Thankful Tuesday

 

1. Our school year is done! Oliver has one word he needs to master (mopped) before he gets a break from spelling, and Ian has eighteen words left to learn. Oliver also needs to finish learning his multiplication facts, but the kids are taking a break from most subjects right now. They will continue to read and listen to audiobooks every day. Nadia has been doing Sudoku puzzles lately when we've been listening to audiobooks.

2. When the kids were younger, we attended Knoebels for free on WVIA day, but we haven't made it there for several reasons over the past several years including: the park was closed last year in May due to COVID, the weather was awful more than once, and we were on vacation in another state the day the event was held. They used to have WVIA day on a Saturday, but they moved it to Sunday a few years ago. Two days ago we attended Knoebels on WVIA Day, and the weather was perfect! The park was more crowded than usual. We received six free handstamps. I used to love riding rides, but that hasn't been the case for me the last few years. So I told Nadia and Oliver they could each invite a friend to join us. Nadia invited Evanna (age 15), and Oliver invited Karyss (age 9). I didn't use a handstamp but rather was in charge of Milo, taking pictures, and carrying various and sundry items (ex. tubs of cotton candy). More rides were closed than usual. I'm not sure if that is because of COVID or some other reason, but the five kids had a great time. There are always a lot of dogs at Knoebels. Milo had never seen so many dogs before in one day! I carried a backpack primarily so I could give Milo water as needed. I never pictured myself walking around an amusement park with a dog leash in my hand, but Milo isn't ready to be alone at home in his crate for that many hours yet. I didn't take as many pictures as usual because it's just not the same when everyone is wearing a mask. 

3. Evanna spent the night on May 1 so that she could go to church with us on Sunday morning and also join us at Knoebels. It had been quite a few months since Nadia had a friend over for a sleepover.

4. Pop Pop was at our house for a couple of hours on Saturday evening! The kids and I hadn't seen him in more than 5 months. Unfortunately Milo was barking at him a lot. We had dinner together, I gave him a haircut (since Grandma is usually his barber), he saw some of the kids' Lego constructions, and he played chess with Ian and a Mario game on the Switch with both boys. 

5. We were not fans of the Egyptian Palace Bread. Almost the entire amount went straight to the trash can, but Nadia and I enjoyed the panna cotta (Italian custard). The kids and Paul thought the Cornish pasties were fine; it was actually a relief to me that they didn't think they were really wonderful because they were rather time consuming to make. I've made 149 new recipes over the past eight months. I had picked out about 180 new recipes to try, but I will admit I've lost steam. I think I'll just try one more new recipe and be satisfied with 150 new recipes. Back on December 18 I set a goal to see how long I could go without repeating a main dish, and aside from when I made rigatoni and meatballs on Easter Sunday, I haven't repeated any for about 4 1/2 months. I think May 8 will be when I start the meal rotation over again.

6. Milo turned seven months old on Friday! We are very thankful for our puppy. 

7. Paul and I watched News of the World starring Tom Hanks together. Nowadays it takes us a couple of nights to watch one movie. That wasn't the case when we were dating in 1997! We enjoyed it.

Rain doesn't stop this boy from playing outside!

8. The kids started taking tennis lessons yesterday. The boys really enjoyed it. There are only four kids in the class. I walked Milo around the park during their two hour lesson. If the weather cooperates, they will have four lessons this week, which means I'll be driving more often this week than I have been over the last fourteen months. Oliver loves the fact that the tennis courts are adjacent to a skate park.

9. Today is Rachel's 12th birthday! I am very thankful that she and Nadia have a close friendship. It's not uncommon for them to spend 1hr and 45 minutes a day chatting on Zoom while playing Minecraft. They usually chat once in the afternoon and another time in the evening. Nadia usually uses all of her screen time for the day to play Minecraft with Rachel. Nadia bought Rachel a birthday gift with her own money. 

10. Camp Good News posted last week that they WILL be having day camps this summer. At the location where the kids used to attend a day camp (M-F 9-3) they are offering a mini camp, and at the location where they used to offer an overnight camp, they are offering an extended day camp. I am planning to sign the kids up for one week of their extended day camp. Although this summer is certainly not normal, it is reassuring to see evidences that it will be closer to normal than last summer.

11. Ian finished learning the countries and capitals of Africa last week. Ian and Nadia are now able to identify all of the countries of the world on a map as well as the provinces of Canada and almost all of the capitals of the world. Settera.com was a big help in accomplishing this goal.