Thankful Thursday

1. Everyone in our family is healthy today. Ian had his turn having a fever on Monday.

2. We finished our third novel about Egypt. Although Nadia preferred the book about Mara, The Golden Goblet was also an excellent book. Now we are enjoying Mrs. Frisby and The Rats of NIMH, which I had read to my students more than 20 years ago. In the van we are listening to the book Phantom Tollbooth on CD from the library. We are so thankful for books!

3. Paul is on a business trip. He'll get back Friday night. The choir provided childcare last evening. Normally my kids are in AWANA on Wednesday nights, but the church where they go to AWANA is having a missions conference this week, which meant no AWANA. Since we don't generally see him much Mon-Fri, it really doesn't feel that different when he's out of state. I am grateful that we have gotten accustomed to his absence. It was tough at first, but now it;s our new normal.

4.  The choir sang a beautiful arrangement of the Battle Hymn of the Republic on Sunday.

5. I am very thankful for all the men and women (past and present) who have served in the military. What a huge sacrifice they are willing to make on our behalf!

6. We had a wonderful time in Lancaster on Tuesday. Paul's parents and my dad met us at a restaurant in Bird-in-Hand. We all got the buffet. Paul's dad had coupons for the three kids to eat for free. We ate so much that the kids and I skipped dinner (just had a little snack that I had packed to eat on the way home). Paul still had dinner (pizza) when we got home. Then we made a brief stop at a miniature horse farm. In the future I'd like to sign the kids up for a workshop there. It costs $35 for a one hour workshop for 5 people, and that includes feeding the horses, riding them, brushing them, etc. Nadia was tickled pink to discover one of the horses is named Nadia! The reason we drove down there was

to see Samson. It was our fifth time taking the kids there. In 2012 (while I was pregnant with Oliver) I entered via a wheelchair (on bedrest) for Nadia's fourth birthday to see Jonah, which is the show they are doing next year. In 2013 we saw Noah, in 2014 Moses, and in 2015 Joseph. The show was wonderful as always. It made it all the more special to share the experience with Paul's parents and my dad. We each drove two hours to get there. I had planned to take the year off next year because we've already seen Jonah and because the tickets are expensive, but Nadia already is lobbying to see it. We shall see. I am thankful we were able to see Samson yesterday. I thought about my mom a lot because she used to go with us to these shows and because her maiden name was Sampson (pronounced the same

as Samson). It had been more than a month since we had a full day with Paul so that was also a rare treat.

7. On Monday I used a gift card (procured through credit card points) for Domino's. We are always thankful for free pizza!

8. Oliver fell asleep very soon after we left the parking lot of Sight and Sound, which meant he went to "bed" about two hours earlier than normal. He was awake for about 15 minutes at home while he went to the bathroom, brushed his teeth, etc. I was very nervous that he might wake up REALLY early Wednesday morning, but thankfully he only woke up one hour early (6:00), which means he slept 12 hours that night. He usually sleeps 11 hours. He wet the bed. He's definitely had a lot harder time than the other two with this, but it had been two months since he had done that. I know it could be worse. I have a nephew a few years older than him who still struggles a lot more than Oliver does with staying dry at night.

9. I have been trading Coke points with people a lot the last couple of days. I am thankful for everyone who has given me Coke caps over the past year; some are from soda I buy Paul.
By using those caps I collected even more coupon codes for Shutterfly. I forfeited the largest amount I've ever traded before for a second free shipping code. I realized I *might* get a few more in my email inbox, but just in case that doesn't happen I decided to try to procure a second one. So that means I'll be placing another order in December. Last night I placed a big order. My order total before coupons was $330.73, and after coupons it was ZERO! I am very thankful to Shutterfly, the people who gave me Coke points, the people who made trades with me, and the companies who sent me codes by email (Coke, Kellogg's, Wyndham, etc.). This morning I did get another free shipping code (from P&G) so maybe I shouldn't have traded for one earlier this week. I had only received one of the first five free shipping codes this year, which made me nervous because last year I had received more of them. Well if I end up regretting my trade, I will keep that in mind in the future (or possibly trade one of my codes to someone else to recoup some of the Coke points). I had already ordered my annual photo canvas (which takes a LOT of Coke points). I was just saving toward the next one, but I can work on that next year. There will be a lot of orange packages coming our way in the near future!

10. Last week I made a meal that I really enjoyed. I made corn muffins, sweet potatoes (from fresh ones not from a can), bbq chicken, and green beans. YUM! Oliver and I were the only ones who ate the sweet potatoes. The others opted for leftover macaroni and cheese instead. All three kids liked the corn muffins though. Nadia, Oliver, and I put apple butter on our muffins. Delicious! I need to make sweet potatoes and cornbread more often.

11. Paul used the watch the kids when I had a hair appointment or dentist appointment, etc. Now they have to come with me all the time. I have a dentist appointment and mammogram appointment coming up, and I am willing to take them with me for those, but I just felt I couldn't bring them to my annual Gyn appointment. Nadia and Ian I could leave in the waiting room without worrying, but not Oliver, and I didn't want to bring him back in the exam room. So I did something that does not come naturally to me at all. I asked a woman in choir last night if she would help me out. Thankfully she said YES. There is a McD's with a playland adjacent to the doctor's office. I said I could meet her there and the kids could play while I was at my appointment. I am very appreciative. It's a big relief to have that figured out.