Thankful Thursday

1. The kids were able to participate in a Bible quizzing competition that our church hosted on January 9-10. Ironically the teams closest to us (also in Pennsylvania) didn't come, but some teams from two different churches in Indiana participated. Ian's team came in second place, and he also tied for fourth place in the individual part of the competition. I served as an official from 6-10 pm on Friday night and from about 9-4 on Saturday. I'm thankful the kids can participate in this program, and I'm praying that all three of them will put more time into studying I & II Corinthians over the next five months. 

2. While I was serving as an official, Paul took the van for an oil change and tire rotation. Typically, I'm the one who takes our vehicles for all their appointments, so I was happy to relinquish that duty this time around. Unfortunately, I forgot to give him a coupon he could have used at the appointment. 😞It was possible for us to be doing two things at the same time because we are back to owning two cars for which I am very thankful.

3. On Sunday afternoon Nadia, Abby, and her older brother went ice skating.

Nadia made this in art class at MCS - Lion Witch and the Wardrobe inspired

4. There are two shows that I look forward to watching the new episodes each year - All Creatures Great and Small on PBS and The Chosen. The newest season of All Creatures was released on January 11. Paul and I have watched three episodes together so far, which are sort of like little dates. I had planned for us to attend a ballroom dance at a Methodist Church on Saturday night, but Paul wanted to work on spackling in the kitchen. Hopefully, we'll make it to the next dance I have on our calenda (March 7). Wendy got me my first pair of ballroom dancing shoes for Christmas, and I want to try them out! My first ballroom dancing lesson was on January 31, 1997. It's about time I actually own the correct shoes 🤣. I've read or listened to quite a few of James Herriot's books. I'm not sure how many seasons PBS will make of the show, but they have no lack of material to use from his many books! 

5. Nadia drove the Subaru for the first time on January 10 while I was in the vehicle. She began driving herself to work and herself plus her brothers to church for art class, Little Mermaid rehearsals, and youth group starting on January 12. Thankfully, all has gone well so far. I don't take that for granted. I also appreciate a temporary reduction in the amount of chauffeuring. Ian plans to get his learner's permit this summer, but for the next about four months I shouldn't need to drive as much as I usually do. 

6. Ian's piano teacher was flexible and allowed us to move Ian's piano lesson from Friday to Tuesday so she could help him prepare for being part of the youth worship team on Wednesday night. In addition to working on his recital piece by Rachmaninoff, he also has begun working on one by Bach.

 7. Paul and I joined a new small group on Wednesday nights. We are discussing the book Hearing God by Dallas Willard. 

8. Our co-op resumed on Tuesday. We have 16 students participating this session as Ben has moved to New York and two girls have left our co-op to join one that just started this month. This session will be much easier for me as another mom is teaching art, Paul is doing chess and physics, and one of the students in the co-op is teaching ASL. I created the lesson plans for the ASL class, but the only things I am teaching are photography and book groups. In art the students studied some of Grandma Moses' artwork and then began drawing a sketch of a project they will be painting with watercolors. Some weeks I might be babysitting the art teacher's three youngest children for 90 minutes, but this week she didn't need to bring them along. Each week I have two different students choose what games are played from 12:30-1:30. This week Julianna chose Dutch Blitz and Lydia chose Jackbox Games. 

9. I'm continuing to make progress with planning our vacation to Europe, which is only four months away. We have our rental cars, lodging, and airfare. I've booked a few of the activities. Would you believe the time slot I had originally chosen for touring Jane Austen's house was already booked? For many of the attractions it's still too soon to book the tickets. Unfortunately, the Palace of Holyroodhouse will be closed on the days we will be in Edinburgh, but so far that's the only thing I've had to completely scratch from the itinerary. 

10. For most of the day yesterday I was unable to make or receive phone calls due to a problem Verizon was having. Thankfully, Nadia's and Paul's phones were not impacted so I was able to use their phones to make a few phone calls. Today I found out Verizon is giving me a $20 credit on our next bill due to the inconvenience.

11. I recently listened to The Autobiography of Calvin Coolidge. I did so because he's one of Paul's favorite presidents. I didn't know that much about him prior to listening to this book. I agree with Paul's assessment. I wonder if we'll ever have a president like him again. I am not at all happy with our current president, but I rest in the knowledge that God is in control. I am thankful that over the years *some* of our presidents have been excellent albeit it's been a while since we've had one I'd put in that category.