Thankful Thursday

 

1. On January 30 we visited Cairn University, which is near Philadelphia. Paul and I were very impressed with the computer science professor. This is one of the colleges Ian is considering. We are planning to visit Cedarville in June, which is currently his top choice since his cousin Nathan also plans to go there. Cedarville is my alma mater. I'm hoping he'll make a decision this summer as I'm planning on enrolling him for dual enrollment classes starting in the fall. 

2. On January 31 the kids participated in the living history fair for the fourth time. They answered questions for an hour as parents and grandparents walked around to see each of the displays. I bought the display boards in 2018. The first time we used any of them was for a science fair at a Children's Museum. 

3. Oliver and I were able to help at a food packing event at Experience Missions on February 1.

4. Ian was unable to participate in the piano recital on February 2 due to having a 101-degree fever that day, but Nadia and Oliver attended a roller-skating party hosted by our church that evening. 

5. Our spring session of co-op began on February 4. At least 7 of the 10 high schoolers in our co-op are planning to attend the homeschool prom together, and four of the girls have an appointment to shop for dresses together at the YWCA. On February 18 twelve of the fifteen kids stayed for lunch and games. The kids had a blast playing Outburst and Telestrations together. After some of the kids left, a smaller group played Bubble Talk. 

6. The kids enjoyed attending a Super Bowl party hosted by the youth group. The Towfighis are Eagles fans, so they were very happy with the outcome to that game! 

7. Nadia and Oliver attended a homeschool roller skating party in the morning on February 12. 

8. Our family celebration of Valentine's Day this year included buying some brownie batter donuts from Dunkin' (something we do only once a year), I made heart shaped food for lunch on February 14 (heart shaped pancakes and toast with an egg in the middle shaped like a heart), and we saw the play A Wrinkle in Time together that night. Nadia worked on Valentine's Day, and she received some chocolates from her boss and a $5 tip from a customer.

9. On February 16 we attended a potluck after the second service at church. This was a new concept for everyone in our family except for me. 

10. Nadia spends time almost every day working on a jigsaw puzzle. Typically, she does 1,000-piece puzzles by herself. I purchased some puzzles at the library (the prices ranged from 50 cents to $1 each), and one of the puzzles I bought had 3,000 pieces. Nadia asked for help with that one. Oliver and Julianna each helped a tiny bit. Paul, Nadia, and I did the lion share of the puzzle. It was a great feeling when we finished it!

11. I'm planning to take four kids (including Nathaniel) skiing at Montage on Tuesday. They've been to the outdoor water park there many times in the summer but never gone skiing there. I found a deal that the lift ticket plus ski rental is only $45 per person! Paul is going to stay home because we're dog sitting Cooper starting tomorrow and didn't want to leave the two dogs home alone for that many hours. 

12. Oliver has adjusted to wearing glasses, so I decided to order him a new pair with his new prescription. Ian saw the eye doctor earlier this week and got a new prescription. At the eye doctor they told me I could just buy new lenses and use his existing frame, but when she said that it would cost $300 AFTER a 25% discount, I said no thank you. Then as I was paying for the appointment, she said if we got a new frame plus lenses there is a special for $125 as long as we didn't get the blue light blocking on the lenses. How does that make any sense whatsoever? I am thankful that there are websites like Zenni that make it so much cheaper to buy glasses. I got two pairs of glasses (one for Ian and one for Oliver) with the blue light blocking for about $108, which included paying extra for a warranty. I almost never purchase a warranty. The kids haven't broken any glasses recently, but they have certainly done so in the past, so it seemed worth the small fee to do so in this instance. Ian chose a green frame (which was what he had been wearing prior to getting the frames he's had the last 2 years), and Oliver went with an aviator style (like Tom Cruise, ha ha).