Thankful Thursday

Last Thursday of May! Here are the things I'm thankful for this week...

1. Learning how to plant a tree. Last weekend, our HOA enlisted volunteers to plant a few new trees in our neighborhood. Since the trees were a bit heavy, they asked for family groups to lift them into place and such. We showed up and helped finish getting the hole ready, put the tree into place, fill everything in and mulch and water it. We were home again in about an hour and enjoyed the experience, having never planted a tree like that before. 

And now, when we pass the tree along the greenbelt, it makes us smile knowing that we helped with that. 

2. Photo scanning app. So, I've been working on organizing all our photos. I finally have them all in order and such, both digital and print photos. Even my negatives are organized, lol. So I started looking around recently to figure out what to do with all the print photos beyond just having them in boxes and albums. I contemplated taking them to a scanning service place, but that's pretty spendy and I'd need to sort them all before taking them to decide which are worth scanning. 

So, instead, I found this photo scanning app by Photomyne and it's FABULOUS. I just snap a picture of up to four pictures with my phone, and the app crops them and cleans them up and saves them. I can add details (like date, location and people) and load them from there to my computer. It's quick and easy, and I've been able to go through stacks of pictures and add them to my digital collection. I'm just getting started, but I'm having lots of fun reminiscing as I go through these old pictures. For example, here's a shot of Noah and my gram back in August of 2002... 

Aren't they adorable sharing goldfish crackers?

3. More daylight hours. While summer isn't my favorite season, I very much appreciate having more daylight hours. Micah and I enjoyed some of them earlier this week as we walked to a nearby park and saw geese families and cool looking little birds...and Micah worked on his handstands...

4. My personal cleaning crew. This week I finally tackled a spring cleaning project that had been on my list since the stay at home orders first went into effect back in March. Together with my cleaning crew, I washed/scrubbed down the kitchen cupboards and drawers then applied some wood polish/conditioner. (It's useful to have three strong boys who can reach the tops of all the cupboards, lol.) They still look like old kitchen cabinets, but at least we know that they're cleaner. ;P 

After that, Noah and I went through all the cupboards and drawers to weed out unnecessary things (though we didn't have too many since I'd purged not too long ago) and do a bit of reorganizing. We found a few duplicates of things that Noah will now take with him to his apartment in the fall and rearranged things to put like things together better...

Noah and I were pretty happy with ourselves. :) Among other things, we grouped mugs all together and wine/alcohol glasses all together...which made us happy since they'd been across a few different cupboards before. 

And those are some of the things I'm thankful for this week. :) Mostly, we're pretty good here...just hanging out and taking things day by day and knocking things off to do lists little by little. 

Thankful Thursday

This is the tenth Thankful Thursday since we started this social distancing dealio. Still mostly hanging at home. :) Still mostly all good. Here's this week's list of things I'm thankful for...

1. Hot water. Tuesday morning our hot water heater died. It was 12 years old so apparently it had lived a full life, lol. Even though it died while I was in the shower (brrr!), I've got to be thankful that it didn't die more catastrophically...just stopped working and, upon further investigation, was actually leaking a little in the furnace room. Thankful, too, that we're in a position that we were able to call around, find a repairman and get it replaced yesterday. I recognize that that's not always possible. 

Also, from our almost 30 hours without hot water, we have a new appreciation for hot water, itself. :) So very glad we were able to get things up and running again so quickly! (Tangent here to say that we definitely live a privileged life; having (mostly) reliable hot water to sanitize things and the space to socially distance aren't givens for many.)

2. Getting things sorted for next semester...kinda. Noah signed a lease for an apartment off-campus for next school year. He'll be with his roommate from this past year, and it's a pretty nice set up...fully furnished, individual leases, two bedroom/two bath...fairly new complex, close to campus and he has friends who've already lived there a year. Especially thankful for the situation since dorm life this coming year is so uncertain right now.

On top of that, he's been offered a part-time LA position next year for mechanical engineering's thermodynamics class (MECH 337). (TAs (teaching assistants) are graduate students; LAs (learning assistants) are undergrads. To be considered for the position, you had to have gotten an A in the class.) So, whew. Noah's mostly sorted for next year...whatever that's going to look like. 

3. Getting all the boys' textbooks returned easily. All three boys' textbook returns went very smoothly and easily this week...dropped off books and materials to CEC at our assigned drive by time and Noah only had one rental textbook to return via Amazon. (His other books were either online or ones he purchased and will keep.) Glad to have that all out of the way so I don't worry about losing them in the house over the summer, lol.

4. Memories popping up in my Facebook feed. I don't generally pay attention but am thankful this week for the Facebook memories that have been showing up. Today, Facebook reminded me that I'd posted pictures like this two years ago today...

Such awesome memories from that Europe trip! (2018: Noah was 17, Asher was 15, and Micah was 12.)

And then, just for fun, I realized that this picture was taken five years ago today at Mesa Verde National Park...

(2015: Noah was 14, Asher was 12, and Micah was 9.)

...and this one was taken TEN years ago at Mt Rushmore (not exactly on this day, but within a week)...

(2010: Noah was 9, Asher was 7, and Micah was 4.) Look how adorable they were! :) 

5. Lunch dates. And, I'm thankful, too, that I continue to have lunch dates. Today, Nathan and I enjoyed another take-out picnic at a park. We didn't take pictures during but got this one after we'd finished eating and talking and such. Beautiful weather today and not as hot as my lunch date yesterday with Deanna (also a take-out picnic at a park). It was fabulous catching up with her now that the weather allowed for getting together outside on our own blankets. But we maybe should have moved to the shade sooner. ;)

So. Things are going pretty well here. Nathan's busy with work and trying to make all of that work in this new normal. Micah's been meeting up virtually with his climbing team (they have a new team fitness challenge going), and boys have been able to go to a couple in-person karate sessions (limited to four people with masks and distancing). Boot camp continues and is good for my mental health. We've been binge watching shows as a family. Yup, we're settling into summer here (and making plans to at least try to be productive during that time, lol). Thankful.

Thankful Thursday

Thursday again. And today I can say that all three boys are DONE with the 2019-2020 school year! Whew. We're mostly taking today off and just hanging out together...playing some games, watching some shows, eating some snacks and take out...enjoying being together. :) 

While I get back to that, here are some things I'm thankful for today:

1. Teachers. Thankful for all the teachers/professors who had to deal with this crazy semester and the changes and challenges that came with switching to distance learning. As someone who's homeschooled and as someone with many teacher friends, I totally appreciate all the effort and care that has gone into this semester. (Especially thankful for those who were on top of things and kept gradebooks up to date so that boys knew where they stood in the classes before finals and aren't still waiting just wondering how they're doing even after the classes are done.) 

2. Being done sooner rather than later. Thankful for boys' school schedules that have them finished by mid-May instead of later into the summer. Even though we end up going back to classes earlier, I prefer being done now. :) 

3. The Farming Game. We broke out The Farming Game last weekend and again this morning...it's been awesome! We've had highs and lows but somehow it's still good family entertainment, as well as being a lesson in the uncertainties of farming. :) This game is basically like Monopoly but with farming and was developed in the valley both Nathan and I grew up in so holds a special place in our hearts. We've also played the kid version (when ours were little) and the card game version but prefer this original version best. Be warned, though, it takes awhile, lol.

4. Prior haircut experience. Yup, finally had to bust out the trimmers and give Nathan a quarantine haircut last weekend, lol. While I was at it, I also cleaned up the sides and back for Micah. Thankful that I used to cut all their hair regularly and still remembered how. 

5. Flowers. Just because...

Took this picture out front when we were taking Mother's Day pictures last weekend. :)

Okay, back to celebrating being done with the school year! Happy Thursday to you!

Mother's Day

Hope you all had a lovely Mother's Day! We had a quiet day here...slept in, watched a beautiful video of photos that Asher made for me, wished people near and far a happy Mother's Day, tackled some normal weekend chores, enjoyed the lumpia that Nathan made for dinner (yum!), and played some games as a family. Amid all that, we also managed to FaceTime both our moms (hooray for technology!) and take some pictures out front:

(Yes, boys, I turned those last photos to black and white just to annoy you, lol.)

And, just for fun, check out this photo that was taken on Mother's Day 2015, when I realized that I should take a group photo every Mother's Day:

Look what a difference five years makes! (Micah and I were standing up a step from the other two.)

So. That was Mother's Day. :)

(PS Don't suppose we could put in a request to not have finals week and Mother's Day at the same time, lol? I'm realizing that since we starting having a boy in high school (six years ago), Mother's Day often gets overshadowed by schoolwork or school events since CEC and CSU both end early to mid-May. Bleh.) 

Thankful Thursday

Another week. We're thick in final papers and projects here...all three boys will be done by next Wednesday, and we're all really looking forward to that. In the meantime, here's my list...

1. Micah's schedule. Last week, Micah had his advising appointment to register for next fall's classes. He's happy with the four classes he's signed up for. I'm happy that his schedule lines up nicely with Asher's...which means they'll be able to ride together and I won't need to make extra trips. :)

2. Rain. Last weekend it rained. I'm thankful for that because it means at least another week before we'll need to turn on the outside water and because I love the smell after a good rain. 

3. Movies That Made Us. Have you seen this series on Netflix? These are little documentaries, basically, about the making of fan favorite movies...Dirty Dancing, Home Alone, Ghostbusters and Die Hard. We've watched three of the four episodes so far and truly enjoyed them. Had to watch the Dirty Dancing movie before we watched the episode about it, since two of the boys and Nathan hadn't seen it. (Apparently, Noah had to watch it for an honors seminar class at CSU.) And we rewatched Ghostbusters after watching the episode and then watched Ghostbusters 2016 also...such fun! We're hoping they'll make more episodes.

4. Warm weather. It was warm enough to wear shorts and a tank when I went for my morning run earlier this week! During my nice run around the neighborhood, I also happened on some wildlife...

These baby geese are almost past the baby stage but still adorable. And, not entirely sure what type of bird this is (friends think red-tailed hawk), but it was magnificent...so big and he totally just stared me down as I pulled out my phone from the sidewalk just below him. Thankful that this is the type of wildlife I've run into and not the rattlesnakes or mountain lions or bears that I've heard reports of around here. 

5. Grilling season. Hooray! It's grilling season! We enjoyed brats earlier this week and are looking forward to enjoying more grilled foods now that we're using the grill again. (Course, our poor grill is getting old and smoky...fingers crossed it makes it through the season!)

6. Much needed breaks. As I mentioned, it's finals week here and things have been a little stressful. (Unlike some other schools, all of my boys are still receiving letter grades and didn't have any decrease in workload after things switched to distance learning...which has been a bit challenging.) But, yesterday, our internet service went down for hours...which brought everything to a hard stop. While we waited for the internet to get fixed (the provider was aware and estimated that service would be up again about four or five hours after it stopped working), we headed for the front yard to catch a glimpse of the F-16s that flew over and to shoot each other with Nerf guns. Of course. ;)

And then we went back inside and played some Codenames until dinner. The internet, thankfully, came back on sooner than anticipated, so boys were able to finish up some homework and get it submitted in time. Whew. Thankful that we had fun with what could have been a (more) stressful situation. 

And that's my list for today. I'm looking forward to next week's list...when this semester will be completely done. :)