I have been blessed

I love Thanksgiving.

Not just for the wonderful fellowship with family and the delicious food - but also for how it reminds me to be thankful in everything.

As often as we all hear the phrase "We have so much to be thankful for!", it's amazing how quickly we can lose sight of that and let little hiccups and detours in life get us down. It's easy to let one bad day turn us around. We allow ourselves to throw a pity party over all the things that have gone wrong...when so much is going right.

When I hear about those who are truly in need - those who have been burdened with life-altering tragedy in their life - It makes me feel like a spoiled child for whining and complaining about my own piddly little problems.

I've been blessed beyond measure.

Take a moment and read the lyrics to this song - and remember to thank God for all his blessings this Thanksgiving!

I Have Been Blessed

by Michael Compton
When He moves among us—all that He does,
All of His mercy—all of His love,
If the pen of a writer, could write everyday—
Even this world could never contain—How I’ve been blessed.

Warmth in a winter—Flowers in spring.
Laughter of summer, the changing of leaves,
Food on my table, and a good place to sleep
Clothes on my back and shoes on my feet
I have been blessed.

Arms that will raise—a voice that can talk,
Hands that can touch, legs that can walk,
Ears that can listen—eyes that can see
I’ve got to praise Him as long as I breathe
I have been blessed

A mother and father—nurtured and raised
Sisters and brothers—memories made
Our pastor to lead us—this altar to pray
Stripes that heal—the blood that still saves
I have been blessed.

We live in a country—the greatest on earth
Where the flag stands for freedom and what it is worth
She stands in a harbor—Miss Liberty calls
All have given some, but some gave it all
So we could blessed.

He’s my shoulder to lean on—when I am down
The Rock where He leads me when I’m overwhelmed
The place where He hides me under His wings—He’s not just a song
He’s the reason I sing—I have been blessed.

I have been blessed, God’s so good to me
Precious are His thoughts of you and me
No way I can count them, There’s not enough time
So I’ll just thank Him for being so kind
God has been good, so good
I have been blessed.

Toddler food

When Peanut was an infant, I used to think that it would be "so easy" to feed her once she could eat "real" food and I could finally put away my blender and stop pureeing fruits and veggies.

Boy, was I wrong.

Feeding a toddler is very tricky. Some days they love a certain food and other days they act like it's poison. Some days they ravenously eat everything you offer and other days they throw all their food on the floor push their food around their tray and won't eat a solitary pea. The only thing that Peanut will always eat and never turn down is junk food. Of course. So to keep her eating right, I have to plan ahead and try to keep plenty of options on hand. The key for us is variety. I try to offer her several small portions of different foods at each meal in the hope that she'll eat at least one of them. I'm not talking about a three course menu, I'm just talking basic foods. For example, tonight she had a spinach salad, a chicken tender and a cheese stick. She actually ate all three of those things and for her - that's a huge meal. My little 19 pound 20 month old is not a big eater.

Anyway, it occurred to me that their might be other moms of toddlers that could give me some fresh ideas. I'll kick us off by sharing some of the things that Peanut will usually eat for me.

PB and J. Yup, the old stand-by. I make Peanut's with organic peanut butter and a all fruit jelly.

Guacamole. Yeah, not a conventional toddler food - especially with all the onions and garlic I put in mine, but she will literally eat this with her hands a spoon. Avocados are super high in nutrients, so I have no problem with that.

Oatmeal. This is one of the only foods that she never tires of. She has it for breakfast at least 5 out of 7 days a week. Sometimes I jazz it up with cinnamon, honey and raisins. She'll eat it any way I fix it.

Carrots and Hummus. Okay, this is more of a snack, but she still loves it. Hummus is another staple that I almost always have on hand.

Salad. Believe it or not, she really loves salad. Sometimes she just picks out the cucumbers and carrots, but most of the time she'll at least take a stab at the lettuce. If we're eating it, I always offer it to her

Rice and Green Beans. I always keep brown minute rice in my cupboard. It's cooks up in less than 10 minutes and works well with fresh green beans. Peanut likes flavor, so I add olive oil and garlic to the green beans and honey to the rice. Yes, honey! I used to do that when I was a kid, and whadayaknow, she likes it too! Just a little drizzle gives it some pizazz.

Pasta. Not exactly the healthiest of dinners, but she always gobbles up pasta like it is going out of style. Ziti, spaghetti, macaroni...she loves it all. I buy the Healthy Harvest variety, which is at least slightly better than white pasta!

I've learned to offer her foods that I think she definitely won't like (guacamole, for example) and she has surprised me on a number of occasions. Secondly, I've learned not to sweat it when she goes on a food strike and eats nothing but a handful of cheerios all day. She'll eat when she's hungry - shoveling food down her throat when she's not interested is just going to make both of us cranky and upset.

What are your toddlers favorite foods? What are some of your mommy tricks for getting good foods into your picky eaters? Please share!

Pretty

I love my camera so much. I seriously don't know what I did before it came into my life. My little sister, Rosie...whoops, sorry...Rose, is in school for photography and her amazing photos made me see my need for a SLR camera. I finally got my hands on one this past May, via a crazy craigslist steal, and I've been snapping pictures like a crazy woman every since.

A couple days ago, I convinced Rose to jump in front of the camera and let me take pictures of her for a change.

She's so pretty. And I'm feeling compelled to share a few of my favorites with you.


Tomorrow: I shall try to publish a post without any photos.

What? Did I just say that?