Thankful Thursday

1. Since today is our nation's birthday, I'd be remiss if I didn't give thanks for the blessing it is to live in the USA. Our nation is FAR from perfect, but I'm grateful to be an American!

2. Ian had a fabulous time at Camp Susque last week! I wasn't inclined to make the decision for him given how much $$ is involved, but Paul made the right call in telling Ian that he was going to camp this summer. When I asked Ian if he wants to go again next year, he said, "Definitely!" The weather was warm enough that he enjoyed swimming in the creek and the swimming pool at camp. He was telling me what he learned from Pastor Elijah about the book of Judges during Bible lessons and chapel services, and he has really enjoyed singing the songs he learned at camp. I was SO happy to be reunited with him on Saturday morning. He gave me lots of hugs that weekend to make up a bit for the week he had been away. I'm very glad camp only lasts one week. It would be really hard for me to say goodbye for a longer time period than that!

3. Nadia had a great time at Creation. She wants to return to that next year as well. Her two favorite concerts were Mandisa and Tenth Avenue North. She also heard various speakers, participated in a communion service, etc. It only cost $20 for 14 meals! I was also very grateful to be reunited with her at church at 10:30 on Sunday morning. I am so glad to be with all three kids this week!!

4. Oliver enjoyed a free lunch at Kid's Café four days in a row last week. On Tuesday when Nadia was with us we couldn't stay very long because we had to take her to church so she could go to Creation, but the other three days we spent 2-3 hours at the playground each day. There are always other kids to play with because they've also come for lunch. On Friday Kingdom Kids also put on a puppet show, and at the end they let the kids each play with a puppet.

5. Since Oliver was an only child for four days last week, he was the only one who went to VBS on June 26 and 27. He learned more about Paul, and his

favorite highlight was going down the slip and slide during game time on Wednesday night.

6. I am SO thankful that he's finally an independent swimmer! I took him to the Lewisburg pool last Thursday. We were there for three hours, and the vast majority of the time he spent going off the diving board or down the two water slides. He had a blast!!!

7. Last Friday night our church had it's annual fireworks. Oliver enjoyed free ice cream, using a variety of inflatables, and playing glow-in-the-dark dodgeball. Paul also played that game for the first time in his life. I served as a volunteer and helped with the inflatables for an hour. We didn't stay for the fireworks because we thought we'd go to the fireworks in Lewisburg on Saturday night so that both Ian and Oliver could enjoy the fireworks instead of only Oliver. It turned out we made the wrong decision because a thunderstorm came through Saturday evening, and the fireworks in Lewisburg were postponed to Sunday night. All that to say, I don't think we'll be

seeing any fireworks this summer. Oops! If we were at home today we could see them this evening in our town, but we're on Long Island. Hopefully we'll be able to see some next year.

8. I taught the three-year-old class at 9AM on Sunday morning, Oliver attended the 1st/2nd grade boys' class, and Paul and Ian attended the worship service. Then we were reunited with Nadia! Paul took home her sleeping bag, pillow, dirty laundry, etc. The kids and I drove out to Long Island. Naturally we hit traffic as we got close to NYC, but we arrived at Aunt Janet's house around 4:15.

9. The kids are enjoying watching kids' shows on cable tv in the mornings, as we don't have cable at home. Many hours a day are spent in the water as we go to the indoor and outdoor swimming pools in the morning, have lunch at Aunt Janet's, and then spend the afternoon and evening at the beach. We eat dinner in her cabana. She grilled hotdogs on Monday, reheated pizza in the grill on Tuesday,

and grilled chicken and corn on the cob yesterday. When we come back from the beach, the boys go in the jacuzzi tub in her bathroom, and then Nadia has a turn after them. There are showers in the bathroom at the beach, and Ian enjoys taking multiple hot showers each day while we're there. At home I limit the length of his showers due to the cost of water, but at the private beach he can take as long of a shower as he desires! Today and tomorrow should be pretty similar to the last three days, although we plan to visit the Long Island Explorium tomorrow afternoon. I had planned to meet Aunt Janet there on Sunday, but due to the traffic we hit we wouldn't have had much time to enjoy the museum that day. Two highlights at the beach yesterday were using an inflatable boat that some other kids had brought and throwing water balloons that Aunt Janet had purchased. They were the same kind that Pop Pop got Oliver last August - the kind that are SUPER easy to fill up. You can fill over 100 balloons in less than a minute!! We really enjoy spending a week with Aunt Janet each summer! I'm

thankful that her swimming pools use salt rather than chlorine because it means my fingernails and toenails still look pretty from the mani/pedi. Chlorine usually takes the polish right off.

10. We've enjoyed playing games this week. Thus far we've played Racko, Suspend, Bananagrams, Quiddler, Bull, Spot it, Memory, and Yahtzee. There are five more games that I brought that we haven't played yet. We shall see what we'll play today and tomorrow! Nadia also played another game with some people in another cabana.

11. Although it's painful to think about, I am very grateful we received a conclusive cause of death for Maurice. I'm also thankful that I do not have that genetic variant. Hoping that none of my kids, sisters, nieces, or nephews have it either.

12. My friend, Cheri, was told on Sunday that she had shingles on the cornea of her right eye and that she would likely lose her vision in that eye. Thankfully the Lord has graciously relieved her of the

pain and has been restoring her vision over the last few days!!

13. I had only been using the Free Library (Philadelphia) for books for the kids, but for this trip I also checked out a book via Overdrive that I read on my Kindle. It was by one of my favorite authors- Randy Singer.

14. Last Friday and Saturday Oliver and I visited a few yard sales on a street near our house. I got a dress for Yvonne, two dresses for Nadia, two Mad Lib books for Ian, a pair of black patent shoes for Nadia, a pair of sneakers for Oliver, and a pair of Steeler pajamas for Oliver all for a grand total of $17.50. Unfortunately my favorite yard sale of the year was held while we were in SC last month so I am going to try to shop at some others since I missed the one where I usually spend about $75 per year (and since I pay an average of $1 per item at that yard sale it means I usually buy a boatload of her kids' clothes and shoes).