Thankful Tuesday

 

1. When Ian was very young usually he had 4 grandparents, 1 great grandma, 1 niece, 1 nephew, 1 aunt, and 1 uncle celebrate his birthday with him in addition to his immediate family. This year he had zero extended family members come to celebrate his birthday. Thankfully, two boys (Micah and Isaiah) came over to spend 8.5 hours with us two days before his birthday. 

2. The last two years part of his birthday celebration included spending one night at Great Wolf Lodge. Although we didn't feel that was a safe thing to do this year, we were able to see Queen Esther at Sight and Sound four days before his birthday. Usually our trips to Sight and Sound have been to celebrate Nadia's birthday in June, but 2020 is definitely not a "usual" year! Considering the Governor's edict caused Sight and Sound to close down again on December 12, we saw the show in the nick of time. As a side note, I really don't understand why they had to close their doors again. They were only allowing a maximum of 15% occupancy previously. I would say

the risk is much greater when shopping in Walmart or the grocery store than seeing a show at Sight and Sound. We usually attend the Sight and Sound shows with Paul's parents or my parents. I think this was the first show we saw there with just our immediate family. 

3. On December 5 we participated in a drive-thru Christmas event at the Community Arts Center in Williamsport. In years past we haven't attended it because it was the same weekend we would go to Corning. We listened to a band playing Christmas music as we drove through the line, and each child received a bag filled with various goodies. 

4. I enjoyed teaching the preschool class (ages 2- Kindergarten) on December 6. The lesson was on John the Baptist. I asked the kids what are some of their favorite foods prior to discussing how John ate locusts and honey. When I mentioned that brownies are one of my favorite foods, one little boy (age 5) told me I shouldn't eat those because they aren't healthy. LOL! Normally at our church there are FOUR different classes for ages 2

through Kindergarten. It's still surreal to me that I am taking kids' temperatures at church and that there has been such a massive decrease in attendance as that one class (that used to be four classes) had only five kids in it (much fewer than would normally be in ONE class). 

5. We also enjoyed a free dinner (thanks to a gift card) at Cracker Barrel on December 8 on our way home from Lancaster. That is also something we can't do in the state of PA as of December 12. Normally we just get carryout pizza so our restaurant habits aren't really impacted by that edict. Speaking of restaurants, our church is giving 1,000 essential workers in our area $25 restaurant gift cards. We chose to give one of them to the manager at our local CVS. She literally welled up with tears when she opened the card and saw what it contained. It was a pleasure to play a small part in that. 

6. Nadia and Ian were in an audition via Zoom for a production of Secret Garden. They weren't selected,

but I'm still thankful they had the experience of auditioning.

7. On Sunday night the youth pastor from the Baptist church brought Nadia a gift bag (Gatorade, etc.) to our house since they decided to hold all of their meetings in December via Zoom rather than in person.

8. Some churches in our area have gone back to only offering online services. I'm thankful that #1 the Governor isn't forcing churches to do that this time around and #2 that our church is still giving people a choice. More are choosing to worship online than in-person, but our family is choosing to continue to worship in person. We only attended one service this past Sunday, but we're planning to attend two services this coming Sunday.

9. We were able to talk with Aunt Janet twice last week as we called her on her birthday, and she called Ian on his birthday. She said we can bring Milo with us when we visit her in Long Island next summer! Ian had one other call on his birthday - a video chat with Yvonne's family. 

10. We have a puppy!!! I personally never aspired to own a dog, but Paul and all three kids have wanted a dog. I used to say we wouldn't get one until Paul worked fewer hours, but since we waited until the kids were a bit older to get one, they are able to take the dogs for walks since Paul still works long hours. I won't mind walking Milo when the weather is nicer, but that isn't something I aspire to do in this winter weather! I enjoy when he sleeps in my lap and it is fun to watch him playing with his toys. 

11. I went to two different libraries today. One of the ones I went to is only 15 minutes from our house, but I haven't gone there many times over the past 12 years. They had some books I was looking for that the other libraries didn't have, and as an added bonus when I picked up the books, they gave me a gingerbread kit for each child! Oliver and Karyss shared a kit this evening on the front porch. 

12. Some new toys arrived on our doorstep today for Milo. He really loves some of them. I'm hoping they keep him entertained while we're doing school work tomorrow. Homeschooling three kids with a puppy is challenging. I am sure with time it will get better. I'm also thankful that so far he doesn't show any signs of having the parvovirus. 

13. The guinea pigs woke Paul and I up at 4:40 this morning as one of them was CHIRPING very loudly because they were out of food and water. Neither of us went back to sleep after I fed them and gave them water. I'm thankful I had gone to bed at 9:30 last night, and I'm thankful that typically the pets and kids don't wake me up that early. I had more time to read and exercise this morning before my shower. Nadia likes to start her schoolwork promptly at 7:00 which means I need to be dressed and have my hair blow dried by 7:00. 

14. Our new toilet hasn't gotten clogged at all so far. Yahoo! If we continue to have that experience with it, I want to replace our other two toilets sometime next year. Also, Ken glued down the linoleum in the master bathroom yesterday. He had rented a roller. Stretching the linoleum back out is the hardest part of the project. I'm not sure exactly when he'll finish the project, but at least progress is being made!

15. I planned to make ham and cheese crepes for dinner tonight, but given how long it took to do our schoolwork today with a puppy, I decided to pick up pizza when getting the library books with Oliver. It's nice to have a break from cooking, we all like pizza, and I feel like now is a good time to try and support local restaurants as 2020 has been a hard year for them. 

16. Margie and my Dad have decided that she will pursue 4 chemo treatments 3 weeks apart starting in early January. It's an answer to prayer that a decision has been made. Praying it will be successful with as few side effects as possible.

17. Milo does sleep some of the time. It really reminds me of the days of having an infant or toddler. We really appreciate it when our little ones take naps.  Thankfully, he hasn't had any accidents in his crate. I wasn't a fan of potty training my kids so I can't say I'm crazy about training Milo to go outside, but I keep reminding myself "this too shall pass." Thankfully the kids have been helping with cleaning up his accidents. In the past 24 hours he hasn't had any #1 accidents, but he's had three #2 accidents today.