Sweet things

While Ella was explaining to me what her new doll should look and be like, I got a little worried as I have not yet came across a doll that has/does all those things and finally with sadness in my voice I told her that Santa might not be able to find such a dolly...she immediately replied cheerfully:"But mommy, Santa doesn't get the toys at the store, his elves make them in Santa's workshop! They can make any toys kids want!!!" Duh, what was I thinking??? I just brought a big smile on my face and reminded me of this beautiful age of innocence when all things are possible.

I just love this time of the year as we all seem to be more giving, more loving, more patient, more willing to share of our time, of our means, of our souls. I'm so grateful for all the can-a-thons, food drives, and the other million ways people are encouraged to give. We have a virtual food drive at work for the local Food Bank, Ella's school had a can-a-thon for the CCA (Christian Community Action) in Lewisville for which her classroom delivered all the food to their facility. How exciting that was for Ella: she got to ride the school bus with her classroom friends and teacher and deliver those goodies there! I just want her to learn to give more and more. Of course she is already a very sweet giving child, but I guess we can never do enough, here's just so much need in this world.

As we're gearing up for Thanksgiving, I want to jot down a few things that I'm deeply grateful for:

~My sweet daughter
~My wonderful husband
~My parents and parents-in-law
~The Gospel for Jesus Christ
~The Church of Jesus Christ
~The country I live in and the country I come from
~Good friends
~Daily necessities like food, clothes, a working car
~My job
~My education
~Good teachers
~Nice home and neighborhood
~Physical and mental health
~Great trainer and nice gym to go to
~People and materials that have inspired me to have a more healthy lifestyle
~Food allergies that make that healthy lifestyle a bit easier (sometimes!)
~Spiritual Promptings
~Opportunities to give
~... and lots of other small and big things that make life such much better.

I'm excited for Ella's Thanksgiving feast today at school tonight. The children have put together a nice little program and everyone will bring their favorite dishes. We're bringing sweet potato casserole (my healthy recipe which entails a minimum amount of brown sugar, flax seed margarine, and spices.) Hrishi off to Omaha for his annual hunting trip (and the first one since we left Omaha.)

Looking forward to a nice weekend. I have some pictures yet to post from here and there but haven't gotten around to it. Been busy trying to figure out my new (smart) phone. Sometimes I really think it's smarter than me! :-)