December Faves

It's just about Christmas.

The house is ready. Cookies are made. Clothing is set aside for tomorrow's services. Cleaning is (almost) done.

 Presents are wrapped and under the tree. 

And I'm basking in His Presence...the One we celebrate this weekend.  Our precious Savior Redeemer.  How that makes everything else pale in comparison!

And I'm officially on Holiday Break until January 3rd.  Our last day at the special needs PreK agency where I have now worked for a week was Wednesday.  It's been a week of learning, yet packed with some good moments that God brought to me and my family.  I'll share Five of my Faves and link up with others doing the same.

• BIRTHDAY DINNER:  Last Friday evening I met my sister Joy in Saratoga Springs for dinner at one of our fave restaurants.  It's the half way point between our two homes and we were celebrating her birthday. Mine was the week before and it was fun to share our December birthdays together.  She is exactly 2 years and one week younger than me.  I surprised her with a small gift and she surprised me with a basket of coffee goodies for me and the family.  After drinks and dinner we browsed in the chocolate shop there and I bought a few treats for my new  co-workers.  It was a fun evening!  I'm thankful I had this time with my sister.

• REHEARSAL:  Tuesday evening we had a 3 hour choir rehearsal for our Christmas Eve services at church.  Our church is very large with the main campus (where we go here in town) plus 3 other sites around the capital region (2 to the north and 1 to the east across the Hudson River).  We have three services: 3, 4:30 and 6 pm.  We need to be at the church by 1 pm for the sound check and the catered dinner for all musicians and production team members.  Then we begin celebrating Christ's birth with music, a short message by the pastor and a candlelight time while singing Silent Night.  Our choir ONLY "performs" for Christmas.  Dave and I have joined in the last 2 years and it is great fun. Our rehearsal went so smoothly and our worship leader was very pleased. I'm so thankful I get to be a part of this body of believers.

• LYRICAL DANCE:  Claire was asked by one of our pastors to perform a lyrical ballet that she had to choreograph herself for one of the Christmas Eve songs.  The choir just sings on the chorus and we have a female soloist doing the main part.  It is the song Noel that you might hear on the radio sung by this vocalist. (Click on link to view song). Dave and I hadn't seen her dance this yet until we all had rehearsal together Tuesday evening.  She did an amazing job.  I'm so proud of her!!  Lyrical ballet is very pretty and although it isn't done on pointe but has different ballet shoes, it is very graceful.  Some churches call it Interpretive Dance.  Claire has studied lyrical ballet for the last 4 years, at the studio where she takes Advanced Ballet and Pointe, so we are hoping her ballet teachers will come to one of the services.  The church will probably record the service so hopefully I can post it!  I'm thankful my daughter was willing to use her gift of dance to worship this weekend!

the birthday girl is 18!!

• BIRTHDAY!  Our youngest, Claire, the ballerina, had her 18th birthday on Wednesday.  Yes, she is our Winter Solstice baby and we just can't believe how quickly these 18 years have gone by.  We had a lovely dinner (she requested and made her own vegan pizza while the rest of us had a white veggie pizza).  After opening gifts she went out with a friend for a dessert coffee. I'm so thankful God gave us this precious girl.

• HUSBAND HELP:  Sometimes I find that I take my husband for granted.  This past week we had about 3 inches of snow come down (last Saturday morning) and he went right out to clear the driveway.  He also had to fix the ceiling light in our living room and did it as soon as he got home from work, as well as some other little things around the house and yard. I'm so thankful for Dave and his faithfulness to the family and home.

That wraps up my five faves.  I pray that you all have a very Merry Christmas!  I will be away next Friday but will be back in 2 weeks once the new year gets here.

CHRIST IS BORN!!