Thankful Tuesday

1. Friday morning I met a mom from our previous church at our church's playland (where Oliver and I hang out each Friday from 10:00-11:30 while Nadia and Ian are in gym class) because she wanted to talk about homeschooling. Her oldest will be turning five in the spring, and they are trying to decide what path they will choose for their boys. Up until she gave birth to her first, she was a public school elementary teacher. It was really nice to be able to chat with another mom for 90 minutes. She and I taught a Sunday School class together for a few years.

2. Paul often works at Kennedy Concrete on Fridays, but he stayed home last Friday to grade papers. This meant #1 that we saw more of him at mealtimes than we usually do and #2 that I was able to run. Nadia's soccer practices were both cancelled last week, so I actually ran three times over the course of four days. It felt great! I was rained on during my run on Thursday, and that led to my fastest pace every for running a mile, ha ha!

3. I just LOVE the beautiful trees this time of year. I really enjoy looking at them while I run.

4. Oliver has really gotten into giving kisses. His kisses even include a sound effect. The other two kids never did this at this age.

5. I redeemed Coke points and used coupons and such and ordered four photo calendars from Shutterfly without paying one penny. That was a first for me! I always paid s/h in the past.

6. Paul's parents came up for the kids' soccer games on Saturday. Both of them played at 9:00. The downside is we couldn't watch all of both games, but the upside was we only had to stay out in the cold weather for one hour instead of two. The girls on Nadia's team were told to take off their coats, but Ian's coach let them keep their coats on if they wanted. Ian did have his uniform on under that coat. Ian scored three goals - two for his team and one for the other team. I believe he has scored seven goals for his team this fall (plus a couple for the

other teams, ha ha). Their last games are scheduled for next Saturday. Nadia didn't score any goals, but she did have one corner kick that enabled one of her teammates to score a goal.

7. Paul's parents came over to the house after the games which meant that #1 the kids got to play with them for about four hours and #2 during part of that time I was able to go to the mall and get a haircut and do a little bit of shopping. Yay! They also treated us to pizza for lunch. Yum! I usually get my hair cut four times a year so I should be set for another three months.

8. Saturday afternoon we attended a Fall Festival that a local church put on for our community at the town's park. It was free and included hot dogs, chips, cookies, apple cider, s'mores, games, a professional balloon artist, and three crafts. Nadia did all three crafts. Ian did two of the crafts, and Oliver did one of the crafts. He spent the least time at the festival because he was napping at home during part of the time I had the other two there. Nadia picked an Elsa balloon, Oliver picked an Olaf, and Ian picked a pirate hat. Oliver had a hard time deciding between a penguin or Olaf. I
thought the tiaras the man made were rather impressive. We all had a good time. My kids were the only ones wearing costumes. Oops! If we are still living in this town next fall, I will remember not to dress them up in costumes for the fall festival. They got lots of compliments, but they were a little embarrassed.

9. On Sunday afternoon we went to a local church's trunk or treat. Oliver was a bee, Nadia was a peacock, and Ian was Wolverine. The church had snacks, crafts, games, etc inside the church in addition to the candy in the trunks outside. Nadia ate a donut off of a string without using her hands. Oliver's favorite part was playing a "drum" (a bucket turned upside down). After I brought the kids back from that event, I went for a run while Paul watched his Giants win.

10. I really loved the anthem the choir sang (with a cello accompanying us) on Sunday. It was a beautiful arrangement of "Near to the heart of God."

11. All three kids saw the dentist yesterday morning, and they all did well. It was Oliver's very first dentist appointment. He told me the dentist said his teeth were "sparkling," and he was very proud of that. Nadia was told to improve her brushing a little on a few teeth down near the gums, but the boys got good reports. Thus far we haven't had to deal with any cavities. Oliver doesn't brush his own teeth yet, but Nadia and Ian brush their own teeth.

12. Nadia has learned to identify all the South American countries on a map, and she has started working on Europe. Ian has learned to say the books of the New Testament.

13. Although I miss being a college professor (and the paycheck associated with having a job), I do absolutely love being able to homeschool my three precious children.