Thankful Thursday

1. On Saturday all three kids slept in until at least 7am! WOOHOO! Oliver was the first one up, and Ian didn't get up until 7:20, which was amazing! Oliver and Nadia slept even later on Sunday. Oliver was up at 6:15 on Monday, and I would normally have let him cry a little to see if he'd go back to sleep, but he was having a horrible coughing fit so I had to go get my baby and snuggle him. On Tuesday I did let him fuss a bit when he woke up at 5:50, and I was very glad I did because then he slept another hour. Nadia slept in later this morning than I think she's ever slept in her life - 8:45! Usually she gets up sometime between 7:00-7:30.

2. The Giants and Steelers won again on Sunday! If our teams win their next two games, we both will have won as many games as we've lost this season.

3. We had a few warmer weather days. It was a delight to walk to the playground on Saturday and Monday. A temperature of 60 degrees felt balmy after having highs in the 30's just a few days before that. It's all a matter of perspective!

4. Oliver's naps have been improving! There are still days when his morning nap is only 30 minutes long, but that is no longer the norm. The norm is now 60 minutes for his morning nap, and his afternoon nap has also been getting a little bit longer. It was actually 2 hours long yesterday (not the norm but greatly appreciated!). Today both naps were longer than 60 minutes. Yesterday and today his total time napping was 3 hours each day!! WOOHOO! It took 6 months to get him back on track. It is easier to do home schooling with Nadia and housework when he sleeps longer. In light of that, I bought the Motivated Mom chore app and started using it today. Also enough time has passed that I no longer wince at the thought of going on vacation again. I paid our time share fee for 2014 yesterday, deposited our week, and have started searching for a place to go on vacation in 2014.

5. I'm thankful for Paul's safety as there was a bomb threat yesterday afternoon in the science building (regarding the other FT chemistry adjunct!). Paul was having office hours when the building was evacuated.

6. Nadia is making great progress in her school work. In math we've been working on telling time with an analog clock, in spelling she's been doing compound words, and in reading she's been working on words with "ee," plurals, contractions, and words with long vowels. For decades I wanted to be a mom, and I also wanted to be a teacher since I was in elementary school. Being a homeschooling mom is the perfect way to combine both of those passions! I am thankful Paul had the idea and desire for me to homeschool our kids. It would be easier to cook and clean if I sent my kids to school, but I absolutely love teaching them here at home.

7. Paul's mom got a good report at the hospital yesterday! They are indefinitely postponing her chemo/radiation for the lymphoma; she doesn't return to the oncologist until March! She has two more treatments scheduled for her MRSA, and she seems to have recovered from the double pneumonia. Her shoulder is healing from the skin cancer surgery she had two weeks ago. We're still praying for Oliver and Paul to get healthy within the next week so that we won't pass any germs on to her on Thanksgiving.

8. Ian did a great job at the hair salon today. His haircut cost $2.55; I gave her $5. She gave him an excellent hair cut!

9. I saw today while driving Nadia to gymnastics that a Panera Bread will be opening in the near future! I love that restaurant, especially the strawberry salad they serve in the summer. Yummy!

10. Paul will not be teaching the next eleven days due to Thanksgiving break (and the fact he doesn't have class on Mondays or Fridays). He has a lot of grading to do (ex. research papers), but we should see a bit more of him than we usually do. Yahoo!