Thankful Thursday

1. Nadia and Ian enjoyed their final Avengers building project at Lowe's on Saturday morning (Thor's chariot) with Paul.

2. Nadia and Ian enjoyed swimming at the Liberty Splashland with Bella on Saturday afternoon. Bella came back to our house so it ended up being an eight hour play date for Nadia and Bella. They had a blast together!

3. Nadia enjoyed two hours of glow in the dark dodgeball on Thursday morning at church (they used black lights so the balls would glow in the dark). Ian and Oliver enjoyed playing in the play land at church as we hadn't gone there in almost four months.

4. On Sunday afternoon I took the kids to Bucknell University to play field hockey with the women's team. It was an event geared for children ages 2-12. All three kids had a good time. They even had a stick small enough for Oliver! They played Disney music in the field during the event. Nadia was surprised when we arrived there because she was expecting ice hockey not field hockey.

5. All three kids enjoyed their gymnastics classes that started up this week, and Nadia and Ian enjoyed their first fall soccer practices this week. Their practices actually started last week, but we didn't get the text messages from either coach. We are none too pleased with Verizon these days. Paul is grateful that he's only an assistant coach this time, which he greatly prefers to being a head coach. Yesterday he also accepted Ian's coach's invitation for Paul to help with Ian's team's practices.

6. One of our neighbors picked some apples off one of our trees last night. This put a big smile on my face as we have a billion apples this year- far more than I want to pick, peel, core, etc. I should have bought a fruit picker thing somewhere along the way so I wouldn't have to go up on a ladder. The neighbor came over with two of them. She also had several adults helping so it was a much faster process for her than it has been for me. She plans to can applesauce. This is a win/win in my book!

7. Ian has been very motivated with working through the reading curriculum. I imagine he will finish the second grade curriculum this week. He has been learning things like a soft "c" (ex. grace) and a soft "g" (ex. hinge) this week.

8. Nadia has been spending more time (of her own initiative) reading chapter books lately.

5.

Three gymnasts!

I started taking Nadia to gymnastics five years ago when she was just two years old. She was in the "Mommy and Me" class, which meant that I was expected to follow her around the gym during her 30 minute class. I was ever so grateful that spring that Ian was a late bloomer in terms of walking because I carried him around during her gymnastics class, and that became far more of a challenge once he was mobile and didn't want to stay in my arms. Once the child is three years old they are eligible for the preschool class, and parents can just sit and watch that class. Once she started playing soccer I had her choose between ballet and gymnastics, and this meant that for one year she took a break from gymnastics, but when she turned five she switched from ballet/tap back to gymnastics. They offer classes all year round, but we take the summers off (skip two 8 week sessions) for a variety of reasons such as that the gym isn't air conditioned, vacations, day trips, etc. She was promoted to a Level One class in August of 2013 (at the age of 5) and then to a Level Two class last August. She only took three sessions (24 weeks) of gymnastics last year, and I knew she wasn't ready to be promoted to Level Three yet. So she is taking Level Two again this session on Mondays from 4:00-5:30. I was pleased to find out that John (the gym director) is teaching her class this session as last year he didn't teach on Monday nights.

Ian has taken gymnastics sporadically over the last couple of years. The last time I had him in a preschool class it didn't go very well. I felt it was a waste of money because he wasn't following directions very well. I will say that it was easier for Nadia (not just because she was more mature) because I had signed her up for morning classes when she was a preschooler, and they are the only ones in the gym and it's far easier to pay attention to one's teacher. In the evening there are three classes going on at the same time - a preschool class, a level one class, and the competitive team is also practicing. Ian had two classes of a Level One class last January, and then the class was cancelled because John (teacher) didn't have childcare for his two kids during the class. Tonight Ian started a Level One class. He was the only boy in his class, and there were nine girls in the class. When Nadia was in a Level One class it was much larger so I was pleased that there were "only" ten in his class. During the first part that whole class was together (with John on the floor exercises), and then they were split into two groups with another teacher taking half the class (to the bars, rings, and trampoline). Ian had no idea how to do a cartwheel, but he did a fabulous job of following instructions and really giving 100% effort. I was proud of him, and I feel confident he will be making progress over the next eight weeks.

Oliver has never taken a gymnastics class before, I signed him up for a preschool class although he is JUST old enough for it (for ages 3-5). I wasn't sure if he would struggle like Ian did or not with the distractions. There were moments when he turned his head and was watching other things happening in the gym rather than focusing on his teacher, but overall I thought he did a fabulous job considering he just turned three and had never taken any gymnastics before, especially since the teacher assumed all the kids had already had gymnastics and was giving instructions that were meaningless to Oliver "everyone get in pike position" was the very first thing she said. "Do a donkey kick, "do a tuck roll," etc and he has never done these things before. At the end of class I told her that he had never taken any gymnastics before. She was surprised and said Oliver did "awesome." I am hoping next week she will show Oliver how to do a few of the things that she asked them to do tonight that he had no clue how to do. I will also try to work with him at home on a few of the things. Both boys enjoyed themselves and were pleased with the job they had done. Ian watched the first 15 minutes of Oliver's class before his began, and then Oliver watched the last 30 minutes of Ian's 60 minute class after his class had ended. We were in the gym for a little more than 75 minutes between their two classes. Nadia has a soccer practice from 5:30-7:00 on Tuesdays and Thursdays so she was with Daddy on the soccer field during most of the time the boys and I were at the gym.

P.S. I didn't take any pictures at gymnastics tonight so this picture doesn't match this post at all, but this is the one photo I took today. Nadia started this colored pencil project last week and finished it this morning. She drew the fish on the paper with a regular pencil and then colored it with colored pencils. I helped her a little, but she did most of it herself. In fact many times I wasn't even in the room while she was working on it. I thought it turned out pretty well for a girl who just turned 7.

A new school year!

Since classes began at Bucknell today (Paul only has a lab on Mondays from 1-4), I decided August 24 would be Ian's first day of Kindergarten and Nadia's first day of second grade. If it were up to me, Ian's schoolwork would have taken 30-45 minutes. We started a Kindergarten science book, did spelling (lesson 6 of level 1) on the whiteboard, and he did some cutting to work on his scissor skills. I intended to do a little reading, but this boy is on a mission to earn more Legos so we did a LOT of reading today. He has completed 35 of the 51 lessons in the Level 2 reading curriculum as of today. Whew.

I know at some point I will need to homeschool all three at the same time, but I am trying to give them one-on-one time as long as possible. This morning I worked with Nadia individually for 2 hours. During that time the boys played together (yay!), and Nadia did math, spelling, handwriting, piano, science, and social studies. Then while she did reading and art, Oliver had 30 minutes on the iPad, and I did schoolwork with Ian. Hopefully this schedule will continue to work for us this

year. Once I start doing activities related to various countries, I plan to include Ian and Oliver in many of those (particularly the picture books, crafts, music, dvd's, and cooking). I gave Nadia a geography pretest today, and she has a LOT to learn this year as this far she could only identify two countries on the maps - the USA and Brazil (thanks to Uncle Maurice having lived there the last 3 years).

I took pictures like I did last year. Nadia still wants to be an astronaut and artist. Last year Ian kept vacillating between police officer and fire fighter, but this year he has been talking about working for the Lego company, which is very logical given how many hours he spends almost every day playing with them. At some point I will start teaching Oliver his letters, but for now I'm focusing on Nadia and Ian. He gets to enjoy most of the field trips though. We have quite a few field trips scheduled for the next couple of months including seeing Joseph in Lancaster, the science museum and children's museum in Baltimore, a few field trips at Camp Susque, Steamtown National Historic Site, and much more.

Gymnastics resumed for Nadia today, and the boys will have their gymnastics classes on Tuesday nights while Nadia is at soccer practice with Daddy. The gym class on Friday mornings, AWANA on Wednesday nights, and kid's choir on Sunday nights will all be starting back up in the next couple of weeks. Here's to hoping the four of us have a great school year together!

Thankful Thursday

1. We enjoyed watching the children perform Jungle Book at the Millbrook Playhouse on Saturday morning.

2. All five of us had a great time at RB Winter State Park on Saturday afternoon. It was the kids first time eating homemade ice cream and making dipped candles.

3. We were grateful that Paul's parents came up to see the kids' musical on Saturday night.

4. I am thankful the Alliance church offers this program for kids in the summer on Wednesday nights.

5. We were so appreciative that my parents drove 7 hours to see the musical on Sunday night.

6. I was very relieved to see that I had lost two more pounds when I weighed myself on Monday morning, especially considering I had eaten some cookies at the church after the musical on Saturday and Sunday ( means I've lost 12 pounds so far).

7. Paul trimmed the bushes for me (with our electric trimmer) this past weekend.

8. Ian made great progress this week toward learning to ride his bike without training wheels, and Oliver has made progress with pedaling his tricycle!

9. It has been SO nice having Paul at home this summer. We are going to miss him once he heads back to school next week. Some weeks he has been home the whole week. The most he's been gone in a week has been two days (one at Bucknell and one at Kennedy Concrete). He's spent most of the time upstairs at the computer in our bedroom, but him being at home means we eat all three meals together, which has been a treat! It also has meant that occasionally I could leave the house during the day without all three kids. For example on Tuesday this week Ian and I ran some errands while Oliver was napping (Walmart, CVS, bank, and library). This is one of the reasons I am really hoping Paul ends up in another academic job next year. It's nice to have him around more in the summer!

10. Paul's grandmother was discharged from the hospital on Tuesday. She will be turning 93 in December.

11. We think we have made a decision regarding our 2016 family vacation with Paul's parents. If we get the reservation through the time share, we will be headed to Cape Cod in May! We are planning to stop at Mystic Seaport in CT on our way there, and while we are in Cape Cod go to Plimoth Plantation and the Mayflower, the new Thomas the Train amusement park, a children's museum, etc. We will be sure to pick a resort that has an indoor pool, as we won't want to swim outdoors in MA in May. It's close enough to drive so that will keep the cost down, as usually airfare is involved for at least some of us. We also hope to spend a few days in Pittsburgh next summer with my parents. While we are there we want to visit with some relatives on my dad's side of the family, go to Idlewild amusement park, Carnegie Science Center, Pittsburgh Children's Museum, and the Pittsburgh Zoo. Can you tell I enjoy planning and anticipating summer vacations?

12. I had not bought fish sticks for awhile because Paul has developed an allergy to seafood. It started with lobster tail but not he cannot eat any fish either, and he used to love fish and lobster. Anyhow all three kids will gobble up fish sticks so it's a nice meal to have every once and awhile as long as I have something else for Paul to eat.

13. We are enjoying watching the movie by BBC (from 1990) about The Silver Chair. It follows the book very closely (much closer than the other Narnia movies that were made more recently). We are also enjoying reading the Last Battle. We recently finished The Silver Chair and Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library. If I taught a children's literature class at a university, I think I would require my students to read the latter book - in part because it contains SO many humorous references to many other children's books (picture and chapter books).

14. Oliver learned how to put on his own underwear and shorts last week, which means he is now independent when going #1 on the potty. I still assist with wiping after he goes #2.

15. Ian continues to make good progress with his reading skills. After completing five more lessons, he will be half-way through the second grade reading curriculum.

16. When I went to Walmart on Tuesday, I used the $15 credit I had earned through Shopkick. I had to show my phone to use three $5 gift cards. I am gradually get the hang of having a smartphone.

No training wheels times two!

Recently Ian asked to learn how to ride his bike without training wheels. I think in part because he wants to ride to the playground with Nadia instead of walking with me. Yesterday evening Paul took some time to help him with that for the first time, and wow he did a great job. He made much more progress in one short session than Nadia did when she first started. He hasn't learned how to get himself started, but he was riding his bike on the grass and on the road without training wheels last night. Way to go, Ian!

10K

Today I completed the C25K program. You are supposed to do three workouts a week for eight weeks. I did a workout every other day so I completed the program in 6 weeks plus 5 days. I am definitely not running a 10 minute mile, which is the pace they are assuming you are running, but the good news is that I can run for 35 minutes without stopping, which I certainly couldn't do six weeks ago. The route I have taken the last few times has been 2.8 miles long. I am going to start the 10K app on Wednesday. It's a six week program (18 workouts compared to 24 in the last one). I am guessing they think at the end I could run 6 miles in one hour, but that won't be happening for me. I looked online and for a woman my age the average pace for a 5K is a 12.5 minute mile. I have not even achieved that pace, but that is more within my reach than a 10 minute mile. I think the best I've done is 13.5 minute mile, but as the length of the run has increased my overall pace has slowed down to a 14 or even a 15 minute mile. When Paul and I walk, we usually walk a 20 minute mile so you can see I am not running very fast, but at least I am running! I also mowed the lawn today (first time in weeks as the grass hasn't been growing much lately). It turns out I walk 3.7 miles (according to my iPhone) when I mow the lawn, which

means I walked/ran more than 6 miles before I had lunch today. I also was *finally* rewarded with seeing weight loss on the scale. I had been in another plateau, which I was finding more and more discouraging especially as I had also been counting calories for 8 days, but as of this morning I have now lost a total of 12 pounds. Yay! Hopefully I can lose the last 8 pounds over the next 5 weeks while I do the 10K app program.

Below I have included two videos from the musical on Saturday night. The first one shows Nadia's speaking part, and the second shows her solo (the choir was also singing along but she was the only one with a microphone).

Here for the Gold

The kids had their second performance of the musical "Here for the Gold" this evening. My parents arrived at our house about two hours before the program began so the kids were able to play with their grandparents before we had dinner together, and Ian and Grandpa played a game of Candy Land after dinner. We could actually see Nadia during the program tonight (Yay), and Ian stayed up on the stage for the whole program tonight. Oliver was a little bit noisier this evening than he was last night, but altogether he did well considering he just turned three and is not accustomed to sitting in a church service. Nadia smiled more than she did last night, although she still didn't smile anywhere near as much as she did in her first musical in 2012. She did fine with her speaking part. They had a glitch with the microphone and we didn't hear 90% of her solo. We heard her solo loud and clear last night. Ian wasn't as animated tonight as he was last night, but he still did a really good job, especially considering about 15 months ago I couldn't even get him to get up on stage to sing with the kids choir at church. I'm very grateful this church (which is very close to our house) provides this program for children during the months when AWANA is not offered, and I am very thankful that my parents were willing to drive seven hours round trip to be with us for three hours. That is true love! I'm hoping maybe some day (not too far in the future?) we live closer together so they don't have to travel so far to attend things like this.

Making candles, butter, and fire

The kids and I have been home most of the time over the past five days, but today we were out and about most of the day. The kids were able to play at home for two hours before we headed to see the Jungle Book play. Ian views it as a necessity that he plays with his Legos at least a couple of hours every single day. We saw Jungle Book at the theatre where we saw the True Story of the 3 Little Pigs recently (and that was our first experience at that theatre). This performance was at the conclusion of their theatre camp for ages 10-14. There were 65 kids in the musical, and they only started working on it on Monday, but they were there for seven hours a day. When Nadia found out that next week they are having their theatre camp for ages 6-9, she was begging me to sign her up to participate in that. They'll be working on a production of Winnie the Pooh. I told her that it would cost $150, and reminded her that she had been in Annie this summer. I think this girl has the theatre bug!

After the musical we drove to R. B. Winter State Park for their "Life on the Frontier" event. Special activities included making dipped candles (Ian, Nadia, and I each made one candle), eating homemade ice cream (vanilla or chocolate), churning butter, eating that butter on crackers, making fire with flint and steel (Ian and Nadia did that with Paul's help), playing various colonial games, writing with a quill pen, making paper dolls, etc. It was the first time the kids ever tasted homemade ice cream or made a dipped candle. We then walked down to the "beach" created by a dam. Even though the water was COLD, Ian ran right in and proudly showed off his swimming skills. After giving the kids baths, we had dinner, finished watching the Voyage of the Dawn Treader movie on dvd, and then drove the kids to the Alliance church for their summer musical. Paul's parents met us there. Oliver was in the NICU three years ago during Nadia's very first performance. The last two years he only lasted for part of the performance, and then Pop Pop took him out. This evening was the first time he sat through the whole program (including the pastor's brief message it's about one hour long).

Ian did a fabulous job while he was in the choir this evening. He was smiling, singing, and doing the motions! He has improved SO much over the past year. The only problem was that he followed the three year olds out when they left. They don't stay up the whole time. OOPS! He thought he was supposed to leave. We explained to him he's supposed to stay up the whole time. Hopefully he'll do that tomorrow night. I think Nadia did a good job when singing in the choir. I can't be certain because the boy in front of her was blocking my view of her. I don't think she smiled nearly as much as Ian did, but I do think she sang and did the motions. She had a speaking part during Act 5 (she was one of the narrators who told the story of the prodigal son), and then she had a solo during the final song. They are doing the musical again tomorrow night, and my parents are planning to come up to see that performance. Next year Oliver will be old enough to be in the musical with them! This means that in July and the first half of August, we will have 90 minutes on Wednesday nights to take a walk together or something like that. I have choir rehearsals in May and June during their musical rehearsals. I look forward to seeing Oliver up there for the first time next year!

Counting our blessings

I recently read an article that recommended whenever a child whines or complains, you ask him or her to list three things he or she is thankful for. Ian has been prone to complaining and whining (over LOTS of things) for quite awhile, and more recently Nadia has been struggling with the same issue to a lesser degree. Of course all of us complain at times, and it's not something we're supposed to do ("Do everything without complaining or arguing" is an oft recited verse in this house). Oliver is more guilty of fussing/crying than complaining, and he's a little young to grasp the concept of giving thanks for three things so he's the only one exempt from the new rule at the moment. Ironically, I was the first offender after stating this new rule. I complained while struggling to find a hanger to hang up one of Nadia's dresses in her closet. Paul thought it was hysterical, but it proves it's something I need to work on as well. Anyhow we shall see if this strategy has the desired effect of decreasing the amount of complaining and whining that takes place in our house, but at the very minimum it will cause us to verbally count our blessings more often than we typically do. So even though yesterday was my weekly gratitude post, I will write another list today.

1. I kept forgetting to mention that Ian now likes popsicles. It might seem strange to be excited about this, but trust me this is a big change as he used to avoid foods that were "too cold" and until this summer always refused to try a popsicle even when all the other children were eating them at church. Although it's still frustrating at times with how long he takes to eat a meal, he has come a LONG way.

2. When we were at the State Museum last Friday, we used the parking meter system where you have to enter your license plate number and pay with a credit card. Of the 7 letters and numbers we entered 6 correctly, but having made a mistake with one letter caused us to have a $30 parking ticket sitting on our windshield when we returned even though we had paid $9 to park there for 3 hours. I emailed a copy of our receipt and our violation, and on Wednesday I received word our violation had been dismissed because they give you a one time grace in terms of making a mistake with entering your license plate correctly. Whew. I am very glad we didn't have to pay $39 to park on that street for 3 hours.

3. Nadia really, really wanted me to buy her an app that cost $2.99, and I usually only get apps that are free or very discounted. If the app had been educational I would have been more prone to agreeing to buy it for her. She kept asking so finally I said if she earned the money I would buy it. So she did chores for me yesterday to earn $3, which included cleaning some windows, cleaning out the microwave, and cleaning some doors and walls (washing off finger prints). I am grateful for her diligence and also know that teaching her how to do these chores will eventually save me some time, and it also helps teach her skills that will be useful for her to have in the future. Helping me clean the bathrooms every week is now one of her regular chores now that she's seven years old so she doesn't get paid for that any more, but I enjoy her companionship while we clean the bathrooms once a week.

4. This morning we went to some yard sales in a town about 10 minutes from our house. I got some good bargains on clothes for the kids in the future (ex a pair of snowpants for Ian for $1), and the weather was gorgeous so it was a very pleasant day to be walking outside. I also got some exercise. I discovered recently that my iPhone keeps track of how many steps I take. Yesterday between my 6:30am workout (C25K) and walking the kids to the playground later that morning, it said I walked over 5 miles. I wasn't sure how accurate it was, but it said I went 2.8 miles in the morning, and I clocked it with the van's odometer this evening, and it came up with the same amount! This morning it told me how much I walked at the yard sales, which is not something I would have been able to estimate on my own. It's nice to discover features I was unaware I had on my new phone. Thus far I've gotten $15 worth of Walmart gift cards for using the Shopkick app.

5. At one of the yard sales this morning they were also selling produce. I bought some HUGE peaches. They were so delicious! Oliver, Nadia, and I enjoyed eating some of them, and I used some to make a delicious peach crisp this afternoon. Yummy!

6. Ian picked out some Legos at two of the yard sales. One set was only $1! He earned that one by doing some dusting this afternoon. The other set has been put away until he earns it.

7. A homeschooling mom told me today about Sight and Sound's sale on tickets to see Joseph in September. Nadia had wanted to see it in June, but I told her we would go when they were on sale. Oliver would have been free in June, but even though we have to buy him a ticket to go on September 4, we will still be saving $66 compared to if we bought tickets in June (plus each set of grandparents is saving $54). She has already asked to see Samson there next year. Hopefully they will have another good discount at some point for that show! I now know to wait for a promotion code.

8. This evening after dropping Nadia and Ian off at their dress rehearsal, Oliver and I headed to the mall to use coupons at JCP and Sears. Between the two stores I bought Paul one shirt and Ian seven shirts for the future (will be birthday or Christmas presents because they were superhero or Star Wars themed), and altogether for those 8 shirts I spent $27.61. Oliver's reward for enduring a shopping trip was a ride on the carousel in the mall.

9. Oliver has been sleeping really well this week. He has slept through the night every night, and I've been waking him up most mornings at 7:00 and also waking him up at 3:00 after he has napped for two hours. He also has been going down very easily at night and nap time (one time he asked for another kiss but other than that he's been going to bed right away). Yay! Ian also has generally been doing better about not getting up until 7:00 although he did wake us up in the middle of the night last night.

10. Oliver has been saying "I love you too" many times a day out the blue. He said it while we were in the checkout line at Sears today which made the cashier smile. He never just says "I love you." He always says "I love you too." I do love him very much!

11. Over the past five days he had two accidents, which means he had three days that were accident free. Hopefully next month we can talk about how many weeks instead of days he's gone without an accident.

12. Have I mentioned the Bedtime Math books before? Well we just love those books. We are working through our second book now. The library owns two of the three books in the series. I am definitely putting these three books on our wish list for Christmas. Ian in particular loves the books and asks me to read more and more pages of it. They have different levels of difficulty questions at the end of each story. The first question is usually at Ian's level, the second is usually at Nadia's level, and the third question is too hard for both of them. I would like to go through these books again and again in the future so that eventually Nadia will be able to handle the harder questions. We are also enjoying The Silver Chair. It's hard to believe that in the near future we'll only have one book left to read from the Chronicles of Narnia.

Thankful Thursday

1. Nadia and I enjoyed two concerts at the West End Fair last Thursday night. The concerts were free, and it only cost us $3 each to enter the fairgrounds and parking was free. It was Nadia's first time at a contemporary Christian concert. The artists were Love and the Outcome and then Chris August. We walked around the fair some before the concert to see the animals, etc. Nadia enjoyed having her face painted at the CEF booth. I think next summer I will send Nadia and Ian to a a week of CEF Good News (day) Camp.

2. My friend, Cheri, who used to be my concert buddy since 2005 has been working nights for the past year (5-9pm) so we couldn't go to concerts together very often, but now she is working from 10-2 so we can go to concerts together again in the future!

Oliver loves to climb! I didn't get a picture when he was at the very top.

3. I am SO thankful for Oliver! His pregnancy was very difficult, but he was definitely worth it!!! I am so thankful that all four grandparents could join us at the State Museum and Chuck E. Cheese's in Harrisburg on Friday to celebrate his 3rd birthday!

4. We also appreciated the yummy cake that Aunt Millie made.

5. The presents from Aunt Wendy, Aunt Yvonne, Great Gram, and both sets of grandparents were also greatly appreciated. You can see pictures in this post of Oliver wearing his new chef costume and the kids enjoying the finger paint soap from Aunt Yvonne.

6. I enjoyed having about 45 minutes with my friend, Joyce, in Harrisburg on Friday morning. I miss her.

7. We weren't locked out of our house on Friday night even though we didn't have a garage door opener or my set of keys. Thank you, Lord, that I "happened" to have Paul's keys in my purse (that is rarely the case).

8. Paul's parents graciously watched the kids for 41 hours from Friday night to Sunday morning. We greatly appreciated having this time for just the two of us as an anniversary celebration. It was so  nice to be able to take walks together, sleep in until 7:30, go out to dinner, etc.

9. Thanks to a coupon and a gift card, our dinner out including tip on Saturday night only cost us $1.00.

10. I probably sound like a broken record, but Shutterfly had another amazing deal recently. I am getting a great start on Christmas and also some birthdays!

11. The kids enjoyed building Hulk's tank at Lowe's with Pop Pop on Saturday morning. As you can see from the pics, they have now completed five of the six Avengers projects. Thor's chariot will be the last one. They should be doing that one nine days from now.

12. I'm very thankful for our 14 years of marriage and praying for many more to come.

13. Paul helped me go through a box in the basement, and most of it ended up in his car with other things I had put in there to go to the recycling center/ thrift store. I always like to get rid of stuff we don't need or use any more.

14. When June and I were at the concert last Thursday night, she surprised me by buying me one of Jason Grey's cds. How sweet!!!

15. Paul attended a soccer coach meeting on Monday night, and now we know their soccer schedules. We've had trouble in the past with practices interfering with AWANA, but that won't be a problem this fall. Nadia's practices will be on Tuesdays and Thursdays. and Ian's are from 5:15-6:00 on Wednesdays, which won't be a problem because AWANA is from 6:30-8:00 on Wednesdays.

16. I found out this week that if there is enough interest our church will be offering additional classes on Fridays for homeschoolers (in addition to the gym class they have already been offering). I'm hoping for art and/or Spanish! He mentioned art and music are the two they are most likely to offer. I would love it if Nadia and Ian could have gym and art on Fridays at our church!

17. I could list many examples of why I think Paul is a great dad, but here is just one. Lately he has been spending time with Nadia from 8:00-8:30 (after the boys are put to bed and before she goes to bed). Sometimes they work on Rosetta Stone Spanish, sometimes they play chess, other times they do Snap Circuits, etc. I love that he gets this one-on-one time with her most nights!

Craft time

As I have said before, I am never going to win a prize for having done the most arts and crafts with my kids, but I always have it as a goal to try to do more in that area. It's a combination of not feeling very talented, not liking the mess that can come through doing such things, and also a dislike of clutter (where am I supposed to put all these things that have been created?) that lead to me not having a natural inclination towards these projects. I was reflecting this evening on the various crafts Nadia worked on today. She did some painting on a paint by number project. Yesterday I started a project with Nadia and Ian from Build a Bear workshop that I had bought at a yard sale a long time ago. It involved sewing and was advertised as being for ages 6+. I realize my sewing skills are not great, but it was a challenge for me to sew it. However we finished the project today! It was definitely beyond my seven year old although she was able to help with some of the sewing since it included a plastic needle. The mittens were definitely something she could sew. The stuffed animals were much harder. Thankfully the kit included clothes, which are "covering a multitude of sins" for me. Whew. Nadia and Ian really enjoyed filling them with stuffing. Ian claimed the dog, and Nadia claimed the bear. I also taught Nadia how to make a chain of paper dolls today, and she was coloring some of the ones we made. That was definitely an easier project than sewing two stuffed animals. There is a very good possibility our church is going to offer an art class for homeschoolers on Fridays  starting next month along with the gym class they have been offering since January. I am really hoping I can sign Nadia and Ian up for this art class, and that will decrease how much I feel I need to do at home with arts and crafts each week.

This week we have returned to our habit of walking to the playground. We haven't done it much this summer due to Annie rehearsals, tennis lessons, swimming lessons, etc. The only thing we had on our calendar during the day time from Monday through Friday this week was Oliver's doctor appointment on Monday. Nadia has been in shock at the notion that we are staying home for five days in a row, although they did have musical rehearsal tonight and will have a dress rehearsal on Friday night. Ian's running skills have really blossomed. When Nadia started riding her bike to the playground, he used to run to keep up with her a little and then would come back and put a hand on Oliver's stroller and walk beside me. Not any more. That boy can RUN the entire way to the playground, and in fact today for the first time he ran faster than Nadia could go on her bike. He beat her to the playground! Wow! I hope this helps him on the soccer field this fall. Being at home more has also made it easier to gradually ease back into the new school year. We had been doing piano and reading lately, but this week we've added spelling back into the daily routine as well. I think next week we're going to add one more subject back into the routine - either handwriting or math. I'm declaring August 24 to be our official first day of school.

14th Anniversary

As of today, Paul and I have been married for 14 years! When I think of the first seven years of our marriage, the most special moments were our trips to Europe, China,  and the Caribbean. When I think of the last seven years of our marriage, our three children have brought us the most joy. The photo above was taken at our engagement dinner at the Victorian Manor in Lemont in the fall of 2000.

2001 - We got married on August 11! We had a fabulous honeymoon in St. Lucia and then lived in 3 bedroom ranch in Pottsville. Paul was working for his father, and I was the principal of Cressona Christian School. I passed my comprehensive exam for my doctorate and attained the status of "ABD". 

Holding our niece, Jenna (2002)

2002 - We really enjoyed a trip to England and France and then a few months later had an all-inclusive vacation in Mexico. I defended my dissertation in the fall and graduated with my doctorate from IUP in December. We started trying to have a baby this year.

Bridesmaid in my sister Wendy's wedding (2003)

2003 - In January I started as a full-time instructor at Kutztown University. In July a new principal took my place at CCS. It was very hard for me to leave that job I'd had for seven years. This year we took a trip to Italy and started fertility testing and treatments.

Vacation in Spain (2004)

2004 - After teaching at Kutztown for 17 months, I accepted a tenure track position as Assistant Professor at Bloomsburg University. We sold our home in Pottsville and moved to Catawissa during the summer. Paul had been taking classes part-time while working for his father, and he graduated with his B.S. in Mathematics in December from Penn State. We started pursuing domestic adoption this year, and went to Spain for our vacation.

Photo Wendy took for an adoption profile (2005)

2005 - We experienced our first (ectopic) pregnancy this year and vacationed in the Caribbean (St. Maarten, St. Kitts, Nevis, and Anguilla). The Steelers won a Super Bowl for the first time since 1979!

Wendy took this picture in 2006 for an adoption profile.

2006 - In addition to continuing to pursue domestic adoption, we also started trying to adopt children from Ukraine. In January Paul went back to school full-time taking undergraduate classes at Bloomsburg University in chemistry. In August he began working on his master's degree in Chemistry at Bucknell. We spent three weeks in China (I taught for two weeks) and one week in Aruba.

2007 - We hit dead ends with both domestic adoption and the submission of our dossier in Ukraine. I finally agreed to try ivf. The first transfer of 3 embryos did not result in a viable pregnancy, but the transfer of one frozen blastocyst lead to our first viable pregnancy! At the very end of the year we went on a vacation to the Caribbean (St. Thomas, St. John, Tortola, and Virgin Gorda). The Giants won their third Super Bowl!

2008 - Nadia Renee Kennedy was born on June 24! I also received tenure and was promoted to Associate Professor at Bloomsburg University that summer. Paul finished his classwork at Bucknell that summer and started working on his PhD at Penn State in August. We moved from Catawissa to Watsontown in September, and when we moved we made the transition from a landline phone to two cell phones. The Steelers won their sixth Super Bowl!

 Summer 2009 - I was pregnant with Ian when this photo was taken. (photo by Wendy)

2009 - We found out we were expecting again while on vacation with Paul's parents in Antigua. This pregnancy came from the fresh blastocyst transfer from IVF #2, and there weren't any embryos frozen this time. Ian was born on December 12!

Fall 2010 (photo by Wendy)

2010 - Paul graduated with his Master's Degree in January. I was hospitalized and had a surgery in January to remove the rest of Ian's placenta. We vacationed in Florida (at the beach) with my parents in May. Ian had his first (urological) surgery.

2011 - In January we went on our first cruise with Paul's parents in the Western Caribbean and in August the kids and I spent a week with my parents and Wendy's family in Orlando. The Giants won their fourth Super Bowl! Ian was diagnosed with eosinophilic esophagitis and underwent three surgeries this year. 

2012 - We found out in January that our third round of ivf resulted in both a pregnancy as well as a frozen blastocyst. We spent a week on Grand Cayman with Paul's parents in May. The online classes I taught at Bloomsburg that summer ended up being the last classes I taught at that university. After 10 weeks of bed rest (most of it in the hospital) due to placenta previa and two surgeries for fetal anemia, Oliver was born 9 weeks early on August 7. He spent 4 weeks in the NICU and was on oxygen for 10 weeks. We traded in our Honda Civic for a Sienna minivan. Ian participated in a four week intensive feeding program at Hershey Medical in the spring which helped him chew for the first time in his life! Altogether I spent 18 weeks in a hospital or a Ronald McDonald House from April through August.

2013 - Paul defended his dissertation in January and graduated in May. In August he began a one-year full-time position teaching chemistry at Bloomsburg University. After twenty years in the field of education, I resigned in January to become a stay-at-home mom. In May we went to Orlando with Paul's parents. I started homeschooling Nadia (Kindergarten).  Nadia started playing soccer (U6) for the first time in the spring and played again in the fall. We went through our fifth (and final) embryo transfer. The frozen blastocyst survived the transfer and resulted in a brief pregnancy that ended in a miscarriage.

Family picture August 2013 (by Mandy Hartman)

2014 - Paul taught at Bloomsburg University through June 26 and then started a one year full-time assistant professor position at Bucknell University in August. Nadia played Upward basketball for the first time. Paul was her coach! She played U6 soccer in the spring. In the fall Ian played U6 soccer for the first time, and Nadia played U8 soccer for the first time. Paul coached both teams. Oliver had his first (urological) surgery in February. He was hospitalized in April for five days for RSV and RAD and also ended the year in the hospital with RSV and a collapsed lung. We use a nebulizer with him any time he gets a cough. We spent a week with my parents in the Poconos in May, and we spent a week with Paul's parents in Orlando in July. We took some ballroom dancing lessons together again. This was how we met in 1997, and we haven't danced together much over the past 14 years.

2015 - Paul was offered a one year extension on his contract at Bucknell (through May 2016). This summer he was also offered some funding through a grant to work on a research project with another professor. We spent two weeks in Florida in May with Paul's parents - one week at the beach and one week in Orlando. The kids and I spent six days with my parents in Williamsburg. Nadia and Ian started participating in a 90 minute homeschool gym class on Friday mornings, and they also took ice skating lessons for the first time. New experiences for Nadia included spending three nights at camp, tennis lessons, playing the part of Pepper in the musical "Annie," taking a Spanish class, and riding her bike without training wheels. All three kids participated in VBS this summer; it was the very first time that VBS resulted in Paul and I having the house to ourselves. I thoroughly enjoy homeschooling our kids. This month Ian will start Kindergarten and Nadia will be in second grade. Paul and I love each other and our children very much. We hope to celebrate our 50th anniversary together some day!