2. Oliver had SO much fun playing with kids in the neighborhood this past week. Yahoo! Lately the three kids he plays with the most are Karyss (who will turn 8 in December), Camden (who is already 8), and Dawson (who is 3).
3. I think our tour of the Sunbury Post Office last Tuesday was a good learning experience, and I think I did a good job of adjusting the lesson plans accordingly.
4. The weather was rainy last Thursday, but the weather was gorgeous Friday through Sunday which meant it was nice out for our town's yard sales on Friday and Saturday and for the Family Fun Fest the Methodist church had on Sunday afternoon. I
5. The kids had a lot of fun at the Family Fun Fest on Sunday afternoon; everything was free! It included inflatables, a balloon artist, face painting, games, and yummy food including pulled pork, hot dogs, pop corn, chili, baked goods, etc. They had a little "train" which was pulled by a tractor that the boys enjoyed riding over the church's property quite a few times over the two hours we were there. I wish I had brought my camera or had taken more pictures with my phone. I did take two pictures with my cell phone showing Nadia, Ian, and one of Nadia's friends from AWANA with their balloon creations. Nadia wants us to invite this 5th grade girl (whom she's known for a couple of years from AWANA at the Alliance Church) over to our house.
6. Paul and his brother placed a 3'x3' concrete slab in our yard on Thursday night, and the plumber put the new heat pump (for the A/C) on it on Friday. The kids enjoyed spending some time with Uncle Al.
7. Today we had a yummy free lunch as the businesses in our town had their annual customer appreciation "Pink" lunch time event. The kids each had a hotdog. I had a cup of chicken corn soup. Oliver had some ice cream, Nadia had pink lemonade, all three kids had popcorn, we each came home with some small bags of chips, cookies, apples, etc. During the time we were there, my kids were the only kids present older than the age of three. Grapes have been on sale at our grocery store the past six days. I had stopped in once on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, and each time the grapes looked rather squishy so I didn't buy any. We like firm grapes. Persistence paid off, and today I was able to buy nice, firm red grapes! Yum!
8. The kids' choir at church is doing a Christmas musical this year! If I am remembering correctly, the last time they were in a Christmas program at church was in 2015. Ian has been given a speaking part, which is not surprising since #1 he had a part in the May 2018 and May 2019 musicals and #2 there is only one child in the choir this year who is older than him.
9. Yesterday in conjunction with choir, gymnastics, library, etc. we picked up donuts that we had for breakfast today. Nadia's spiritual birthday is this Thursday, but we had her donuts two days early. Oliver's spiritual birthday was on the day we drove with cousins to NYC the end of August so his pretty much flew under the radar. I gave him a new Bible and a biblical drawing book after the cousins left. He did have a donut on the morning of his spiritual birthday because Aunt Wendy had brought some extra donuts with her when she came to our house. Nadia asked for a cheesecake as her "birthday" cake. She helped me make it this evening. She can eat some of it tomorrow, and I'm sure there will still be some left over on Thursday. I'm very, very thankful that all three kids have accepted Christ as their personal Savior.
10. On Monday night the boys and I bought a few things at Walmart while Nadia was in chorale rehearsal. She had requested I buy Hot Pockets for her spiritual birthday. While there I splurged and bought a new trashcan for the kitchen. I say "splurged" because it was a want not a need. I wanted one that could be opened by a foot pedal as I found it increasingly hard to keep the other white plastic one clean, and you had to press a button on the lid of that one to open it. I didn't buy the most expensive one there (which had a motion sensor), but I didn't buy the cheapest one either. I think the new one looks much nicer, will be easier to clean, and will keep our hands cleaner now that we'll be using a foot to open the trash can. Oliver is really enjoying the new trash can. Sometimes it's the little things in life (although it cost more than I was hoping to spend on a trash can).
11. The Giants have now won two games. Paul didn't watch much of his game on Sunday due to the bathroom project. We've had cable (local channels only) for over a month, and we've barely used it at all. The Steelers finally won their first game this season last night. It was on a station we don't get right now, which was fine as I don't think I'd have watched it even if I could have, but I was glad to hear they finally won even though Ben (QB) is out for the season.
12. We've never worked together as a family to memorize the same verses. I'm enjoying it! We'll be doing it for a full year. Paul wins the gold star for last week in our family. He memorized all three verses. Woohoo! I'm not even attempting to have Oliver learn this week's verse (Genesis 3:6), as it's enough for him to memorize what he's working on for AWANA.
I know this is my weekly gratitude list, but I'd also like to share three prayer requests in case anyone is inclined to lift any of these needs up in prayer.
1. Mimi (my dad's wife's sister) is in her very last stages of pancreatic cancer. She was diagnosed in October 2016 so in my mind it's a miracle that she was given almost three full years following her diagnosis. She's turning 78 years old tomorrow and last month celebrated her 50th wedding anniversary. Remembering how ill my mom was from her diagnosis until her passing a little more than 6 months later, I have been giving thanks to the Lord for the amazing quality of life that He has given Mimi. This is obviously a hard time for Mimi's family as they know in the very near future they will be grieving her loss. So I'm praying for her husband (Gus), her three kids (would you believe that two of her kids' names are Ruth and Paul?), her grandkids, sister, niece, nephews, etc. Thankfully they know she will soon be restored to perfect health in Glory. That is a HUGE comfort in a time of loss.
2. Paul's mom was hospitalized for pneumonia today. She was hospitalized quite a few times for this in I think I was 2013-2014, but her monthly IVIG infusions have been very helpful the last few years in keeping her out of the hospital. Praying for a speedy recover for my mother-in-law!
3. It's far, far less important than the above two requests, but Paul began doing some work in the kids' bathroom this past weekend. Our master bathroom floor has been a work in progress for almost 3.5 years. On Sunday night I used the jacuzzi in the master bathroom. I can't recall the last time I took a bath as I prefer a shower, and ideally we shouldn't be using that jacuzzi since part of the bathroom floor in the master bathroom has been removed, but we are running out of options aside from asking to use a shower at a neighbor's house or using the garden hose outside. It's so unimportant in the grand scheme of life, but I'd really like to have at least ONE bathroom that is fully functional. The day when both showers are usable will be a dream come true, but for now I'll just breathe a sigh of relief when I can again take a shower in my house. Paul is hoping the kids' bathroom shower will be usable later this week. It's a bit nerve wracking for me given how long the other one has been out of commission.....
No comments:
Post a Comment