Giving Thanks

As a child, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my Aunt Janet on Long Island many times. Since Paul and I got married, we typically celebrated Thanksgiving with Paul's family. Sometimes I hosted, sometimes it was Paul's sister-in-law who hosted, and other times it was Paul's mom who hosted. In the early years the kids at the meal were Paul's niece and nephew and the eldest family who joined us were Paul's grandparents. As various family members have either passed away or moved to Florida, the number of family celebrating Thanksgiving together has grown smaller and smaller. In 2020 we celebrated the holiday with just our immediate family because of COVID and the same thing happened in 2021. I prefer to celebrate the holiday with more than just our immediate family so when I realized we weren't going to be seeing any extended family on Thanksgiving again this year, I invited my friend Cheri (who is 65 and lives by herself) and her uncle who has Alzheimer's and diabetes. Cheri is his primary caregiver and has been doing some remodeling at his house before she moves in with him and puts her house on the market. One tradition that hasn't changed, is that the kids and I each write a list of things we are thankful for in our Thanksgiving journal. It's also fun to read lists that the kids wrote in past years. Paul's brother took this week off of work, which meant Paul worked longer hours than usual Monday through Wednesday, but Paul won't be going to work today or tomorrow. Because we are taking several days off of school in December for overnight trips, I only gave the kids a four-day weekend for Thanksgiving, which is a shorter break than usual in our area. 

28. Thinking of Veteran's Day which we celebrated earlier this month, I'm thankful for all of those in the past who have served in our country's military as well as those who are currently serving. 

29. Although I wasn't exactly happy with the results from the election earlier this month, I am very thankful for the freedoms we have in our country, including the right to vote. 

30. On Sunday afternoon Oliver, Paul, Paul's dad, and I had the privilege of attending Nadia and Ian's concert with the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale. There are three different choirs in the chorale. Nadia is a member of the Valley Singers (HS), and Ian is a member of the Camerata (MS). Some songs were sung by only one choir, and others were sung by all three choirs together. At their concert in 2019 they sang all patriotic songs in honor of Veteran's Day. This year the concert's theme was singing. They sang a wide variety of styles of music including traditional spirituals, a patriotic song, religious anthems, Do-Re-Mi from the Sound of Music, etc. Since they are not in a school choir, I am very grateful for this opportunity. I'm looking forward to their Christmas candlelight concerts in December! Nadia would like to participate in the next semester that starts in January, but I'm not signing them up because she has drama and art at the co-op on Mondays starting in January. I'm planning to sign all three kids up for the Chorale next fall, and since Nadia wants to switch to a different co-op, the kids might be able to participate in both sessions during the 2023-24 season. 

31. A homeschooling family I met at the swimming pool came to our home for dinner on November 5. Two of their three kids are very close in age to Nadia and Ian. Everyone had a nice time!

32. I enjoyed teaching a lesson on Habakkuk as a substitute in our Sunday School class on November 6. 

33. Nadia and Ian participated in a Bible quizzing competition over Acts 1-10 in Ohio earlier this month. Teams typically have four members. Because some team members were on a mission's trip and others were in a dramatic production that weekend, only five of our church's ten team members were able to attend. Ian and Ben came in second place even though they were a team of two! I am very thankful that both kids can participate, and I'm thrilled with how dramatically Ian has improved over the last year. 

34. Nadia and Paul really enjoyed attending a Matthew West concert at Lancaster Bible College on November 17. I had attended a Matthew West concert in 2017 with a friend at our church so I thought Paul should be the one to take Nadia to this concert. I'm thankful we've started this tradition of taking the kids on three dates a year. This was Nadia's second date. She used some of her money to buy a sweatshirt at the concert, and Paul paid for a t-shirt that she will receive as a Christmas gift. 

35. Nadia and Ian enjoyed the Outdoor Adventure Skills class which ended this month. Their final class session included a field trip from Camp Susque to Mansfield University where the eight students spent time rock climbing and bouldering in an indoor gym. Oliver, Milo, and I did some hiking every time they had class. 

36. Aside from our dinner today, the kids and I didn't have anything on our calendar from Monday through Saturday this week. I ran a few errands earlier this week (library, grocery store, and hardware store), but otherwise we have stayed/will be staying at home for six days. I wouldn't want that to be the case all of the time, but I am grateful that is the case sometimes. 

37. We are all healthy at the moment, and none of our relatives have passed away over the last 18 months. I still really miss my mom, my brother, and Paul's mom. I don't regularly communicate with any extended family members, but Nadia regularly talks with her cousin, Rachel, and Ian regularly communicates with two of his cousins (Nathan and Joel). I'm thankful that they can interact regularly even though they live many miles apart. I had a nice conversation with Yvonne this week which was a treat and also talked with Jenna on her 20th birthday. I remember she was an infant at my (doctoral) graduation. I've been Dr. Kennedy for 20 years already! Time flies as the saying goes. We're looking forward to spending time with Jenna and her boyfriend next weekend. 

38. After I picked Nadia and Ian up from their dress rehearsal last Saturday, I took the kids to Old Mill Creamery, which has recently become our favorite place to buy ice cream. The price of their ice cream is FAR more than what I am willing to pay at a grocery store, but it is SOOOOOOO delicious. I bought a gallon of peanut butter Oreo which cost about the same as if I had bought the four of us each a cone or dish, and the four of us were each able to eat the ice cream four times by purchasing a gallon. Nadia suggested we should make it a tradition to buy a gallon of this ice cream at every holiday. That sounds like a delicious tradition to me! 

39. We are making good use of the chest freezer that I was given two years ago. For example, I buy (expired) bread at Surplus Outlet and put it in the freezer to store until we are ready to use it. I am able to stock up on things when they are available or on sale for a good price.

40. We had enjoyed listening to the audiobooks on Lamplighter through a Christmas gift last year from dad and Margie. We finished listening to them a few months ago, and I intended to check to see if they added any more books before our membership expired at the end of this month. I completely forgot about that plan, but thankfully, we got a catalog in the mail from them last week which reminded me in the nick of time. This week we listened to the two books they had added since I last logged into their website. We listened to over 30 audiobooks through that membership! It was well worth the money spent, but it wouldn't make sense to renew the membership.

41. Speaking of memberships, we have listened to audiobooks from Audiobooks.now, Audible, Hoopla, and Overdrive over the years, but I just recently stumbled upon Scribd. I was trying to access a document on that site and found out that they have a lot of audiobooks. We have a one-month free trial, and I've started making a list of books either the kids and I or just I could listen to that we can't get for free through the library. Instead of paying per book as it is on Audible and Audiobooks.now, you pay per month with Scribd so I might pay for a month there from time to time if there are multiple audiobooks that we can access there that we can't borrow elsewhere for free. 

42. Last Saturday Oliver and I helped at an Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing party at our church. Last year our church only packed 224 shoeboxes, but this year we packed 828 shoeboxes! We are praying for the kids around the globe who will receive these gifts and also hear a presentation of the gospel. 

Thankful Thursday

12. This fall we've shifted the time that I wake the kids to come down for breakfast to 8:00am. I usually get up sometime between 6:30-7:00. Before waking the kids up, I get a shower, take Milo for a walk, and do at least one lesson on Duolingo. I enjoy the fact that usually our mornings aren't rushed. 

13. Although in general I'm not a fan of watching the news these days, the kids and I do enjoy watching a 10-minute news program each day (M-F) through World Watch News. In addition to keeping us abreast on what is happening around the world, we learn about other topics related to science, the origin of words or phrases, etc. 

14. Using resources from public libraries saves us a lot of money. Although I do purchase some of our audiobooks, we also access many for free including ones I listen to while I'm walking Milo. This week I checked out digital audiobooks, books, a DVD, and a STEM kit that contained boxes of rocks and minerals for Oliver to use in science. 

15. Now that our neighbor, Addi, has joined the Bible quizzing team in September, I am only taking Ian, Nadia, and Addi to church at 4:30 on Wednesday afternoons every other week as Addi's mom takes them every other week. Oliver and I arrive at church by 6:30pm, and the four of us ride home together a little after 8pm. 

16. Nadia and Ian have been able to rejoin the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale this semester after a two-year break. I'm looking forward to their concerts in November and December. 

17. So far, we've been able to visit 93 National Parks in person. Nadia has earned 154 Junior Ranger badges, Ian has earned 157, and Oliver has earned 150 so far. I think they should each be able to earn at least 225 total eventually. I told them that when they earn their 200th badge, I will give them $50.

18. I love seeing the leaves as they change colors in the fall. 

19. We've enjoyed 924 books together so far. I've read some of them to the kids, and others we've listened to together. I've told the kids that we will do something special to celebrate when we finish our 1,000th book, and I believe that will happen sometime in 2023. We're currently in the middle of a few books including The Giver and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

20. We've been doing better at completing experiments and other hands-on activities in science so far this school year. It takes time and money to procure all the necessary supplies. For example, this week they needed an Elodea leaf (not easy to get!), Borax, distilled water, Karo syrup, an onion, Saltine crackers, a banana, etc. Oliver is studying earth science, and the other two are studying biology. I've had a goal of being more consistent with completing science experiments for more than one year, and this year we are finally achieving it! 

21. It's less common to include hands-on activities in history, but this week I had the kids try Origami for the first time in conjunction with learning about Japan in the early Middle Ages. We also listened to Gregorian chants after learning about Gregory the Great. 

22. I know that Dave Ramsey says that people shouldn't use credit cards even if they are paying off their balances in full each month, but we use them. One perk of credit cards is that we receive 1-5% back in points. We usually use the points for gift cards to restaurants to use on our vacations. In the last week I used some points for other purposes including two hotel nights for our vacation next April, an AMC gift card to pay for our tickets to see the movie I Heard the Bells in December, and a gift card to Lowe's to buy a new toilet for the kids' bathroom. We had previously replaced the other two toilets in our house. Theirs has been flooding very frequently so it became a priority to replace theirs. I bought the same exact toilet at exactly the same store, but the price had gone up 40%. I still don't buy the theory that inflation is only 8%. I think 25% would be a more accurate estimate if I look across the board. Anyhow, I am thankful we only paid $10 for the new toilet thanks to using gift cards to cover most of the cost. Now I'm just waiting for the plumber to come and install it. I'm also thankful for curbside pickup because the box weighs over 100 pounds, and I would have had a challenge getting that into the van by myself. 

23. I got a haircut yesterday for the first time since May. The woman took *forever* to cut my hair, but I think she did a good job as I got a compliment on my hair today. It certainly wasn't from Nadia because she thinks I should let my hair grow longer not get it cut shorter, ha ha! 

24. We visited a wolf sanctuary today. Given how long we had to drive to get there, it definitely wasn't my idea, but the weather was gorgeous, we had a very informative tour guide, and the wolves came up close, so we got good views of them, which isn't always the case. We went because my friend really wanted to go there. She's been caring for her uncle who has Alzheimer's and diabetes, and she really appreciated the reprieve from those duties and the ability to just be a passenger in our vehicle. 

25. Achieving goals or making progress towards them is a good feeling. I'm thankful that I lost 20 pounds this summer, that we've been able to visit 41 states so far with the kids, and that we've been inviting more families over to our home for dinner this year (our tenth for the year is scheduled to come over this Saturday). 

26. I put money in the parking meter before taking Oliver to his orthodontist appointment on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the appointment went 5 minutes longer than the time frame I paid for, and someone came through the lot and gave parking tickets at that time. I drove to the parking administration office, and thankfully they gave me a one-time forgiveness which meant I didn't have to pay the $10 ticket. The orthodontist moved to a new location a few months ago. They had a parking lot at their previous location. Now I know to err on the side of caution and put extra coins in the meter rather than risk a $10 ticket. I'm thankful that the vast majority of the time I park my car I don't need to pay to do so. 

27. The second season of the Mysterious Benedict Society has begun to air. We enjoyed the books and now are enjoying the show before our membership with Disney+ expires. 

New month

I haven't written a gratitude list since September 12, and for several years I've had a tradition of trying to include gratitude lists in every post in November. I'm not sure how many posts I'll write this month, but I am going to try to include a long list of blessings over the course of the month.

1. I'm eternally grateful for the gift of salvation made possible through Jesus Christ.

2. We live in a country where we can still worship Him freely. Given what has happened in recent years elsewhere (such as in Canada), I'm assuming that pastors won't always have freedom of speech in the pulpit in the future in our country, but so far, they still do. 

3. Although we haven't yet taken our kids on a mission trip to a third world country, we are able to participate in service projects locally that benefit those in need around the world. In the last several weeks we have been packing five shoeboxes for kids through Operation Christmas Child, on two occasions have packed meals for kids in Uganda, Dominican Republic, and Ecuador, and have also packed hygiene kits for refugees and persecuted Christians around the world. 

4. Although I've never forgotten our babies that went to Heaven before we could hold them in our arms here on earth, I'm eternally grateful for the three children I have had the privilege to parent for the past 10-14 years. 

5. I also treasure the opportunity to homeschool our children. Including field trip days, today was our 62nd day of school for this school year. We technically hit the 45th day on October 10, but in terms of completing our curriculum, today was the end of our first quarter. I am not actually going to give Nadia a report card until next week because Nadia and Ian are taking their first quarterly exam in Biology on November 8. It will be Nadia's very first report card. I think at this point her goal is to earn a B in Geometry and an A in everything else. 

6. Field trip opportunities are back to what they were prior to COVID. We've been on 21 field trips so far this school year. We are headed to the Wolf Sanctuary this Thursday, but we don't have many planned this month. However, in December (2022) and April (2023) our calendar contains many exciting plans!

7. I've fully recovered from my ankle surgery last fall. I typically walk 3-4 miles a day with Milo. 

8. I've been more specific in my expectations for what Ian and Nadia need to do each day in their preparation for Bible quizzing on the book of Acts this year. Ian's coach said he's a completely different quizzer this fall! I'm very pleased to hear how well he is doing and hoping that Nadia will also do better than she has in the past. Their first competition is in Ohio next week.

9. A few days ago, it was below freezing when I took Milo for his first walk in the morning. Thankfully, the weather has been much warmer since then. I didn't even need to wear any kind of coat on some of my walks with him today! I'll take unseasonably warm weather in November any day of the week! 

10. I raked the leaves at the right time this year so that they were able to be sucked up by a truck that went around our neighborhood on Monday. 

11. I never aspired to own a dog, but I love Milo very much. He's MUCH better behaved now, and it's such a blessing that our neighbors can usually watch him when we're gone too many hours in a day or are on a weekend getaway or a longer vacation.