Thankful.

Thank you for mercy that saves all.

Thank you for grace that heals all.

Thank you for love that binds all.

Thank you for forgiveness that cleanses all.

Thank you for strength that carries all.

Thank you for beauty that inspires all.

Thank you for the Spirit that fills all.

Thank you for the Truth that brings light to all.

Thank you for the Word that guides all.

Thank you for Your Son who died for all.

I love Thanksgiving's reminder to take nothing for granted. I am so thankful for God and all that He has done, all that He will do, and for all the blessings He has poured out. I am so thankful for my husband and the fact that our four long years of long distance are finally over!! I am so thankful for our wonderful families and friends. I am so thankful that we live in a country where we experience abundance and freedoms that are completely unknown to so many people around the world. I am so thankful for the children that God has given me to have (some) influence in the early years of their lives, while they are influencing my life and my teaching in return. Above all else, I am SO thankful that "neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Romans 8:38-39). Amen.

With just two days of school this week, and a few less kids than usual, my thankfulness increased tremendously! As did my attitude (especially Tuesday afternoon) of "it's the break-whatever you want-go for it". You want to glue, cut, paint, draw, and water color all at the same time? Go for it! You want to listen to the same Disney song over and over? Why not? I also lost my voice on Thursday (from yelling at the children....just kidding) so that kinda made things a little challenging. We made hand print turkeys out of paper and gave each kid 3 paper feathers on which we wrote what they were thankful for. Oh my goodness. Some of my top favorites were: "I thank God for my hands." "I thank God for the ABC's". "I thank God for salad and horses". "I thank God for pants" (this one was said by my little cowboy who wears jeans and boots everyday. Even when it was 120 degrees in the beginning of the year. Oh so fitting.) "I thank God for napkins." "I thank God for mac-n-cheese." And my all-time favorite....."I thank God for not letting the cat throw up in my garage." Love it! I also walked away with some priceless conversations in the last few hours of the day. One of my sweet little girls (she's like the dog from "Up" who has a very limited attention span, but in a lap dog form since she would rather hang out in my lap for the entire duration of our outdoor time) and I had the following conversation as I sat down to the table while they water-colored:

Her: "Why you sittin' at the table Ms. Sawah?" I'm usually in constant motion or down on the floor with them.

Me: "Because I want to."

Her: "Because you love us?"

Yes. Exactly!

Another priceless conversation occurred between me and my little old man (I swear this kid has the soul of a forty-year-old already) while he was on the potty. It's some of our best conversation time.

Him: "Hey, um Ms. Sawah?"

Me: "Yes?"

Him: "When my papa gets here, can you show him that huge, HUGE booger on that Kleenex?"

Me: "Didn't you throw your Kleenex in the trash?"

Him: "Yeah! Yeah!"

Me: "Well, we leave trash inside the trash can?"

Him: "But can you show him when he gets here?"

Me: "How about I let you show him if he wants to see it?"

Him: "Ok!"

Oh these children.

I just have one recipe for you this week and it hails from Ms. Paula Deen. I can't really stand her on TV but I find her quite compatible in website-form. I made these cookies for my kids as a little Thanksgiving treat, and packaged them up all cute with some of that sparkly wreath ribbon I'm obsessed with and made a little tag with some scrapbook paper. They turned out super cute and delicious! I think I once again ate my weight in the batter. There goes the idea to cut back a little bit to fill up on Thanksgiving haha!

Monster Cookies

From: pauladeen.com

1/4 cup raisins, optional (I omitted)

1/2 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup M&Ms

1 stick butter, softened

1 12-oz. jar creamy peanut butter

1/2 tsp. vanilla

1/2 tsp. salt

1 cup sugar

1 1/4 cups light brown sugar, packed

3 eggs

2 tsp. baking soda

4 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats

1. Preheat oven to 350. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.

2. In large bowl, combine eggs and sugars and mix well.

3. Add the salt, vanilla, peanut butter, and butter. Mix well.

4. Stir in chocolate chips, M&Ms, baking soda, and oatmeal.

5. Drop by tablespoons 2 inches apart on cookie sheet.

6. Bake for 8-10 minutes. Do not overbake! Let stand 3 minutes before transferring to wire rack.

This is like the perfect combo of all the best cookies....oatmeal cookies, chocolate chip cookies, and peanut butter cookies, all rolled up in one! 

I hope everyone has a wonderful, safe Thanksgiving holiday! Enjoy!