Winter Break Faves

28 more days until Spring begins!!!  Let's hope it really does start on time, since Winter was early this year...at least here in the Great Northeast!

For now, I've been relaxing, for the most part, all week due to being off the school job for Winter Recess.  The ballerina teen has been sleeping in, I've been sleeping a bit later, and doing lots of reading and cleaning! I'm taking a few moments, with a steaming mug of coffee nearby, to reflect on the past week and the FIVE FAVES that God brought my way.  Won't you join in with us by linking up at Susanne's site?

FIVE FAVES

Special  Treats

• VALENTINE TREATS!  How fun to celebrate Valentine's Day!  We celebrated the evening before, with Claire, by getting Indian food from this fave place in town.  YUMMY!  Last Thursday, I had my small group, and one of the ladies (my dear friend Monica) surprised us all with little pink boxes of chocolates....so special. (Yes, I shared mine with Dave and Claire!)  And Saturday morning I woke up to find Dark Chocolate Blueberries by my mug of coffee.....he definitely knows what I like to snack on!  And I received a very nice text from the college princess, and the tiny heart card, handmade and with a wonderful note inside, from the ballerina girl.  I'm blessed and I thank God for my dear friends and family.

The ballerina girl (Claire) on the right with from l-r starting in front:
Mady (age 6), Emma (age 11), Uncle Mike and Aunt Jill

Claire and Emma share the chocolate lava cake!

• LUNCH DATE!  Claire hadn't seen her cousins on my side of the family since last summer so my youngest sister and I arranged a lunch date for Valentine's Day at this fave spot in this fave city which lies between both of our towns.  Jill's husband Mike decided to come along too and it was great to see them.  Oh my. The food!! and the drink I had was perfect. (raspberry cosmos).  Claire and I shared sweet potato fries with blueberry sauce (yup...another weekend of eating  sweet potato fries...I got my fix so no more until summer!!) and I had the Caesar Salad while she had the mozzarella sticks.  She shared a huge piece of Chocolate Lava Cake with her cousin Emma, who will be turning 12 next month.  We had a lot of fun and it's a blessing to get together with family we don't get to see very often.

• A BIT OF SPRING!  I had ordered the wreath pictured above, for my living room with the intention of putting it up sometime mid-March. But it's been so bitter cold and there was more snow last weekend, so once it arrived on my doorstep Tuesday afternoon, I decided to put it up! I am tired of winter! I took down the snow scene I had on the wall and replaced it with a bit of spring.  The wall behind the wreath did not come out well in this photo...it's actually a light yellow, similar to the flowers in the wreath only a bit more subtle.  It has already lifted my spirits when I sit in there and read.  It's just a little thing but little things are faves too!

• KITCHEN FUN!  Since I've been home all week, I decided to do some purging of old items from around the house.  The space between the cupboards and the ceiling in my kitchen on 2 walls has been a collection of my Shaker and wicker baskets.  I hung them there when we first built the house 20 years ago.  And I only take them down once a year to dust.  I'm tired of them and my daughters have never liked them...they say it's too "1990s" (um...well..the house was built in 1994 so...)anyways...I decided since I had some free time, to go to this store (I rarely go there even though it's right in town) and do some browsing. I didn't find much but I did find the cute little wooden signs pictured above. I loved the bright colors of the cross "faith, hope and love" and "it is well with my soul" is one of my fave hymns. And that quote on the other sign reads "life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away"....another fave I've seen in books and on cards. So....my college daughter will be thrilled when she comes home in March to see that I did get rid of 3 baskets.  I have more to go! I decided I will keep 2 of the baskets (mini ones) and replace the other 3 with either hiking prints or signs about coffee...for now, it's a blessing just to have some new "stuff".

• EASY RECOVERY!  I'm most thankful this week for the easy recovery the ballerina girl is experiencing after her 4 wisdom teeth were extracted on Tuesday. She had quite a bit of bleeding but once that stopped, she was pretty good.  She's been good about doing the salt water rinses, eating soft foods, taking the antibiotic, and icing/heating her face.  Whew....it's a relief to have it done....I've not been a fan of this procedure in either daughter and now we are done! Thanking God for good oral surgeons and good recoveries.

That wraps up my week.  Whatever you have planned for the weekend, I hope you take time to find the blessings......