5 Favorite Things for April 3

It's Friday and what a busy one it has been! I've been non stop all day. Work, lunch, errands, housework, and getting my daughter's costumes ready for the show tonite. This is the weekend of the spring musical at church and we have 3 performances this weekend. 2 are right at the church and 1 is in a downtown church in the city of Albany. PRAY FOR US! This is a huge endeavor but the children are ready....they had an awesome final dress rehearsal on Monday nite so..... Here are 5 of my favorite things from this past week.

To play along, simply visit Susanne at Living to Tell the Story.

This photo of my youngest, Claire, during one of the dances in the HizKidz Praise Parent Preview Dress Rehearsal on Monday nite. I had seen the dance during numerous rehearsals but never, until that evening, with the full costume. What a hoot! The dance is a modern style dance. It is done while the cast sings "Treasures on Earth" It was one of my fave moments this week because I just love watching my 10 year old dance. Ballet is more her "thing" but she is doing a great job picking up the moves that the choreographer taught them during rehearsals. One friend of mine (Thanks, Dave L) commented to me "Wow! Your daughter is quite the talented dancer!" (his son has a vocal solo as one of the veggie tales who make a brief appearance in the show...and his son has a good voice!). It is fun to watch our children perform for God's glory and to help spread the Good News message.


This adorable little replica of a "rice bowl". Notice the slit in the top? That is for putting in our change. My youngest (Claire) received this about 2 weeks ago in her Sunday School class. Our entire "Kids Celebration" classes (children's Sunday School, grades Prek-5th grade) were given these bowls to collect money for children of a "feed the hungry" in Third World Countries.

What a marvelous idea. Children do not "have" to participate but it is highly encouraged AND....most families do participate in these kinds of things at our church. It is sitting on our kitchen counter all full and waiting for Claire to return it to Sunday School this week. Now...you do the math....we have about 380 children enrolled in the Kids Celebration classes each weekend.....that's alot of change if all return their bowls! Glory to God!!

These 2 pineapples! They arrived yesterday in our last "Harry and David" shipment. They are FRESH, ORGANIC pineapples. But....my oldest doesn't care for pineapple and my youngest "kinda" likes it so....she decided to name them "harry and david" (she says the short one is harry, the tall one is david). However, I told her not to get attached to them. I am giving one to a co-worker who is a single mom of 3 teen boys and she LOVES fresh pineapple. I love giving gifts as well as receiving them! It's all about "paying it forward" people! :)

This purple crocus from my yard. I had planted several (as in about 20) crocus bulbs last year. However, little bunnies dug the bulbs up and so around one of my cherry trees, this is the only blossom! But...I'll take it! It gives a bit of bright color to a drab early spring spot. Today is a bit grey as I type this and it looks like we might get rain so the flower is closed up. Glad I took the pic yesterday when we had full sun and blue skies!

My last fave thing is something that I don't have a picture of.
It is the contented feeling I had while power walking and Claire was biking alongside me. It was last nite. A balmy, early spring evening. The scent of mud and new grass was in the air along with the fresh scent of new pine boards from a new housing development that is going up alongside our neighborhood. At first I was saddened while walking to see yet more trees and "wilderness" being turned into yet another North Colonie development but....I decided that: 1. we live in one of the most sought after towns in this part of the state (mainly due to the low taxes and academically excellent school district) 2. how awesome that the economy doesn't seem to be too bad here in our part of NYS and 3. how fun it will be when they finish the new roads....we will have even more walking and biking areas to enjoy. I was content because my oldest was a big help with cleaning up the dining room and kitchen last nite, my husband was not too late in getting home from youth group, and my youngest was finished with her violin practicing in time to get in one last bike ride before showering and bedtime. The sunset was gorgeous, the tree peepers were out....truly one of my fave things this past week...a beautiful spring evening. Now if I could just entice the teenager to do more biking.......

What are some of your favorite things from this past week?
Feel free to share in the comments section.
ENJOY THE WEEKEND EVERYONE!