End of September Faves

It's been a busy week......

all good things............and blessings along the way.........

I'm sharing FIVE of them by linking up at Susanne's, with other bloggers who share FIVE FAVES from the past week.......there are always blessings to be found, even on busy days..............


FIVE FAVES

• SPECIAL TEXT: I received a text from my pastor's wife....it was special to me for a certain reason that I won't get into on here.....but I am blessed to be friends with this woman of God.

• ORGANIZED AND MEALS PLANNED!  This was a huge blessing to me this week.  We have something (extracurricular activities/appointments) every single evening of the week except for Fridays.  I'm going to declare that those are "family nights" along with Sunday evenings. Last Saturday, I was able to totally clean and organize my home, and get the entire next week's menu planned for dinners.  I discovered the Yummly app for my iPad and what an amazing tool that is!!  If you don't have it, get it!! It's free! I tried this new recipe and it was AMAZING!!  and I keep a running grocery list on my iPad now to help keep within a food budget.  By planning meals, it also helps with the dreaded work week question of "what's for dinner?" Staying organized is a true blessing!!  TRY IT!

• LAST VISIT!  My chiropractor told me my Thursday morning appointment could be my last visit until I (might) need him again.  He is hoping he won't see me for a long time! :)  Seriously, the fasciitis in my right foot is healing well and I am pain free most of the time unless I wear low quality flat shoes, which I've stopped wearing.  He took my back, neck and head measurements during my final flexibility test and said I am quite flexible again in those areas so he did a quick adjustment of my lower back and shoulders.  What a blessing this chiropractic team is!!  I love that they don't have you coming back just to get your insurance money.  He really is all about rehab!!  I hope to be hiking pain-free tomorrow, too!! He has given me the all clear for non-steep mountains and I can try steeper trails next spring as long as I continue to do the fitness ball core and flexibilty work.  GLORY TO GOD!

Claire and I at Lyndsay's Orchards
21 September 2014

• APPLE PICKING!  Sunday was a gorgeous, warm day!  Just perfect for the end of summer....so after church and homework, I took Claire to one of the local apple orchards a little bit north of us and we picked our faves:  Cortland apples. I will be baking a pie this weekend and we've been enjoying this fresh fruit for lunches and snacks.  It was a huge blessing to spend these 2 hours with my teenager.  We had a lot of fun!  And I saw the following photo on Facebook of my oldest daughter, Courtney and a couple of her roomies...they had gone apple picking north of Boston over the weekend......love that we get to "see" her via social media pics.

Courtney in the center with 2 of her 4 apt roommates
North Shore, MA
photo courtesy of her FB page

• FRUIT:  No, I'm not sharing the fruit we eat as a fave....but...I'm talking about seeing the "fruit" of our parenting labors in both of our daughters. Courtney, at 21, is thriving at this college.  We recently learned that she is a TA for an underclassmen calculus class plus is keeping her jobs of working 10 hours a week in the main dining hall and working as an Orientation Crew leader for first year students.  On top of this, plus her studies, she is Assistant Director of the Student Design Agency.....which is great since one of her majors is Fine Arts/Graphic Design.  We are very pleased with the choices and friendships she is investing her life in.  We have seen much spiritual growth.  Our 15 year old is also acting in various leadership roles.  We really aren't surprised as Dave and I are also leaders and Type A personalities.  Claire has decided to be secretary of the Christian club (Expansion) at her public high school, and she is hoping to be either treasurer or secretary for Russian Club.  She is also a student leader for our church's youth group, working with junior high kids and acting as a leader among her peers.  We had most of her small group (10th graders) over for a huge bonfire/sleepover party last weekend and the kids were awesome. She is also making wise choices regarding classes, activities, ballet, clubs, and friendships.  Again, much spiritual growth is observed.  I credit our fantastic school district, our church youth group leaders, and our God.  They are not perfect children but seeing some of the fruit is a true blessing.

BONUS FAVE:  Tuesday was International Peace Day and the elementary school that I work in had our annual Peace Day.  This year, the entire student body, faculty and staff, made a large human peace sign on the field. Our theme this year was that we all have "superpowers". We also had a special assembly about promoting a peaceful school community and what that means.  The group of kindergartners all did a great job!  A real blessing to have a special activity in the middle of the day go smoothly.

Grades K-6th
S-----Elementary School
23 September

That wraps up my week.....how about you? what were some blessings in your week??