A Life In Review

You’ve seen this a million times on Facebook or Pinterest. I’d dare to say that you have probably saved it before somewhere, thinking that you will do it one year as a family. I decided this would be the year that we do it, but I have little ones, so were’s going to do it differently, which got me thinking, what other ways can you do this!

^{* I earn a small commission on some of the links in this post *}

Here’s how it works: Each day in November pick a time that you will all be together (we will do this around the dinner table). As a family decide what you are thankful for that day. It doesn’t have to be complicated. It can be as simple as “I’m thankful for the Pizza on the table”, or you can make it heartfelt. The point is to get your family thinking about what you have in a season that is focused on what you should be getting.

If you need a visual you can find some basic ideas here!

1. The Traditional Way: Buy a large pumpkin (from a local farm if you can) and use a sharpie to write down what you’re thankful for each day. Pro Tip: use a paper towel to dry the pumpkin before writing on it, or you will ruin your sharpie (ask me how I know that 😒😂).

2. The Artificial Way: Find yourself and artificial pumpkin! Either from Amazon (here) or Michaels (here), and then you can actually save it from year to year (make sure to write the date on it so that you can look back years from now) ^{_{** I found a few craft ones at Walmart, but couldn’t link them, so check there too if you have time) **}}

3. The On Your Own Way: If each person wants their own pumpkin you can either get each person a tiny real pumpkin or a tiny artificial pumpkin! There are some cute ones on Amazon or at Michaels!

4. The Paper Cut Out Way: There are a few ways to do this if you aren’t artsy! I have a Cricut, so I’m considering do it this way, but there is a cheaper way to do this. Amazon has a pack of 100 pumpkin cut outs for $9. You can grab them here. Hang them wherever you want for the month of November and be sure to take a final pic at the end of the month!

5. The Long Way: This one will take a year to plan, but when I was looking up pumpkins to write on, I kept stumbling on pumpkin seeds and it gave me a really sweet idea. I don’t know how long this will actually take because I’m not a gardener, but with a little YouTube work you can figure out what you need to do and do this long term project as a family.

I hope that you take these ideas and run with them this season. I am so thankful to have a table to gather around with my family to do this, but every family is different and there is no pressure to make this a grand performance because at the ned of the day, it’s about reminding each other that there are things to be thankful for once in a while. Even if that means just thanking the Lord for getting you through the day in one piece (trust me, I’ve been there).

** If you do this activity, even for a week, tag me on social media (@lizziemichalak on Insta and A Life in Review on Facebook) so I can see your creations! **