Mid-April Faves

Ah....it's Friday.  The weekend is almost here and I am planning on getting a lot accomplished now that spring has really sprung.

I'm pausing for a few moments to list my FIVE FAVES from the past week.  Susanne is our gracious hostess and I'm so appreciative of her for reminding us to be thankful each day for the blessings God sends our ways.  Won't you join in with us? You can learn more by clicking here.

Along the bike/hike trail in our town
Mohawk River in background
photo courtesy of Dave, my hubby

• WORK OUT DATE!  On Sunday, in the late afternoon, my husband and I decided to do a power walking workout since the temps were in the high 60s/low 70s.  It was wonderful!  We headed to one of the popular hike/bike paths in our town, along the Mohawk River/Erie Canal.  There were so many people out running, walking, biking, hiking.  We even saw a couple of people on rollerblades.  Dogs must be leashed on these trails so it makes for a great place to concentrate on getting a good work out in...you don't have to worry about dogs chasing you, etc.  It was lovely.  We ended up doing  4.73 miles and we both felt great!  Afterwards, we rewarded our selves with iced coffees from DD.  YUM! and because I enjoyed the work out so much on Sunday, I repeated it, going in the other direction for a total of 2 miles on Monday evening while Claire was at ballet classes.  I'm so thankful to be back to walking outdoors with NO ice and snow!

• WORK COMPLETED!  On Saturday, I had to drive back out to the central part of New York State to assist one of my younger sisters in packing up some old stuff from our dad's house.  We are getting his house ready to sell and there's a lot to do.  Between the 4 of us "kids" we should be able to get everything packed, sold, or given away.  Anyways, I left early Saturday morning and left a list of simple chores for the teen girl and a list of "please do" for the husband.  And I was thrilled when I got home later, in time for dinner, to find that everything was completed!  Dave did a lot of yard work, plus a couple of other things for me in the house and Claire washed mirrors and did some other chores...even things NOT on the list.  I was so thankful.

• SMOOTH START!  Monday was our first day back at school after a week off due to Spring Break.  Most of the special needs kindergartners had a fairly smooth transition back into the classroom as did all of the gen ed children. And we had perfect attendance all week...all 20 children were in class!  YAY!  The bonus for them was our duck eggs have arrived so are now in the incubator...we are hoping for a perfect dozen in about 28 days.  I'm so thankful I get to be a special educator in this school district and I'm thankful my daughters have been educated here as well.

Coffee 'n Creme Frozen Yogurt

• SPECIAL TREAT/SILVER MEDAL:  Our 10th grader, Claire, received a silver medal for writing the National Latin Exams!  To celebrate, I surprised her with our first of the season soft serve ice cream (for her) and fro yo (for me) at one of our fave local spots. We are very proud of her for attempting 2 languages (she also takes Russian 3) this year on top of all Honors and AP classes.  I'm so thankful she does well and that she can have these wonderful educational opportunities.  (I'm also thankful our oldest daughter is doing well at college....more about her later in the month!) :)

• SUNSHINE!  Every day this week (except last evening and today) the sun was shining and the temperatures were above 65 degrees.  The grass is turning green, the tulips are pushing through, I have 2 crocuses opened (the rabbit ate all my other bulbs!) and I have little white flowers that were a surprise to me...they just appeared in my front flower bed and are very delicate looking.  Sadly, I haven't taken any photos yet of them.  On Wednesday, I really wanted to get out of the school building, so I took my lunch to this park in our town,which is only about a mile from the school, and ate my lunch there.  I even remembered to grab my book and had 35 minutes of reading time.  It was so peaceful, pretty and SUNNY!  I'm so thankful spring has come to eastern NY!

  Those are my five faves......simple things but special because they are from the Lord.........He gives us the sunshine, the warm temperatures, the 4 beautiful seasons, the brain to do well, the body to work out, a spouse and children to enjoy life with,  and the cows to give milk so we can have ice cream! :)

HAPPY WEEKEND, EVERYONE!