In honor of the wonderful Thanksgiving holiday that is before us, and in an effort to become more thankful myself, I have issued myself a challenge. I will spend the next 7 days being very deliberately grateful. I am so blessed, but I don’t always take the time to realize it and to really soak it in. So for the next week, I will be keeping a camera handy (even if it’s only the camera on my phone) and documenting all things that I am thankful for — big and small.

I thought it’d be fun if we did this one together, so I issue the same challenge to you. Between now and Thanksgiving, live gratefully and make a visual journal of all the great things in your life. Have fun, be creative, but most of all take the time to breathe it all in. On Thanksgiving day, post your images (on your blog, collage, a slideshow, in a Photobucket album… wherever) and share the link with us so we can all see them (I’ll do the same). Then, on Saturday, one lucky winner will be chosen and will win a $10 Starbucks card! I can’t wait to see what you all come up with!

And, because every post is better with a picture, here is a pic of my kiddos making pomanders on our recent trip to Love Creek Orchards.

The Mom Crowd (a super cool and resourceful blog for moms put together by my great friends Amanda & McKenna!) is hosting a raffle to help raise funds to bring an orphan child with Down Syndrome home to a new, loving family. Raffle tickets are only $5 each and look at the prizes (see below)! Don’t miss out on this chance to get your hands on some amazing prizes AND change the life of a child! To enter, or to find out more, click here.

Click below to see what you could win!