Gifted

With all the brouhaha surrounding the holidays, alot of times we overlook the blessings and gifts that happen all around us. I am certainly no exception. I keep a piece of paper and a pen handy to jot down blog topics. I was looking it over and realized that I have been the recipient of some pretty special gifts. Ready? Here we go.

• One of my dance friends sent me a message a few weeks ago. She had 5 boxes of curriculum. Did I want it? Um, heck yeah. You should have seen all the goodies. It is no secret that I'm a curriculum junkie. The best part? I am basically set for curriculum all the way through high school! I may need a couple of things here and there, but not much. The better than best part? I took the leftovers to the park for my park mamas. I had three very full, very heavy boxes. They were overstuffed, but I had limited room in the back of my minivan. When the feeding franzy was over, I had very little left over, and what I did was stuff I had been eyeing, but didn't want to be greedy or a glutton. Then she sent me another email. She had found one more box. Did I want it? Absolutely. And I love it when good books find great homes. There was much shuffling and sharing, borrowing and lending. What a gift! And it was enjoyed and appreciated by friends. Thank you so much, KK! My park mamas think you're awesome. And so do I. 
• I have a deal with a friend. I pick up honey for her, she picks up quinoa for me. She has never liked honey, but they have cut all sugar from their diet and needed a sweetener. So I gave her a jar that I had to see if she could at least tolerate it and if her family would like it. They loved it. I was so happy. Last co-op she asked if I would pick her up some more honey. Yup. She had found a great deal on some quinoa and wanted to know if I wanted her to pick me up some. Yup. We communicate well, don't we? At the park, I delivered her quart size jar. And she gave me a bag of quinoa wrapped with a pretty bow. Love it! That bad boy got opened the next night and we had quinoa pilaf. She's picking me up two more bags next time she goes. Like having an alternative to rice. I like my white rice, don't get me wrong. I just picked up a bag yesterday. But we don't eat as much as we used to. Thank you, KS!
• Mabel. Goodness we love Mabel. She's our piano and she's beautiful. My friend N saw her online and called me. I went and looked at her and fell in love. She was horribly out of tune and had sticky keys, but you could tell she was a beauty. We happen to go to church with a very nice man who is a retired piano tuner. He took very good care of her. She sounds so pretty when the girls play. The big girl almost had me in tears with "O Come, O Come, Emmanuel". But I'm a sucker for my kids and an even bigger sucker when they play. 
• We have the gift of music in our home. The kids are able to take music lessons and we have some really great teachers. My friend N, as mentioned above, teaches the girls piano. So blessed to know her, but doubly blessed because she has a joy and passion for piano and shares that with my kids. Whoo hoo!! The boy's guitar teacher, Mr. R, comes recommended from friends. The boy is always happy on guitar day. Mr. R is so good with him. The boy is doing very well. You should see him with his gig bag. Oh my gosh! Mr. R loves playing music and wants as many people to learn to play as possible. We were gifted with music teachers that love what they do. You cannot ask for more than that.

So many gifts. And sometimes we don't take the time to appreciate the little things. Those little things can be larger than life if we let them.

Have a great day.