Thankful Thursday

1. There was a guest speaker in Kidzway on Sunday morning, and usually Oliver's class isn't included, but even his class was brought down to participate. Ian in particular really loved the program and told us many of the facts he learned about the animals. A man brought many different reptiles (including snakes, alligators, etc.) for the lesson. One of the snakes was named Oliver, and ironically a missionary couple from Cambodia who is on home assignment for 6 months was brought up on the platform for the pastor to pray for them that same day, and they have a baby boy named Oliver. Thankfully we don't generally run into too many Olivers (or snakes for that matter).

2. Paul did the weed whacking on Friday night during their dress rehearsal. I admit I was hoping he'd chainsaw the stump so I could take it away (it's been sitting on our lawn for a month), but the weed whacking was also helpful and appreciated. A neighbor told me at a soccer practice where I can take it, but it's way too heavy for me to lift at the moment.

3. Paul took two days off of work last week. He had three days off in a row since he also usually doesn't work on Sundays. Since he almost always works six days a week even getting two days off in a row is a rare treat. Oliver was wanting Daddy nonstop. These four months have been hard for the kids and I. Most people I know if they work shifts that are 10 or 12 hours long then they only work 3-4 days a week. Since Paul is usually gone on average 14-15 hours a day six days a week we really appreciated having him around three days in a row. He took off Saturday because of the birthday party of one of the company's customers so it was work related but still we were together as a family.

4. The kids enjoyed the motor boat ride on Saturday afternoon at that party.

5. The kids did a great job at the musical on Saturday night and Sunday night. We appreciated that Paul's parents came up to see it on Sunday night. I'm thankful they can sing in a choir year round. I pray for the rest of their lives they are singing for the Lord!

6. We enjoyed touring the replica of the tabernacle and doing the Compassion experience on Friday in Lancaster.

7. I should have done so seven years ago, but I finally purchased a fruit picker. It is supposed to be delivered next week. We only have one apple tree now. The tree has far fewer apples than last year, which is fine with me. This tool should make the job so much easier.

8. Paul lost 25 pounds over the past four months of having a physical job (compared to the sedentary one of being a professor)! He is going in the right direction with his weight, yay! Unfortunately his job has had the opposite effect on me because I haven't been able to run due to his work schedule. I am very happy that I can now get exercise on Tuesday and Thursday nights during soccer practice. I walked 2 miles during the soccer practice on Tuesday night and ran 3 miles tonight on the cross country tracks that are located near the soccer field, which made for a lovely and private place to run. On Tuesday I also started to be more careful about what I eat so that hopefully I can get back to what I weighed last year. I haven't weighed myself since April, but I can tell by the way my clothes fit that I've gained weight since then.

9. We enjoyed our second date in 12+ months on Sunday afternoon thanks to Paul's parents babysitting the kids and my dad giving us money for dinner at Texas Roadhouse in honor of our 15th anniversary.

10. Olive Garden is one of my favorite restaurants, but I go several years in between visits to eat there. Well I learned of a great deal last week if you placed an order on-line, and I took advantage of it on Saturday because there is one not that far from the Children's Museum. I received 2 breadsticks, a bowl of soup, and 2 entrees for $11.07 total! We ate the breadsticks en route to the party on Saturday (split them up so all five of us shared the 2 breadsticks), but the soup and entrees we enjoyed on Monday and Tuesday night. Yum! Oliver and I were the only ones who wanted the soup.

11. Oliver mastered the last uppercase letter (S) on Monday morning. We are headed to Bonanza for dinner on Labor Day to celebrate! Now I am working with him on the lower case letters that differ from the upper case ones. He's learned two of those so far. He loves pointing out letters throughout the day. The first word he has learned to "read" is "exit." He loves finding that word when we are out and about and pointing it out to me.

12. Yesterday the kids and I never left the house. It's nice to have a day like that now and then. For one thing it means all three meals are relaxed. That's the most stressful thing about soccer practices - getting the boys to eat their dinners, get their soccer gear on, and get out the door by 5:05 pm on Tuesday and Thursday night. We played a lot of games together yesterday including Zingo, Jenga, Apples to Apples, etc. Oliver really liked Zingo. Normally he always wants to play Chutes and Ladders or Candyland. It's nice to add more games to his repertoire.

13. Today we participated in Safety Day at Camp Susque. The kids love crawling through the cabin filled with theatrical smoke. The weather was perfect for the event. We were there for three hours. A friend from our previous church has decided to homeschool her boys. Her oldest is five. Prior to having her boys she was a second grade public school teacher. She is currently working on her master's degree at Bloomsburg University (where I taught). Anyhow we carpooled, and it was a delight to have some time to chat with her during the drive up and back. Opportunities for me to chat with an adult are few and far between during the week so I don't take conversations like that for granted.

14. I have my trunk loaded up with some things to donate at the thrift store tomorrow. Purging puts a smile on my face. I also decided to try to sell a few things (like Oliver's old bike/trikes now that he has a new bigger bike), and the items sold very quickly. In fact the one item was picked up less than an hour after I posted it! The other transactions are supposed to take place tomorrow. Presuming they do, I will receive a total of $75. It's a good reminder to me that although my preference is just to donate everything, I can bring in a little money now and then if I sell some things instead of donating everything.

15. My brother found a place to live in Texas, likes his new professors, and has been assigned two undergrad classes to be a grader. The salary for being a grader will cover his rent for the next few months, and it also means he'll get a significant reduction in his tuition. Yahoo!

16. Oliver doesn't need glasses, and the eye exam only cost us $5.

17. We enjoyed the Children's museum on Saturday.

18. Nadia is going to be baptized later this month!

19. I found a couple of Groupons to help us get some bargains for a couple of outings during our vacation in Massachusetts.