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FRIDAY and the last day of March!  Halleluia!  Are you as excited for April as I am?  Oh my goodness, and now the countdown begins.  Only 4 more teaching days until EASTER WEEKEND/SPRING BREAK WEEK!!  10 glorious days off.  I'm super stoked. 

However, for now, I will look back at this last week of March and find FIVE things that made me smile and say THANKS, GOD!  I do this with other bloggers who are intentional about being thankful for all the blessings our God brings to us.  Join us by linking up at Susanne's. 

image courtesy of Old N*vy

• SWEATER SCORE:  I   bought a dress I'd like to wear on Easter about a month ago when this place was having a sale. But in April and eastern NY, the weather can be chilly so I was  sort of hoping to find a cropped cardigan to go with the dress. I found one at 50% off in our large mall last Saturday after popping in to Apple to get a new cable for my Macbook. I wanted a baby blue color and voila.....found one that is a perfect fit.  AND when I got to the register, the cashier told me I had over $50 in reward money.  Since I hadn't shopped there in literally YEARS (since our youngest was about 10) I didn't think about rewards (they add up if you shop at Banana Republic or Gap, both of which I shop at).  So, she was able to take $20 off (all they allow for one item) the sweater which means I only had to pay $1.08!! I'm thankful I scored this!!

 

image courtesy of NBC news

• DINNER DATE:  We had our oldest daughter over for dinner on Saturday evening.  I had put together a chicken stew in the  slow cooker and after dinner, she and I sat to watch another episode of The Handmaid's Tale. We are at the beginning of Season 3 and so far it's pretty good.  We try to watch a couple of episodes each month.  I'm thankful she was free to come over for dinner and hang out a bit.  

photo courtesy of ECEC  FB page

• PLAYGROUND PLAY!  This past week has been very mild every day and sunny.  We were able to take the students out to both playgrounds for the first time since early January (when there was no snow and the temps were in the high 30s).  We aren't allowed to take the students out when it is in the 20s as some struggle to breathe in cold temps.  And then this past month we had snow until this past week. We dug out this bean bag toss game I created last summer and the children had a blast! It's fun and it also helps them to receptively and expressively identify colors and match colors.  The visuals that you see (PECS) are for our non-verbal students.  I'm thankful for fresh air and spring time temps.

Wednesday evening dinner

• FRESH FOOD:  On Wednesday after work I did a 45 min power walk all throughout my neighborhood and since it was so Spring-like and warm, I opened up one kitchen window to let the fresh air blow through.  I didn't have a set meal plan this past week although I've done all the cooking. (we are cutting back on ordering out).  I looked in the freezer and saw we had 2 pieces of blackened salmon.  They come already spiced and marinated and you just have to bake them for 30 min.  I steamed some asparagus and made a salad with arugula, romaine, green and red leaf lettuce, yellow and red peppers, cherry tomatoes, cucumbers,and carrots.  We are also limiting our carb intake a few nights a week and this was just a perfect dinner.  I love using fresh ingredients and am thankful for healthful eating. 

image  courtesy of St*rbucks website

• COCONUT COFFEE:  Almost all of my close friends know that I am extremely fond of coconut chocolate anything.  A soft serve ice cream place near one of the towns where I hike often, has that flavor and now my fave coffee comes in toasted coconut mocha!!  I was so thankful to see this new ground coffee on sale at T*rget yesterday and of course I bought some and had a late afternoon mug of it after work.  YUMMY! It really did make me smile. 

That wraps up my week.  If you think of it, could you lift up my husband in prayer? He was gone for two days to check on his parents and is driving home today hopefully getting here in time for an early, quick dinner and to help me lead our small group Bible study tonight. Thanks so much for praying for safe travels. 

I hope you all have a blessed first weekend of APRIL!!