Thankful Thursday

1. Nadia enjoyed the international Christmas party on Friday night with Paul.

2. I had registered the kids for a project at Home Depot on Saturday, but Paul wasn't feeling up to going. I am thankful that they have been able to do a few projects before basketball games resume on Saturday mornings and they won't be able to do these projects for a few months.

3. The kids and I enjoyed the storyteller and decorating gingerbread cookies at Bucknell on Saturday.

4. The kids and I enjoyed seeing the Nutcracker play on Sunday afternoon.

5. I enjoyed the song the choir sang on Sunday morning, and the kids really enjoyed hearing their gym teacher sing a duet of "Mary did you know" on Sunday morning.

6. The kids were glad that our house was shown on Tuesday afternoon because it meant I took them to McDonald's for dinner on the way to taking Nadia to her art class.

7. Nadia has really enjoyed her art class. I am glad there is only one week left as it makes our Tuesday evenings a little crazy now that basketball has started.

8. Both kids enjoyed their first basketball practice of the season (Ian's first season and Nadia's third) on Tuesday night.

9. Nadia and Ian enjoyed seeing "A Christmas Story" at the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble yesterday morning with Paul. It's a rare treat to go on a field trip with Daddy!

10. The kids and I enjoyed Christmas caroling at a nursing home last night with their AWANA club. They also enjoyed the yummy cookies at the end! Ian's Sparks leader gave him a birthday present of candy that looks like Legos (can be played with).

11. My parents are on their way to our house! Today is my Dad's 72nd birthday, and Ian's birthday is on Saturday so we are celebrating both birthdays today and tomorrow with my parents. They will be with us for about 29 hours, and their arrival has been very eagerly anticipated! The kids and I are all wearing Steelers clothes in his honor (he's the reason I am a fan of the Steelers as he was born and raised in Pittsburgh). Nadia is ready to count from 1-10 and sing Silent Night in German for Grandpa, and Oliver and I made his favorite cookies (oatmeal raisin) a couple of days ago. When I told Oliver they were for Grandpa's birthday, he asked me "Will Grandpa share?". LOL! I don't think Grandpa wants to eat all five dozen himself.

12. My parents will be joining us on our field trip today. That's a very rare treat! We will be learning about how they celebrate Christmas in Germany at Camp Susque this afternoon.

13. Ian LOVES writing in his journal each day. I have always had to encourage Nadia to write more. When she was his age she was content just to write one sentence, but I would ask for more. Ian always wants to fill the page without any encouragement from me. The two entries shown in photos in this post were done totally on his own (no help from me with spelling). I guess I should add "favorite" and "character" to his spelling list because he keeps wanting to use those words, ha ha! I am just joking. Those words are not in the 1st grade spelling curriculum. Right now he's working on compound words like "shellfish" and "desktop" in spelling. I wrote at the top what he said with correct spelling in case I wouldn't remember later on what he was trying to say.  We will be putting his writing skills to use next week for writing thank you notes for his birthday presents instead of writing in his journal. The science page in the middle is from Nadia. I thought it was sweet that she loves to SEE Grandma and HEAR Daddy coming home. I have to agree with her on tasting ice cream and smelling brownies baking in the oven!

A picture of some of the 40+ children who sang at the nursing home last night

Ready to see the Nutcracker