Thankful Tuesday

1. I'm thankful for the 76 years of life God granted to Paul's mom. We miss her. It's an adjustment to accept the fact that I can't call her on the phone any more, but it's a comfort to know her time of pain and suffering has come to an end. 

2. Micah and Isaiah did an excellent job taking care of Milo on May 9. We are so thankful that they plan to pet sit him various times over the next four months. 

3. Those who have been vaccinated don't have to wear masks, and the end is in sight for everyone being given the option to stop wearing masks. Our church has made the decision that starting next Sunday masks will be optional for everyone. Woohoo! I got my first vaccine injection yesterday, and thankfully my only side effect was a sore arm.

4. I've been enjoying attending some choir rehearsals again! We are singing four anthems from May through August, and one of the ones we are singing is one of my top five that I've ever sung in my life - The Majesty and Glory of Your Name. I sang it in Maryland in the 1980's, had the choir I directed sing it in Pennsylvania about 20 years ago, and now am singing it again in 2021.

5. The kids had fun playing arcade games and laser tag with Micah and Isaiah on May 6.

6. I purchased some clothes for the kids at yard sales on May 7. I also bought Paul a Rubik's cube.

7. The kids had fun playing with seven other kids at a friends' house on May 7 - exploring their pond and stream, roasting hot dogs over a fire, etc.

8. The kids enjoyed the time spent at Six Flags on May 9. They were avoid standing in line most of the time. Nadia had a great time in Maryland with four of her cousins for four days, and Ian and Oliver loved having four of their cousins here for four days. 

9. Ian's expander is back in his mouth and so far we have been successful at turning it six times. Hopefully the next eight turns will go smoothly and then hopefully we will be done. 

10. Nadia had a good experience with her first quizzing event in Indiana on May 14-15. She also had her first experience sleeping in a college dorm and eating in a college cafeteria.

11. The kids have been sleeping in lately (except for when their cousins were here), and Milo has even been cooperating most of the time! 

12. The kids selected a song to sing at Grandma's funeral this Saturday - 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord). My choir director sent me music for the piano accompaniment this afternoon.

13. We enjoyed watching the ladybugs go through metamorphosis. The boys also enjoyed the lesson on insects by the Biology professor at Bucknell on May 15. 

14. Vennari's, which is my favorite place to get pizza, gave us a free pizza on Saturday because they thought they had mixed up our order. 

15. I got a lot of exercise through walking the last two weeks. 

16. I finalized what the kids will be studying in science the next school year. Ian and Nadia will be doing a physical science textbook together. I am determined to do a better job with gathering what they need for the experiments. Oliver has been very interested in birds lately so that's what he'll be studying for the first semester. It turns out three of their cousins will be using the same Physical Science textbook in Ecuador so Yvonne and I are planning on having the kids discuss some things together via Zoom. It will be a 6th grader (Ian), 7th grader (Nathan), 8th grader (Nadia), and a 9th grader (Joshua) doing science together! This past year Nadia did science independently, but I decided to have Ian join her this coming year again rather than having him join Oliver again next year.