Thankful Thursday

Somehow I let almost a full month pass without writing a gratitude list. Oops! Here are some things I've been thankful for over the past 4 weeks:

1. We had beautiful weather for the four Easter egg hunts the kids attended on April 20. They didn't end up with any prize eggs at three of the egg hunts, but we came home with two cakes from the one at the library. Plus we came home with many pennies and lots of candy.

2. Paul's parents joined us for Easter dinner at our house.

3. I really loved two of the songs my choir sang in the past four weeks.

4. The Lewisburg Children's Museum offered a program for homeschoolers for the first time on April 24.

5. Aside from Ian, we've all been healthy for two months. Ian came down with a cold last Thursday, and I'm thankful that thus far it doesn't seem like any of us caught his bug.

6. Ian did a great job with his solo at church on April 28.

7. Ian and Nadia both did really well on their reading test on May 1.

8. I got some great bargains at Milton's yard sales on May 3-4.

9. Ian had a blast at his first sleepover at Micah's house.

10. The kids and I enjoyed the church's annual dinner on May 5.

11. I was able to get my haircut without any children present. I can't remember the last time that happened (years ago).

12. I finished all my work for the spring semester on May 8. I am still plenty busy with caring for three kids and doing housework. It's lovely to not also be juggling a FT job.

13. Nadia and Oliver loved the zip lining. All three kids enjoyed the nature scavenger hunt, reptiles/amphibians program, and rock wall climbing at Refreshing Mountain. I believe we will be returning there again in the future!

14. We enjoyed having dinner with Kay and Allen Artz on our way home from Refreshing Mountain. It's very rare for me to have a meal with friends so I don't take it for granted when the opportunity arises!

15. Despite the icky weather and the fire alarm waking us up during the night once, the kids and I had a nice three day getaway. We were able to visit Pennsbury Manor (William Penn's home), Washington Crossing Historic Park, the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Liberty Science Center. The kids and I love field trip days! Probably not too many people document Mother's Day as one of their days of school, but since we had an educational field trip and also listened to a chapter book about slaves who escaped to freedom in Canada, I counted it!

16. Although I wasn't in the mood to celebrate my birthday this year, I am grateful for the 47 years of life He has granted me thus far. Knowing my brother only made it to 35, I am not taking these years for

granted. I received flowers from Paul, a gift card, and money from Paul's parents and my Dad. I purchased one item thus far with my birthday money. I spent about $20 on Bluetooth earbuds, which meant the last two times I mowed the lawn I was able to listen to music while I did so.

17. I've lost 23 pounds so far. The weight has come off a lot more slowly over the past month, but at least I'm still going in the right direction. My goal is to lose 12 more pounds. I'm thankful I've been getting more exercise now that my semester is over. Hopefully I can continue to get exercise more regularly which is good for a variety of reasons but also will hopefully help me shed the last 12 pounds. It's nice to be able to wear clothes again that hadn't fit for awhile. If I lose 12 more all my clothes will definitely fit.

18. I'm eternally grateful that Jesus died for my sins. I am thankful for that every single day, but I thought about it even more than usual in light of celebrating Easter and also my 43rd spiritual birthday over the past four weeks. I can't imagine

 how much worse the grieving process would be if I didn't have the assurance that I'd see my mom and brother again some day and that they are together now.

19. We have a new deck! I view it as a very expensive set of stairs since that's the only reason we really got the deck. We needed a way to get from the kitchen to the ground. The deck wasn't in good shape when we bought the house in 2008, and we didn't do a good job of maintaining it. Then it became even more of an eyesore when Paul started ripping some of it out in 2017. I'm very grateful that has been crossed off the to do list.

20. It was nice to have a few days off of cooking over the weekend and to only need to pay for one meal thanks to gift cards and hotels that offered a free breakfast. I love to eat at Olive Garden and can go years in between visits there so that was a treat. It has also been years since I had a smoothie so that was a treat at Red Robin.

21. Mother's Day is a bit sad as I

miss my mom, but I'm thankful that for many years we kept in close contact through almost daily phone calls, emails, etc. Her hugs were the best! I'm also very, very, very thankful for my three kids. Celebrating birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc. is not their forte in life. I keep hoping some day they'll get the idea to make me something for Mother's Day or my birthday, but thus far that hasn't crossed their minds. The only time I ever got a handmade gift from them for a holiday was last year. The babysitter helped them make me something for Valentine's Day (it's on my kitchen wall and I adore it) and for Mother's Day. Of course I'm not exactly the most artsy craftsy person in the world (to put it mildly) so that might be why it doesn't cross their minds. I love them to pieces, and they give the best hugs. Snuggling with Oliver and/or Ian in the morning is the best way to start my day.

22. I'm thankful for books we can listen to in the van. It really helps to pass the time. I'm thankful that a friend recently told me about accessing Hoopla

via the Philadelphia Free Library as we can get audiobooks there for free - even better than Audible!

23. Oliver continues to make great progress with his reading skills. He should finish Level 3 this month.

24. Although we had a few cold days recently, in general the temperatures have been warming up, which is great news for me as I'm not a fan of winter weather.