Thankful Tuesday

 1. I started feeling under the weather in the evening on Thursday. I went to bed very early hoping this would nip it in the bud. Paul was feeling very poorly by the middle of the night on Friday night. We both didn't feel well At All on Saturday. He went to work at 3am that day so that he could come home early to attend Nadia's play. He slept through part of the play. I felt miserable on Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. Thankfully, I feel much better today primarily because the fever is gone. Oliver and Nadia appear to have dodged the bullet. Ian still has a little bit of a cough, but he's doing much better than he was 8 days ago. I wouldn't take the kids to the pool on Sunday or Monday because of how icky I felt. They were very thankful I took them swimming today!

2. We enjoyed watching the performance of Snow White that Nadia was in on Saturday, and the kids enjoyed swimming in the Lewisburg pool afterward (not our usual pool). I also scored a free large chocolate milk flavored cotton candy that they shared.

3. We enjoyed watching the season two finale of The Chosen on Sunday evening which focused on the Sermon on the Mount.

4.After a hiatus in 2020, the kids are enjoying attending VBS this week. Tonight is their third night. 

5. The kids got a good report at their dentist appointments yesterday. I was told to schedule an orthodontic consultation for Oliver. I was hoping Ian might be the only child who needed to wear braces, but I guess I was wrong! Paul never needed braces. I was surprised that we ALL had to wear masks at the dentist even if we've been vaccinated. I wonder when the mask requirements might totally go away. Sometime in 2022? We shall see. Thankfully the times we need to wear them are VERY few and far between at this point.

6. Nadia made a new friend at theatre camp. I signed Nadia and Ian up for an art camp at the local middle school next week, and it turns out her friend, Helen, will also be in that camp! 

7. I finished my lesson plans for social studies for the next school year today! That subject takes me the longest to do of any of them as it also entails selecting many books some that I'll read to the kids, some that we'll listen to together via Overdrive or Audible, and some that they'll read independently. I purchased some of the books through Amazon and thriftbooks, will check out some from the library system, and will request others through inter library loan. The subjects I still need to plan for next school year include: Spelling (Oliver), Science (Oliver), Math (all three), and Writing (all three). 

8. There are usually three times per year we visit several yard sales on one day. We will miss one of those this year because it takes place in September, when we plan to be on vacation. I was very, very thankful that two of our neighbors had yard sales last Friday. I bought a LOT of winter and summer clothes for the boys and Nadia - some they are already wearing and some for the future. It's nice to buy, for example, an Under Armor shirt that is in great condition for $1.00! 

9. Our church's youth pastor has planned a LOT of fun activities for the youth this summer. Nadia and Ian have missed several due to schedule conflicts, but they are very excited about the Color Wars event tomorrow night. The previous youth pastor didn't plan many activities, and of course the new youth pastor couldn't do so last year due to COVID. I'm hoping that this will become the "norm" for the summer. Oliver really, really wishes he was already old enough to be in the youth group. I for one am very thankful he's not. Kids grow up fast enough as it is! Speaking of time flying by, yesterday was the 5th anniversary of my mom's passing. I can't believe it's already been 5 years since I've been able to talk to her or hug her. That just reminds me once again that the next 5 years until Nadia graduates are also going to fly by. 

10. Kid's Café has returned to being offered in person as of July 5 rather than a drive-thru event. I give the kids the choice as to whether they want to eat lunch at home or at Kid's Café, and the last several days they've consistently picked Kid's Café. We appreciate all the volunteers who make that possible!

11. We had been using the free version of Duolingo. I did a free trial of the paid version and decided I liked that a lot better. A family plan (up to 6 accounts) cost $120 for the year so that seemed reasonable. Oliver hasn't been using it, but the other four of us each have an account and have been working through the units. It's a lot cheaper than Talkbox.mom, which is what we used last year. 

12. I believe I found a solution for our fence problem. We had a fence installed 11.5 years ago, and I've viewed it as a waste of money that has created more work for me because #1 I have to clean it and #2 I have to weed whack under it. I hoped that some day we'd get some benefit from it. I thought that would be true when we had a dog, but we got a small dog. If we had gotten a bigger dog, the fence would already be a blessing. I was hoping to find a way to solve the problem of the gap between the bottom of the fence and the ground. Once we install what I've ordered today, we should be able to let Milo spend time in the backyard without a leash which I think will make him VERY happy.