Thankful Tuesday

1. It's watermelon time of year again. My boys really like to have watermelon. Ian just wants one piece a day, but Oliver can easily eat 1/4 of an entire watermelon each day, if I would let him. When we were talking about going to the birthday party on Saturday, he kept saying that he hoped they'd have watermelon. He even asked if there was watermelon cake!

2. Oliver did a much better job participating in gym class on Friday and in soccer practice on Monday evening.

3. Nadia's softball game and Oliver's soccer game were cancelled and Ian's soccer game was pushed back three hours on Saturday which meant they were all able to attend the entire dress rehearsal on Saturday morning, and it also meant that Nadia and Oliver were able to go to the birthday pool party on Saturday afternoon.

4. Paul's parents came up on Sunday. They attended the second worship service and then hung out at our house in the afternoon until it was time to return for the kids' musical. The

kids always love to have time with Grandma and Pop Pop! They also got us pizza from Ciro's, which was greatly appreciated. Also, because they were here I was able to go for an almost four mile walk while Paul was napping. I haven't done much walking (or any running) so any chance I get is greatly appreciated. I am planning on swimming laps when we go to the pool this summer, and when the kids go to VBS I also hope to get some exercise. I am really out of shape.

5. Ian's soccer practice was cancelled today. I always enjoy having a night off of going to the soccer field. I used to be able to walk or run during soccer practices, but Oliver is too clingy now for me to do that during his rehearsals. Last night Oliver had a soccer practice and Nadia had a softball game.

6. Nadia didn't get to run to first base last night, but she did have one foul ball which was progress as at least her bat did connect with the ball once. She also scooped up the ball in the outfield four times last night, which was a lot more than usual.

There have been many games when she hasn't had any contact with a ball during the whole game. Her team *almost* won their first game last night. They were behind 9-3 at one point, but the game ended with a score of 10-9.

7. Paul glued the broken leg of one of our kitchen chairs on Sunday morning. Now we have six chairs around the table, which will come in handy the next time Paul's parents are here. That meant one more thing was crossed off the honey do list! Unfortunately the length of the list hasn't gotten smaller because naturally new things come on the list from time to time. The most recent addition was the red battery operated vehicle the kids drive from time to time. It doesn't work even if you have the battery plugged in for a long time.

8. In July Paul is going to have his cell phone taken off our plan and put on the company's plan. He doesn't have a smart phone, but with the way Verizon has changed their plans over the last two years, I think our bill will drop at least $55 a month if my phone is the only one on our plan. I'm hoping this means we'll be able to afford an eye doctor appointment for me plus a new pair of glasses. I cannot wear my glasses at all any more because they give me a horrible headache. My choices the last few months have been to either wear my contacts all the time

OR walk around somewhat blind. We don't have any vision insurance right now - first time that has been true for me in more than 20 years. I'm thinking by December we should have saved enough money from the lower cell phone bill that I can make an appointment with an eye doctor. I'm definitely at the age where my ability to read things is going away, and prior to this I only had trouble with seeing things far away.

9. I'm thankful we have two showers. A little over a year ago Paul discovered a problem in the floor near our shower. He hasn't gotten to that item on the to do list over the last year, and the problem has gotten worse during that time. I wish I had thought of this a year ago, but better late than never. A few days ago I took the shower curtain down and removed the bath rug from our bathroom to help remind us not to use that shower any more until Paul fixes the problem. Knowing it might take months or years, I ordered another towel bar today for the kids' bathroom so Paul and I can also have our towels in that room. This extra towel bar will come in handy

when we have guests even if Paul and I are able to resume using our master bathroom shower at some point in the future.

10. Nadia and Ian did well in their musical at our church on Sunday night. Their choir sang one song from the musical in the two worship services that morning. Oliver did fine in the first service, but he was definitely a distraction in the second service. I decided it wasn't fair to all the other children in the choir or to the directors to allow him to be in the program that night, even though he knew the songs and had just participated in almost 6 hours of dress rehearsals the previous two days. Well at least he has a head start on learning the songs for the musical at the Alliance Church in August. It was Ian's first time having a speaking part. He played the part of a boy named Noah, and Nadia was the voice of the GPS. They both did a great job, and Nadia also had a small solo in the song "You are a treasure" by Steven Curtis Chapman. Nadia is anxious to find out if she'll be given a solo or a speaking part

in the same musical at the Alliance Church this summer.

11. I joined a Sports Photography course for parents (online) recently. I am finding it very helpful and hope to put into practice what I am learning in the future.

12. Paul took Nadia to Grandma's house today. That meant she had to get up before 3AM. Hopefully she went back to sleep!!! The kids always look forward to having a day at Grandma's house. Paul left for work at 2AM yesterday and didn't get home until almost 8PM. We are planning to go to Knoebels tomorrow. At one point the weather forecast didn't look very good, but now the forecast looks great for tomorrow. We are using tickets my dad got us last September. This means the kids will get a lot more time than they usually do with Daddy tomorrow.

13. The boys and I enjoyed the pretty weather and went to the playground today. Oliver rode his bike there for the first time, and Ian pushed the umbrella stroller to give a small stuffed animal a ride there and back. We also used a gift card to have dinner at Cracker Barrel as I knew Grandma would be taking Nadia out for lunch.