Thankful List for November 2013

Thankful List for November
-a piece of good news regarding movement in our case earlier in the month
-a hard conference call with our agency later in the month (thankful for the compassionate voice that is Debbie Wynn)
-Vicki's listening ear
"...your strength will equal your days" Deuteronomy 33:25
-"At night when she tucked the little boy and little girl into bed, she would sing them a lullaby.  As she sang, she wondered if somebody was whispering a lullaby into your ear, and her heart grew a little bigger." -Mommy's Heart Went Pop (a sweet children's book about adoption that my brother and sister-in-law gave me for my birthday

And a few random things that have nothing to do with adoption:
-being able to watch the Sharp boys
-watching Jacqueline be baptized
-Candyland
-playing glow in the dark football playing as a family (and Tucker's exclamation that it was "the best day ever!")
-Libby's friend "harry, the monster"
-playdate with Hydes
-"thankful leaves" hanging in our dinning room
-people cleaning the BSM
-friends cutting out appliques for me (thank you Kristin, Krista, Kelli, and Valerie)
-on November 11th, Libby standing on the middle of the sidewalk in our yard "watching for Christmas"
-fall trees
-warm house on cold days
-fabric shopping with Melissa
-a wonderful birthday including- weekend away in Dallas, mail from Africa, birthday cards and phone calls and text messages, a beautiful mirror from Ben, and the sound of my kids singing to me at bedtime
-kids actually liked Pei Wei
-Operation Shoebox shopping
-a car fix for only $100
-Kasi's help
-getting to know the other "playground moms"
-tough but neccessary conversations
-late start for school
-TLC thanksgiving feast
-Tuck's class singing
-Mimi, Pops, and Katie here for Thanksgiving!
-BSM Thanksgiving feast
-the annual Turkey trot

and here are a few resources we are thankful for in the Christmas season...maybe if I share them now, you can enjoy them too 
-Andrew Peterson's Behold the Lamb of God cd (from Old Testament to New Testament- the story of the coming of Christ... go buy the cd or even better, look and see if the concert is near you this December)
-Truth in The Tinsel (an advent experience for preschoolers... we aren't actually using it this year but we've loved it in years past)
-Treasuring God in Our Traditions by Noel Piper (not just about Christmas but about all holidays and traditions and making them Christ centered)
-Ann Voskamp's The Greatest Gift  (the advent experience we are adapting to work for us this year)
-The Messiah EP from the Church of Broohills (4 beautiful songs)
-Song of the Stars (children's book) by Sally Lloyd Jones
-This Youtube video that will make you smile (Libby has already insisted on watching it several times)