Thankful Tuesday

1. I was able to spend more than a week with my sister and her four youngest children (and about 5 days with her husband and four oldest children). That doesn't happen very often considering she lives in Turkey.

2. I got to see my Aunt Tina for the first time in four years and two of my cousins (Vanessa and Brent) for the first time in ten years.

3. My dad and Margie are thrilled to be married.

4. Although Oliver has been sicker than usual over the past week or so, in general his health continues to go in a positive direction. So thankful for the five years of life God has granted him thus far! When I hold a baby and the baby itch hits me really hard, I stop and remind myself of how it felt to hold a baby before I had one of my own. I'm very thankful for our three miracles.

5. August 11 was our sixteenth anniversary. The last two years have not been easy, but I'm thankful we're committed to our marriage. I found

out over the past few months that two friends are both in the process of divorce. Marriage isn't easy. I'm grateful we've made it 16 years and hoping for many more.

6. The basement looks so much better. I painted the floor two weeks ago and then hung curtains to hide the water heater, electric panel, and the majority of one wall. I am planning to buy more curtains and keep going around the room. It was one of those moments I really wanted to show my mom. I was able to show my sister, which was nice.

She agreed that a project like this would have been right up mom's alley. I had to be creative in how to hang the curtains. I bought rings usually used for paper to attach the curtains to a large wire thing (don't you love my technically precise vocabulary) that was already there. This saved me from needing to buy any tension rods or curtain rods.

7. We have lots and lots of cherry tomatoes in our backyard. I do mean LOTS. They are yummy! We also have an apple tree that is very heavy with fruit which will be ripe in the

near future. My sister's kids ate some apples even though they haven't totally turned red yet. Her kids LOVE fruit. I have never bought so much fruit in such a short amount of time in my life before. In one week they ate as much fruit as we eat in a couple of months!

8. I have been offered a job to teach two classes next fall! Now to get everything ready in two weeks. I'm so very thankful to be able to teach again. Being able to teach part-time at a university plus homeschool my kids is like having my cake and

eating it too!

9. A homeschooling mom offered to watch my three kids for about 6 hours a day on Tuesdays and Thursdays. She has two boys (ages 4 and 6). She's homeschooling the older boy (1st grade) and the younger one will be in a preschool class for part of that time on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I've known her for almost nine years, and I think very highly of her. She was a public school teacher until she stayed home after having her first son. I taught a Sunday School class

with her for several years. She just finished her master's in reading at Bloomsburg University. She won't just "babysit" my three but will teach them for part of the time, which will be wonderful as I was thinking at first we'd have to do all our schoolwork in the afternoon on Tuesdays and Thursdays. There are four dates this semester she isn't available so I just need to find someone for those four dates. She will cover the other 24 class days plus 2 exam days. What a blessing!!! Originally I had contacted another woman (grandmother type), but she

wanted $15/hr (compared to $10/hr) and she would have just babysat the kids. The advantage to the older woman would have been that our morning would have been a lot more relaxed because she would have come to the house. The kids will have to get up and out the door a lot earlier than usual on Tuesdays and Thursdays, but that's the only disadvantage. I'm sure we'll all adjust to the new schedule.

10. Despite the illness in our family, we were able to go to the Renaissance Faire. We went on a

day it was free for children, and considering we had 11 children with us it was a good day to go. We saw a circus, an archery demonstration, some falcons, a jousting tournament, etc. Considering we are studying from the Roman Empire through the Reformation this year, I thought it was good timing to make our first visit there. We also were able to see most of the fireworks display in our town that night at the conclusion of the sesquicentennial celebration.

11. All three kids have ONE upward flag football practice each week, and

both practices are on Tuesday nights!! Because of this, I think I'm going to sign Nadia up for a 90 minute theater class that meets one night a week for 16 weeks.

12. Nadia had a great week at Camp Susque. Grandpa wins the prize for sending her the most emails.

13. The kids love the new spinning see saw that Oliver got from his grandparents! We discovered that Karyss (neighbor who is 5 1/2 years old) perfectly balances with Ian (7 1/2).

14. The boys and I enjoyed the National Night Out event on August 1. I'll never turn down a free dinner - free hotdogs, pizza, cotton candy, snow cones, popcorn, chips, balloons, inflatables, petting zoo, etc. - all free!

15. I am still enjoying teaching the Bible story for grades K-5 on Sundays this summer. I'm also thankful Joe was able to share about their work in Turkey in the adult class I attend during the school year.

16. Instead of coming home

yesterday, I took the boys to Treasure Castle Playland. It had been awhile since they had been there. We spent almost five hours there. Today I plan to come straight home after dropping her off because we'll have flag football this evening. I brought my laptop with me and got caught up on editing photos. I didn't take any pictures yesterday. I knew I had a backlog to use.

17. The textbook representative said he has mailed me the two textbooks that I need for the courses I am teaching. He also sent me a digital

copy of one of them so I have started reading it. I will breathe a big sigh of relief when I am feeling more prepared for these two courses.

18. I have received 4 of the 5 employment verification forms. Hoping to get the one from my first teaching position (1992-94) soon.

19. I found out yesterday that the group Nadia really loves (Veritas) is releasing a new album next month. I am buying it to give her for her spiritual birthday. I'm excited as I think she's going to love it!!

20. Although he was holed up in our bedroom (with the stomach bug) one of the 5 days he had off, it was nice to see Paul more. In general his work hours have been even crazier than usual lately. The day we went to the Renaissance Faire (a Sunday) he went to work at 8:30pm and came home 12 hours later, which meant he had been awake for more than 24 hours straight. Yesterday he left for work at 2AM and got home at 8:15PM, which meant he didn't see Oliver at all yesterday and was home for 15 minutes before Ian and I went to bed and 45 minutes before

Nadia went to bed. He got up again this morning a little before 2AM to head back to work. Since it was his only "vacation" over the past 11 months and his next one will probably be in October 2018, it would have been nice if we had done something he would have enjoyed in Virginia like visit Monticello, but considering that was near where the riots were taking place, it probably was best that we avoided that area.

21. When there are 15 people living in this house, it gets much messier

than usual. The upside to this is that when we put things back in order on Sunday, the house now is more organized than it was before they came because we emptied all the toy bins to reorganize them, I totally emptied the linen closet and reorganized it while putting back all the extra bedding, etc.

22. I'm thankful the washing machine still works *some* of the time. We will buy a new washing machine in the next couple of weeks, but it's nice to not feel like we have to buy it immediately. I

also need to buy two new tires for my vehicle in the very near future. Have I mentioned I am very grateful I will begin receiving a paycheck starting next month? Tires and washing machines aren't cheap.

23. Nadia loves the theatre camp this week. She's a penguin! We look forward to seeing her first performance on Friday night.

24. Over the last couple of weeks I sold two toys, a weed whacker, and a carrier for a bicycle for $110 altogether.