Thankful Thursday

1. I'm grateful that my sister Wendy and her family made it safely back to Chicago last weekend. I am also glad that my brother, Maurice, made it safely back to Brazil. They almost diverted his flight because he was so sick on the flight, and he was greeted with a police escort off the plane once they landed in Brazil. Poor guy!!

2. My parents and Yvonne seem to have escaped the bug. Andrew, Paul, and Nadia had very mild cases of it. Oliver's fever came back this evening. Poor baby! Ian and Nadia are still coughing. Over the course of the day today, my voice drastically improved! I think it might be back to normal tomorrow. I didn't go to choir rehearsal last night because I couldn't sing. I felt so lost when I was rocking Oliver for his naps and bedtime, as I always sing to him. The things we take for granted! I was able to sing to him this evening! My singing voice isn't normal yet, but at least I can sing again! I'm hoping next Thursday I can report that we're all healthy again.

3. The kids rarely get to play with any cousins. I wish we didn't have to go at least a year in between visits, but it was very special to watch them playing together from December 26- January 3. When it was just the Benners and Kennedys, Nadia mostly played with Adam or Rachel. Ian mostly played by himself. Those days they didn't have any screen time (tv or tablets). When the Towfighis arrived, Nadia wanted to imitate Jenna (age 11). The girls shared a bedroom, and they would both come down to breakfast after they got dressed and made their beds. Nadia wanted to sit beside Jenna at the kitchen table, and she wanted to eat whatever cereal Jenna had picked. It was like having a big sister for a few days. My heart broke a little, as I was reminded that she'll never have a sister. Nadia mostly played with Andrew and Joshua. Although Nadia never was handed a tablet to play during that 9 day span (I let Ian play it once because he was sick), both kids were definitely watching their cousins play one of their four tablets at many points in time. I think there were at least six tablets in the house at one time, which amused me because the last time we were together (4 years ago) there weren't any! Technology is changing at a rapid pace. Ian did play with his cousins some, but he was very ready to go home at the end whereas Nadia kept begging us to stay longer. Nadia was so surprised when I told her yesterday that the Towfighis were still at Grandma's house (they fly back tomorrow). She couldn't understand why we were up here if they were still there. I explained that Uncle Joe's family was spending time with them this week.

4. The last several days were really bad with getting Ian to eat. I sent an email to Dr. Williams (feeding psychologist) who wrote me back today. Dinner went SO much better tonight. He ate tuna noodle casserole and carrots in 45 minutes! He was actually able to have some dessert for the first time this week (a brownie). I am very thankful to have a new plan of action.

5. Paul and I had eye doctor appointments today. We go once every two years. The eye doctor was amazed at how good Paul's vision is considering he has kerakatonus. My prescription hadn't changed in the last two years except that the astigmatism in my left eye got worse. I told the eye doctor that I can read with the contacts I received 6 years ago or with my eyeglasses, but that I have trouble reading with the contacts I received 4 years ago. It turns out I have reached "the age" when reading has started to be a problem for my aging eyes. Lovely. She gave me a bunch of choices such as bifocal contact lenses, reading glasses, etc. The option I'm experimenting with now is to lower the prescription on my right eye (make it a little blurrier for seeing far away but that is supposed to make me be able to read with them on). I'm going to return in two weeks to see if these are "the ones" or not. Paul is older than me, and his vision in general is worse than mine, but it looks like I'll be the one needing reading glasses first. You know you're middle aged when...... She said it usually levels out by the age of 55.

6. There have been a BUNCH of great free books on Amazon lately for the Kindle (ex. many by Beth Moore). I have decided to take a break from playing Words with Friends and spend more time reading. I also received two books on home schooling from Yvonne that I want to read! I read the first five chapters of To Live is Christ (about the Apostle Paul) so far today.

7. Since my throat has been too sore/hoarse for me to read, Paul has been reading Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle to the kids. They finished the last one today. Paul is excited that they're starting a book about Vikings tomorrow!

8. On Tuesday Nadia and I did a thorough job of cleaning her room. Many things left the room to be donated for others (such as costumes she has outgrown). Her room still looks great as of today. I hope she keeps it this way!

9. Nadia is REALLY taking off with reading these days. Tonight she was the one to read our Bible story at bed time. We used the first grade Bible reader from My Father's World curriculum.

10. Aside from watching Toy Story once this week, the kids have only been watching educational dvds - Liberty Kids (about early American history around the time of the Revolution) or Buck Denver's DVD about the book of Acts (a Christmas gift the kids received).

11. I'm very thankful for our nice warm house. It's been VERY cold lately. We decided we aren't going to apply for that job in Michigan. BRRR! I've submitted twenty applications thus far.

12. Last night while Nadia and Ian were at AWANA Paul and I went through a box of computer stuff (manuals, CD's, etc.) We threw away most of it as they were from the late 90's. Purging stuff we don't need always puts a smile on my face, and previously when I had tried to get Paul to part with these cd's he had been unwilling to do so. Progress! I am hoping we can get through a few more piles of stuff before the spring semester starts.