Thankful Thursday

1. We are all healthy again! I took a chance and didn't give Oliver the nebulizer treatments like I had the last six months whenever he got any kind of runny nose or cough, and that ended up being the right call as it wasn't necessary. Far more importantly, Paul's mom hasn't come down with pneumonia following her chemo treatment last Thursday. Thank you, LORD! I was SO nervous about this, and it's such a relief that she made it through treatment #2 without a visit to the ICU.

2. Potty training took a turn for the better on Friday! Tuesday was his best day so far (no accidents!). He also did fine in the nursery at ladies Bible study on Tuesday morning and in Puggles last night at church. Whew.

3. Last Friday and Saturday our town had their annual yard sales. We got a lot of great bargains - mostly clothes, books, and toys for the kids. The downside of the kids joining me for this was that we came home with more stuffed animals than we would have if I had gone alone. One lady was trying to entice Ian into

buying one of her stuffed animals, and she lowered the price to 25 cents. She then pointed to me and told him to ask his GRANDMA if he could have one. Ian immediately informed her that I was his mom. Ouch did it hurt to be called his grandma. The kids have already been wearing some of their new clothes (including the ones in these pictures). At one place the lady charged $10 to fill a grocery bag with clothes. I packed a LOT of clothes for Ian and Nadia into my bag, and many of them were new with tags!

4. The weather has been simply beautiful. It's been a bit warmer than usual (even up to 80 degrees) for this time of year in PA, but it has been absolutely perfect in my opinion. The leaves are also starting to turn beautiful colors, which I always enjoy.

5. Births of my nephew Micah Justin (on 9/20) and Paul's great nephew James Logan (on 9/25).

6. I wasn't exactly sure what to do on Sunday morning since Paul stayed home with Oliver
due to potty training. Usually the choir is up on the platform for the first 30-45 minutes of the service. Thankfully a woman who is one of the pianists for choir rehearsals saw that I needed help and she and her husband came and sat with Ian and Nadia until the choir was dismissed from the platform during the second service. I greatly appreciated their help! I love singing in this choir. Last Sunday we sang "Cornerstone," and this Sunday we're singing a song with a beautiful flute solo (it feels strange not to be the one playing the flute as that had been my role for the past ten years at the previous two churches). I like that the music pastor selects a nice variety of music - different styles (which was also true of the church choir I was in the past 6 years). I love this one that we're singing in a few weeks, for example.

7. Oliver and Ian both slept until 7am on Monday, and then on Wednesday Ian slept until 7 and Oliver slept until 7:25. I actually started to get worried about him! Now if only the boys could do this on a Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday, or Sunday when it would benefit Paul. He gets up between 5:00-5:30 on MWF so it doesn't help him one iota if the boys sleep in on those days. They usually only do this about once a month so I was shocked that it happened twice within three days. I was awake when Paul was getting showered and dressed, but I fell back asleep yesterday at 6am and was very disoriented when Ian came in at 6:55. I couldn't believe they had slept that long. Maybe this potty training is wearing Oliver out, ha ha!

8. The Giants had another decisive win last Thursday night! I wish I could say something nice about the Steelers, but the end of their game on Sunday was utterly painful to watch. I'm trying to block it out of my memory.