Journey to our children: Thankful Tuesday

Tuesday, December 23, 2014

Thankful Tuesday

1. On Friday I talked to a woman on the phone who also attends the church where we're going now, and she is home schooling her four children (I think she said they are between 4-9 years old). They live at the most 15 minutes from our house, and she is also using My Father's World curriculum! I invited them over to our house on January 12. It turns out she has worked in Oliver's classroom on Sunday mornings. We have actually seen each other in the past without knowing each other's names or knowing that we were both home schooling moms, but we met in person in Oliver's classroom on Sunday. I am hoping maybe Sandy and I will become friends. My new friend, Nikki, was the one who gave me Sandy's name and phone number.

2. From 4:30-6:30 on Friday and from 9:00-11:20 on Saturday the kids had dress rehearsals for their program which they put on twice on Sunday. I am grateful they have the opportunity to do things like this, and I'm also glad it will be awhile before we have any more dress rehearsals as it was not easy to entertain Oliver there for that length of time.

3. Friday evening Nadia, Ian, and I attended a Guatemala Christmas Party at our previous church as Kathy (one of our former babysitters) was sharing about her mission work in Guatemala. It was great to hear how the Lord is using her there!

4. A couple of weeks ago our church encouraged each family to take 3-6 envelopes that they had prepared with a Christmas card (message in both English and Spanish) that included a $10 gift card to a grocery store or Walmart. I took three of them, and it was fun to pass them out to strangers and wish them a very Merry Christmas. The envelope also contained an invitation to attend our church if the recipient didn't already have a church home. Altogether people in our church passed out 2,400 gift cards.

5. We made a very brief stop at our fire company's "Breakfast with Santa" on Saturday morning. We came at the tail end due to the kids' choir rehearsal. The kids ALL loved the huge stocking of candy and snacks they each got (each one included several full size candy bars along with other goodies).

6. Paul's parents came up on Sunday to see the kids' program. I am so grateful they live close enough to be able to do things like that! We were also able to celebrate Paul's dad's birthday that afternoon. His birthday was on the 20th. I made him pork chops, and Paul's mom brought up some of her baked macaroni and cheese.

7. We drove to Maryland yesterday, and we arrived safely and had a smooth trip thanks in part to Oliver sleeping for 1.75 hours of the trip. It was great to spend some time with my parents, Maurice, and the Towfighis.

8. The Benners planned to arrive yesterday, but due to icy roads they spent the night about 2 1/2 hours away from our parents' house. We are glad they arrived safely here today! My parents have their 4 children, 3 son in laws, and 14 grandchildren under one roof!

9. I got a haircut on Saturday! I don't recommend going to the mall on the last Saturday before Christmas, but it was worth it to get a haircut. I also did a little shopping. My favorite bargain was that I got Ian two 4 piece suits in size 5T for $4.99 each at JcPenney. I had been searching high and low at consignment shops and on clearance racks for that size suit for him and had come up empty handed until Saturday,

10. Gas prices have continued to fall! The last time I got gas I paid $2.55 a gallon. It really makes a difference with the van which has a larger tank and gets less than 1/2 of the gas mileage of our Prius.