THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for sales, coupons, and good customer service at Sherwin-Williams. What's something that you're thankful for?

SANDWICHES & SCIENCE

Tim went through Exquisite Creatures more slowly than the rest of our crew back in January and said he'd come back after work someday to look at the upper level of it so he could hang out with the rest of us as we moved on to other OMSI things. The after work plan never happened and the exhibit closed on Sunday, so he headed up after church to finish walking through it. Silas and Devon both had plans from after church until later in the evening, but Naomi, Tyler, and I ended up going with him.

First stop, lunch at Firehouse Subs. The happy side of the table.

And the half happy, half pretending to be happy side. (Don't worry, my grumpiness didn't last all day.)

Off to OMSI. On a Sunday, which is always busy. On the last day of an awesome exhibit, which means all the other procrastinators were there. And there was no parking. We finally got sent down to a non-OMSI parking lot for overflow and walked back. Well, three of us walked. Tyler got a ride on Naomi's shoulders. This picture makes me laugh because it looks like a really tall person with a really long torso and arms set low on their body.

The line for Exquisite Creatures was absurdly long, I'd already seen it twice (once with the fam, once with my sister), and the kids weren't interested in seeing it a second time, so we split up. Tim waited in line and saw the upper level while the rest of us went off to have fun. At one point Naomi and I were both a little bored and crabby, so we took pictures with each other while Tyler played.

Tim found us when he was done with Exquisite Creatures and Tyler, who was obsessed with making flying objects on this visit, had Tim join him for a while.

We snapped a quick picture together as we left, then headed home to relax for the rest of the day.

Quick trip. Rough start. Horrible timing. All's well that ends well.

MISCELLANEOUS FEBRUARY PICTURES

Just a few random shots from the first part of February.

2/5 - Naomi woke up with a fever and slept the day away on the couch. Thankfully, it was just a one day bug and she was back to normal the next morning.

2/6 - Some of the Ws got to watch Gabi's musical performance at school, which included him being the lead part of a moving worm for one song.

2/7 - Our wipers needed to be replaced and I couldn't figure out how to do it, so Devon saved the day. He took a peek at the not very helpful directions, looked up a helpful YouTube video, and did the job for me.

2/9 - Math time. I'm thankful for the time Tim puts into helping in this area of our lives.

2/9 - Someone offered Tim two tickets to a Blazers vs. Heat game. He asked if I wanted to go, but I desperately needed a quiet evening at home. So he took Tyler to watch the Blazers win by six points.

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for two silver linings of regret - learning to do things differently next time and remembering that God's love for me is not based on how wisely or foolishly I handle a situation. What's something that you're thankful for?

THANKFUL THURSDAY

I'm thankful for recent phone calls with my grandpa and dad. What's something you're thankful for?

APPLES TO APPLES, WITH A TWIST

Naomi and Natie played Apples to Apples Junior last night, a game which requires at least four people. Natie's brilliant solution? They each came up with three characters, which they wrote on a piece of paper with names and some personal traits, and had to play the game in character. So funny! Silas, Devon, and Tim all joined in separately as the game progressed, which just added to the entertainment.

If that sounds like fun to you, here's how they tweaked the process to make it work. They took turns pulling green cards and had to declare which of their characters was pulling it. Their other characters didn't play any red cards, but the other person would play a red card for each of their characters. As the green card character went through all the red cards, they used voices and made comments suited to their personality. Staying in character was key to the game!

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DEVON MADE ME SMILE YESTERDAY

Tasked with making coleslaw while I cleaned the stove, Devon put this in front of me and asked if I wanted a purple Christmas tree. He often sees the little random things I miss because I'm focused on my task, things like how the edge of a cabbage core can look like a tree.

Tyler was working on science and had some questions about wind chill factor, so Devon talked to him about it until Tyler could explain it in his own words.

Gummy grapefruit is one of my favorite treats in the world, so I declared all Devon's sins were forgiven when he unexpectedly put one on my lap at the end of the day. Evidently he bought some over the weekend, then decided to share one with me.

These are all little things, but sometimes the little things are the big things.

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