FRODO SEVEN : A Little Bit of Everything

So, I realized I left a couple of important things out of my Thanksgiving post. One of the highlights of the day was the Mass we attended before getting down to all the choppin'. Fr. TJ was the celebrant which means we spent much of the time shushing Ella who reported over and over "There's Father TJ". She loves Father TJ. I'm thinking of asking him to make a guest appearance at her birthday party--it would make her day. Anyway, he gave a great homily about being grateful, saying that if everyone were more thankful, it would change the world. He got an "Amen" from a man in the crowd and a few claps when he finished. Well done.

Another thing I left out was our yearly tradition of going around to say what we were most thankful for. Sophie's contribution was, "this meal" which is funny because she eats enough to feed a cricket. Madeleine said something interesting. She said that she is grateful for our nightly dinners together. She has friends who grab a frozen meal and nuke it most nights so she appreciates what she has--good for me to hear as (and I know I've mentioned this before so, sorry to be redundant) I do not love the whole plan the meal, shop for the meal, make the meal process.

And lastly, I forgot to mention my Thanksgiving sweater. As you may have noticed in our group photo, I was wearing a chunky sweater of the most hideous and bright shade of orange. I bought it at a boutiquey type store at some point so it was probably pricey which is the only reason it hasn't ended up in the Good Will bag. Every time I look at it, I wonder exactly what I was thinking. Oh--I know what I was thinking--that would be perfect for Thanksgiving. Which is literally the only day of the year I wear it. This year, as it was a balmy 85 degrees outside, I had it on for about 30 minutes. I figure at that rate, I need to wear it at least thirty more years to get my money's worth.

OK--on to the photos. Most of them are of an activity we did with our Little Flowers Club. Little Flowers is a girls' club that centers around learning about the virtues and growing in them. I heard about it from my friend Jane who is in a club with five or six other moms at our church. Because of my teaching schedule, it did not work out for us to join them and as it turns out, that was fortunate because instead, I started a very small club with just our girls and the two girls down the street. We have a secret handshake and a song and do all of the cool things clubs do. The goal is to learn and share our faith while having a lot of fun together. It's one of my favorite things we're doing this year. I highly recommend the program if you have girls.