Turkey Day {Bittersweet}

Thanksgiving was bittersweet this year. And I'm not talking about the food. Bitter in that it was the first year in 40 that I didn't spent Thanksgiving with my extended family at my cousin's house, like we have always done before.

Sweet in that Thanksgiving was spent at our house with our immediate family, mom, dad plus Kim and family. And my cousin Heather and her kiddos came over later that day. Bitter in that my granny is in the nursing home right now, and it's so hard to see her there when you know that she wants to be home with her family.

Sweet in that we all went to see her and took her a heaping plate of our favorite dishes.

Bitter in that we knew that the guys were leaving for 10 days the morning after Thanksgiving.

Sweet in that we know that God is with our husbands and with us too as we manage our households alone.

And the rest was just sweet, sweet, sweet as we ate, played games, wrestled (that would be Luke and Kyler) and enjoyed the day. Hope yours was sweeter than bitter too!

Thank-FULL

Thanksgiving Dinner was as usual, fabulous! My top 3 favorite items on my plate? *Granny's Mashed Potatoes *Mom's Cream Cheese Corn *Carolyn's Salad w/ Bleu Cheese and Cranberries -The ham and turkey was very, very delicious too. I also had my first pop in 10 days, which fizzled fabulously as it slid down my throat. Here are some pics of our day at cousin Ronda's house: We played our annual game of spoons, of which I believe I am the defending champ. It is cut throat (especially right beside Kim R. and her nails.) We had a BLAST playing and I am proud to say that I defended my title well.

Giving Thanks Where Thanks Is Due

I couldn't let this day slip away without making a record of what I am so very thankful for in this year of our Lord 2008.

I'm going to make it simple.

Could write at length on each of these, but they are what they are.

No sense expounding too much.

In no particular order:

~Church. I am so deeply thankful and glad that we have finally found a new church home. We have not "joined," but it is pretty obvious that Fellowship Bible Church is where we should be. And that feels so good. Finally.

~Basketball. Tom's job is hard to love. But God gives me great peace and thankfulness for the way He has directed our steps. I even love his job sometimes. And that is nothing but a Godsend.

~Husband. Tom is not hard to love. He is a solid man who God put me with to balance out my wacky emotions. He anchors me, and there are no words for my thankfulness for T.

~Blogging. Blogging is my friend. When I am sad, blog listens. And when I am feeling happy, blog proclaims my happiness to the world. I am thankful for this fun, creative outlet that allows me to write and express my feelings. Thanks Dawn, for the award! I've passed the award on to some people at the end of this entry.

~Children. My kiddos and their varied personalities. They are so all stinkin' different, and we absolutely love it. We derive such immeasurable joy from watching them interact with the world around them, in such different yet wonderful ways. I am fall-on-the-ground thankful for my children.

~My kids' school. I find myself just thanking Him for where he has put us. It is not a perfect school, but it is where He wants us. And I take great comfort in that.

~Family & Friends. They bless the heck out of me. The thankfulness in my heart for these wonderful people flows like a river all the day long.

~Hot water. I love hot water to make tea with and hot water to take a bath in. Hot water is one of my most soothing things that I crave and love and am thankful for.

~Pics. Pictures make my heart sing with joy. I love taking pictures and am thankful for the opportunity to do so.

~Creative Juices. Not much makes me feel more alive than bein' crafty. I just love it. I am convinced that in heaven I am going to be chief craft creator for His heavenly kingdom. I may not be as talented as some, but I feel blessed by using my mind and hands.



And my awards will go to....
Ellen for a beautiful blog with GREAT pics!
Audra for the tireless pursuit of excellence!
Ashley for being so fab.u.lous!
Amanda for being such a faithful blogger!
Roxanne Kristina for her hard-hitting posts!
Amber for being so crafty and having such cute girls!
Katy for her homeschooling passion and sweet words!

Katie for her heart-felt and always scriptural entries!
Baloney because she's funny, something I have no talent for!
Rena for precious words and an awesome heart!
There are so many more of you! I could list many more, but I will save all of you for the next award that (might!) come my way.

Blessings!

Turkey Day

The main reason I like to call Thanksgiving "Turkey Day" is to remember all the grief we used to give my sister growing up. Somewhere along the way, someone gave her the nickname of turkey, and it seemed to stick. And on Thanksgiving, it was inevitable, someone (usually Uncle Rex or Grandpa) would tell her we were going to eat turkey for thanksgiving... oh wait, that means we are going to eat YOU! "Nooooooooo," she would scream! The funny thing is that as a kid, somewhere in your mind reality blends with possibility and you become kind of desperate, thinking that they might actually throw you pot and cook you for dinner! I told my kids the story this year, hoping we could bring back the old tradition of calling Kim "turkey."

Here is a page I digiscrapped for Thanksgiving. I can't believe how much I love to scrapbook on the computer. I will confess that this page took me just as long as a paper and sticky tab page, but, hey, I am out of practice.... one good thing is that I made this page for free, didn't have to sink $10.00 and surely more into 3 kinds of paper, sticky tabs, photo printing, letter stickers, ribbon or vellum! Woo hoo!! Hopefully, this page will also last longer than a paper one too! I have the option to print it out, and if it gets ruined, I can always print it again. One last thing, if you buy off-white letters, but upon affixing them to your page, you realize that dark brown would look better, then you are stuck as a duck with those off-white letters. But in this case, I just grabbed my digital paint bucket, and woop! oh now the letter is darker! So easy, so fun! Check out the awesome and free scrapbooking sets at shabbyprincess.com. Absolutely LOVE them!

On a different note, look at that plate of food Kami fixed for herself! It was a heaping high plate! Looked so funny in a little girl's hands. But she (as did we all) enjoyed every bite of our traditional Thanksgiving dinner, which included Granny's heavenly mashed potatoes, Nana's creamed corn and for dessert, Kim's yummy fudge. Oh, to have that meal again before next year! It was soooooooooo good! And a WONDERFUL day with family.

Thanksgiving Assignment

Inspired by my friend Chere (a 4th grade teacher), I wrote this prayer of thankfulness to God.

Through the years, Father in
Heaven, you have led my steps,
And at every tiny turn, you have watched over me.
Now, I thank You, the God of All Gods, the
King of the Universe, yet Savior of my soul... I
Sing a song of thankfulness to You, for all You
Give, for all You wisely withhold. For all You Are.
Immense, Amazing, Unconditional, Full of Love.
Victorious. Mysterious. Mine. O Lord, my God...
I thank you for the blessings you give, too
Numerous to name!! Even amidst the trials, my heart says,
"Great are You God. You are my Rock"