickens, homemade cinnamon rolls(a favorite in our house) or what ever else I feel like whipping up. They do not know the concept of fending for themselves most mornings. Which can sometimes cause a bigger struggle in thankfulness because they do not realize this is NOT the norm. Which is when I proceed to go into another disscussion on the subject. I would challenge anyone to write down one thing a day they are thankful for (even if it is just getting out of bed this morning) and realize we are more "blessed" by just that one thing that what alot of people may have in a lifetime. The puppies and bunnies are growing by leaps and bounds. I am really excited with this last batch of angoras because I got three pitch black ones. This will be the first of this color in our "herd" and can not wait to spin some of it in a couple of months. We are very busy right now, but I am still trying to find time to start some homemade Christmas presents. I am machine knitting angora hat and scarves, hand crocheting Christmas stockings and several other projects. I would love to be able to sell the Christmas stockings and have a plan for next year to start them in January to have a bunch ready for the 2010 holiday season. The kids and I decided to surprise my hubby and re-do the chicken run fence ourselves. All went well until I smashed my finger with a hammer! We did get it finished but my "crochet finger" was severly injured in the process. It looks great and was well worth the effort.