Almost Spring

Deep breath.  It's Friday.  Made it through the week.  I wonder if it's just the season.  Since there have been no breaks since the New Year, the long string of teaching weeks seem to get longer and busier as we approach Spring Break.  The Professor has next week off, as does our son the Chaplain's wife (more on that in a minute), but I have two more weeks until my break.  For whatever reason, the week just seems longer.  And busier. (I just said that, didn't I?) I didn't even get around to read others' FFFs and I really missed that.  [insert large sad face]  Due to a suspected cold coming on, I am taking today as a rest day.  I need it to catch my breath.  And I need to look back and remind myself of the blessings of the week.  Here are my chosen focuses for Friday Fave Fives.

1.  Sometimes I just have to stop and smell the roses.  These are the first two blooms in my garden.

2.  I have a new addition to my garden which came with a new visitor.  The monarch butterfly consumes only one plant--the lowly milkweed.  My arts group friend gifted me a small milkweed plant.  I have been carefully tending it, faithfully watering it.  It just wasn't thriving.  I couldn't understand why.  Oh.  Look!

 A caterpillar larva!  Evidently, the milkweed arrived complete with an egg.  I had been told by someone that it may look like the milkweed plant is dead, but it's not.  It's just being eaten down to its nubbins and will grow back its leaves as soon as the monarch larva enters the chrysalis stage.  I hope it's soon.  There's not much left of my milkweed plant.  That one little larva has a voracious appetite.

3.  One reason the week may have seemed so busy is that we started out busy on the weekend.  The Professor and I joined several hundred people at a local conference where Kay Arthur of Precepts Bible Studies was the speaker.  I've been a student of Kay's through her Bible studies since 1994, but this is the first time I had heard her speak in person.  It was amazing.  And I shared it with many friends.

4.  Then, to top off the weekend, on Sunday evening, we attended a choral concert by Los Robles Childrens Choir.  At first, I figured it would just be the normal kids' choir. But.  W.O.W.  I was impressed.  (It's a bit hard to impress me with children singing because I began singing in choirs when I was seven and continued until I graduated from college.)  They sang "An American Patchwork" and tenor Ross Hauck sang with them as a guest performer.  Added bonus:  some present and former students were in the choir and audience.  That's another fun part of teaching homeschool kids!

5.  Remember that I mentioned spring break?  We are anticipating the arrival our Princess from Phoenix!  She will be accompanied by The Chaplain and his wife, her parents.  Four days of loving on our grandgirl!

So that was Willow's Week.  We're heading in to hot and windy weather this almost spring weekend.  Is it warming up or cooling down for you?