Thankful Project #5: daddy

Our last thankful project was to thank Matt. He works so hard to provide for his family. He adores these kids and they adore him. After a long day of work he loves to get down on the floor and wrestle, take them out for one on one time, or just let them tag along with him wherever he's going. He's a great husband and makes sure I have everything I need to be the best I can be. I could go on and on about this guy. He deserves our thanks every day for all the ways he takes care of us. 

We surprised him with cookies he loves and doesn't get very often and some love notes:

Some cute pictures of Matt and the kids:

Elephant butt!

Thankful Project #4: Servants at church

There are so many people who serve at our church. There are pastors, deacons, nursery workers, volunteers, and Sunday School teachers to name a few. In the preschool area there are so many workers, teachers, and volunteers who sacrifice their time so that my kids are safe and learning about Jesus while I am worshipping. They do such an amazing job that my kids absolutely love going to church. I posted a video on facebook of J and M jumping around and screaming because they were so excited to go to church. Last week we made gingerbread cookies and delivered them on Sunday to some of those who serve. Just a small thank you for the investment they have made into my family's spiritual growth. 

The kids love making cookies!

The finished treats:

Thankful Project #3: Thank a service member

So, this was done a while ago, but things have been going on. Also, it's #3 because I started it first and finished the other one quicker. Project #3 is thanking a service member. Matt's oldest nephew is an active military member in Georgia so we sent him a care package with treats and pictures colored by the kids. It was interesting explaining to the kids what the military is. I didn't do a very good job the first time. 

My silly kids:

James is holding a bag of homemade deer jerky if you were wondering. 

Thankful Project #2: fire fighters

Next up for thanking is the South Lee County Volunteer Fire Department. The kids colored pictures and I wrote a card and included a couple encouraging Bible verses. Just a simple, "Thank you!" Since it is such a small VFD there's usually no one there so we put our notes in an envelope and taped them to the door. 

It was bright. 😃

Thankful Project #1

Partly inspired by Daniel Tiger's Thankful Day, I decided we are going to do thankful projects leading up to Thanksgiving. I want to teach the kids (and myself) to say thank you. And not just when someone does something nice. We are intentionally going out of our way to thank people who are rarely thanked but greatly deserve it. Here's my initial list of ideas:

Fire Department

Sheriff's Department

Pastors and church staff

Sunday school teachers and volunteers

A military member

Daddy/Matt

Dr Juno 

First up, Lee County Sheriff's Department. A couple days ago we made apple cinnamon muffins. They are so good and I almost always have all the ingredients. I got the recipe off the box of Aunt Jemima pancake mix. This morning we delivered them with a thank you note to the sheriff's department. They kept asking me who we were with and were surprised when I told them it was just from us. As a bonus, the sheriff's name is Rodney. Our James Rodney thought that was pretty cool. 

Waiting for the sheriff to come out

We found out we know some of his neighbors and I worked with his mom in the kitchen at Camp Tejas. 

This was fun! Let's see how many more we can get done in the next couple weeks.