Thankful Tree in the Making

I wrote about this a few posts ago that we were going to make one of these. Here is ours in the making:

and the final product:

We all enjoyed the nice family time spent drawing and contouring the paper leaves, and writing down some of things we were thankful on the front of the leaves. And my heart just leapt with joy (and gratitude) when the first thing Ella wrote as being thankful for, was "God." Mamaie, tataie, and Ella had fun picking up twigs at the park and then sticking the leaves on. We sure piled on a ton of leaves on that tree: so very much to be thankful for!! (Pictures coming of this beautiful home-made masterpiece decorating our Thanksgiving table.)

A quote I came across on one of my friends' facebook page rings true: "Not what we say about our blessings, but how we use them, is the true measure of our thanksgiving." - W. T. Purkiser

Busy fun days

This is all be a "mother-of-all" post, since we've had some full and fun-filled days and there is not enough time to split them in separate entries.

So first things, first: BALLET

The Nutcracker tech week is in full swing; in fact it started yesterday after church, when we went for the first stage rehearsal. Somebody was very excited, all eyes and ears, focused, but also a bit nervous (before getting up on the stage.)

(My little Cherub is the very first one on the right.)

We are very proud of Ella for working so hard on that stage last night and every single class period that led up to this. All those little Cherubs looked adorable up there and they couldn't be more fit to open the Guardian Angels scene.

Hrishi's Hunting trip:

Hrishi travelled to Omaha for work and he was able to make the tail end of the week into a couple of hunting days with his great friend, Dennis. He got four turkeys (only brought home two) and a 150 lbs buck. Now, that's success right there! He was so excited and so were we, getting all the updates and pictures from the field!!!

He drove over 10 hours yesterday to get back to Dallas, and right after dinner he and my mom cleaned up and cut up around 35 lbs of meat, while dad and I watched and took pictures, and Ella played with the buck's antlers! Now that's some fun family time, wouldn't you agree?? :)

Here are our two talented butchers and their masterpieces: (nice roast pieces, tenderloins, steaks, hamburger cuts, and shanks. YUM!!!) We already have a few local friends whom we'll be sharing the joy! :)

She is the funniest!!

The yield of this hunting trip justified a purchase I've been planning for a long time, a chest freezer. Now I can store meats, vegetables, bread, and whatever else I can freeze to my heart's content. Very happy about that as I am generally a bulk buyer. :)

And since we've been eating a whole lot of turkey lately and now we have a lot of deer, we decided to mix things up a bit this Thanksgiving and instead of turkey, grill some deer tenderloins. We've had that before and is absolutely delish.  

School:

The end of 2nd six weeks' report card came home on Friday, and once again our little student did very well! To spoil her a bit mamaie had scumptious cupcakes waiting for her after school.

Friday they also had their classroom Thanksgiving feast and popsicle party.

Best friends' birthday party: 

To make Friday the best day ever, after school she went to her school best friend's house (Emma) to celebrate her birthday! These girls love each other so much and they are so cute together. You see, aside from their cute bubbly personalities, they share some of the same food allergies and asthma and I guess that helped them bond more. Emma's mom, knowing of Ella's severe food allergies (from Emma), prepared and bought everything with that in mind (dairy free chicken nuggets, rice ice cream -nut and dairy free, home-made dairy-free pumpking muffins with vegan chocolate chips, etc.) I was so impressed with this amazing woman. It is the first time when a friend/parent goes all out of the way to accomodate Ella's food allergies. The mom, one amazing woman, and Emma-a wonderful friend. That really made my day!! The made a pretty frame craft, colored, cut, played games, and roasted marshmallows. Fun galore!

Hard Eight Texas BBQ:

We gave mom and dad a real taste of Texas barbeque and they loved it. On Saturday evening we went out to our favorite BBQ joint and had a feast:



Running shoes:

I've been getting blue/black toes since I've been starting to run longer distances. Not extremely painful but still uncomfortable. One of my FIT group friends, a more experienced runner herself, suggested that it may be the shoe size, too small and asked if I had fitted shoes for comfort and best results. My Bowerman series Nike had been doing the job just fine but not in the running arena but they were not fitted to my foot and running style. So I decided to finally take the leap, find a speciality store, open my wallet (big), and get myself a pair of fitted shoes. And I am so glad I did. My first 5.5 mile run on Friday in my Ghost4 Brooks was seamless. These "guys" are going to take me far! :) They are impeccable!

Otherwise, I'm keeping myself motivated  planning to sign up for my first Warrior Dash event next April. I'm very excited and pumped to start training for that. The training itself won't be much different than what I'm doing now but it'll have a higher purpose and help me stay more motivated and on track.

To help wiht my fear of heights, I'll try rock climbing. And go back to swimming at least once a week.
Exciting times, I'm telling you! :)

The good life

This week Hrishi had to travel to Omaha again for work. He was really needed there and will still be needed back there in November. We managed well although we missed him dearly. With me having to take on all of the household chores, including everything that goes with taking care of Ella, I gained a deeper appreciation for all the help that I get when he's around. And even more respect and admiration for you mothers of many children out there, or single mothers, or just very busy women!!

Althought it was busy, I was able to reflect at the end of each day on how blessed I am and feel for all the work that is mine to do: the work of a mother, the work of a wife, the work of a  woman in the church, the work of an analyst, the work of person passionate about fitness, etc. Because only through work we grow and shine, and reach whatever destination we set out to. And work makes life good, doesn't it?

And here is some of the things that make my life good, in fact great and wonderful:

(Ok, this really deserves a caption as there is a pretty cute story behind it: Ella comes home with this cute bunch of little dalmatians. I ask her where she got them from. She tells me she traded them with a friend. I ask her what she traded them for, she said "nothing." I'm a little perplexed and I ask if she had to return this to her friend. She said, "why, of course! I have to retun them on Monday." I thought it was very funny and I'm glad that I get to play with them too, until Monday! :-))

My very handsome man.

Today I got to volunteer and get my hands dirty with pumpkin along side this lovely bunch! I'm getting to love some of these kids and Ms. Brininstool, they wonderful teacher!

Today in honor of the Red Ribbon week, everyone dressed-up in Western attire! It was such a treat to see everyone's outfits (including teachers, staff, and principal!)

I'll make a conscious effort to be better at treasuring every moment because it is there, in the small, daily details that we get to experience life at its best. And trying to find the extraordinary in the ordinary day makes (my) heart happy.