Thankful Tuesday

1. Nadia changed her mind several times over the past year regarding whether she was going to attend the middle school youth group at our church on Wednesday nights or attend AWANA at the Alliance Church for one last year. This would be her 9th year in AWANA. This summer she had been leaning toward attending the youth group, and then at the beginning of this month she came up with the idea of alternating, which I thought was an excellent compromise. She said she'd memorize verses every week so that she could still finish the book even though she wouldn't be attending every week. She attended AWANA the past two weeks and has at least for the moment decided to keep going to AWANA and hold off on beginning to attend the middle school group on Wednesday nights. I was content with leaving the decision up to her because they are both good choices, but Paul and I were both hoping she'd pick AWANA. We are thankful she is staying in AWANA while in sixth grade!

2. Oliver was well enough to make-up his gymnastics class on Wednesday, and none of the rest of us caught the GI bug he had last Monday. PTL!

3. Nadia enjoyed attending chorus for the first time at Meadowbrook on Thursday. Although she's loved being in Mrs. Pizzuto's art class the last two years, she wasn't as enthusiastic about art on Thursday because it turns out there are kids from 6-12th grade in the class. She was hoping some of her friends would be in that class, but they are in an art class on Friday. Hopefully she and Ian will have a good year in that art class even if many of the students in the class are in high school.

4. I got my haircut on Friday! Nadia wishes I would let my hair grow longer, but I like it shorter.

5. When I picked up a grocery order at Walmart last Monday, they gave me a coupon for 10% off an online order (not groceries). I decided to order toilet paper and guinea pig food, which are two things I often buy at Walmart. We had a LOT of toilet paper delivered to our

house on Friday. The order was for about $199 and then they took 10% off. I clicked through Rakuten, and they gave me a refund of $3.50 on that order for having done so, and I used my Discover card via Paypal because Discover is giving a 10% rebate, which means in the end I'll pay $158 for my order. I've never kept track of how much toilet paper we go through in a month so I don't know how many months it will be until I need to buy more, but I think it's going to last quite awhile as I bought 144 Mega rolls (which would equal 576 "regular" rolls - although honestly does anyone sell "regular" rolls of toilet paper any more???). Anyhow I am thankful there are ways of stacking discounts.

6. Paul took the day off on Saturday, and we left our house around 11:00am to drive to a Christian music festival in Shippensburg. The weather forecast was NOT good for the early evening (90-100% chance of rain), but thankfully the weather forecast was incorrect! We brought ponchos, umbrellas, and jackets, and we didn't use any of them. PTL! The kids enjoyed the kids' tent. Oliver particularly loved the inflatables and the donut eating contest in which he and others were eating donuts covered in Hershey syrup and marshmallows without using their hands. Nadia loved the petting zoo. She spent quite a bit of time holding goats, rabbits, and chickens. She would love it if we got a rabbit, cat, or dog for our next pet. The kids had balloons that were made to look like a

sword, bunny, etc. Nadia had a panda painted on one of her cheeks. They all ended up with a lot of candy that they picked up during a candy scramble. They enjoyed watching a show that featured juggling, spinning plates, riding a unicycle, etc. There were several stages, but we had our chairs at the main stage. We heard one speaker and listened to a few concerts - Jordan Feliz, Mac Powell, For King and Country, Crowder, and a rapper. Paul, Nadia, and I would have loved to have skipped the rapper, but he was the second to last concert, and we were trying to stay for the last one (For King and Country). The last concert was supposed to start at 9:45, but it didn't actually start until 10:20. Ian, Oliver, and I were really tired so we only stayed for the first three songs of the last concert. We also were trying to get our car out of the parking lot before we were in a line of hundreds of cars trying to do the same thing. Nadia and I helped collect an offering and also helped pass out brochures for Compassion. Because of our service, the two of us got in free. Originally the reason I had said we'd go to Uprise was so Oliver could see Skillet, but Skillet was on Friday night. I don't know that we'll ever come back, but I'm glad we went once. It was actually my first time at a music festival. Nadia was at Creation in June so it was her second one. We stopped for lunch at a Dunkin

Donuts using a gift card Oliver received for his birthday, and we had dinner at the fairgrounds. In hind sight, I should have brought some food and drinks to the festival. Oops! Thankfully though of our two trips the last two weeks, we only paid money for one meal - the one at the festival. We used gift cards for all the others.

7. We checked into the Sleep Inn in Hagerstown MUCH later than usual - 11:30pm! We brushed our teeth and got into bed. The room was much nicer than the one we stayed in last week in New York, and in addition to two queen beds there was a sofa bed, which meant Nadia didn't sleep on the floor. The kids woke up around 7:30. We swam for about an hour (indoor pool and jacuzzi) before enjoying the free hot breakfast buffet. We left the hotel around 9:30. The hotel was about 12 minutes from the battlefield. We spent more than five hours there. The Junior Ranger badge booklets were more challenging than Saratoga, but all three kids earned them. During our time there we attended a 45 minute program about music during the Civil War, went on a one hour hike with a park ranger to the

Sunken Road part of the battlefield, watched the movie, and the kids made little wooden people. Nadia made three women, and the boys each made two soldiers. It was a warm, sunny day. We packed a lunch, and stopped at DD again on the way home. Paul waited until we got home to have dinner as he had eggs for breakfast and didn't want to have it twice in one day. Nadia was a few minutes late for the Middle (the Bible study she attends at the Methodist church on Sunday nights).

8. Oliver was disappointed last Wednesday that he didn't climb the rock wall in gymnastics, but he was very happy that he got to do that last night.

9. Today we're driving to Hershey Gardens for a homeschool day event. Paul took the kids there two years ago. I've never been. Two years ago the program focused on insects, which is what we were studying that semester in science. They offer the program twice a year. We are studying botany in the spring and so I wanted to go there once this school year. Knowing that the program in the spring could have focused on animals, I decided to go this fall

because the focus will be on trees today (and a little bit about owls). Since we just drove awhile on Saturday and Sunday the thought of driving again today isn't at all appealing, but the reason I am following through is because my friend is joining us. I am looking forward to spending several hours with her today! The kids are most excited about the tour of Chocolate World (free ride that includes a free piece of chocolate).

10. Yesterday we finished The Hobbit. The kids aren't as crazy about A Savage Thunder (which is a non-fiction account of the battle of Antietam), but I hope to finish that book today. Even Oliver enjoyed The Hobbit! Nadia hopes to finish the third Harry Potter book today. The fourth one is over 700 pages long; that one will take her a bit longer to finish!

11. Paul and I enjoyed watching a new movie about the apostle Paul that we got on DVD from our library. I would recommend it!

12. Yesterday morning Paul got up, put on his work

clothes, and made his lunch. I was very surprised when I came down about an hour later to find him in the family room. The internet connection at the plant is not good so he had decided to work from home. Now that Wendy has taken Maurice's desktop computer, Paul set up his laptop on the desk in our bedroom. He stayed up in the bedroom and worked yesterday, but this meant he came down and ate all three meals with us. What a treat! Usually the kids and I don't see him until about 7:45pm on Mondays. We didn't see Paul much in July or August, which makes me appreciate that we've seen him a lot more thus far in September.

13. My plate still feels very full, but I no longer feel like I'm drowning. Yesterday the first time in the day I had to sit down and open up my laptop (meaning my first moment of leisure that didn't involve homeschooling or housework), was 8:05pm. I thought how did I possibly juggle a FT job in addition to all of this?!?! Although it wasn't our choice, I'm very grateful to no longer be drowning. I'm cooking a much wider variety of meals. One

thing that particularly puts a smile on my face is the kitchen counter is being kept MUCH less cluttered. This had been a goal of mine for years, and it's finally being achieved for the first time. Yahoo!