Thankful Thursday

Potty training didn't go very well today. Cleaning puddles of pee off the floor isn't exactly my favorite thing to do. Tomorrow I will hit the one year anniversary of our last FET, the first day of my final pregnancy. I keep wishing we still had one more embryo that we could transfer, but we don't. Although I've been doing better with getting rid of baby things and the clothes that Oliver has outgrown, I still can find myself on the verge of tears at the sight of a pregnant belly or a newborn baby or a mom nursing a baby. Hopefully in time this won't be the case, but my longing for one more baby hasn't faded away yet. In my Bible study Beth used the definition of joy as happiness without the moodiness. I kept reminding myself of that today when I was tempted to be moody, and it's also very helpful to count one's blessings.

1. Both the Giants and Steelers had decisive wins on Sunday. We enjoyed watching the games. We had our cable reinstalled on September 9, and how long we keep it hooked up will depend on how well our teams do this season.

2. Normally the kids don't see Paul on Mondays, but we had dinner with him at Perkins on Monday this week. I had signed the kids up for a Pete the Cat program at the library at 6:30pm, and Nadia has gymnastics from 4:00-5:30 so I figured we could all meet for dinner a little after 5:30. The pumpkin pancakes I had were delicious. I want to find a recipe and try to make some myself! The kids were well behaved during dinner. I think we should do this one a month the rest of the semester.

3. While we were at Perkins, I had a hankering for caramel apple pie (because theirs looked scrumptious) so yesterday I finally started dealing with our apple trees. Most of our apples were in bad shape this year. We didn't spray the trees, and it shows! Anyhow I filled a small bag with some good apples and two large bags with bad apples, and then I made some apple crisp last night, which we were able to enjoy today. Yummy!

4. I went to a ladies Bible study at a church I'd never been in before on Tuesday morning. The kids had fun playing with other children in the nursery, and I enjoyed the discussion group and video session. I have been praying to make at least one friend either at the Bible study or at church, and on Tuesday I met a lady whose husband is also a professor at Bucknell (in Management). She is planning to home school her boys (who are currently 15 months and 4 years old).

5. I finally found a fruit that all three kids enjoy. Ian and Nadia eat bananas, Oliver and Nadia eat grapes, but all three will eat apples! Considering how Oliver begs for MORE green beans (in contrast to his siblings who want me to give them as small a portion of vegetables as possible), I am not concerned that he doesn't eat much in the way of fresh fruit yet, but still it's always nice to find a healthy food they all like!

6. I discovered the library has Nest Entertainment's set of 20 Animated Hero Classics dvds! These are excellent; each one is about 30 minutes long. So far we've watched the ones on William Bradford and Pocahontas, as they have correlated to what Nadia has been studying in history. We've also been checking out LOTS of books lately. Some funny ones (such as Pirates don't change diapers) and also ones that correspond with what Nadia is studying in history and science (such as Sarah Morton's Day, which is a true story of a Pilgrim girl).

7. Ian has done fine with me cutting his hair the last two times it has needed to be cut! The beauty salon doesn't charge much to cut his hair, but still we save a little money if I do it myself.

8. Nadia has gotten back into the habit of listening to books on CD in her room. She's been flying through the Ramona series. It's her third time through those books because it's her second time listening to all the CDs, and I also read all the books to them. Right now I'm reading them The Sign of the Beaver since it corresponds with what she's learning about in history. I learned a few things when I read Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims to the children recently. One of the perks of home schooling is that I get to learn some new things along the way as well!

9. The kids enjoyed the Pete the Cat program at the library on Monday night.

10. Oliver's naps have been a bit longer lately. He's been averaging about 90 minutes, and sometimes they have been as long as two hours long! He also has stayed dry in his underwear during his naps.