Thankful for Teachers

I'm the "party mom" for my son's first grade class and on Friday we had our Thanksgiving feast!

 

 

I had one game planned before the feast.

One game.

A little balance the pumpkin on your head relay race.

There are 15 kids.



I couldn't get those kids to listen to me to save my life!!!

I was so exhausted by the end of the feast, I came home and laid on the couch
 until it was time to go back and pick up my kiddos!

I then proceeded to go to bed at 8:30pm!



 

Teachers are magical and amazing!

I marvel at their patience and creativity.

I am in awe at their grace and organization.

I'm so thankful for brilliant teachers that love my children and

teach them with energy and enthusiasm.

*****



I'm always a little against doing anything "Christmas" before Thanksgiving,

 but this time I can't resist!

Another great teacher and lover of children is my dear friend Kristie Christie

(yes, how cool is that, she married a man with the last name "Christie!!!)

She has worked in children's ministry for over 15 years and is one of those magical people like Mr. Rogers who simply captivates children with her sweet spirit and authentic love for Jesus.

She has developed an incredible children's ministry curriculum, but has also created a wonderful family advent for this Christmas season.

Click the beautiful graphic below to go to her site and make your holiday meaningful by gathering as a family and preparing your heart for the coming of the King of King.

A 25 day family advent devotional!

101 and 1/4 Years

I have a little boy who is obsessed with WWII war planes.

Most specifically the B-17 Bomber that his

Great Grandfather flew 52 missions in and came home alive.

So when I heard that some of the WWII planes were coming to a little local airport,

I knew we had to go.

 



The roar of the planes coming in was awesome and getting to crawl around inside them was even more awesome!
 

But then this happened.
 

A woman pushed a man in a wheelchair over to one of the planes and I overheard her say, "I'm so upset that I didn't bring my camera."

I walked over to her and offered to take some pictures for her and e-mail them to her.

"I don't have e-mail."

"I can text them to you, do you have testing on your phone?"

"Yes," she said, although she didn't have a phone with her!

It was a moment not to miss because she was there with her 101 and 1/4 years old husband!  He dispatched these planes from their manufacturing plant in Michigan during the war. 

John McClellen, nick name "Mac."

I ran and got my little Mack out of the B-17 and told him he must meet this very special man,

 a once in a life time experience.

 

We sat and talked and listened to this incredible man for quite some time.

We heard all about life stateside during the war.

We heard about the precise inspection of the planes that left the US for Europe. 

We heard about his amazing 100th birthday party and letters from Presidents.

We even heard about his experience carrying the Olympic torch in Utah!

101 years old, and a quarter! 

Pretty incredible. 

Then he took the hand of his young bride and said,

"these, right now, are the best years of my life," and he kissed her hand.

That really hit me.

Of all the years he's lived and all the incredible things he had accomplished,

this moment, right now, was his highlight.

I think that is the secret to his long and happy life.

His present moment is his best.

Be present in this moment and make it the best moment of your life!

 

Thanksgiving

Before I hurry up into December,

I wanted to highlight our Thanksgiving.

 

We went to Northern California to my in-laws'

 

The kids had a ton of fun making balloon creations!

 

I think my son has a future as a clown!

 

It was a beautiful, sunny day that we mostly spent outside.

As we sat at the dinner table, we did the traditional, "go around the table and say what you are thankful for," game.  Well, it's not really a game, more like a tear jerker with us! 

It is pretty amazing to sit at a table with all of my family - my brother, parents, in-laws, husband, children - everyone gets along so well and makes the drives from all different cities

 to be together for the holidays.

It's pretty special.

We've had several close friends lose loved ones in the past few weeks.

With that, my husband said, "I'm most thankful for this moment right now."

How true.

This very moment is something to treasure.

I said that I was most thankful for redemption.

Last year I lost a lot during my struggle with anxiety and this year God has been giving back what was taken from me.

It's been a beautiful year of redemption.

 

 Now as December has rolled in so quickly, I'm going to dig my heels in and fight every threat to rush through this month, busy with events, shopping and baking.

I'm going to discipline myself to keep a heart of thanksgiving and take time to treasure every moment.

How are you going to enjoy December and not miss it?

Turkey Bucket

Well, it's the week of Thanksgiving - how did that come so quickly? 

Last night we had a little "Friendsgiving" to get us ready for the big day!  We did a mini feast with our friends to tell them how thankful we are for them.

Just in case you are looking for a new and inovative way to cook your turkey this year, I wanted to share with you what has become a family favorite for us...

Turkey Bucket!

First you pick a spot in your yard and put some sand down.  Drive a stake in the ground and cover the stake and sand in several sheets of heavy duty foil.

Then get your coals going.

 

Tie up your bird, slather it with butter, and place it on the stake.

 

Cover the turkey with a 5 gallon metal bucket.

 

Then place a wire fence around the base of the bucket.  This is where you'll pour the coals into so they sit right next to the bucket.

 

Place a heavy rock on top.

 

And let her cook!  It creates a dutch oven.  It's so much fun for the guys to hang outside, tend to the coals (you'll need to put some extra ones on here and there), have a drink and chat.

 

Then, after a few hours (cook time varies according to the size of your bird),

it's time for the big reveal!

 

Another great, tasty, moist turkey!

 

Last year we used Trader Joe's Brined Turkey.

It was incredible!!  I highly recommend it.

Joe knows turkey!

 

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and know that I'm very thankful for all of you who read my random thoughts and ramblings!  It's pretty cool to make friends all over the blogging world!