Advent

Thanksgiving was early this year. So we have an extra week between Thanksgiving and the start of Advent. This actually gave me time to think about an Advent calendar. Pinterest had lots of ideas. Maggie and I picked out one that we could all enjoy: Christmas stories!

Maggie & I went through all our books to see how many Christmas storybooks we have: and we officially have 19. We will have to dig up a few more to be able to get all the way to Christmas.  We spent last night wrapping the ones we have and Maggie did a great job wrapping! I'm really hoping we can make this an annual tradition.

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The Symbol of the Dailey Family Christmas

As is our tradition, we put up the Christmas Tree the day after Thanksgiving.

 
Both girls enjoyed putting ornaments on the tree (and Jessie continues to enjoy taking them off!)

Turkey Day

As I'm still working on my 1000 Gifts list, I'm calling yesterday Turkey Day, which is the main player of the day. I made much too much food, as usual. Some friends came over to help us eat it all & Rusty enjoyed the scraps!  In honor of Turkey Day, I thought I'd make a special list of the gifts I received yesterday.  Thank you, God!
Turkey covered in bacon
Green beans wrapped in bacon (new recipe)
Homemade cranberry sauce
Mashed potatoes
Gravy that turned out!
Wine
Mark, Kristi, Eli & Barb sharing the day with us
Jessie playing with Eli
Jessie & Eli getting excited over Rusty
Rocky carving the turkey
Pumpkin cheesecake dessert (thanks Kristi!)
Kristi & her mom helping with clean up
Rocky & Mark watching football
Maggie enjoying sparkling cranberry juice in her tea cup
Blue skies
Maggie telling me Grand Canyon facts
Jessie teaching Eli to be a daredevil
Time with just Rocky
The smell of the turkey cooking
The smell of the carcass being turned into broth
A table set in anticipation
Wine
Leftovers for supper
Leftovers to send home with the Osterlunds
Pumpkin cheesecake with cranberry sauce
Maggie being thankful for her school (she's thankful for everything else, but mostly her school)
Jessie attempting to say "Happy Anksgiving!" And "Doble-doble"

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Gifts This Thanksgiving Week

336. An amazing, giant flock of birds, soaring, searching. No bird flies out of sync. A large black cloud of birds, calling to each other until it is time to move on.
337. A beautiful fall afternoon, nice enough to be outside.
338. The first cold of the season, a good reminder of how healthy I really am.
339. Taking Maggie with me to vote.
340. Teaching Maggie way it is do important to vote, especially as a woman.
341. Voting; my right, my duty.
342. Obama winning, watching the results in real time
343. Watching more women head to the national stage as leaders.
344. A chance, a duty, to pray for those who are so broken hearted over the election.
345. A day at home, just Maggie & me.
346. Watching Harry Potter movies with Maggie
347. Time with Rusty
348. The light scratch, tickle of Rocky's beard
349. A lighthearted bet with Rocky
350. Maple bacon cupcakes
351. Playing in the snow
352. Playing fetch with Rusty
353. A good morning Tweet from Diane
354. A fun evening with Girl Scouts
355. Maggie trying something new: peppermint tea in a beautiful tea set
356. Making beautiful hats
357. Lessons in taking turns
358. A reminder to take a pause at work before reacting
359. Watching birds Flying V-formation
360. Jessie, just being Jessie, climbing into the sink to play
361. Rocky taking Maggie to her choir practice
362. Phone call with Mom
363. Making Christmas plans
364. Putting together our Thanksgiving shopping list
365. Seeing the crossroad and wondering which direction God wants us to go
366. Co-workers who care about me
367. Co-workers I care about
368. Philippians 2:3-5  don't be selfish, don't try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourself.  Don't look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others too. You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.
369. Time with my sisters in Christ in a short Bible study
370. A quiet way to tell my co-workers I am thankful for them
371. Sitting in the car after arriving at my destination to listen to the rest of a song
372. 2 boxes for Operation Christmas Child from Maggie's Girl Scout troop
373. The early morning sun, shining golden on the fields ready for winter
374. The flocks upon flocks of Canadian geese migrating over our house, calling to each other. Hearing them long after I can no long see them
375. Seeing the hawk watch the geese, high on his perch
376. Girls night out!
377. Pastor Tim's corny jokes
378. Thanksgiving hymns
379. Matthew 6:25-33 "don't worry"
380. Maggie and Jessie watching "Arthur Christmas" and saying along "a child's been missed!"
381. Jessie singing "'inder-Ella!"

Hot Chocolate

And what goes best with a cold, snowy day? Hot Chocolate, of course! I found this recipe for Nesquik copy cat and I like it a lot better!  It is so easy, and may become some Christmas gifts, shhhh!

Chocolate Milk mix:
1/3 cup Dutch processed cocoa
2/3 cup white sugar
Pinch of salt

Mix together & store in air tight container. Mix 1-2 tablespoons with hot or cold milk and enjoy! If making cold, use a small amount of hot tap water with mix before adding milk -- this will help dissolve the mix and make it nice & smooth!

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SNOW!!!

We had a lot of fun playing in the snow this morning.

First Grade Report Card

So somehow, we missed Maggie's report card last week. It was sent home on Wednesday, so we most likely didn't even open her backpack in the excitement of Halloween & a trip to the dentist.  But after checking Mrs. George's website earlier, I realized we had missed it. A quick email to Mrs. George got us a copy of it [and of course, then Rocky found the report card in my car].

Maggie is currently reading in Stage 4/5, which is Developing [Achieving independence by using sentence structure, meaning and phonetic clues] and Early Fluency, which includes begining to silently read.  Her spelling is in Phonetic stage which means she's writing words based on how they sound -- so her spelling needs some work, but we are almost always able to tell what she has written.

The rest of her report card was very good, filled with Excellents and Satisfactories (+).  And Mrs. George had some wonderful things to say about Maggie:

Maggie is a joy to have in class. She comes to school ready to work and is always excited to learn about something new.  She participates in class discussions regularly.  Maggis is really going about trying and doing her best.  She is a great leader and role model for her classmates.  She also has a fun attitude, but can occasionally be emotional and cry.  She is a sensitive little girl with a big heart.  Maggie is doing very well in both reading and math.  This quarter she has learned her sight words to 100% accuracy!  Way to go!  She is also successful with Word of the Week!  Keep up the good work, Maggie!  I am proud of you!

Voting

Yesterday was election day.  And because I had let my absentee sign up lapse, I ended up going to the polls.  As our voting booth is located at Maggie’s school, I took it as an opportunity to let Maggie come along and see the voting process, maybe get her excited along the way.

Now, I did not “educate” her on the issues or even the candidates.  I’m not sure that’s what’s important right now and besides, I didn’t want her taking something she heard, but didn’t really understand to school and end up getting more confused or confusing her teacher or classmates.  I think at 7, it’s more important for her to know that she should vote, someday.  I explained to her that women didn’t always have the right to vote and that when her great-grandmas were little, women finally got the right to vote.  Maggie asked if only men could vote before that.  I told her yes.  She replied “Yikes.” [My little feminist in the making]

I honestly had/have some very strong opinions about this election and our country’s leaders.  I have found that the deeper I dig into the Bible, the further left I go – which seems somewhat in contrast to what one would think, at least in looking at our country.  Too often, people use faith as a reason to hate, a reason to point at others.  I see faith as a calling to reach out to others.  I read a post today calling Christians to be the hands and feet of Jesus to reach out to sinners/non-believers [or at least the ones who are sinning in the very specific ways listed].  This is a wonderful goal.  Jesus called us to to feed the hungry, care for/heal the sick, provide shelter for those who are homeless, to eat with the sinners. [99% sure this is NOT what the author had in mind, but it’s what I’m taking away from it.]  I’m taking this as my call to be more of the hands and feet of Jesus.  To teach my daughters to be the hands and feet, the Body of Christ.  Because if we are the body:

Potential

I was reviewing some past posts from this summer earlier today and came across some where I was lamenting our place here, our present, our future. Here we are several months later and not much has changed, though Rocky is now employed in a position he enjoys, for the most part.  More changes are coming at my work as my VP has resigned and will be leaving for Grand Forks ND in December.  It is an interesting opportunity for my office. Where will we go from here? Who will lead us? Rocky says I should apply, but I'm not certain I'm ready for that level of responsibility or commitment. While I'm intrigued by the idea, I'm not convinced it is where The Lord is leading me.  Of course, I've been lax in my time with him, so maybe I just can't see the path or hear his voice. 

Today, I am home with Maggie who was feeling sick earlier. As she is now resting, I picked up my Joyce Meyer devotional book, which I have neglected as well.  Today's devotional was about potential.  Why am I always amazed whenever something hits me at just the right time?  She specifically writes about a work promotion.

Potential cannot be manifested without form. There must be something for it to be poured into, something that will cause it to take shape and become useful. For instance, when you are offered a promotion, you are being offered a form in which to pour your potential.  You will never see it take shape unless you do something to exercise it. 

Lord, I know that you have placed great potential inside of me, and I ask Your help in reaching mine. All things are possible with you. (Matthew 19:26) Amen.

Let this be my prayer for the next few weeks.

More Joy!

So here we are in November.  And I'm not even up to 500 yet. I don't think I'm going to make it to 1000 by December 31. I'm a little disappointed to not reach the goal, but I do not plan to stop. Looking for the joys in everyday life has been such a blessing that I can't imagine stopping. So I will celebrate when I get to 1000, but I do not plan to stop there. I will continue to look for the blessings in the everyday.

287. I have a reputation at work for not being a gossip
288. Starbucks coffee with Rocky
289. The awe of every fall morning, of the beautiful sun ruse, pink clouds and baby blue sky
290. The vibrantly colored leaves. The red contrast against the yellow
291. Dinner ready when I get home from work
292. Maggie's whispered I love you
293. Maggie wanting to snuggle "I just want to touch you."
294. Jessie's giggles with Papa
295. A fun work celebration
296. New paint in our office
297. Dinner out with friends
298. Laughing a silly things
299. A beautiful evening for a walk downtown
300. Fresh donuts
301. Watching a cattle drive through downtown Billings
302. The corn maze with Girl Scouts
303. Watching the girls enjoy the slide
304. Jessie telling me I'm pretty, she loves me, and singing in my ear
305. Fetch with Rusty in the morning
306. Quiet evening at home
307. Singing with the choir
308. Girl Scout leadership training & sharing ideas
309. The Girl Scout mission: courage, confidence & character
310. Watching Halloween shows with the girls
311. Maggie in costume 4 days before Halloween
312. Planning a Halloween themed supper
313. Going to Boo at the Zoo
314. Maggie & Ellie running together & Jessie playing on the playground
315. Jessie falling asleep on the way home
316. Snuggling with my girls
317. Breakfast in the kitchen while watching Treehouse of Horror
318. Halloween candy after breakfast
319. The courage & opportunity to speak up at work.
320. Maggie taking Jessie trick or treating
321. Jessie telling Rocky & me to kiss
322. The sounds of Jessie playing
323. All the Halloween parties!
324. The Girl Scouts bobbing for apples
325. The Girl Scouts in costume
326. Watching The Great Pumpkin and listening to the girls giggle
327. Jessie "getting" Halloween: saying trick or treat, thank you, hanging on to her bucket, pouring out her candy when we got home
328. The girls' excitement when a trick or Treater would come to the door
329. The full moon hidden by clouds making the night extra "spooky"
330. Maggie singing in the shower
331. Jessie's laughter when she licks someone and says "I lick you me!"
332. Andre memories if when Maggie used to do the same
333. The attempt to imprint each girl into my memory -- their voice, their smell, the feel of their hand in mine
334. A quiet weekend to look forward to.
335. Jessie asking to watch the "Panna an a sneek!" (Kung Fu Panda)