Last week was a Pinterest Challenge. This month has a "Thankful Challenge." I'm sure you've all seen it on Facebook or Google + or Twitter... or whatever social media you use, people are posting daily the things they are thankful for. I love this idea, but I'm not one for going with the herd.
A while ago I was reading a photography blog about challenging yourself as a photographer and taking pictures of the ABC's, so I'm mixing the Thankful and Photography Challenge together, I love a good mash-up (oh Glee... you are my favorite). I will be taking a picture every day during the month of November of a different letter of the alphabet and stating something I'm thankful for that begins with that letter.
I'm also bringing Keith in on this challenge. For the past few years he's been pretty ungrateful about the things he has, and it's getting worse. He's starting to think that he is owed certain things, rather than being happy with and glad for what he has (it might be the age, it might be his situation and the anger he's holding onto, who knows). The kid's got it pretty darn good as far as I'm concerned. I'm hoping this challenge really makes him stop and realize how lucky he is.
We've already done photo's for A,B,C, D, E, F, and G. I don't have them all ready to post yet. Something about having a shop to run, a two year old to wrangle, and a four month old to keep happy makes things difficult. Add in the ten year old who has been hiding his homework and not eating his lunch and the difficulty multiplies.
Anyway, Keith was having a hard time with A-E, he would take pictures of things starting with those letters but not know why he was thankful for them. Example: He took a picture of the carpet, so I asked him why he was thankful for that. And he got a little upset and said because it started with "C." I thought maybe he liked the warmth or softness on his feet, or he was thankful his grandparents bought him new carpet for his room so he wouldn't be teased for having pink carpet. Nope, he just took a picture of the nearest thing starting with the letter C. He's starting to get it more, but he's kind of lost on why he's thankful for things. Example: I'm thankful for Nicolas because he's my brother. Sounds nice, but I want him to dig a bit deeper, so I asked him why he's glad to have a brother. Enter the blank expression, followed by a heap of whining.
I'll make a new tab, and will add our photos there as we go, along with captions. I am super excited about this. Pray Keith starts to understand and enjoy himself, too!
Here are Keith's photos (he took them on his own), the captions are in his own words. We used the camerabag2 software to spruce up the pictures, and photoshop to make them square and add the wording - he picked everything.
Avalyn: I am thankful for Ava because I like to have a lot of fun with her.
Brother: I'm thankful for my brother because now I'm not the only boy in the family.
Car: I'm thankful for a car because it helps me get to far places like Nana's and Papa's house.
Dinner: I'm thankful for dinner because it makes me healthy.
Earth: I'm thankful for the Earth because if it was not made I would not be alive.
And here are mine. Everything so far has been done in photoshop. And yes, the first picture was taken on November 1st when we got our first snow. *Shudder*
I'm thankful that every day is a new adventure for my children. Even though we have a daily routine, they always have a way of keeping it interesting and never allowing me to be bored.
This one is self explanatory. I'm thankful for my babies. They are my everything. I love them more than words or pictures could possibly express.
I'm thankful for creativity. It's amazing how pieces of chalk, wax, and charcoal can make amazing drawings. But creativity shows in other ways, too. Turning fabric into clothing, ingredients into meals, clay into sculptures... the possibilities are endless. The world would be a colorless, dull place without creativity.
I'm thankful for the downstairs playroom. If this room didn't exist I would be wading through a sea of toys and I would slowly (but surely) go insane. This room allows me to have kids, and play with my kids, but still have a house where I can be an adult.
I'm thankful for having a good education. I'm grateful that I was able to go to a great public school as a kid, and for being able to go to college as an adult. I'm also thankful my kids are in a great school district, and Matt has the opportunity to go to school again this spring.
Nothing too spectacular happening here, but I'm enjoying it. What are you all thankful for? Are you doing the day to day challenge, too?
