Showing posts with label Friday's Fave Five 2018. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Friday's Fave Five 2018. Show all posts

Friday, December 21, 2018

Friday's Fave Five #513



Hi everyone!  You all ready for Christmas?  Only 4 more sleeps, people!  I am soooo not ready.  I haven't baked a thing.  I have a couple more things to get and I have to grocery shop.  I've only wrapped a few gifts so far.  It's just come so fast.  I think the weather has me kind of in a funk of not realizing the time is upon us as it's been so nice.    Oh well, there is 4 more days right?  And it will be what it will be and I'm trying to relax with that.  So this is the perfect time to take a pause and remember the blessings of the week and share 5 of them with you.

~my daughter's birthday gift for me~  T is an esthetician for a local salon and she gave me a lovely manicure with gel polish for my birthday.  Now my birthday is not till the end of the month but I wanted my nails nice for Christmas.   My nails break so easy and so they never look nice and never get long but she did such a lovely job.  I just love them.


~ fun christmas crafts with the kids~ I do love December in dayhome because we get to do lots of fun crafts for Christmas.  We've been doing one or two and week and having lots of creative time.

~dance parties with the kids~ On netflix they have the Wiggles "Go Santa Go" and the kids just love it.  They dance away and try to do the actions and sing along.  Though I swear I fall asleep and wake up every morning with one or another of the songs off of there running through my head.  

~morning off~ though I love going to church on Sunday mornings this last Sunday I just needed a break.  I woke up feeling tired and off so just decided to listen to what my body was trying to tell me.  The last thing I want is to be sick for Christmas and with the dayhome kids showing up with sniffles and coughs I didn't need to be worn down.  It really was what I needed.  I slept in, sat around reading and relaxing.  Then just putzed around the house.  In the afternoon we visited my dad and then my mom and the day was done.  

~surprise lunch~ Hubby surprised me and came home with a yummy bento box of goodies for lunch.  It was a nice surprise on a work day and I love that he blesses me with this kind of thing once in awhile.  

Well those are my fave blessings this last week.  I want to wish you all a very Merry Christmas.  As you celebrate with family and friends may you remember how very much God loves you and His very precious gift to you in the birth of Jesus.  May you have many blessings of love, joy and peace surrounding your holidays.  



oops sorry here is the linky.



Friday, December 14, 2018

Friday's Fave Five #512



Here we are, almost halfway through the month of December and only 1 more FFF before Christmas.  I know it's super busy for everyone!  Just not enough hours in a day during this season.  So it's especially important to be intentional in finding God's blessings in our days.  To press the pause button and take an intentional look at the good things in the midst of the busy.  Please join us.

In no particular order here are some of the some of the moments and things that brought blessing into my life this busy week.

~back in time for Christmas~ some of you will remember back in June I mentioned the Back in Time for Dinner series that Canadian network CBC put out.  Tamara and I really enjoyed watching it together.  We both found it so interesting, it was a great concept for a tv show,  and the real life family on the show was just fun to watch.  Well this week we were surprised when my pvr automatically recorded an addition to that called Back in Time for Christmas.  While it wasn't a series, just one episode it was still fun to see how Canadians celebrated Christmas through the decades starting at 1940's through to the 2000's.  It was hilarious to both Tamara and I that several times throughout the show I would remark things like "Oh that was my blender",  "Oh look there is the electric knife I had", etc.  And again is was enjoyable watching it with my girl.



~Christmas celebration with the bible study ladies~ I always love this time with the ladies.  We've wrapped up the fall session of bible study and it's Christmas season.  For many years we did a pot luck at my house, which I loved hosting, though it was a lot of work for me as I run a childcare dayhome out of my house.  But this year the ladies were all wanting to go out to a restaurant so that we did.  The meal was awesome and the conversations wonderful.  There were a couple of new ladies so it was nice to get to know them better in a more relaxed, fun setting.

~some good deals on Christmas gifts~  this always is a favorite. 

~ planter~ I actually did this at the beginning of the month but forgot to post it.  I kinda really like how the front porch planter turned out.



And the super bonus is that I was able to make this for a fraction of the cost using my summer planter compared to purchasing it already made up.

~a surprise late birthday lunch at a fave restaurant~ my mom gifted my hubby a nice gift card for his birthday because he shovels for her and helps her out with various things around her home.  So he took us all out to lunch on Sunday.  It was nice having a great meal and no dishes on a Sunday!

What were your favorite blessings this last week?  If you do a Friday Fave Five post, please feel free to add your link.




Friday, December 07, 2018

Friday's Fave Five #511


Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  During this busy season I find it's even more important for me to be intentional in looking for blessings throughout the week.  I can get so focused on the to do list that I miss those special moments when God may be bringing a blessing, or I soon forget them as the responsibilities stack up.  Won't you join in looking back over the last week and finding and sharing 5 of your favorite blessings of the week, large or small.

1.  New Favorite Christmas Candle:  Vanilla Balsam from Bath and Body.  Oh my.  So lovely.  The vanilla tones down the strong balsam making it subtle.  So nice.  I tried to link to it on the site but couldn't find it.  They must have sold out.



And speaking of candles at Bath and Body, they had a crazy good one day sale where 3 wick candles were only $10.50.  Here in Canada that is a steal as they are usually $24.50 each.  I was able to pick up some extras for those unexpected times during this season where I need to come up with a gift.

2.  Tree 2018.    The first weekend of December is when we usually decorate at Living to Tell household.  The tree went up, easy peasy with the new last year pre-lit tree.  And with the downsizing of the the tree from a 7 1/2 ft, 54 in. wide tree we used to have to a 6 ft, 48 in wide we now have, it took less time to decorate.  And my new tree topper, mentioned last week is just perfect.







3.  That peaceful moment at the start of the day.    One of my favorites things during December is getting up in the morning and just sitting with the tree lights on with my cup of coffee.  It's so peaceful with just the light from the tree and so beautiful.  A time to just savor and wake up before I have to hit the floor running



4.  Hearing of God's work    in the life of a friend.  She has been struggling with a certain thing and moving beyond it to receive from the Lord for years.  But this week she had a major breakthrough.  It was so wonderful to hear her tell of how God worked it out and the joy in her voice was a marked difference.  Praise God for victories!

5. Back in the reading groove.   I've been in a bit of a reading slump as of late.  Still reading but not nearly as much as I usually do.  But I think this week I got a bit back into the groove with some nice pockets of reading time here and there. 

What have been your favorite blessings this week?







Friday, November 30, 2018

Friday's Fave Five #510



Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  Time to pause, reflect and remember the blessings from the past week.  Being intentional in being grateful, that is what the FFF is all about.  Won't you join us?  If you are new or need to refresh your memory on the guidelines, please go here first.  

\


1. Sunday afternoon enjoyment.  Sunday we had Mom for lunch and then we took her to a local garden store to see their displays of lovely Christmas trees and decorations.  She'd never been to this one before and it was nice just browsing and looking.  It was just enough of an outing to be fun without tiring her out too badly.  The trees were lovely, the cider delicious and it was nice to see my mom enjoying herself.

2.  Tree topper found.  After many, many, many years of use, I finally had to retire my angel tree topper as the lights were becoming too hot and melting whatever plastic was inside of her.  I have kinda been looking for a new tree topper for a couple years but that forced me into a decision.  But what to do now?  I couldn't really find anything I  liked enough to spend the money on.  Just when I was beginning to think that I would just go without one this year, lo and behold, I found a perfect one at the above mentioned Garden store.  

3.  the movie "Christopher Robin".  After the garden center excursion, we came back to the house to watch the movie Christopher Robin.  I'd been wanting to see it but missed it in theaters and then kind of forgot until Barbara mentioned it in last week's FFF.  We all enjoyed it immensely, especially Tamara and I.  My kids grew up watching Winnie the Pooh and it was always a favorite.  The movie not only wonderfully did the characters justice but had a good storyline to it too.  We laughed and we cried throughout. Brought back so many memories.




4.  Great Study.  Our ladies study group just finished the study on Psalm 119 (from Right Now Media).  Though a long one, it was really good and everybody got lots out of it.  It fostered some great conversation amongst us.  A lot of times it seemed to run parallel with what our Pastor has been teaching on so it really helped us to remember and was good confirmation.  Love when we find a study that is so relatable and touches on the things that are timely for us as a group.

5.  Friends.  I found this quote on fb from author and speaker Lysa TerKeurst:


"When friends pray more words over you than they speak to you or about you... 
Listen to their wisdom. 
Lean into their presence. 
Stand on their faith when you have trouble finding footing with your own. 
And thank God for these good people."

It really connected with me as it pertains to my study group of women.  I am so thankful for them and how God uses them in my life to challenge me, to encourage me.

What have been the things you are grateful for this week?  If you do a FFF post this week, please feel free to link up. 





Friday, November 23, 2018

Friday's Fave Five #509


Sorry this was late.  I put the wrong time stamp on it.  Oops.  

First off, a Happy Thanksgiving weekend to all my American friends.  I hope you had a wonderful day yesterday.  Friday's Fave Five is like that extra incentive for being thankful this weekend.  Please join in.  If you are doing a Friday's Fave Five post, please feel free to link up.


1.  A wonderful reminder that we really do have so much to be grateful for!



2.  Celebrating my Hubby on his birthday.  He chose an Indian restaurant for his birthday meal and though it was just 3 of us, we had a wonderful time and a great meal.  Thankful for this good man.




3.  Long distance conversation with a good friend.  We haven't spoken in a month or so.  Just too busy so it was really nice to have the time to have a good long conversation with my friend.  I really, really miss her since she's moved away but I'm so thankful for long distance being included in our phone plan so that we can talk as much as we want for as long as we want and not have to worry about the bill.  It was good to have a real heart to heart.

4.  News that everyone will be home for Christmas.  That made my mama's heart very very happy.

5.  Later start to the work day yesterday.  Oh how nice it was to relax with an extra cup of coffee, watch a bit of the morning news and read from study book.  I am so not a morning person so just this extra hour to get my morning going was like a gift.

What were your favorite blessings from the week? What were you most grateful for?





Friday, November 16, 2018

Friday's Fave Fives #508



Welcome everyone to this special meme where we deliberately and intentionally look for our blessings from the past week.  Doing this exercise intentionally brings our focus onto good things in our lives, blessings that may be missed on those good or busy or routine weeks.  It also develops the habit of purposefully looking for the blessings when those weeks are not so easy or those weeks we deem boring and uneventful.  We are choosing to be grateful!  Won't you join us?  If you have not read the guidelines or need to refresh your memory, please go here first.  



And now onto choosing to be grateful!

~ shoeboxes collected and delivered~  Sunday was our church's Operation Christmas Child shoebox collection sunday.  Sending them off with love and prayers by the congregation is always a highlight.  There were lots of helping hands to load them into my Envoy and they were happily and successfully delivered without mishap to our city's collection center.  Handing over those boxes always makes me super happy.  Now they are one step closer to being placed into the hands of a child in need bringing hope and joy.



~ meeting someone who has been on a distribution trip ~  while delivering the boxes I was able to meet a young lady who has been on a shoebox distribution trip to Senegal.  She showed me pictures and we excitedly talked about her time there.  She related some miracles she was able to be part of and it made me all the more excited for my own trip.

~sunday lunch buffet ~ after a great service on Sunday Hubby treated us to lunch at a brunch buffet we've never been to before.  It was really delicious, so many great choices,  and it was nice to have along our youngest daughter, our pastor and another friend.

~ tea, books and jammies ~  it has been crazy windy here this week.  It is chinook season around here and that means winds that can gust up to 100 km (60 mph).  So that also means I avoid going outside in the evenings as much as possible.  Tea, a really great story and comfy jammies have all kept me cozy and seen me through the week.

~ monday off ~ on Monday it was a day off for me because Remembrance Day landed on Sunday.  Was it ever nice to have that day off to deliver those boxes and then relax.  I caught up on some housework, some shopping and some rest.  I also like that I had a shorter work week!

What were your five favorite blessings from your last week?





Friday, November 09, 2018

Friday's Fave Five #507


Friday is finally here.  It's time to take a pause and look back over the week and find blessings to be grateful for.  What kind of week have you had?  Has it been good...super busy...really tough?  No matter the circumstances of how your week unfolded, we are trying to develop the habit of intentionally taking note of the good things in our lives even if all we can find for the week is that we made it through and it's a fresh start next week.

Won't you join us as we find and acknowledge some goodness?  If you are new or are unsure of the guidelines please go here and then join in. 


1.  Big News!  Saturday morning I found out that I have been accepted to be on a Operation Christmas Child Shoebox distribution to Costa Rica in April.  To say I am beyond excited is an understatement.  This has been a dream for many, many years.  One that I was wondering if would ever happen.  It's a bit scary, definitely a step of faith, but I can't wait! 

2.  Running into former church friends.  Last week through my husband's job, he ran into some people we used to know from many years ago.  They are without a home church at the moment and it just happened to be "Bring Your One" weekend at ours so he invited them.  After a great service, we went to mall food court, their choice, and had a nice lunch and visit.  So nice to reconnect.

3.  Answer to prayer.  As you know, our doggy had surgery last week to have a lump that had all of a sudden grown.  Well this week we got wonderful news, a real answer to prayer and that is that it was not cancer.  What a relief.  He is back to his old self again.  Praise God.  And through it all I think we've found us a great vet.

4.  Feather Duvet out!  Well the evenings are finally turning cold enough that I pulled out the feather duvet.  It was so nice to get it on the bed instead of the layered blankets that end up happening in that transitional weather.  It is so comfortable, light and yet warm.  I always look forward to it each fall.

5.  Massage.  This week has been a rough one at work.  Some behavior issues amongst the kids have made for some super stressful days.  Add into that a weather change and I had a couple days with headaches and tense neck and shoulders.  On one of these I just happened to have my massage and boy it sure was nice to get all those kinks worked out.

What have been your favorite five blessings from your week?  If you are doing a Friday's Fave Five post please feel free to add it to the linky.





Friday, November 02, 2018

Friday's Fave Five #506



Welcome to the first Friday's Fave Five of November 2018.  Goodness, did I just type that?  The days have been flying by.  It seems like I just made the last FFF post and here we are at Friday again.  All the more reason to take that pause and reflect back on the goodness of God in our lives and the blessings both big and small that come into our days.   Sometimes the posts come easily and sometimes not so much but in developing a habit of looking for our blessings it makes our lives fuller.  We are choosing to be grateful.  Please join us!  If you are new or haven't read the guidelines please go here first.

Some housekeeping notes:  A reminder that the Mr. Linky is for those participating in the community of and posting a Friday's Fave Five post only please. If you are not doing a Fave Five post, please don't add yourself to the Mr. Linky. The purpose of the linky is to direct those who have an interest to go and read other posts about Fave Fives. The links that do not lead to FFF posts will be removed.  I am not trying to offend or be mean.  We all have limited blogging time and if people are clicking on the link they are looking for the Fave Fives post to give and receive encouragement in looking for blessings. Let's please honor that.  Thank you for keeping the integrity of the Friday's Fave Five meme as it was intended.

And now on with being grateful for the blessings of the week.

1.  Available vet surgery time.  Our much loved dog had a small lump on his side all of a sudden take a big growth.  The vet we went to was awesome.  Very patient with both dog and distressed dog owners.  She explained what she thought and options we could consider.  Armed with that we went home to discuss whether or not the VERY expensive surgery was the route to go.  But after a few days Todd started to really lick and naw at the spot to the point he was taking the fur off and breaking the skin and we knew we didn't really have a choice.  When we called the vet, there was a surgery time available the very next morning.   Todd is now recuperating fine, lump removed.  Though I must say he does kind of look funny with no fur on a big chunk of his side.  We're very thankful for a vet who was honest and caring.

2.  My regular hair stylist is baaack!  Oh how I have missed her while she was on maternity leave.  Don't get me wrong the girl who took me on was wonderful and she did her very best.  I can't imagine how stressful taking on someone's long term client is.  But I am glad mine is back and I've had a haircut this week from her and feel back to my old self.

3.  Treated to Cirque du Soliel "Corteo".    My daughter,Tamara,  received a pair of tickets as payment for some dog sitting she will be doing in the future and knowing I love Cirque, took me!  I was so excited and it did not disappoint.  It was a wonderful show.  I swear I was holding my breath for half the show.  Thanks Tamara for thinking of your Mama!

4.  Hubby's fave restaurant meal created at home.  Our last trip to the big city farmer's market, I was able to lay my hands on some Mizithra cheese.  Sometimes it's really hard to come by, I can't find it in my city.  It is the key ingredient in Hubby's favorite pasta dish at The Old Spaghetti Factory.   It's definitely a dish that is not something to make all the time as it is rich with browned butter but it sure is wonderful as an occasional treat.  I was able to recreate his favorite and make him happy which in turn made me happy.  And I like the dish too so it was win win.

5.  One wall of cupboards cleaned out.  A big cleaning project getting a good dent made in it always makes me happy.

What have your favorite blessings been this week?






Friday, October 26, 2018

Friday's Fave Five #505


Welcome to the last Friday's Fave Five for the month of October.  Here we pause to count our blessings, to develop a habit of being grateful and to cultivate an attitude of thanksgiving.  Won't you please join us in this journey?

Just like that that beautiful wall of gold mentioned in last week's FFF overnight all came tumbling down and there is not one leaf left on a tree.  Fall is truly here in every sense of the word in my neck of the woods.  In no particular order here are five of my blessings from last week.

~ warranty still in effect ~  in January of this year we had purchased a new stove when the other one went kaputz.  This new one is the kind that has two ovens, a smaller one on top and the larger one on the bottom.   I always use the smaller one because that is sufficient for our needs, but this last Thanksgiving when I cooked the turkey I noticed that the bottom oven just wasn't coming up to temperature the way it should.  After checking the manual, hubby tried to calibrate it like it instructed but it still wasn't just right.  When we checked, the whole thing is still under warranty, so the repair is going to be no charge.  We have the worst luck with things going just after warranty wears off, or putting it off trying to fix it ourselves and then finding the warranty finished, so I'm really thankful we got on it this time and the warranty is all good.

~ new recipe ~ I tried this quinoa recipe for our meatless meal this week and it was delicious.  Everyone loved it and it's definitely going to go into keeper file.  The only thing I did different was put it into a smaller baking dish, I think a 9x9, as I found the 9x13  the recipe called for would be too big.  With a fresh side salad it made a great meal.

~ online grocery shopping ~ I haven't shopped this way for a while even though I really liked it and was taking advantage of it quite regularly for quite some time.  But this last weekend it was just too busy and late Sunday afternoon, I gave in and ordered the groceries online.  It really helped out this weekend.

~ spur of the moment day trip ~  Saturday Hubby and I jumped in the car and took off for getaway to Calgary for the day.  Even though they were asked with only a half hour to get ready my sister and brother in law joined us and we had a really lovely day.  We introduced them to the farmer's market there and went on a quick mall trip then had a lovely supper together and came home.  It was just the thing all of us needed to destress and unwind a bit.

~ new vet ~ after our  former vet, whom we really liked, started to only do surgeries, we found we couldn't click with the vet who took his place in the clinic.  We tried a couple of other places but there was always just something that didn't quite fit with us, but this week we found a lovely lady who really seemed to care and was patient with both our dog and in explaining things to us.  Keeping our fingers crossed that she works out.  I don't like jumping from here to there and all over the place.

What were your favorite blessings this week?





Friday, October 19, 2018

Friday's Fave Five #504



Welcome, everyone!  Are you ready to look for your blessings from the past week?  This is what we do at Friday's Fave Five.  We intentionally take time to take note of blessings, whether they be big or small.  Won't you join us?  This week my faves are all things autumn.  I love fall.

~ absolutely gorgeous weather ~  it has been beautifully warm and sunny all this week.  Definitely able to get some natural vitamin D time in.  We've been out morning and afternoon in either light hoodies/sweaters or in today's case, no coats at all.  Enjoying every second of it I can get.  Even Eddie was found catching a few rays in the afternoon warmth.



~ overnight magic ~  the Swedish columnar aspens in the back yard are always the last to turn color.  They've been mostly a light green with the odd reddish or brownish leaf floating down.  But this morning we were greeted with a wall of gold.  And against the blue of the sky it was just stunning.  Pictures don't do it justice.  God truly is an artist.  I'm thankful for eyes to see!



~ and speaking of leaves ~ I love everything about the fall leaves.  I love all the gorgeous colors.  I love when the wind blows and they are all falling off the trees and literally raining leaves.  I love the smell and the crunch of them.  I love the colorful carpet they make all over the lawn.  I love how raking them is so relaxing to me.  And I rake alot.  Sigh.

Ha.  I found this picture in my camera roll.  Must have accidentally taken it but how fortuitous for my post.  :)

~ hours of fun to occupy the kids ~ we have been out morning and afternoon and they can't get enough.  They have spent hours shoveling the leaves into piles, jumping into the piles, driving anything and everything with wheels through the piles, rolling in them and throwing them in the air.  And then I get to do my thing and re-rake them into piles and they all start again.  It's a win/win.



~ and to make my house smell nice ~  if I can't get enough fallish smell outside this is my favorite candle I'm burning inside of the house right now.  Love it.   Bright Red Gala Apple, Juicy Fig, Eucalyptus Leaf and Fir Balsalm.  Nice and fresh.

So there we go, everything fallish.  I love this season.  It's a feast for the senses.  What were your favorites this week?








Friday, October 12, 2018

Friday's Fave #503


Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  What a busy week it has been.  I had such good intentions of doing a few posts but alas, I didn't even make it around to comment on anyone's FFF post.  It was Thanksgiving weekend here last weekend and I have been consistently busy since last Friday, so I do apologize for that.  But it is life, and life is meant to live.  So that I did.  And with that it's time to once again to look for the blessings in our lives.  Please join in with us.  Guidelines are linked in sidebar if you've never read them.

~Thanksgiving ~ I have to say I love thanksgiving.  It doesn't have all the crazy busyness and distractions of Christmas and of course I love the giving of thanks.  That's what we try to do here at FFF on a consistent basis.  It was a lovely long weekend filled with family.  We had a  turkey dinner on Sunday.  Everything turned out delicious and we enjoyed each other's company all gathered around the meal.  So thankful all the kids were able to make it home and that the crazy weather and snow we've had as of late did not hinder their travels.


I cannot take a decent selfie type pic for the life of me.  This was the best of the bunch and as you can see there is always a variety of poses and quirkiness going on behind my back.

~apple cheese"cake"  ~  I had every intention of making a homemade dessert but when I was in the store I saw they had apple cheesecake on sale for the holiday.  I'm a cheesecake fan from way back as the saying goes and I thought why not?  It would be one less thing to worry about.  Well when we cut into it we had a good laugh.  It was cheese cake alright.  The bottom half was actually cake with the top half being an actual cheesecake portion.  I was so disappointed, I was looking forward to that creamy cheesecake all day, and in all honesty I am not a huge cake fan.  But it actually turned out to be delicious in an odd, unexpected way.  I did take a picture of it but I must have dumped it along the way sometime.

~family mall trip~ I usually try and avoid the mall but Thanksgiving day the kids all wanted to go so Dave and I joined them.  It actually turned out to be a lot of fun.  It felt like we were on a little vacation.  We used to enjoy going to the big malls in Calgary when the kids were younger and this reminded me of those times.  I also found me a great fall sweater on sale for a great price.

~peanut butter cup latte~ David's tea had a feature on this drink so I just had to give it a try.  Found it quite delicious.  Not a peanut in it, but it did taste like a pb cup.

~Operation Christmas Child~  the kids helped (I keep saying kids but they are all adults!) and the boxes are ready to be taken and filled at our kickoff at church this Sunday.  Always something I really love to do.  That little shoebox gift is a life changer and brings hope and love to so many kids around the world who otherwise having nothing or who live in desperate situations.  If you've never participated it's a great ministry to be involved in.  You can go here for more info:
Canada
United States

What were your favorite blessings from the last week?






Friday, October 05, 2018

Friday's Fave Five #502



Welcome to Friday's Fave Five.  It's been a chilly week here in Southern Alberta.  And it snowed.  Yikes!  Perfect week to think on good blessings to get our mind off the weather.  Please join us as we continue in this weekly discipline of thankfulness for the good things in our lives.

~flannel shirts~ My girls love flannel shirts and have been trying to convince me I need one in my life.   A couple of weeks ago they went on sale for $9.99 at Costco so I bit the bullet and bought one.  I mean you can't lose for that price, right?!  I am totally sold.  I have worn it so much already.  It's cozy and soft and oh, so comfy.  I like it so much I went and bought another in a different color.  I know it's going to be a staple  in my wardrobe this year.

~blackberries~ Tried them for the first time that I can remember this summer and I don't know what on earth held me back.  Yummy.

~ library time~ I was able to grab some library time this week.  This is a definite de-stress time for me.  Wandering around and browsing through all the books is very relaxing and just lets me wind down.  I switched out the dayhome kids books, which they always like, I picked up a couple of movies for them to choose from for this afternoon's movie day, and I picked up a hold for me

~little bits of fall decor~  This year I went really simple with the seasonal decor and I like it it.  A lot less work and less dusting but enough bits of fall color to make it nice.

~3 more bags purged~ on my quest to get rid of stuff that is just laying around taking space, causing stress and making work in upkeep or shifting it around from spot to spot, I came up with 2 more bags of stuff and another bag of clothes from my daughter making 3 bags out the door this week!  Feels good to get rid of stuff that is no longer serving a purpose in the house.  A lot were clothes and household items so they will be taken to the street mission downtown where someone needing them will put them to good use.   I have a few larger dayhome things I will be selling that the kids just don't really play with  at all so those will be gone too!

What have been your favorite blessings this week?