Thanksgiving Thursday

This morning we listed some of our blessings from the past year in the Thanksgiving Day journal that I started last year.  Last year I was the scribe for all our lists. This year Nadia write her list, and I wrote everyone else's. A new tradition we started today is to have donuts for breakfast on Thanksgiving morning. Paul and Nadia picked up some donuts yesterday after they went bowling in preparation for our special breakfast. A friend of mine mentioned that they have "donut day" one Saturday morning a month in their family, and I thought that it was a great idea to make a tradition that involves eating donuts. I thought we'd have them for breakfast on a few holidays throughout the year starting with Thanksgiving.

This definitely won't go down as a typical Thanksgiving Day for us because we didn't eat any turkey today or see any of our extended family. Up until yesterday afternoon the plan had been for me to serve dinner for 14 people at noon today, but Paul's mom ended up back in the hospital on Monday night as her shoulder is infected where they recently removed the skin cancer and her pneumonia had returned as well. My dad ended up in the ER on Tuesday night with a b/p higher than 230. They think he has a virus in his nerves which is causing him a lot of pain, which at times is raising his blood pressure. If we had dinner today as planned, only three of the nine guests would have been able to make it. My friend, Cheri, still came to have lunch with us, and we're planning to have a turkey dinner on Sunday afternoon that hopefully Paul's family can attend. I am not a big fan of turkey so I don't mind that we didn't eat any turkey today. What I missed the most were the pies! My mom had planned to bring a pie, and Millie always brings several yummy desserts from her bakery. Nadia and I made some M&M cookies this evening so we could have something sweet.

As I reflect on the past year, here are a few of the blessings that come to mind...

1. Paul graduated from Penn State with his Ph.D. in Chemistry in May!

2. Paul began a nine month contract as an Assistant Professor at Bloomsburg University in August!

3. No one in our immediate family had a surgery, hospitalization, or even a sick visit at a doctor's office over the past year! We couldn't say that the past few years, and we won't be able to say that next year, so I'm grateful we can say it today!

4. Oliver might still be a little peanut (5th percentile), but he's gained a lot of weight and grown a lot longer over the past year!

5. Oliver learned how to sit, crawl, stand, walk while holding onto something or someone's hand, go up and down the stairs by himself, say four words, wave, clap his hands, do the "touchdown" signal with his hands, eat table foods, drink from a sippy cup, etc. He's an outstanding eater, thankfully!

6. Ian and Nadia are very thankful for our new iPad.

7. We enjoyed our vacation to Florida in May as well as our trips to Sesame Place, Knoebels, Hershey Park, Disney on Ice, and DelGrosso's.

8. The kids and I really enjoyed our membership at the swimming pool this past summer.

9. I am thankful that I am now a stay-at-home homeschooling mom.

10. Three new babies were born in our extended family this past year. My sisters each had a baby girl (we haven't met Grace or Julianna yet), and Paul's niece had a girl (Autumn) in August in Florida.

11. Nadia has made a lot of progress over the past year. She learned how to blow her nose, swing herself, spell MANY words, read, tell time, add, subtract, etc. She made great strides with drawing and soccer and has begun to learn to play the piano. She attended theatre camp for the first time this past summer.

12. Ian made a lot of progress over the past year with his feeding skills. We still have a way to go, but he can now feed himself breakfast (just in the past week I started putting milk in his cereal and he's now eating cereal with a spoon instead of using his fingers to eat dry cereal) and lunch. He feeds himself dinner when it's something he likes (pizza, pancakes, grilled cheese, or chicken nuggets). He's learned to drink cold milk. All of his dietary restrictions were lifted this year! PTL!

13. Ian has been learning a lot as well. He can now do 50-100 piece jigsaw puzzles all by himself. He knows the sounds that most letters make, and he is starting to read simple (short vowel) words. He has started memorizing Bible verses.

14. Of course the biggest blessing in my life is my Heavenly Father. I am so thankful that Nadia is also a Christian, and I will continue to pray fervently for the rest of the family to accept Him as Savior some day.