2. Oliver made another friend in our development. His newest buddy is a three-year-old named Dawson. He spent quite a few hours playing with Dawson last week. When we were playing the game of Life last Friday and he landed on the "get married" space, when he put the little pink person in his car he said, "My wife's name is Karyss." Karyss (age 7 1/2) is one of our next door neighbors and certainly is the child he enjoys playing with the most.
3. Nadia and Ian had their first rehearsals last night for the youth chorale. I'm hoping they will grow musically over the next three months. Oliver enjoyed returning to gymnastics on Monday night as well. Nadia and Ian will have a total of 11 choir rehearsals and participate
4. Last week our grocery store had some really great sales. I bought a few things I don't usually buy because they were selling them at such a great price. The kids have been enjoying eating Klondike bars for the first time, for example! The freezer is currently well stocked with meat, and the pantry is well stocked with cereal thanks to some coupons on Amazon. Also, I have resumed couponing at CVS. I used to go every other week. I am not certain if I'll go that often, but I am planning to go at least once a month because I joined a program they have where you pay $48 to receive $120 over the course of the year ($10 a month that can be used toward anything in the store). With coupons I paid $2 total for 8 boxes of cereal at CVS on Thursday, and since they were boxes of Kellogg's cereal, that also meant I will be receiving 8 free books because I bought those boxes of cereal. Years ago I had looked into a "free" book promotion through Kellogg's
5. Wendy and her kids arrived at our house at 8:30pm last night. We had planned to leave bright and early for NYC this morning, but Wendy and I decided last night that our kids would prefer to have more time to just play at our house (plus this meant her two eldest could sleep in this morning). We'll be driving to New Jersey later today to check into our hotel and will spend the next three days in NYC. Normally I would have wanted to maximize the benefit of the three free nights at the hotel, but I'm a more relaxed person these days, and I'm fine with just hanging here at home today. Nadia is usual the last of my three kids to get up, but since she had Rachel as her roommate, the girls were the first ones up today (even though they went to bed much later than Ian and Oliver did). Since they only see their cousins typically 1-2 times a year (should be three times this year due to Maurice's funeral), it's a special treat for them to have a few days with their cousins! They plan to stay at our house on Friday night before they start heading back to Chicago. The public schools in Chicago don't go back to school until after Labor Day.
6. Paul was able to bring home the grill on Saturday evening that my Dad and Margie had purchased for our 18th anniversary. I can go years without buying any steak, partially because of the cost and partially because I don't like steak. Paul does love steak, and I'm not sure if the kids have ever had steak before so I purchased two different kids of steak last Thursday at the grocery store as it was on sale. At some point Paul will grill the steaks!
7. The kids and I enjoyed playing a game of LIFE while Walmart took care of the oil change and tire rotation for the van.
8. We were able to see the new Pilgrim's Progress movie online for free on Sunday. It had been in the theater this past April. I need to read the book again to the kids as I don't think they remember the first time I read them an abridged version of it.
9. A roofer inspected our roof last Tuesday and said we can get at least one more year out of our roof. That is good news! I am still curious to see what his estimate will be so I'll know what the cost might be if we choose to stay in this house. Although I am not in any way a fan of the idea of moving, I think we might need to consider it because Paul drives 100 miles a day (round trip) to work which adds up in terms of both gas and wear/tear on his vehicle.
10. We spent a couple of hours at a friend's swimming pool last Tuesday afternoon. All three kids enjoyed swimming with friends.
11. I'm thankful that our new school year is off to a good start albeit we only have three days under our belts thus far. When my brother was really young I remember he loved the Spot books (the yellow dog), and when he had moved past that stage of book I remember one of his favorite authors was Bill Peet. We don't own any Bill Peet books, but I brought home several over the past week from the library, and the kids (especially Ian) are enjoying his books. Although it would be really helpful for Nadia to learn more Spanish since she's hoping to go on a mission trip to Guatemala next summer, I'm happy all three are enjoying learning some sign language.
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