Thankful Thursday

1. The end is in sight! I have a lot of work to get done between now and then (the to do list is a bit scary at this point), but my goal is to enter course grades by the evening of December 12. Two of my final exams are that day so that might be an ambitious goal, but that's my goal at this point!

2. I got a new computer in my office at work. The only one was VERY slow and would need to be rebooted about once a week on average. The new one seems to be a big improvement!

3. We (meaning Paul and I plus his parents) enjoyed hearing the kids' music performance on November 19. I hope to upload a few videos from that night at some point! We also enjoyed having dinner at Denny's as a belated birthday celebration for Paul's mom.

4. I'm very thankful for the safety in driving to Maryland on the 20th and back to PA on the 21st and to Philadelphia and back on the 23rd. I'm also thankful that there was very little traffic in Philadelphia! It was wonderful to visit with my

friend, Laura, and my brother, Maurice. We also enjoyed being able to visit Discovery Station in Hagerstown, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Museum of the Bible (our highlight of the week!), Museum of the American Indian, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, Carpenter's Hall, Liberty Bell, and the Museum of the American Revolution.

5. The kids continue to enjoy their gymnastics classes on Tuesday nights. Paul said that Oliver really, really enjoys it.

6. All of my student teachers did a good job this semester. Last semester I had a couple of more difficult situations. One student teacher had one problem this semester, but he responded to feedback and otherwise everything went smoothly. That is a big answer to prayer!

7. We had fun getting the kids' hair ready for crazy hair night at AWANA last night. All three kids are doing well at learning their verses this year. My goal is by next Wednesday Oliver can say all of Psalm 23. It might be an ambitious goal, but due to a

Christmas party and the fact they'll go caroling another Wednesday night, if he doesn't say it next week we'll have to wait until January. Over the weeks they have off I am hoping he can learn the books of the OT. He learned the books of the NT last  year.

8. On Monday we tried some colonial recipes. None of us liked the johnny cakes, but most of us liked the corn/eggs/bacon dish, and all of us liked the "brown betty" which contained apples, toast, sugar, cinnamon, and molasses.