1. Last week we received some gift cards in the mail from one of Paul's aunts. Ian and Nadia used theirs to buy Lego sets. Nadia had been saving up some money to buy a set that cost $90. She was still $10 shy with the gift card, but Ian gave her $10 of the money he got from his birthday last month. I was pleased with his generosity! Oliver hasn't spent his yet, but he's planning to buy a Paw Patrol toy (surprise, surprise!). We also received a gift card to Dunkin which all five of us will enjoy!
2. We also received a box from my Dad and Margie which was "supposed" to arrive on December 21. Oops! COVID has done a number on delivery services. I'm still waiting for our next Talkbox.mom box (which was shipped on December 28 and was supposed to arrive on January 4) as well as photos from Shutterfly that were "supposed to arrive on January 6. Our framed map of the US did arrive on January 6. I can't wait to fill in the state shaped photos once the Shutterfly package arrives! It's now hanging above our TV in the family room. I'm curious to see how many more states we'll be able to fill with pictures over the course of 2021 and the years to come! The box from my Dad and Margie included three books (two for the kids and one for Paul) and Doritos for Ian. Paul has begun reading the book.
3. Our church got a final total for the December giving toward the wells in Africa, and what we raised actually exceeded 150K, which will translate to 30 wells in Africa after World Hope matches what we raised. PTL!!!
4. Last Wednesday the kids had a play date. Tab picked the kids up around 1:30 at our house, and I picked them up around 4:20 at her house before taking Nadia to church. They had fun sledding down their big hill, playing with their dog, playing games, etc.
5. I enjoyed teaching the preschool class on Sunday. The attendance at the in-person services has been rising again lately and so I had eight kids in the class which was about twice as many as had been in the class lately.
6. The youth group at FBC hadn't met together in person since sometime in November. They met in person this past Sunday night (wearing masks), and Nadia was very happy about that.
7. We started Ian's orthodontic treatment yesterday. He will be getting his expander in two weeks. Since I knew we'd be in Williamsport for his appointment, I scheduled a small curbside grocery order at Wegman's to get some ingredients that I couldn't get at the grocery stores where I usually shop. They were out of rose water (needed for making Turkish delight), but they had everything else. I'll try to get rose water there at some point in the future. I also scratched Melopita (a Greek honey pie)off our list of foods to try because even Wegmans didn't carry the cheese needed for that recipe. Kohl's is right next to Wegmans, and they had sent me $5 off coupon that could be used on anything so I used it toward a pair of gloves for Nadia as she needed a pair for when she goes skiing or plays in the snow as she lost one of hers last year. The orthodontist is very close to a PetSmart, and they sent me a $10 coupon that could be used toward any purchase $10 or greater. I was planning to buy a pooper scooper, but they were out of stock of those. I bought a bag of guinea pig food that was usually $26 that was on sale for $23, and then used the coupon plus a $10 reward so I only paid $3 for 10 pounds of guinea pig food. Yay! Ian and I also got some cereal at Surplus Outlet and swung by the library on the way home. Nadia was happy Ian and I did those errands because she was paid $10 for babysitting Oliver (and Milo) for 2 hours. Over the past 12 1/2 years I haven't regularly gone to Williamsport, but that will be changing now that Ian is seeing an orthodontist there. He was very relieved that there was no mention of pulling any of his teeth. Hoping the orthodontic treatment plan will be successful and as painless as possible for Ian. I'm thankful we are able to pay for it.
8. Although we've also eaten some tried and true recipes recently such as lasagna and ham and cheese sliders, we've still be trying some new ones. Over the past 4.5 months we've tried 96 new foods so far! I really enjoyed the crème brulee, but I doubt I'll make it again because no one else was that fond of it. However, everyone liked the BBQ ribs we had tonight (I'd never purchased ribs before), and almost everyone liked the coconut bread I made today. Oliver absolutely loved the Jamaican bread. He had quite a few slices of it and said it was better than monkey bread! Since I have about 175 recipes on the list we are more than half way through the list.
9. Milo learned how to jump over the baby gate. It's a relief to have those back in storage as it was a pain to walk over them. We moved the guinea pigs to Nadia's room, and Milo slept in Ian's room for the first time last night. Yesterday he didn't have any accidents (but he did vomit which frankly is more disgusting to clean up than urine). Today he had three accidents, but still I see a lot of improvement in his behavior. He's not nipping at the boys nearly as much as he used to. He's learned the sit command, and I'm now trying to teach him "down." He doesn't come when I call his name, but he does come if I say the word "treat." I'm requiring all three kids to help with cleaning up his messes and taking him out for walks so the dog is forcing them to learn more responsibility albeit sometimes it's like pulling teeth to get one of them to take him out. He's also more accepting of being in his crate (for the most part) than he was a month ago. As of today we've had him for exactly one month. The living room went from having a guinea pig cage plus a Christmas tree to just a guinea pig cage to neither of those. It looks rather bare at the moment as we also took the food bin upstairs since the guinea pigs moved up there. Hopefully Nadia will learn to sleep through the sounds of the guinea pigs gnawing on their houses. They can be a bit noisy!
10. Paul's mom is still in the hospital, but she sounds like she's doing better than when she was admitted on January 3. We are praying for the doctors to have wisdom in the best way to treat the leaky valve in her heart.
11. Nadia and I watched two movies together last week on Disney+. Black Beauty was fine, but I really, really, really loved the movie Safety.
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