Thankful Thursday

1. My parents and brother drove (round trip) to our house on Friday to see Nadia play the part of Pepper in Annie. We greatly appreciated their willingness to do this!

2. Nadia did a GREAT job in Annie! All nine of us enjoyed the performance as well as Jenn and Holly (Jenn is Paul's colleague's wife). Jenn and Holly gave Nadia flowers, which was very sweet.

3. Nadia came down sick on Saturday. I am so glad she was feeling fine for her performance on Friday, and I'm thankful none of the rest of us caught her bug.

4. Nadia and Ian enjoyed building Black Widow's skycycle at Lowe's with Paul on Saturday morning.

5. I enjoyed walking for 2 1/2 hours on Saturday morning while visiting various yard sales. I also enjoyed getting some good bargains! Nadia spent more of her birthday money by buying a tennis racket for $5 and a Tinkerbell puzzle (150 piece). Ian loved the Star Wars shirt I got him. The Smartphone came in handy to check the price of some Lego sets. Some of the prices listed were NOT good, but some were very good bargains.

6. Nadia, Ian, and I enjoyed the Rural Heritage Day on Saturday afternoon.

7. All five of us enjoyed the VBS kick-off at First Baptist on Saturday evening, and the kids have been enjoying the VBS program that started there on Sunday night.

8. Paul and I were able to go out to dinner last night while the three kids were at VBS! I had recently redeemed some credit card points for a $50 gift card to TGIF, and when it came in the mail they included a bonus $10 gift card in addition to the $50 I had ordered.

9. Paul and the kids enjoyed seeing Penguins of Madagascar at the movie theater yesterday. It was $4 total for the four of them to see the movie. It was Oliver's first time in a movie theater. He did pretty well, but Paul said he thinks he should leave Oliver at home with me the next time he takes them. I think next summer he'll be able to handle sitting through a 90 minute movie. While they watched the movie I mowed the lawn and cut some branches off our 2 apple trees, which means it will be easier to mow.

10. The seven of us had a fabulous time at Dutch Wonderland on Tuesday!

11. Nadia was registered to be in a three day basketball camp that was supposed to begin yesterday morning, but when we showed up at the YMCA at 9am, we were told they had cancelled the camp due to low enrollment (and hadn't called me to tell me that). The upside of her not doing the camp is that she was able to go see the movie with her brothers yesterday, and today she was able to spend the day with her brothers at her grandparents' house! If I had a friend nearby who also had the day off, it would be great fun to have a "girl's day out" today - go shopping or out for lunch or go for a walk or get our nails done, but instead I am having a very productive day. Although we certainly haven't eaten all I cooked on the last freezer cooking day, there is room in the freezer for more meals so thus far I have made two ham and swiss pies (like a quiche), two batches of meatballs (over 3 lbs

of them), a double batch of BBQ chicken is in the crockpot, and I have browned two batches of ground beef that could be taken from the freezer to make lasagna or tacos or whatever. I also met with our district's elementary principal for an hour this morning. She was one of my graduate students at Bloomsburg University, and she wanted my input on a new Developmental Kindergarten class that they are starting this fall. I had planned to stop at the consignment shop after that meeting and sell some things (I

had Paul's car packed up with clothing and other baby gear), but I called them from the school's parking lot and found that they don't have much room so they aren't buying much this week. I am glad I called! Paul is taking the kids to VBS on his way home so I won't see them until 8:00, but Paul will be home around 6:00, and we're planning on taking a walk together. This means I have 3 1/2 more hours to get some more work done. Mopping the kitchen floor and dusting all over the house are definitely on the agenda. Other possibilities include more cooking and/or doing some organizing in the basement. I love my children dearly, but I certainly can get a LOT more work done when they're not here! I am very grateful that Paul's parents could watch them today. I am sure the kids are having a blast.

12. Last Friday ten of us enjoyed dinner at Texas Roadhouse before Nadia's show. I found a way to have a very economical meal there - drink water (I always do anyhow) and order a baked sweet potato (yum!). They give everyone free peanuts and free homemade bread. My meal cost about the same as Paul's soda. Usually when the five of us go out to eat (whether it's fast food or a sit down restaurant), Paul's meal/drink is usually half of the bill and the meals for the three kids and myself is usually the other half of the bill, but at Texas Roadhouse since I only had a sweet potato his meal was 2/3 of our bill. We both like that restaurant. I wish there was a way to get free gift cards for it like we can for Applebee's or TGIF. I usually don't put butter on my bread, but their butter is SO yummy (has honey it in) that I have to put some on! Mmmm