Thankful Thursday

DISCLAIMER: I started this post last week and intended to post it on May 10, but I never got around to adding the pictures to the post and hence never actually published it. Here it is 8 days later (I wasn't actually done writing it, but I can't recall at this point what else I intended to say so here is what I wrote last week with a few pictures added).

1. The kids have been enjoying the warmer weather. They've been spending more time outside and playing with the neighbors. I'm thankful there are several families with young children in our small neighborhood! One of the families goes to the same church we do (their kids go to the Christian school at our church), and two of the other families in our neighborhood go to the church where our kids go to AWANA. The kids told me that a new family moved into our neighborhood recently. I hadn't even realized a house was for sale or someone had moved out! They family that moved out had older children, and the ones who moved in have younger children. I took advantage of having more free time (yahoo!) and the pretty weather to take the kids to the playground in Lewisburg on Tuesday afternoon. Getting more exercise is high on my priority list now that the semester is over, which will likely mean I'll be outside more often as well! The kids love taking their guinea pigs outside, and the guinea pigs do enjoy munching on grass!

2. Nadia, Ian, and I enjoyed the annual church dinner on Sunday night. I had to be there early as the choir sang during the program. We three were at church for 7.5 hours total on Sunday. We enjoyed the yummy meal, and my kids did fine holding their candles. Over 700 candles were lit to represent each individual who accepted Christ over the past year either in our area or when folks from our church were on short term missions trips. There was a name inside each candle holder so we could pray for each particular person. Candle lighting experiences are beautiful, but they are a bit nerve wracking for me when my kids are holding something with a real flame!

3. Paul replaced the string on the weed whacker on Saturday evening when he got home from work so I was able to use it Monday for the first time this year. I mowed the lawn and weeded the flower beds on Saturday. The flowers are in bloom, and the trees have leaves on them. Spring has sprung!! Now I just need to learn how to use the weed whacker in a way that doesn't cause my back to be in pain for the next few days.

4. Blue Shield sent us a letter recently about this website that helps you prepare for an upcoming surgery. Hopefully we won't need to have any surgeries in the near future, but because I visited the site and took the survey afterward, we received a $25 gift card to Amazon today. I haven't been couponing much lately at CVS or Shutterfly so it was nice to have that little way to save some money.

5. We had a wonderful time at Reptiland yesterday! The kids got in free thanks to our WVIA membership.

6. I'm thankful for all three of my children. I really wanted to have a girl and a boy, but if I only had been able to have one child, I was hoping that baby would be a girl. I was thrilled when I found out Nadia was a girl because I wanted to buy pretty dresses and such. I remember what a big deal it was for me when I got my ears pierced when I was 13. It was fun to share in Nadia's joy over getting her ears pierced on Sunday at the age of almost 10. She's a bit of a tomboy (loves to

climb trees, doesn't mind getting dirty, etc.), but she also enjoys getting dressed up, wearing jewelry, painting her nails, etc. I'm very thankful to be the mom of one girl and two boys! I think if we hadn't already put a lot of time, money, and energy into adoption (2004-2007) I'd be more motivated to adopt a girl. Nadia would like us to do that so she can have a sister. Time will tell. Right now the thought of doing our fourth home study makes me want to scream and run in the opposite direction.

7. I visited the bookstore on Friday morning to buy a new Bible, but in talking with the bookstore manager, I found out she could repair my Bible (for free!). I left it with her on Sunday, and she called yesterday to tell me it was ready to be picked up. I'm thankful I can use the Bible I've had since 1994 for more years.

8. Ian has really been enjoying the Paddington Bear books. I loved those when I was a child, and it's a delight to see him enjoying them also!

9. Paul drove the kids to Bloomsburg last night and got them signed up for free tennis lessons this summer.