Final Thanksgiving reflections

Tomorrow it's back to reality. It's back to school for AJ and back to work for me. AJ tried to make the argument that a four day weekend isn't long enough this time of year since the days are so short. I love his logic, but it probably wouldn't fly with his teacher or my boss.

As I checked his backpack and folder to make sure we weren't forgetting anything, I discovered a school project I somehow had missed earlier. Reading AJ's list, and the order in which he wrote it, regardless of how he spelled it, made me smile. And it made me proud.

In case you can't read it, the assignment was to list the things he's thankful for. He wrote, in this order:

1. God
2. Army
3. Family
4. Electricity
5. Dog
6. Food
7. Freedom
8. Help

Maybe, just maybe, I'm doing something right as a mom after all. And for that, I'm very thankful.

More décor

If some is good, more is better in Sydney's world. Especially when decorating her room for Christmas. During a quick trip to the store to pick up some replacement Christmas lights for the string that burned out, I let her pick some ornaments of her own.

While I was outside replacing the lights around her window, she went to work in her room. And she's very proud of the results.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, except for the total lack of snow and 45-degree temp

The clock is ticking away. We've just about made it through "Black Friday" without setting foot in a single retail establishment. It's bad enough that the true reason for Christmas gets buried under piles of presents. I refuse to lose Thanksgiving in the mad dash for doorbuster deals. Not at 5 a.m., and certainly not at midnight.

Soap box aside, we had a great day after Thanksgiving. We spent it decorating, inside and out, and are now just a Christmas tree away from having fully decked halls.

Sydney was ecstatic to help. Remembering how we did it last year, she repeatedly asked, "Can I decorate my table?" Out came the Playmobil nativity scene, plus Santa and his sleigh. Noting Gus in his kennel in the background, it scares me to think what these pieces will look like one month from now.

"I'm a great decorator!" She repeatedly told me. The nativity scene is about the only thing she wanted in the same place as last year. Everything else she just wanted in her room. For instance, the snowflakes that I hang from the lights above my bathroom mirror each year... Sydney found a much better spot for them.

And then there's the blessed dog that barks the tune to Jingle Bells. Sydney couldn't wait to set him rocking and barking. How I hate that dog. I wonder if I could encourage a certain other dog to show him some love. Hmmmm...

AJ couldn't resist either. The goofy pose, by the way, is AJ's impression of the Grinch riding in the sleigh pulled by the small dog.

When he wasn't being the Grinch, AJ was one Wild elf!

It's always so fun to pull out and dig through the decorations each year. I love that the kids' excitement mirrors my own. It seems to even have inspired Jeff this year, who helped me hang lights on the house this year. For the first time ever I have lights hanging from the roof! (And if you know the steep pitch of our roof, you know this was no simple task.) And I guessed the right number of strings to buy. On the first try.

Once the roof was done, I moved on to the easier-to-reach spots to light. It was then I discovered the consequences of last spring's careless storing of lights. The two strings of icicle lights that typically hang on the front porch railing - both are dead. And the snowflake lights I got last year to line Sydney's window - they don't work anymore either. I was tempted to run to the store and replace them, but then remembered my Black Friday boycott.

I can fix it tomorrow. So if you see someone outside rehanging lights in the middle of a snowstorm, you'll know who, and you'll know why.

Giving thanks - my turn

It's probably a good thing I waited until this morning to reflect on my many blessings. As exhausted as I was last night - by work, by kids, by a puppy that never stops chewing on things, by a way-too-hectic schedule - I'm afraid the top thing on my list of what I'm grateful for would have been a big glass of wine.

But now I've had almost eight hours of sleep. I awoke to find my husband sleeping next to me (and not snoring!) after his night of work. The puppy wasn't barking to get out of his kennel. AJ and Sydney were both still sleeping. And a big cup of coffee was just a push of the "brew" button away.

Yes, I am blessed.

We are healthy. We have jobs. We have a nice warm home. We are safe and we are all together.

Oh yeah, and it's an unseasonably warm day.

What more could we need?

Sure, there are plenty of things I still want. A quick scan through the Black Friday ads reminds me of that. But God has more than provided us with everything we need. He's definitely blessed me with more than I deserve.

Coincidentally, right as I was typing "blessed me with more than I deserve," Gus - who is in the back yard - went racing past the window, leaped up the step and crashed into the door. Thud! (Sigh) Yeah, that's probably more in line with what I deserve.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Giving thanks - by Sydney

Yesterday I focused on her big brother's list. Today, on the eve of Thanksgiving, I've asked Sydney to count her blessings.

It worked out rather nicely, because one of her "homework" assignments for preschool this week is to tell someone five things she's thankful for. Here's what she had to say:

"I'm thankful for hugs (pause)... turkeys. And I'm thankful to eat them and to go to houses."

I interrupted her, "what do you mean 'go to houses'?"

"Everybody's houses. Grandmas and grandpas, and cousins, and Uncle Steve's."

She then picked up where she left off. "I'm thankful for flowers. Those are all the five things I like."

How fun it is to get my kids' perspectives on the things that matter most. Tomorrow I'll try to compile a list of my own. It's probably going to be longer than just five things.

Giving thanks - by AJ

With Thanksgiving just a few days away, I asked AJ what he's thankful for this year.

What has top of mind awareness with my six-year-old? Here's his list:

• Freedom
• Be free to play
• Food
• Family

I interrupted him, "Are you thankful for anything that doesn't start with the letter F?"

He added to his list, "Good will."

"Do you know what good will means?" I asked.

"It's when someone does good stuff to you. Right?"

He wrapped up his gratitude list with two more things, "I'm thankful for soldiers. And for money."

Sydney jumped in, "AJ wants to be rich."

"No Sydney," he argued. "Because if we didn't have money we'd never get to buy anything."

Tomorrow I'll give Sydney her chance to make a list.

Game night

What started with the girl with a million toys pouting because she couldn't possibly think of anything to do other than play Barbie games on the computer, turned into an oldies but goodies night at the Kazel house.

Behold the queen of Candy Land.

Six games in a row I played with her while Jeff was with AJ at hockey practice. And how many of those six games did I win? One. It's a game of pure luck, which always scares me because how do you make it easier for the child to win when the outcome is pure luck? But luck was on Sydney's side: When she played me, when she played AJ later in the evening, and when she played Daddy after supper.

While playing with me, the game was a friendly experience. Sydney was as excited to greet the girl characters along the route as she was to cross the finish line. Princess Frostine and Grandma Nutt were the favorites.

Of course, the game against Daddy turned into a trash-talking competition. "You're going down, clown!" and "Girls rule!" were among the taunts leading up to and during the board game battle.

When Daddy shouted with mock excitement, "I got the Princess Ice Cream card!" Sydney was outraged.

"That's Princess Frostine, Daddy!"

AJ, meanwhile, embraced game night with a request of his own. Battleship is his new favorite game, even though he doesn't fully seem to handle where to put the pegs. But it's war related, so it must be important, he figures.

And the ship with four holes in it, "Don't you think it looks kind of like the Titanic?" AJ asked. That makes it even cooler.

How I love the classics! There's a reason they've stood the test of time. I had a Candy Land game as a child, and the Battle Ship game actually is mine from childhood.

Still, I can't help but realize that this was just the first day of single digit temperatures. It's going to be a long winter.