A Thanksgiving to Remember

This was my first year to host Thanksgiving at my house. My first year to make every single dish and be responsible for the memory of the event for my family.
So, of course, I could blog about the fact that I started a small kitchen fire right out of the gate or the pain endured by my two fingers that believed they could pull a pan straight out of the oven.
The planning could be a blog to itself, but that would take away from the ten hours of complete enjoyment and fulfillment of seeing my daughter smile from ear to ear as we enjoyed her famous crust on the pies or the mischievous laugh of my nephew at the dinner table.
Sure, the turkey was an incredible achievement considering I had never even laid eyes on a thermometer, but the biggest achievement was the hours of peace, laughter, and most importantly...thankfulness. It was truly a Thanksgiving worth remembering.

Thankfulness

I am strong believer in having the spirit of thanksgiving.
None of us are guaranteed more than we have today, so it is important to value what you have in the moment.
I am thrilled to see my daughter adopting this truth in her own life. She says thank you a lot and talks openly about her blessings.
This past week, she lost a tooth.
She put the tooth under her pillow.
She woke up to find some cash.
She immediately goes to the stationary cabinet and grabs a piece of paper and a pen and writes this note..."Thank you, tooth fairy, I love you."
She hands me the note and goes back to her room.
Aside from laughing at her acknowledgment that I was the one who put the money under her pillow, I felt a strong sense of accomplishment.
Brian and I have taught thankfulness and for that I am noticeably, "thankful."

Can I do this?

I have never asked this question more than when I became a mother.
Labor, ouch this hurts...Can I do this?
Sleepless nights with a newborn...Can I do this?
Breastfeeding, 103 fever with the hardest chest ever...Can I do this?
First ER trip with a toddler and head trauma...Can I do this?
Oh, first day of preschool, tears rolling down my face...Can I do this?
First overnight stay with a friend...Can I do this?
The throw up, the homework, the squeezing a kid into dance tights, the long recitals, the endless amount of time coloring, the dress up, the books before bed, the baths, the veggie pushing campaign, the honesty talk, the boy talk, the skinned knees with no skin (yuck!), the tears over the bully at school, the accidental kicks with apologies, the cooking lessons that leave olive oil in the grout, the other messes...the list goes on and on, but leads to the latest one.
Can I really coach her basketball team?
Of course, I am wondering how I got myself in this mess, but even more perplexing is how I get myself into all the crazy messes I have found myself in since this little one was born.
As I am downloading drills and rules from the web, I am smiling at the little girl who always seems to pull me out of comfortable and give me something worth writing about.