Thankful Tuesday

Yellowstone - photo credit Nadia

1. On Saturday morning I made some pumpkin muffins for breakfast. I had half of a can of pumpkin leftover from when I made pumpkin waffles the previous week. I can go years without making muffins for breakfast, but Oliver, Nadia, and I enjoyed it so I think I'm not going to let that much time pass before I do that again. I put some raisins in half of them and some chocolate chips in the other half. They were delicious! I really enjoy eating pumpkin foods each fall. I think pumpkin yogurt and pumpkin ice cream sound repulsive, but I love pumpkin cookies, pumpkin pancakes, pumpkin bread, etc. 

2. Oliver wanted to do something special on Friday afternoon while his siblings were traveling to Ohio. He asked if we could make cookies; we ended up making sugar cookies. He would have liked to do cut out cookies with sprinkles. I said we'd wait a few weeks until it was closer to Christmas to do that. Even the toes (on my right foot) were swollen by the time we finished making the cookies and the mashed potatoes for dinner, but I was happy to do something with my youngest!

3. Nadia and Ian had a good experience with quizzing in Ohio this past weekend. They need to put a LOT more time into studying over the next 7 months.

4. Paul took Oliver on a field trip on Friday night. They attended a program about owls at Montour Preserve, which is about 20 minutes from our house. Oliver is studying birds and insects this semester so it was perfect timing. I was thankful the program was from 7-8:30pm, which made it possible for Paul to take him. 

5. I placed an order with Lands End that included some things for the kids but mostly was for me. It was the first time in 2021 that I bought myself new clothes. It felt nice to wear a new outfit.

6. On Sunday I resumed making my bed. The bed has been VERY messy for the last 5 weeks because we haven't been tucking anything in to the end of the bed because it was painful if anything was on top of my foot. Things ended up on the floor or in quite a big jumble on top of the bed. I really love seeing my bed looking neat again. 

7. Paul mowed the lawn on Sunday. Since October 3 Nadia mowed once, a neighbor mowed for us once, and Paul mowed twice. We shouldn't need to mow again until the spring, and I plan to resume that chore at that time. I have also appreciated that Paul has been taking out the garbage, going to the library, and buying groceries, which are three other things that I usually do. 

8. Oliver has really been putting a lot of time into practicing the piano. He's off to a great start!

9. All three kids finished their schoolwork by 1:45pm today. That's much earlier than usual for Ian. 

10. Usually the "fall back" time change has been a struggle for the boys. They have gotten up a bit earlier than usual the last few days, but since their wake-up time had shifted later, waking up a bit earlier doesn't translate to way too early. We shall see how long it takes them to fully adjust to the time change, but I will say time changes go much more smoothly when your kids are older.

11. I've had more time to read lately, which makes me even more grateful for libraries. I recently read Nicholas Sparks' and John Grisham's newest releases as well as Set the Stars Alight by Amanda Dykes. I'm currently reading The Lazy Genius Way. 

12. In the last week my Aunt Janet called me, I chatted with Yvonne via FaceTime, and my friend Kay (who is in her 80's) called me. I can go months (or years in Kay's case) without talking to them so it was a blessing especially during this time when I've only left the house once over the past 5 weeks. 

13. Paul, Ian, and Oliver have had a cold for several days. I'm very thankful that Nadia and I have escaped it so far because I'll have to postpone my appointment that's currently scheduled for the 17th if I come down with a cold due to COVID regulations. None of them have had a fever. 

Sunset at Yellowstone- photo credit Nadia