Thankful Thursday

1. We had a very nice time on the last two days of our vacation on Friday and Saturday, which included swimming, shuffleboard, seeing a production of Pinocchio, and spending a few hours at Quiet Valley Farm. It was also fun seeing that we had been on tv!

2. On Sunday a woman at church told me that when she is having trouble falling asleep at night she prays through the alphabet, and she said she always prays for Ian when she gets to "I" and for Oliver when she gets to "O." That really touched me to know she is praying for my boys!

3. Nadia and Ian thoroughly enjoyed riding Clyde at their first horse back riding lesson on Tuesday morning. Nadia can't wait until she is doing a good enough job steering the pony that she will be promoted to a horse. I am hoping over these 5 weeks Oliver will stop calling every horse "cow."

4. Thus far Paul, Nadia, and I have escaped the cold that the boys have had for a week. I was very grateful I brought the nebulizer and both medications to Maryland and the Poconos, as I had to start Oliver on both medications last Thursday. I'm grateful we have the nebulizer so we can hopefully avoid another hospitalization.

5. Oliver's nap has been getting a lit bit longer. Some days it is still only one hour long, but most of the time it is closer to two hours long these days. On Monday he shocked me and slept for 2 hours and 45 minutes. He hasn't had that long of a nap in more than a year! The first three nights we were back at home, Ian kept coming in to our room at random times throughout the night (midnight, 1am, 3am, etc.). Thankfully on Tuesday night he slept through the night. Whew.

6. I haven't mentioned it lately, but I still love our public library! One book we got recently that I love is Press Here. What a hilarious book!!

7. Nadia and Ian absolutely LOVED their horse back riding

lesson on Tuesday morning. They already learned a lot in just one lesson!

8. I was scheduled to have another gum grafting procedure done yesterday, but I cancelled my appointment because my dad talked to his periodontist earlier this month and found out there is a new pinhole surgical procedure that is much less painful and involves a much quicker recovery. The periodontist who did my first gum grafting procedure doesn't do this technique so I am going to put it off until I can have it done by someone who can do it this way. I am very thankful my dad asked his periodontist about it and that he knew of a better way!

9. We went to Knoebels today! We had planned to go on Tuesday, but the weather forecast said it was a 60% chance of thunderstorms that day, so Cheri suggested we go today instead. In hindsight, we should have gone on Tuesday because it didn't rain and it was about 25 degrees warmer outside that day. We didn't let the kids do either of the wet rides today since it was only in the high 50's. BRRR Aside from one new roller coaster where Paul and Nadia had to wait 30 minutes, we pretty much walked right on to every single ride we did. The kids rode many rides 3-5 times (sometimes right in a row). Nadia rode four roller coasters a total of six times. We had bought 4 hour hand stamps. After they expired we let the kids do the free 40 minute theater program (they put on costumes and an employee narrates the play). The kids love doing that every year. All three kids fell asleep on the way home. We will have to return to Knoebels at least one more time this season on a WARM day. It had been in the 80's the past four days so it made it feel even colder today. The things parents do out of love for their kids!