Thankful Thursday

1. I bought an app this week. It's by far the most expensive app I ever purchased ($15), but I think we will get our money's worth out of it as I am using it for Oliver for reading (and will later use it for spelling with him) and am using it for Ian and Nadia for spelling now. They all have enjoyed it thus far!

2. The orthodontist on Monday was happy with how Ian's teeth have progressed over the past  year (some improvement), and he said Ian isn't ready yet either, which was good news to me because if they both need braces I'd like to do it at the same time. I'll take them both back in August or September for another evaluation.

3. Aside from taking the garbage out/getting the mail, I never left the house on Tuesday. Originally I had planned for us to spend Tuesday in DC but given how the boys are still getting over their colds and how much work I still need to do for the spring semester, I am really glad I cancelled our field trips this week.

4. We make good use of our church's indoor playground. Oliver plays in it while Nadia and Ian are in art class on Fridays. Nadia and Oliver play in it during Ian's basketball practice on Thursday evening. Since Paul wasn't home from work when we left at 6:45pm for Nadia's basketball practice on Friday evening, the boys played in it during her basketball practice.

5. Paul took Nadia and Oliver ice skating on Sunday afternoon.

6. My body has reverted back to letting me sleep in later in the morning (meaning I wake up between 6:30-7:30 rather than 5:15-5:30AM). Also just in the past week Ian and Oliver have also been doing better at not getting up before 7:00AM and some days they have also slept until 7:30.

7. I am making progress in my course preparations! I am finally beginning to feel like I will achieve my goal to have everything in order by January 21. I also received my official job offer today so hopefully it won't take long for them to issue

a contract so I can have access to the learning management system and get everything set up for my student teachers and math students by January 21. I am thankful for my job!

8. It has been really cold lately. I'm very thankful for a nice warm house!

9. None of the kids are healthy, but I think they're all over the worst part of the respiratory bug, although I was saddened to hear that Oliver threw up at AWANA last night (as a result of a coughing fit). I thankfully managed to escape the bug. I think getting extra sleep helped.

10. The Steelers are in the playoffs. Here's to hoping we beat the Jaguars on Sunday!