Thankful Tuesday

1. Last Monday I went to a different grocery store than I usually go to while Nadia was in choir rehearsal. It was a pleasant surprise to find that I could buy up to 5 pounds of grapes at 99 cents a pound, and they were exceptionally tasty grapes! Also, I bought a couple of boxes of their store brand's instant oatmeal that are flavors I've never tried before. I absolutely love the cranberry pecan oatmeal! I want to buy more of it. Yummy!

2. There were a couple of days last week that the temperatures dropped SO much at night that the house was 67 degrees in the morning. I actually opened the blinds for the first time in months to let light in, which was heavenly. The temps have gone back up since then (it was in the low 90's outside on Sunday) so the blinds are closed again, but soon I know letting more light into our house will become the norm again. One perk of not being able to use an air conditioner is our electric bill has been much lower than it typically is for this time of year. The plumber contacted me yesterday, and he plans to pick up the check to pay for the equipment tomorrow and plans to install it this Friday (and the labor portion of the project will be due that day). The days of our house getting up into the 80's are coming to an end. It's also time to schedule an appointment with the piano tuner!

3. Last Tuesday we enjoyed the time we spent at Hershey Gardens. The kids were most looking forward to the (free) ride at Chocolate World, especially as they give each person a little piece of candy at the end (Hershey bar this time). As far as Hershey Gardens, we attended three programs, walked around the gardens, the kids participated in a scavenger hunt in the arboretum, made a few crafts, and walked through the butterfly atrium. We spent at least three hours at Hershey Gardens. IT was my first time there. The kids favorite parts were #1 the program where they learned how to calculate the age of a tree (when you can't count rings), #2 the program that featured three owls, and #3 the butterfly atrium. One butterfly landed on Oliver's head, but it was on there for such a brief moment I didn't get a picture. I did get a picture of one on Nadia's foot. I think it was attracted to her shiny flip flops. One of my favorite parts was the fact that we picked my friend, Cheri, up at her house on the way down to Hershey which meant we were together for several hours. I was also thankful that the weather was so lovely that day.

4. My choir rehearsals resumed last Wednesday. I am grateful for this opportunity to sing. Nadia said when she's in 9th grade she's going to join me and sing in the adult choir. That sounds lovely to me! She currently sings soprano in the two choirs she is in at the moment (Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale and the middle school chorus at Meadowbrook Christian School). I'm an alto.

5. Ian is doing a fabulous job playing the piano lately. He has caught up to Nadia in one book and is very close to catching up with her in the other book. He practices more often than she does, and thus he has progressed more quickly. Oliver really enjoys his piano lessons thus far. If I forget to do it with him, he is quick to remind me!

6. We had three field trips last week. The kids were not very excited about the wastewater treatment plant tour, but that is something they didn't really know anything about. We all learned more about it that day! Most of the people in our homeschool group live 45-60 minutes south of where we live, which means many of the field trips that they organize are down that way. The distance is what stops me from signing up for some of them. I recently passed on tours of a bank, police barracks, 911 center, etc. Then other times I go ahead and decide to make the trek. Today we are touring a post office in a town 30 minutes from our house. There have been other post office tours posted in the past, and I decided it was time to do it as that was another place we've never had a tour of before. Last week we didn't have ANY stay-at-home all day days because we had field trips on Tuesday and Saturday and Oliver had a make-up gymnastics class (from Labor Day) on Friday. Thankfully this week we should be home on Friday and Saturday except for going to some yard sales in our own town.

7. I enjoyed teaching the 1st/2nd grade girls' class this past Sunday. I won't be teaching a kids' class for awhile because I am signed up for a small group that will meet during the second half of the second service on Sundays (after the choir goes down off the platform). We had signed up to attend a small group on Thursdays from 6:30-8:00, but it's challenging for Paul to get home that early from work so we bowed out of that one, and I signed up for the one that will meet around 11:15 on Sundays. The small group started this past Sunday, but I missed the first week because I had already committed to teaching during the second service. It would have been nice to do it with Paul, but I like that we're not adding another regular evening commitment to the schedule.

8. On Saturday we enjoyed our first visit to T and D's Cats, and as an added bonus, my friend Cheri met us in Lewisburg and joined us for the rest of our drive and our time seeing the animals.

9. My mom used to make a dump cake from time to time. I haven't made it in years. I'm generally not a fan of cake, but this cake I like. It doesn't have any icing but it has pie filling in it. The kids picked peach. They liked it too even though they were hesitant to try it at first. My mom typically made it with cherry or blueberry pie filling. Yum!

10. I'm thankful that we are only paying about $15 a month to have the local channels of tv. We added it to see football games. I thought the kids and/or Paul would also watch some of those channels at our times, but they prefer to watch Amazon Prime or Hulu. Paul watched the Giants' first game. He missed the second game because we were at Antietam, and his game wasn't aired yesterday because it was the 4:30 game and CBS had the double header (and his game

was on Fox). So we've had cable (local channels only) for a month and barely used it. I was explaining to the kids that some people don't have to pay for the local channels, but we do because we live in a rural area. Then I was telling them how years ago I used to send 1-2 football games per week via a webcam to Uncle Joe (Eagles) and Grandpa (Steelers). To which they asked, "What's a webcam?". Technology has changed so rapidly lately that it's easy to feel *really* old around kids! I decided I wasn't going to watch football this year. I just wasn't in the mood following the passing of my brother. Well I picked a very good year to give it up as I heard that our QB is out for the season and we've started the season 0-3. I haven't missed anything good. Paul's team started out 0-2, but they did win two days ago. We don't have plans to travel on Sunday for the next few months so hopefully he'll be able to see most of the rest of the games this season, and hopefully he'll see a fair amount of wins!

11. The kids REALLY got into "mismatch" day at AWANA last Wednesday. Nadia helped them pick out their outfits right after breakfast. They ended up shedding part of it during the day and then putting it back on right before AWANA. Nadia said 1/4 of the verses in her AWANA book last Wednesday! She has been working on it very diligently. I'm thankful all three kids are involved in another year of AWANA. The kids memorize verses each week for AWANA, we're all memorizing verses each week for church on Sunday morning (Core 52 plan), and Nadia also memorizes verses for her Bible study on Sunday nights at the Methodist Church.

12. Oliver got into big trouble last month for a very inappropriate interaction with a neighbor. Of my three kids he has always been the most challenging in terms of coming up with a negative consequence because he's so easy going and doesn't have a favorite toy. He rolls with the punches so easily that if you say something like no dessert or no electronics, which would be very effective with the other two, he just shrugs it off as no big deal to go without. So we decided this time to tell him he couldn't play with any kids in the neighborhood for an extended time. The downside of choosing that was we were also sort of punishing some of his friends. Karyss keeps asking when she can play with him again. Hopefully this consequence was effective for Oliver and he'll never do what he did again. He certainly has been counting down the days until he can resume playing with his friends, and that day is TODAY!!! I am very relieved that his "confinement" is over. He loves to play with kids in the neighborhood, and I'm glad he can resume doing so today.

13. My kids have been sleeping in lately - often getting up around 8am. That Nadia sleeps that late is not surprising, but it is surprising for the boys. We shall see what happens after the clocks "fall back" an hour. It means we don't finish schoolwork as early as we used to, but I love that homeschooling is flexible and we can let them wake up on their own most of the time. I watch the neighbors walking to the bus stop while my kids are still sleeping and am thankful for this particular perk of homeschooling. There will be enough years of their life that they will have to get up at a certain time. I'm glad while they are kids that doesn't have to happen too often.

14. Oliver learned how to tie his shoes a few days ago! Yahoo! There are so many milestones during infancy and the toddler years - learning to sit up, stand, walk, talk, potty trained, etc. Now that Oliver has learned to read, ride a bike without training wheels, and tie his shoes, it's hard to think of many other such milestones the kids will pass in the coming years. All I can think of at the moment are Oliver learning to write in cursive (next year) and all three kids learning to drive a car (that's a scary thought!!!). Those types of milestones are fewer and farther between as the kids get older.

15. Aunt Millie gave us some yummy sticky buns last week. Nadia is not a fan, but Ian, Oliver, and I enjoy them. Oliver ate the majority of them because we discovered Ian couldn't eat them because it turns out in addition to pecans he's also allergic to walnuts. I would think of labeling his allergy as "tree nuts" as he is definitely fine with peanuts, peanut butter, and cashews, but he also has done fine with almonds, which is a tree nut. I have to say I am very hesitant to let him try any other nuts though because we don't own an epi-pen. I think for now we'll just avoid all tree nuts except for almonds. Paul and I love nuts. Ian loves the ones he's not allergic to. Nadia and Oliver don't care for nuts. I'm thankful none of them have a severe peanut allergy that seems to be so common these days.