"This leaf is for you...."

Sweet children, I know they can be at handful at times, and even downright frustrating, but some moments make parenthood and the daunting task of raising children, worth it...somehow.

Riley and I have had a couple of really good days....no yelling, disciple needed, it has been awesome.

Last night, Riley and I attended the "Wizard of Oz," playing in AF. We went with Becky and Olivia and it was just so sweet. Riley and Olivia decided to dress up for the occasion...Riley went a little overboard and decided to wear her most "fanciest" dress (her Red Flower Girl dress from Amy's wedding), and she even had a ring, bracelets, and a wand to go with the outfit; she really did look darn cute and I was so proud to walk through those halls and show off my little princess; even the ticket guy commented to Riley that she was the "cutest little girl in the place"...Riley was so thrilled with that. Some people even asked me if she was in the play....sure.

During the intermission, we even got to be up-close and personal with the flying monkeys, which Riley will not stop talking about! Man....do they need more girls bathroom stalls though, it was a good thing we didn't have an "emergency," the line was literally down the hall, coming out of the bathroom.

Anyway, the night ended with Riley and I singing show tunes from the "Wizard of Oz," and laughing at the fun things in the play. It was even special that I got to discuss how the special affects worked, her little mind was racing! "How can the witch melt, then come back out on the stage when we clapped?" 30 minutes later.....I still think she is confused. Ha.

It was a blast to have a girls-night-out with the little ladies and Olivia's darling Dorothy slippers....so cute. We can't wait to go again, and sing show tunes, once again, never thought I would say that in my life, never been a huge musical fan.

Today, was no exception, Riley was so good and taught me so much today...and I am so thankful for her example to me, and her spirit that teaches me to be more Christlike everyday.

Today, since Chris is having an affair with his job, ha ha; we decided to go shopping with Grandma. We headed out to Macey's for some pre-Thanksgiving prep; no not so fun. However, I really got a glimpse of just what kind of a woman Riley will be when she is grown.

As we were leaving my mom's house, Riley was outside looking on the ground, I didn't think anything of it, she is always looking on the ground (she wants to be a geologist when she grows up!)

As we got to Macey's, Riley informed me that she has a special leaf, and she wants to find someone to give it to, and we needed to find that person. So, throughout the store we looked at people, and I tried to ignore her request of finding that "right person" I thought..."I don't want to go up to a person and give them a leaf!" Come on! Four isles later, Riley said, "mom, you passed the person I wanted to give my leaf to!" I explained to her that "they didn't look right for the leaf."

Okay...maybe 10 people later, she said, "mom, I want to give it to that old lady." I said, "no, old people are cranky."

Riley was getting really frustrated with me.

So, I finally said, "okay, pick a person, and we will give them your leaf."

So, there was this older guy working at Macey's, and he was fixing items on a shelf. This man was bent down and I had to say, "excuse me...excuse me." The man just scooted-in thinking he was in my way, but I finally said, "my daughter wants to talk to you." He looked at me surprised, like...."lady, what do you want?"

Riley pulled out her wrinkled, crinkled leaf that she brought from Grandma's house and handed it to the worker. The image of this man and Riley will forever be in my head, I actually thought of Jesus when He was washing the disciples feet. Here was my gift from Heaven...giving her special gift to a stranger, somebody she didn't know, and was giving her love to him freely without thought. The man just looked at me and then at Riley and no words came from any one of us...I actually got a tear in my eye, as did the man. He touched Riley on the shoulder and said, "thank you sweety, I will take good care of this leaf."

The man spoke to me and said, "this made my day, thank you."

Our Heavenly Father works through us, do we do what he desires of us? A child so sweet knows that love, and gives that love so freely...I pray that I can be as giving as my child. I pray that I can change some body's day with my own special leaf.

I love you Riley, you are so wonderful, and I learn so much from you, Heavenly Father has given me the greatest gift, you, in my life....I hope I can only show how much I appreciate it through my daily dealings with my fellow men.

I love you all, and pray that you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving.