March's Blessings

Let's dive in...

1. A husband who buys some of our groceries every week at Aldi so I only have to shop a couple times a month
2. Knowing that high winds were coming and putting the basketball hoop on its side (despite the 300 pounds of sand inside it)
3. A fabulous trip to Philadelphia
4. The kids loving the visit to Philly
5. My first real Philly cheese steak
6. Seeing Derek's grandparents, uncle, and mom while they were close by for the Holstein convention
7. Evan spending his own money on an inexpensive train set and loving it
8. Teaching Esther's class at church
9. Hearing from Evan's teachers some great improvement in work habits
10. Having a day of basketball where we attended all three kids' games as a family
11. Having a shopping day with Meghan, even if it was exhausting
12. Learning that Meghan and I had a Wendy's lunch date...same as Derek, Evan, and Esther but in different towns
13. Meghan loving her exceptional Sunday school teacher
14. Meghan carefully spending with a gift card and saving plenty for later
15. A new purse...that is so small Evan's emergency medication couldn't fit in it...but I don't have to consider that any more which is an even bigger blessing
16. Knowing you're kids are really smart
17. At Meghan's suggestion, getting rid of the calendar in my purse (because it didn't fit) and using the Google calendar on my phone...which I had already been using on my computer
18. Only packing one lunch (Esther's) because of early dismissals for all the kids
19. Then finding out she doesn't need lunch at school either and packing no lunches for one day
20. Enjoying the kids' early dismissal with a trip to the library
21. Getting an email from Evan's teacher about a fabulous work day
22. Evan getting excited about his improvements in school and hanging a paper on his bedroom wall
23. An invitation to a children's book festival
24. Meghan still cuddling up next to me
25. Meghan trying (again and again) to scare me
26. Esther's hugs and jokes
27. Meghan making no-knead bread
28. Eating Meghan's bread
29. A busy week of revisions and school visit preparation
30. A school visit that was wonderful though exhausting and still worth it
31. Derek supporting me and sending me to a writing conference
32. The writing conference
33. Being home early enough from the writing conference on Sunday to recover so I could get right back to work on Monday
34. An unexpected early dismissal on the first day of spring followed by snow days at the end of March...but not losing spring break
35. Knowing the children would be home early from school and saving errands for the afternoon so they could experience Rita's water ice for the first time
36. Managing to find some time to work on a manuscript and prepare for another school visit with the children home
37. Driving to northeastern PA with good timing...despite leaving Derek at home.
38. Spending Saturday and Sunday with family (both mine and Derek's)
39. A great author visit to Northeast Bradford...my alma mater!

40. Returning to sleep in my own bed.
41. Watching cousins play together and often get along...
42. Reading an article about the school visit and appreciating the journalist didn't make me sound like a fool (since I don't interview well)
43. Visiting the Herr's factory again
44. Sleep.

Philadelphia 2018

On Friday, the children had an in-service day and Derek had the day off. So, we took advantage and took the children to Philadelphia for the day.

Philly is just over an hour away. We began at the Visitors' Center. There, we learned the children could collect trading cards from the National Park Rangers. The girls were also interested in earning a Junior Ranger badge by completing some activities in a workbook.

Not surprising, we started the day at the Liberty Bell.

 From there we headed over to Independence Hall. It was rainy and windy.

The West Wing of Independence Hall contains 18th century documents. We stopped by briefly before our tour of Independence Hall.

While Philadelphia served as our nation's capitol, Congress met in Congress Hall.

 We made our way to Old City Hall.

 And then it was time for lunch. One of the rangers suggested Sonny's for a good cheese steak. The five of us ate two cheese steaks, two burgers, and an order of fries. It was delicious.

We were glad we arrived before noon. By the time we left (maybe 12:15), it was really busy.

Next we went to the Benjamin Franklin Museum. 

(Meghan had fun taking pictures and selfies with my cell phone.)

The rain had already changed to snow on our way to lunch...

 Next up, we returned to the Visitors' Center so the girls could show their work and get their badges.

 Then we walked to the Mint. The wind was really blowing. You can see how the snow really stuck to the back of Evan's legs. Of course, sometimes we had to walk into the snow and wind, too.

 This is why we didn't have photos from the Mint. It was interesting to learn a bit of how they make coins.

 And some silly pictures...

As you can see, they were still in good spirits.

After the Mint it was time to head home. Because of the snow and slush, the traffic was awful. It took 2.5 hours to get home. This was the last photo before heading out.

All the children agreed their favorite part of the trip was getting trading cards. If they went up to a ranger or volunteer and asked them if s/he had trading cards, they earned a card (or several) by answering a question. Even Evan, who can be shy at times, did it happily. 

"Thank You"

This morning Evan came down for breakfast and thanked me for washing his clothes.

Typically, the children put their full hampers in the hallway when they want me to wash their laundry. Yesterday I washed Evan's clothes before he had done that. And he recognized it and thanked me.

I really appreciated that. Most of what I do is pretty thankless. It felt great to be thanked.

February's Blessings

1. January is over! I lost count of the 2-hour delays, but we also had multiple snow days during that month...along with 2 scheduled days off from school and 5 sick days between Evan and Esther.
2. Meghan sick on a snow day. She didn't want to change her perfect attendance.
3. Clean and disinfected bathrooms. (See #2.)
4. Watching the kids' basketball skills improve.
5. Solid writing time.
6. Enjoying the Olympics with the whole family.
7. Valentines.
8. Volunteering at a book event for teens called Festival of Words.
9. A night out for Derek and me.
10. Derek's family coming to visit.

11. Tons of leftovers after the family visit.

12. Janice's cheesecake. I think it is the best I've ever had!

13. Germs not spreading to the rest of us when Esther had yet another fever and cough.

14. The second half of the month being pretty healthy.

15. My writing time well-focused.

16. Meghan's cute, new haircut.

17. Hope of a possible book contract that's been on hold for a long time.

18. Evan's fun Curriculum Night at school. Meghan joined me to make it extra fun. 

19. I didn't attend, but Meghan had a fun and successful Curriculum Night, too. 

20. Meghan finally finishing her quilt...but so far has refused pictures.

21. Esther spotted the first robin of spring on 2/28 on the way to the bus stop. After she was on the bus, I saw another dozen or so on my walk around the neighborhood.

(Boy, I didn't do very well at keeping track of them this month!)