Thankful Thursday

1. We haven't had as many ants in the house this summer. I am not sure if it's because I used a different spray this year or some other reason, but I am very grateful not to have ants in the house!

2. They are growing soybeans near us this year. I am grateful because when they grow corn it makes it hard to see if a car is coming at the spot where we need to turn.

3. We didn't have any flooding in our basement. We have had SO much rain lately!

4. Last night I took the kids roller skating. One more thing crossed off the summer bucket list. Paul left work early so he could join us, but due to the rain two tractor trailer trucks were overturned on I-80, and so instead of his commute taking 60 minutes, it took 135 minutes. This skating rink has free admission the first Wednesday night of each month. During the school year the kids have AWANA on Wednesday nights so we don't take advantage of this very often. The skate rental cost $6 total for the three kids,

and I bought them each a slush puppy drink for $1 each. Oliver made progress over the two hours we were there, but if he has ice skating lessons next winter that will help him a lot more. Nadia and Ian did fine. Ian was one of the five last people in the four corners game. They both were eliminated quickly in the paper plate (aka musical chairs) game. A girl who was also in the Shawnee Tent last week at Camp Susque was at the roller skating rink. Nadia enjoyed connecting with her friend. There are also two girls from Camp Susque last week (who were in a different cabin) in History Camp this week.

5. Despite all the rain, Nadia had a great time at Camp Susque last week!

6. Nadia and Ian are enjoying spending 3 hours a day at the Taber Museum this week (M-F) at History Camp. Today they also toured one of the "millionaires" houses. Williamsport at one point had the highest number of millionaires (per capita)

in the USA due to the lumbering industry. Nadia said if she had a million dollars she'd buy a horse.

7. The boys enjoyed spending the day at their grandparents house last Friday, and I enjoyed having a quiet day at home to get some work done, talk to a friend on the phone, and have dinner and attend a free concert with another friend.

8. Paul has been working on repairing the refrigerator outlet. It has meant that we temporarily had to find other places to plug in the toaster and microwave. The wall hasn't been repaired (a hole where the outlet used to be), but

9. I took Oliver bowling this morning. It was our first time using "Kids Bowl Free" coupons in a couple of years. I only had to pay for his shoe rental ($3). He had 60 points his first game, and 72 points his second game. He used the bumpers in both games, but in the second game he had one strike and the ball didn't hit the bumper that time! Way to go, Oliver! I will take all three kids

bowling sometime over the next two weeks.

10. Paul took the kids to see Pinkalicious the musical on July 21.

11. We have visited Kids' Café a few more times. The boys' favorite meal there was the Christmas in July when they were able to pick out toys to take home.

12. Oliver enjoyed the Treasure Castle Playland on Monday while his siblings were at history camp.

13. On Tuesday Oliver and I did some shopping (grapes for $1/pound at Aldi's!), and he enjoyed a playground.

14. Paul and I met with a lawyer to update our wills and such. We are going back to sign the documents next week. This has been on my to do list for a few years so I am very thankful to have that crossed off the list!

15. We received five free tickets for the August 21 Crosscutters game (minor league baseball).

16. New (green) carpet for Ian's room has been ordered. That had been on my to list for one year. Yahoo for a shrinking to do list!

17. The five of us enjoyed a production of Charlotte's Web on Sunday afternoon.

18. Oliver and I hung out at a library near the History Camp yesterday. While we were there we explored a museum exhibit on sound that the Maryland Science Center had set up for the day.

19. I finally came up with ideas of what to get Oliver for his birthday! I gave him one early gift today at Kohl's (a Mickey Mouse baseball cap complete with ears) as he was with me when I got it. I will be wrapping the other gifts that I got from Amazon.

20. It was great to have Tab and her boys over for a play date last week. I enjoy Tab's company, and the four boys enjoy playing together.

21. I have set up three of my four fall courses on BOLT this week. The last two semesters I

didn't have access until the first week of the semester. This is so much better! Hopefully I'll get access to the fourth one (student teachers) in the next couple of weeks. I'm also encouraged that the department chair told me I might be able to teach an online course (math methods) next summer.

22. We all appreciate our library where we get books, audio books, and DVDs. I really enjoyed seeing I Can Only Imagine recently. The kids watched Nanny McPhee for the first time today. They are also very helpful with getting interlibrary loans. Today I got the 9th set of Jonathan Park audio cd's. After purchasing Brinkman Adventures, it's nice to borrow the Jonathan Park ones for free. I also got myself a book through ILL today, Between Heaven and the Real World by Steven Curtis Chapman. I have been enjoying reading fiction and non-fiction this summer as I didn't have time to read during the last school year.

23. I finally made BLTs for the kids for the first time ever. That

has been on our bucket list for the last few summers, and I finally accomplished it today! Oliver enjoyed it. Ian ate his quickly although he is by no means a fan of tomatoes. He started eating lettuce earlier this summer. Nadia doesn't like bacon, lettuce, or tomatoes. The most offensive part for her was definitely the small tomato slice. It took her a LONG time, but she finally finished it. Today I drove past one of the places where I took Ian to see the psychologist who specialized in feeding issues, and I was reminded of how far Ian has come over the past six years. Thank you, Lord!

24. I hadn't ordered prints for the frames on the wall in the family room in more than a year (almost two years). I ordered new ones this week! I didn't take as many "portrait" style photographs this past year. Hopefully I'll do better this coming year. In fact Nadia's 10 year old picture was just something I took really quickly so I could show Aunt Janet that Nadia was wearing the pearl earrings she gave her. I put more time this week into Oliver's six year old pictures, and I got one I absolutely love! I will share that one in his birthday post on Tuesday.