Thankful Thursday

1. We enjoyed our last day at the swimming pools and beach last Friday with Aunt Janet.

2. We were able to visit the Long Island Explorium on July 5 (for free) and Old Bethpage Village Restoration on July 6. The traffic was very good (for NYC) on July 6, which I greatly appreciated.

3. Aunt Janet sent us home with various snacks, drinks, and even chicken for our dinner that night. She and my mom both were/are very gracious hostesses. Prior to our arrival she buys foods that she knows we'll enjoy - watermelon for Oliver, Peanut Butter Captain Crunch for Nadia, etc. We are so thankful we've spent a week with her for three summers in a row.

4. I enjoyed teaching a lesson twice on the calling of the 12 disciples on Sunday morning with kids from K-5th grade.

5. The kids have been enjoying their third week of VBS that started on Sunday night. It's Nadia's last week of VBS this year since she'll be at Camp

Susque next week.

6. Ian went to Camp Good News for the first time in 2016 - the week my mom passed away. Nadia was in a theater production that week and so she wasn't able to attend. Once she heard about the camp from Ian (it's run by CEF), she really wanted to go the next summer. Oliver wasn't able to go in 2017 because he wasn't old enough. Last summer was the first time all three attended the camp together. Nadia picked the same activity this year as the one she picked last year - sand art. Ian and Oliver both chose archery this year, which is not one they've done at camp in the past. The weather was rainy part of the day on Monday, but it's been sunny since then. They took the kids swimming on Tuesday, and all three passed the swimming test. It's no big deal for Nadia and Ian to pass the test, but the novelty hasn't worn off yet for Oliver since it's his first summer of being able to swim independently. The theme this summer is the armor of God. The kids are to learn one verse a day plus also five extra bonus verses for the week (Ephesians

6:13-17). The kids aren't accustomed to memorizing from the KJV, but they do it for this camp each summer. Nadia and Ian have already learned their ten verses.

7. I was able to spend three hours with my friend, Cheri, on Tuesday. Her vision has come back completely, PTL!

8. Yesterday the kids and I enjoyed seeing the new Dumbo movie; I had checked the DVD out from the library. We are making good progress on our bucket list! I replaced a few things on the list such as picking strawberries, Montage Mountain water park, and seeing fireworks, but we've crossed off more than half of the things on our list!

9. I returned to BU in August 2017 and from May 2018-May 2019, four faculty in our department retired. It would seem they would have a greater need for adjuncts in August 2019 than they did in August 2017, but such is not the case. I am not sure if it's due to decreased enrollment or some other reason. Anyhow, it seems

like I will be a SAHM again. This unexpected turn of events has been challenging for me to process emotionally, but I can definitely find good in this situation. I get to homeschool my kids five days a week instead of three days a week, and the pace of my life will slow down as I am not juggling as much. It has already had that effect on me. This week for example I would have pushed myself to try to accomplish as much as possible around the house doing those projects I haven't had time to do during the year while juggling homeschooling three kids, housework, plus a FT job. Now I can tackle my to do list at a much more comfortable pace. The two biggest "cons" to my lack of employment are #1 the kids won't see their Dad much and #2 it's more challenging financially. Thankfully we are debt free. Not having a mortgage payment is a big help. The main challenge is to save enough money to pay for things like replacing the van (I'm hoping to get four more years out of our van before we replace it), replacing the roof, braces for Ian, etc. As the house is 20 years

old, it is likely that we'll have to replace a variety of things over the next ten years (roof, oven, furnace, A/C compressor, etc.). I'm very grateful though that Oliver won't be asking me every night if I'm going to be home with them the next day! That question used to break my heart. I also love the thought of being able to snuggle with the boys every morning! These years where the kids are at home are just flying by, and I'm trying to soak it up!

10. I got myself a nightgown on Tuesday. I borrowed one from my Aunt while I was at her house. I had worn the same nightgown for more than 11 years, and it had so many holes in it that I threw it away last fall when I switched to wearing my winter pajamas. It's been hot this week so I'm very grateful to be back to owning a pair of summer pajamas. It was the first bit of clothing I had purchased for myself in 12 months (not counting nylon stockings). Over the past two years I've spent less than $25 on myself in terms of clothing/shoes as I bought myself one top last year and now one nightgown this year. I

bought the nightgown while the kids were at camp, which meant I had the luxury of trying it on at Marshall's before I purchased it.

11. Even though Oliver rarely asks me to buy him anything, he is one who has a harder time parting with things. When I go on a decluttering rampage, Nadia and Ian quickly will come up with things to add to the bags that are going to Goodwill. Oliver will suddenly become very fond of items he hasn't touched in months or years. So I keep the items, and yet he still doesn't play with them most of the time. So this time around I said I'd try to sell some things on Facebook, and I'd give them the money. That worked like a charm. On Tuesday I sold some of their toys that they hadn't played with in years. Ian is saving his money for our visit to the Nintendo store in NYC in August. Nadia used her money to buy a set of 9 books (Mother Daughter Book Club series), and Oliver used his money to buy a scooter, which he's been asking for lately (which means now I have zero idea as to what to get him for his birthday as that had been my only idea). The books and scooter are to be delivered by Amazon today. Frankly I'd rather just donate things than sell them, but this seemed like a win/win situation. We did some decluttering, and the kids were happy with the outcome.

12. Yesterday I booked a room for two nights in early September. Paul isn't coming with us to NYC, but he'll be going on that trip as we're going to Fort Ticonderoga and Saratoga Battlefield (and three museums but those two sites are the reason for the trip). I found a reasonable hotel through Interval (time share company) that has an indoor pool and free breakfast. We're actually studying the Civil War this fall, but hey better late than never when it come to two more Revolutionary War sites. As far as the Civil War, we did go to Gettysburg recently and have plans to visit Antietam, Manassas, Petersburg, and the Appomattox courthouse this fall.

13. It's been harder and harder to come by coupons from Shutterfly, but I managed to get two to use with the unlimited page code earlier this week. I bought two 110 page photo books for less than $25 total. I used to spend SO much time making a 20 page book - carefully selected the background color, etc. Now I'm generally in a race to get it done as fast as possible and take far less time even though I'm making one that's more than 5 times longer than I used to make, ha ha!

14. Yesterday I was working on the budget in light of the change in income. In August I usually call the cable company to have them reinstall our cable in early September so that we can see football games. As I was looking at the channel options and prices, I noticed that if we only have the local channels, it would only cost us an extra $11 more a month compared to what we are paying just for internet. We usually have gotten another package that includes things like EPSN, but that one is $41 more per month. I checked the NFL schedule, and we would each be unable to see two Monday night games if we didn't have ESPN. I suggested to Paul that for those two nights he could go to his parents' house after work and watch the game there. He could get a little bit more sleep if he does that because that saves him the one hour commute to work the next morning. I am fine with missing the two Monday night games that the Steelers have scheduled this season. I'm not really excited about football this year, and I usually go to bed at half-time during night games. So I'm thankful I found another way to cut back our expenditures.