Thankful Tuesday

 1. The kids enjoyed gym class on Friday. Oliver participated well through most of the class. He was ready for it to be done fifteen minutes before the class actually ended. He also did better in his soccer game on Saturday. He didn't need any encouragement at first, but then he did come off the field (in the middle of the game) saying things like "my eye hurts," "I need a tissue," and "I need to go potty"). The soccer season ends on June 10. The end is in sight! Oliver also went to his Sunday School class on Sunday without anyone needing to pry him off my body. Progress!!! Now to see how he'll do tomorrow night at the Alliance church.

2. The boys and I enjoyed a dinner at Cracker Barrel (using a gift card) last Tuesday. Yum!

3.  We found a date that will work for the three friends Nadia wanted to invite to her birthday party. Her birthday is on a Saturday, but Friday, Saturday, and Sunday didn't work for her friends. Hopefully the weather will be nice on June 22 for a pool party for her 9th birthday party!

4. Maurice was well enough to travel to Italy yesterday! He was sick last week and not sure if he'd be able to travel this week. He is flying to Rome and then spending time with his professors in Pompeii and Herculaneum before flying to Turkey. In Turkey he and my dad will spend some time in Ephesus (he's doing his thesis on a residence in Ephesus) and then be with the Towfighis for several days.

5. The professor who supervised my student teaching 25 years ago has been working in the country with a very famous large wall for more than 10 years. I went over and taught there for three weeks in 2006. I love reading his email updates. Some people in that country are working toward a goal to send 20,000 missionaries to other countries by the year 2030. They are mostly going to countries between theirs and the Middle East where people of their nationality are far more welcome than Americans. They came up with the number 20,000 because they estimate that that is how many missionaries have come to their country since

1807. Amazing!!!

6. We attended a picnic at Dave's house on Sunday afternoon. Dave is the office manager, receptionist, and salesman at the family business. The kids had a blast, and there was a lot of yummy food. It made for a long day as the kids and I left for church at 8:05AM, and we didn't get home until 7:30PM. We were about to leave the party at 5:00PM (it's 90 minutes from our house) when an ice cream truck drove by their house and one of the guests at the party offered to buy a treat for anyone who wanted one (he spent over $100!). The line moved very slowly, and I didn't want the kids eating ice cream cones in the van so we didn't leave until 6:00. The ice cream was tasty! I was wishing I had brought my camera to get some pics of them eating their ice cream cones. We'll have to buy them cones at least one more time this summer when I do have my camera handy.

7. I'm very thankful to the men and women who have paid the ultimate price for our country. Freedom isn't cheap!

8. Paul came home at noon from work yesterday (Memorial Day). That was a pleasant surprise!! This also meant he had time to install a second towel bar in the kids' bathroom. This means there is room for my towel and Paul's towel in there until he repairs our bathroom floor, and once we can use the master bathroom shower again, the second towel bar will be useful when we have overnight guests. We also worked on a small spackling project together, which means the honey do list only has nine things on it now. We are down to single digits! Paul coming home early also meant we could have dinner together around our kitchen table. That is a rare treat.

9. Yesterday I put in an order with our credit card points for an iTunes gift card for Nadia (one of her birthday presents) and also six different $25 gift cards to restaurants (Subway, Wendy's, Dunkin Donuts, etc.) which will help us stay within budget in our entertainment category, as we're getting way too close to the limit for the year in that one already.

10. Paul cleaned the grill on Saturday and used it for the first time since the fire several months ago. I  overcame my fear and used the grill yesterday. I was rather nervous, but everything went fine.

11. On Thursday I bought a 1.5 quart container of Edy's Rollo ice cream for $1 at Surplus Outlet. Wow! Not great for my waistline, but very tasty!