Thankful Thursday

1. On Friday after gym class I took the kids to Lewisburg. We got pizza at Vennari's for lunch. That is my MOST favorite pizza place bar none, and we hadn't had any pizza from there since May because Paul used to pick it up on his way home from Bucknell. Then we enjoyed seeing some ice carvings. I planned to take the kids back to the ice festival on Saturday morning for some games, but since it was SO cold outside we opted not to return. Maybe next year! The pizza was scrumptious, and they were having a special that meant we got a free order of breadsticks, which were also delicious.

2. Friday night I took Nadia and Ian to Bucknell for family night at their observatory. They looked out of a large refracting telescope that was built in the late 1800's. Nadia enjoyed seeing the craters on the moon. They made a craft (supposed to look like a protostar), looked out of a reflecting telescope, listened to a 30 minute concert by a singer/guitarist who sang songs about the planets, and heard part of a talk by a professor about stars.

3. I was summoned for jury duty last June, but I asked to be excused because my mother was on hospice. That request was approved. I was summoned again last month. I asked to be excused because I am homeschooling my three children, but that request was denied. Thankfully they didn't have a civil case this week so I didn't need to actually appear, but they said it means I'm going to get summoned again.

4. Grandma and Pop Pop were able to come to the kids' basketball games on Saturday. The games were back to back (12:00 and 1:00) which was really nice. It's the only time that will happen this season.

5. I went shopping by myself on Saturday afternoon at the mall, which is an extremely rare occasion. I would have enjoyed it more if I had been feeling better (had a fever and was upset about something), but I used three coupons that took $15 off my purchases at JCPenney and PetSmart and. I spent about $12 total at the mall. I got some food for the guinea pigs, two long sleeve Mickey t-shirts for Oliver for next year, and two short sleeve Mario t-shirts for Ian for next year.

6. Yesterday we had a field trip to the Children's Museum. They had one white bull snake, three ball pythons, and one bearded dragon available for the kids to hold. I would have gotten better pictures if I had brought my speedlight. The lighting in the museum is awful, and I had to raise the ISO way higher than usual and use a wider aperture than I really wanted to, which meant the pictures are definitely not as crisp or "in focus" as I wanted. Next time hopefully I'll remember to bring the speedlight. Usually they have the programs in the classroom, which has better light than most of the museum, but they are remodeling the classroom right now (putting in a big sink, kitchen, etc.).

7. It was SO warm that I took the kids to the playground after we spent two hours at the museum. What a gift the warmer weather was!

8. Today was quite the opposite. Very cold, windy, and we got about six inches of snow. Paul had to take a snow day because it wouldn't have been safe to drive to work this morning.

9. At Walmart yesterday I finally got Ian a strap for his glasses. It cost less than $5, and now his glasses are staying where they are supposed to. Yay!

10. The kids and I made Valentine's sugar cookies today. Usually I don't take a day off of school for snow, but since Paul was home I did. The kids did a little science and social studies with Paul, and they always read at least a couple of chapters in whatever book they are reading, but I'm not counting today as a school day.

11. Nadia and Ian love to listen to Christian contemporary music. We love our local Christian radio station. I know there might be a time in the future where our tastes do not agree, but it's nice that we all like the same music right now. My parents were not fans of Christian contemporary music when I was a child (that's putting it mildly - I was told it was "bad" because drums were used); so I didn't listen to my music in their presence, but I am thankful at least two of my kids share my taste preferences in music right now. One of my most favorite songs at the moment is "Thy Will" by Hillary Scott. I heard on the radio recently that she wrote the lyrics a couple of years ago following a miscarriage. Maybe that is in part why the song resonates so strongly with me. When Nadia and Ian were little all they wanted to listen to were VeggieTales or Slugs and Bugs CDs. Let me say Hillary Scott is much easier on my ears than Bob the tomato!

12. Although I'd still like to get myself a pair of snow boots at some point, the rain boots I wore for the first time today did a MUCH better job of keeping my feet dry while we were out in the snow today. Yay!

13. My Bible study was still held this evening. I am enjoying my studies on 1 Samuel and Revelation. Unfortunately the kids' ice skating lessons were cancelled, and they didn't email or call or text us so we drove down there (30 minutes one way) for naught. Bummer. But we did enjoy dinner at the Domino's near the ice skating rink before we found out the class was cancelled.

14. I'm thankful that Odd Squad is available on Amazon Prime. All three kids love that show, and I like that it's an educational show.

15. As always, I am thankful for my camera and lenses! I took TONS of pictures the last couple of days - too many to include in this post, but here are a few. I'll share more in the coming days.