Thankful Tuesday

1. Nadia really enjoyed Theatre camp last week, and we all enjoyed seeing their performance on Friday. She already asked me if she can go again next year!

2. Ian and Nadia loved the National Night Out last Tuesday. My girl loves zip lines!

3. All seven of us had fun celebrating Oliver's birthday on Friday. Nadia and Ian definitely showed improvement with their bowling skills. The cake Aunt Millie made was delicious!

4. Paul took Nadia and Ian to Lowe's on Saturday morning. We're taking advantage of these opportunities before the soccer games start! The only downside to these events is I'm not sure what to do with all their projects.

5. I took the kids swimming at a different pool on Saturday afternoon as it was the conclusion of the local library's summer reading program.
The kids were each given one free book (of their choosing) plus I bought three more for them for 25 cents each. Of the kids who completed the reading program they drew names from each age group for other prizes. Ian was one of the names drawn! He won a pack of 15 pieces of Crayola sidewalk chalk.

6. Paul attended a pedagogy workshop yesterday and today at Bucknell and will do so again tomorrow. I think it's fabulous they offer this for new faculty because most college professors haven't had any training on how to teach. As an added bonus, he will receive a $500 stipend next month for participating in the workshop. His last paycheck from Bloomsburg was in the middle of June, and his first check from Bucknell won't be until the middle of September.

7. Nadia learned how to tie her shoes! Daddy taught her this important skill. She's up to size 12.5 sneakers, and they don't sell sneakers with velcro in that size at Payless so it was time for her to learn!

8. Ian continues to make progress with enjoying a wider variety of foods. He loves rigatoni with meatballs, and he's making a lot of progress with macaroni and cheese. He'll eat pulled pork or fish sticks if I put ketchup and mustard on them (which sounds gross to me, but if that's what he wants, no problem).

9. I'm very thankful for Oliver! We're so thankful he joined our family two years ago! Here's a video I made of him talking a little bit yesterday.

10. I'm also grateful I married Paul thirteen years ago (8/11/01). The kids are very blessed to have such a wonderful Dad who is willing to do things like be an assistant soccer coach. Paul surprised me with giving me some red roses and a card last night! The last time he gave me flowers was 8-11-2004 so this was a BIG deal. We made last minute plans for a date (I had planned to be in Maryland with the kids but a niece and nephew came down with hand, foot, and mouth disease so we stayed in PA). The kids love it when Becki comes to babysit! We had dinner at TGI Fridays, which we hadn't been to in many months, and then we did some shopping at Walmart, Toys R Us, and Dress Barn. We always enjoy having a little time just for the two of us!

11. I really enjoy pictures of my kids! I recently ordered some prints to update some frames around the house and on the refrigerator. We had our annual family photo shoot last Thursday. I've seen one photo so far (first photo in this post).

I'm anxious to see the rest of them! I have a feeling Oliver wasn't smiling in many of them. I hope she got some good ones. It was our first evening photo shoot. One bonus of that was Paul's glasses didn't turn dark. We went to a playground in our town that's by the river. I wanted some pics with the Susquehanna River in the background.

12. We love being able to check dvd's and books out from the public library. I recently discovered an author (Jan Thomas) whom the children really love (I hear the word "again" a lot as they ask me to read her books again and again). Two favorites include The Doghouse and A Birthday for Cow.

13. It has been raining for hours today, but yesterday the weather was really nice for a trip to the playground in the morning and the swimming pool in the afternoon.

14. Paul and I watched the movie "God's not dead" on Saturday night. I highly recommend it!

15. I've learned so much through Shultz Photo School. I bought a membership last November. I highly recommend it if you'd like to learn more about using a DSLR camera!

16. I've been reading Heidi to Nadia lately. We are both loving it. It was one of my favorites as a child, and it's so much fun to read it again!