As Good As It Gets

Today was really a near-perfect day. I try not to use the word "perfect" as I have a few hangups about perfection...but anyway, today -
- hubby got up with the kids, gave them breakfast and got them all ready for church (I had taken allergy medicine and Nyquil and didn't even stir until 9:30am!) I hustled myself to get dressed and out the door for church in five minutes, and we made it!
- all four children went off to Sunday School without a tear (hooray!)
- it was baby dedication Sunday (so wonderful to see so many little ones and their parents) and a friend's two older boys were baptized
- we sang a song I need to hear over and over:
"All is well with my soul,
He is God in control,
I know not all His plans,
but I know I'm in His hands"
- after church, we had fun playing with hubby's phone/internet radio and found a Veggie Tales/kids station (we loved hearing Larry's I Love My Lips song and then we heard a cool mash-up of "Over the Rainbow" and "I'm Yours")
- we took a fun family "hike" (more like a stroll) along the Vischer Ferry trail not far from our house. The kids were ecstatic when we told them we were doing a family hike!! We didn't go for too long (the plentiful rains had made part of the trail impassable), but we saw several kinds of flowers, beautiful leaves, a couple of frogs and even some snakes (yikes!) We do hope to make hiking a regular family activity, as the cost is minimal, it's great exercise and it gets us off the couch/away from hand-held electronics, and bonds us as a family.
- after our walk, the older two BEGGED us "Please can we rake the yard?!!" Hubby and I looked at one another, puzzled, until we realized they wanted to make a big pile of leaves to jump in - "SURE!" we answered.
- a little later, I took the older two to get some groceries. My 8 1/2 year old has become super-helpful in the store, knowing what we need, where to find things, how to figure out best-buys, how to place items in the cart and on the checkout counter, how to bag and returning the cart.
- I was really excited about dinner: hubby had put the crock pot on a timer for me, so our pot roast has started cooking around 4 in the morning...by 6pm, we had a fabulously tender roast, and I had made party potatoes, steamed carrots and applesauce to round out the meal. I had wanted to have an apple pie ready for dessert, but didn't have time to make it earlier in the day.
- after finishing the dinner dishes, hubby and I worked on making the apple pie while the younger two "cleaned" the basement and the older two practiced the piano.

- then it was bath time and bed time!
Here I sit, reflecting on a wonderful day, thankful for my family, the beautiful weather, our yummy dinner, and post-bath scented kiddos. I also treasure two other moments in the day: my four-year-old praying at dinner ("help us to be healthy in the morning, thank you for the fun family hike, thank you for mommy grocery shopping and thank you for this delicious dinner") and my three-year-old singing "The Little Light of Mine" as I tucked him in bed...
Let it shine til Jesus comes, I'm gonna let it shine!!