Watch Out For Giant Smilies!!

Today was...ok. I think I had a happier heart. Every time I grumbled about something, I tried to remember that I am the one who signed up for this; that noone is making unreasonable requests of me; that people communicating with me, telling me what they need...it's all good.

Today the kids and I planned our Thanksgiving Dinner menu. We even planned extra goodies and hot apple cider for the crock-pot in the hopes that we can share. We talked about what a rich time of year it is, how the pioneers prepared for the long winter and how we are lucky and blessed to have all that we do. We talked about how to be thankful. For example, when clearing 40 items off your new dresser to dust, (we also tidied the bedrooms today) instead of grumbling, we should be thankful that we have those 41 things and we should clear them and dust with a smile on our faces.

It was a quieter day today...although Brian was woken up by country music this morning. It seems the new neighbours keep a radio very close to the shared wall of the master bedroom. This isn't the first time, either. There will be something said this weekend if it continues, I'm sure. Yesterday we noticed an event going on at the community park behind us. Every hour there were announcements on a loudspeaker. However our first real clue was the rising crescendo of noise that came early in the morning. It was like an invasion of blackbirds coming closer and closer...and closer. The entire local public school population (ok, maybe not the entire lot of them, but there was a lot of kids!) marched past our house. Once the paper came out, I realized it was a huge cross-country meet. I thought it would be a great idea to take the kids over to see. Then, thinking about it, I decided not to. The last time I tried a stunt like that, a few teachers were not impressed with me. My over-protected, unsocialized children tend to find familiar faces in large local gatherings and the grown-up supervisors get all flustered with 'they-who-drift-around'. Oh well, maybe next time.

We did lots of reading today. We began Farmer Boy by Laura Ingals Wilder. It introduced our pioneer discussion nicely. We also read the first half of The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by Kate DiCamillo. A very interesting read. I'll have to fill you in when we've finished it. It's sort of Velveteen Rabbit-ish with a twist. It pulls no punches...it's definitely not your warm-fuzzy-inducing type. But the kids are really liking it.

Kori came and knit with me this evening. She's off to a birthday party tomorrow. I think we'll hit the market in the morning. Mmmm...maple syrup candy! And Dream Weaver is right there...great place for a little girl's birthday present. I have to do groceries as well, so I hope to get to those while Kori is at the birthday party and the boys are at home. Might try to fit in a trip to the apple orchard in the afternoon. They'll have the apple cider things, I'm sure. I'd even like to get a batch of pumpkin tarts made...however, that might push me over the edge of 'ambitious'. We'll see.

Happy Thanksgiving, all. Hug your family and be glad you have them.