It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas!

Paul came home early from work yesterday (he usually gets home around 7pm when he works at Kennedy Concrete) so that I could go for a run because it was unseasonably warm out. He got home around 4:15, which meant I was able to run three miles before it got dark outside. As I was jogging I passed many people putting up Christmas lights and doing other decorating outside their homes. When I got back we had dinner and then started our Christmas decorating. The kids were so excited to play with the Little People nativity set, read Christmas books, listen to Christmas music, etc.  because those goodies are stored in the basement for eleven months of the year. Paul worked on assembling the tree and putting the lights on the tree while I did other decorating around the house. This morning after breakfast the kids helped me put the ornaments on the tree. It is quite obvious that young children helped because in some places near the bottom there are quite a few ornaments clustered together in a very small space. This was the first year though that all three children understood how to actually hang an ornament and not just lay it on a branch. I do love Christmas music, so I am really enjoying hearing the kids playing those cds. Paul plans on putting up the outside lights tomorrow. I have finished most of my Christmas shopping (about 3 people out of 30 left to buy gifts for), and I also have most of the gifts I have bought wrapped, which is a great feeling. The package of presents that I mailed to Turkey already arrived there safe and sound, much faster than usual!

I did our Christmas cards much earlier than usual because of specials that Shutterfly was running this summer. Usually I do a photo card plus a letter, but this year I selected a tri-fold card, and the larger card meant there was room for paragraphs in addition to photos so I wasn't planning on writing a letter in addition to the card this time. If I was making the card right now I would have some additional information to include (for example in the card I mention that Nadia learned to ride w/o training wheels but that also could be said about Ian), and there are some other pictures I would have wanted to include, but I like the way the cards turned out, and given my emotional state of being for the past three months, I am very grateful that I created the card before I knew that Paul was giving up on chemistry. When I included a letter, I wrote a handwritten note at the bottom of almost every letter that was individualized. I can't do that this time, which is a disadvantage, but it also means it's a much quicker task to get the cards ready to mail. All I had to do was write the addresses on the envelopes. I am planning to mail them next week, which will be the earliest I've ever done that. So aside from finishing buying a few presents and then finishing up the wrapping, all I think I have left to do to get ready for Christmas is bake lots of Christmas cookies to give as gifts. I will say that decorating seemed contrary to the decluttering I just went through to get the house ready for showings, but that can't be helped this time of year. Paul snapped this photo on Wednesday morning before he left for work. He loved the fact that all three kids were reading (well of course Oliver was only looking at the book). Nadia was reading a chapter book, and Ian was reading to me. We all love books!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family from the Kennedys! In November 2012 I started a tradition of writing in a journal each year. Nadia started writing a list in the journal in 2013, and Ian started writing in it last year. They enjoyed reading what they had written in the past when they wrote their lists this week. I try to write a gratitude list once a week on the blog, but of course those are just a few of the MANY blessings in my life. Some that I don't mention every week that certainly could be on the list would include:

1. My Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ - I can't imagine my life without Him. I long for the day when I will see Him face to face. What a glorious day that will be! I'm very thankful that Nadia and Ian have become Christians.

2. My family - kids, husband, brother, sisters, parents, nieces, nephews, in-laws, etc.

3. Our planet - what an amazing creator God is! I love seeing a blue sky, beautiful sunrises and sunsets, leaves as they turned colors, flowers, etc.

4. Our country - we enjoy more freedom and prosperity than many others do around the world.

5. Music - I enjoy being able to sing in a choir and listen to music throughout the week.
6. Our health - Paul's mom has been doing SO much better lately than she had the previous couple of years. Oliver seems to be handling respiratory viruses better than he did last year. Maybe we can all avoid hospitalizations in the next year. I can now run 4-6 miles for the first time in my life.

7. Homeschooling - It is such a privilege to not only be their mom but also their teacher. I am so thankful for the progress that each of them have been making. To that end, I recorded two videos today (see below). Ian read the entire book (Silly Tilly's Thanksgiving Dinner) for the first time today. I recorded him reading just a few pages (because the video would have been awfully long as the book is more than 60 pages long). I also recorded Nadia identifying the countries of Europe. Next up will be Africa. Paul works with her on the maps after the boys

go to bed. I have really been enjoying our study of various countries. Next up is France. In particular I'm thankful for the progress Ian has made with eating and reading, that Nadia and Ian both learned to ride their bikes without training wheels, that Nadia stopped sucking her thumb this year, and that Oliver is done with potty training.

8. My camera - of course the reason I enjoy my camera is because of my three kids

9. Vacations, field trips, and amusement parks - I am very thankful for the two weeks we had in Florida with Paul's parents, the one week we had in Williamsburg with my parents, and many field trips and day trips to amusement parks. For example, the kids really love going to the children's museum where we now have an annual membership.

10. My friend, Cheri - we've been friends since January 2005. I might get to see her more often depending on where we move next year.

11. The library - what an awesome resource for homeschooling. We check out picture books, chapter books, books on cd, cd's of music, and dvd's. They also have been helpful with getting me books through interlibrary loan when they don't have the book in one of the three libraries in their system.

12. Our house - It keeps us warm and dry on cold days. Paul fixed the garage door today. I am very thankful that the van is in the garage for the first time in more than a month.

13. Gym class - Nadia and Ian really enjoy the 90 minute class each Friday, Oliver enjoys playing on the playland, and I enjoy talking to other homeschool moms (such as Allison). I'm also thankful for the other opportunities the kids have - AWANA, Upward basketball, AYSO soccer, gymnastics, ice skating lessons, tennis lessons, kid's choir, summer musical, summer camp, and that Nadia was able to be in Annie this past summer.

14. Oliver is such a good eater. What a relief this is to have a child who LOVES to eat vegetables! Nadia and Ian continue to make progress with eating a wider variety of foods.

This list could go on and on, but these are just a few of the many blessings in my life. The turkey is in the oven, and we are looking forward to Paul's parents, brother, and sister-in-law joining us later for the big meal. Hopefully Nadia and Ian will eat more of the meal than they have in the past. I hope that you have had a special day with friends and/or family as well!

Thankful Tuesday

1. I had my second mammogram last Wednesday (bright and early at 7:00am), and the results came back normal. If it weren't for the fact that my primary care doctor's office was VERY persistent, I wouldn't have had it done. I'm grateful for normal results.

2. Nadia's hives are definitely decreasing. She's down to just two pills a day - one Zyrtec in the morning and one Benadryl at night. She is doing really well with swallowing pills, which is also nice. She was hoping the allergist would say she was allergic to peas, ha ha! She was very relieved that she wasn't allergic to chocolate.

3. Paul has a ten day break from teaching over Thanksgiving. I decided to declare this a vacation week for Nadia and Ian also - just reading for Ian and reading and piano for Nadia this week plus writing in our Thanksgiving journal and of course I will keep reading picture books and chapter books to the kids (focusing on Europe). They are excited to have a week off of math, spelling, etc.

4.  Today the kids are going

with Paul to Kennedy Concrete so they can spend the day with Grandma and Pop Pop. They always love to spend a day at Grandma's house! My friend, Cheri, whom I have hardly seen over the past year got the day off of work, and we are having a girl's day out. She wanted to get a massage, and we each signed up for one at a beauty school (cheaper since it's a student doing it). I haven't had a massage since January 2012 so that is a rare treat for me, and I am going to use gift cards to buy us both lunch at Panera. I love my kids dearly, but it is nice to have a few hours of time with a friend every once in a blue moon.

5. On Friday the kids had their last gym class for the year. I am very grateful our church offers this.

6. On Saturday morning we went to the Little League Museum for Children's Day. The kids enjoyed having their picture taken with Curious George. It was a very nice (free) event for the community. The kids' favorite exhibit in the museum was where it would time you running the distance between home plate and first base. Nadia had the fastest time of our three kids (3.62 seconds).

7. Shutterfly has been giving out free shipping codes like crazy lately. Normally that is the only thing I pay for (free items but you have to pay shipping) so I have been getting things totally for free lately. I did pay something for one item though. I had my eye on a shower curtain for a few months, but I was trying to see what would be the best deal. The regular price is $80, but by combining a few discounts, I got one for $17. I told Paul he can wrap it up and put it under the tree and he's done with his Christmas shopping for me. We have had a lot of orange packages coming to our house lately (Shutterfly's packages are always orange). I'm also thankful that my parents and Paul's parents give me their Coke codes, which I use toward Shutterfly codes. I am currently getting VERY close to getting my first free 10x14 Canvas from Shutterfly via Coke points. I need about 70 more Coke points (it costs 1,203 points) to get it (a cap is worth 3 points, a code from a 12 pack is worth 10 points, and a code from a 24 pack is 20 points). If  any of you happen to have any that you are not going to use, I would be so grateful if you shared the Coke code with me. I want to order it in December so I can use one of my free shipping codes and truly get it for free.

8. Nadia was very disappointed a few weeks ago when she found out she wasn't picked to have one of the speaking parts in the Christmas play at church. She wasn't picked last year either, and they don't have try outs so I am not sure exactly how they make their selections. On Sunday she was given a very small part as one of the narrators, and this made her day. She was totally content to have a tiny little speaking part as long as she had SOME speaking part. I was rejoicing with her!

9. For the first time ever, Paul was responsible for getting the three kids dressed, fed, and out the door all by himself because I had to be at church at 7:15 on Sunday because fifty of the choir members wore individual microphones for our anthem because we sang it "flash mob" style spread out through the congregation instead of up on our usual risers on the platform. He forgot to brush their hair, which wasn't a big deal for the boys but Nadia's hair looked like a rat's nest. I used my fingers to comb it out a bit. Nadia and Ian's outfits looked perfectly fine. I would not have put together the combination Oliver was wearing, but it wasn't awful, and he had everyone there by 8:50, which was right on time for the 9:00 service. Way to go, Paul!

10. I am going to be picking up a free pie from our State Farm agent today. Yum! The kids have really been enjoying the white chocolate chip cranberry cookies I made recently. Nadia and Ian were hesitant to try them at first, but now they want to have three at a time! Oliver and Nadia also like the Snickerdoodle bread I made recently (uses cinnamon chips). Let the holiday baking begin!

11. Our house was shown on Sunday afternoon and last night. It only went on the market on Wednesday. When our house was on the market 2 1/2 years ago, we only had one showing during the two months it was on the market so it seems like the price we have it listed for now ($9K less) is more appropriate (although I would rather have sold it for the price we listed it at in 2013). One positive of showings is that it means our house is very clean and tidy right now. Sunday afternoon we passed the time at CVS and the grocery store. Last night I took the kids to the indoor playland at McDonald's.

Thankful Tuesday

1. Last Tuesday Nadia started having her second case of hives. She had them on her legs for several days the last week of October. Last Wednesday they really started to spread all over her body - abdomen, back, shoulders, face, hands, etc. so I called the Pediatrician's office. They said to start her on Benadryl and give it to her every six hours. Paul was at work, and I had no vehicle, but he left a little earlier than he planned and got her some Benadryl. It did not make her sleepy, but it certainly helped with the hives. Sunday morning I didn't give her the pill she was due at 7am as I was hoping she didn't need it any more, but by the time we got home from church on Sunday she was breaking out in various places again. Yesterday I called the allergist and although at first I was told the first available appointment was in March, there was a cancellation for today, and I took it and the Pediatrician's office faxed a referral. We spent 90 minute in the office today, and I have three things I was thankful for as we left. First, the kids were very well behaved. For quite awhile I have avoided taking all three to the doctor, but

really it went fine so now I know we can handle this. Second, Nadia only has a virus and is not allergic to a food or laundry detergent or something. At one point we were guessing maybe it was almonds, but I am relieved to know it's just a virus. She will need to be on Zyrtec and Benadryl for a few more weeks (possibly months!), but the pharmacy at the hospital had amazing prices on the medication - 24 tablets of Benadryl for $1.06 including tax and 100 tablets of Zyrtec for $5.30 including tax. Wow that is cheap! I am a big fan of CVS, but they definitely charge a lot more than that for those medications.  I now remember that she did have a virus in late October (I remember giving her Tylenol for a fever and headache) and that must have been the start of these hives. This morning when she woke up she had them on her face. We just never know where they are going to pop up next!

2. Paul got his car back last night! Oh  I am SOOOOO grateful to be back to a two vehicle family. If we lived in a city and had public transportation options that would be a different story, but for where we live, having only one vehicle is definitely less convenient. We skipped a few field trips (such as the tour of the SPCA yesterday morning) due to only having one car, but now life can go back to "normal." Yay!

3.  I have really enjoyed how tidy our bedroom has been over the past week. It has been far neater (less cluttered) than it has been in 3 years (plus 3 months). I guess there are some perks to putting your house on the market. We signed the contract on Friday, but actually I don't think it's on the MLS yet, and there isn't a sign in our yard yet so I guess it's not quite officially for sale.

4. The kids really enjoyed glow in the dark dodgeball at gym class on Friday morning. This Friday will be their last class until January.

5. I could have run during Oliver's  nap on Friday or Saturday (because Paul was at home), but I didn't because it was just TOO cold and windy for me. However it turned much warmer on Sunday, and I thoroughly enjoyed my run from 4-5 pm that day. It got up to almost 70 degrees on Monday, but I couldn't run because Paul wasn't home until 8:30pm, but I did walk with the kids to the playground.

6. We took the kids to Lowe's for a building project and then to Toys R Us for a Lego build on Saturday morning. Both were free events. We left with three pull back cars and three Lego mini Star Wars x wing fighters. It was Oliver's second time going to Lowe's. He went once this past summer, but this project was much easier and Paul was pleased with how Oliver did.

7. Nadia has really been enjoying the biography of George Muller. She actually would rather hear it than Snow Treasure (although Ian and Paul prefer the Norwegian WWII novel).

8. Paul's parents came up on Sunday to hear the kids sing at church, and she came bringing food for our lunch, which was very kind. The kids enjoyed playing with their grandparents in the afternoon.

9. On Sunday afternoon Paul replaced Nadia's window blind that she broke a couple of months ago. A few weeks ago he fixed the spring on my garage door, but he has one more repair to make on the door before it can be used. I have really missed being able to put the van in the garage. It didn't fit on Paul's side so I couldn't even put it in the garage during the 2 weeks we were down to one car. I am hoping this next weekend Paul can finish fixing the door so I can go back to parking inside the garage (which means no more scraping my windshield).

10. It took two weeks, but the boys adjusted to the one hour time change. I actually had to wake Oliver up on Sunday morning so we could be out the door by 8:05. That was quite a change from November 1 when he was up 2.5 hours before we needed to leave for church.

11. We sang "It is well" on Sunday morning. I love that hymn. I almost always cry when I sing that hymn. "When peace like a river...." I also liked the anthem the choir sang. The lyrics were straight from John 3:16-17 (with a few "Amens" added at the end of the song). The pastor's sermon also really spoke to me.

Thankful Tuesday

1. We are half way through our two weeks of only having one car. Some days it hasn't caused any inconvenience. On Sunday Paul didn't go to church with us because we only had one car, and last Wednesday I couldn't go to choir rehearsal. Today Nadia is missing her first art class at the Children's Museum because we only have one car. We will be ever so grateful when we have two cars again next week! I will be able to go to choir tomorrow night because there isn't any AWANA tomorrow night due to the church having a business meeting.

2. Last week I ended up receiving several free shipping codes for Shutterfly (from Gymboree, Kellogg's, AYSO, etc.). I am going to be receiving a lot of orange packages in the next two months! I am trying to use Shutterfly to save money on Christmas gifts.

3. We had a great time together as a family of five on Friday going to see Curious George and Steamtown National Historic Site.

4. The kids enjoyed building a jet (in honor of Veteran's Day) at Home Depot on Saturday morning. They love that Home Depot projects involve paint. Paul prefers the ones at Lowe's because they don't involve paint, ha ha.

5. We had a great time celebrating Paul's mom's birthday at their house on Saturday. Oliver made up his own birthday song and kept singing it while playing a guitar. What a hoot! We are so thankful that Paul's mom has been MUCH healthier over the past year than she had been the previous two years. We are also thankful she is done with chemo and radiation. She really liked the present we gave her, which put a smile on my face.

6. The kids really enjoyed the field trip at Papa John's yesterday. Paul was wishing he could have joined us for that tour. The highlight for the kids was that they each got to make their own 10 inch pizza. I wish I had a video of Oliver tossing the dough in the air. The kids could have put ANY topping on their pizza, but they just made three cheese pizzas. We then enjoyed the pizza, drinks, and a little taste of their chocolate chip cookies. The whole thing was free!

7. The piano was tuned this morning for the first time in at least three years.

8. Nadia and Ian are going to be evaluated tonight for Upward basketball (every child is evaluated in their attempts to have the teams be somewhat balanced). I am grateful they can both be in this program this year.

9. Ian is doing SO well with reading. He is now reading our Bible story to us before bed time. At some point we'll go back to the reading curriculum, but for now he's into Little Bear books.

10. Last Monday they finally harvested the corn field near our house. I always prefer when they plant soybeans in that field because once the corn gets to a certain height, it blocks our visibility to see if cars are coming where we need to make a turn. I was so happy when I saw they had finally harvested
that crop. Whew.

11. I mailed the checks this week to pay off one of our retirement loans (the smaller one). That was a good feeling! It is going to take longer to pay off the other one, but I am still hoping to do so before we sell this house.

12. Although at first I was not sold on the idea of Paul being a professor, the idea had definitely grown on me because I knew from experience what the salary and benefits could be, and I knew that the two semesters last about 30 weeks of the year, and that professors usually teach three days a week which makes one's schedule on the other days rather flexible. It has been hard to let go of that plan after investing seven years in graduate school toward that end, especially considering running a manufacturing plant is a 6-7 day a week job all year long. I contacted Bloomsburg to see if they were doing any tenure track searches, but they aren't even hiring adjuncts due to decreased enrollment. I have wished that could go back in time and not resign from my position, but I do love homeschooling my kids.
Today part of our schoolwork including reading picture books about Ireland, watched a video of a Riverdance, listened to Irish music (thanks to the library), and we're having beef stew for dinner. For handwriting Nadia wrote a thank you note to Papa John's. I do love being their mom and teacher!

13. On Sunday evening I realized I had started to come down with something. Paul stopped on his way home last night to get me some antihistamines, which I really appreciated. That and putting some ointment on my raw nose has helped. I'm hoping no one (particularly Oliver) catches it from me.

14. Although selling the house and moving are not tasks I look forward to going through, there are some benefits along the way. One is having the house really decluttered (many toys moved to the basement for example) for the photos the realtor took yesterday and also to be more easily prepared for showings in the future. Paul cleaned the fence and did a few other small projects around the house. He also went through a large stack of papers I had been wanting him to go through for three years. Well he didn't totally go through it. Some of it just was hidden under the bed, but he did start the project anyhow. We have taken car loads to the donation center (before I started trying to sell things) and sold other things. This means less stuff to pack and move and in the case of selling things has resulted in some money to put toward the retirement loans.

Twists and turns

Life rarely follows a straight path. There are usually many unexpected bumps, hills, twists, and turns along the way. We certainly experienced many of those during the years we were trying to become parents. My path in terms of degrees earned and corresponding jobs held was fairly straightforward. I graduated with my bachelor's degree in Elementary Education in May of 1992 and three months later started teaching middle school. I completed my master's degree in School Administration in August of 1994 and became a principal in  July 1996. I earned my doctorate in December 2002 and was a professor from 2003-2012. Paul's education and career path has had far more twists and turns. When I met him in 1997, he had recently moved back to PA and was working for his father. He told me very early on that he was just working there temporarily because he never wanted to own the company. In January 1998 he started going to college. I was quite surprised by this. I supported his decision, although I knew it would mean we would have to wait a few years to get married (if the relationship ended up in a marriage). I had wanted him to go to a more local college (such as Bloomsburg or Kutztown) because of the cheaper tuition and the fact he could have lived with his parents and saved money on rent, but he wanted to go to Penn State. We got married in August 2001 after he had completed 3 1/2 years at Penn State. He came back to work for his dad. After a break from being a student, I strongly suggested he finish his BS degree before it was too late, and he took classes at Kutztown and Bloomsburg and transferred the credits and graduated in December 2004 from PSU.

In 2005 Paul told me that he wanted to get his PhD in chemistry because he wanted to be a Physical Chemistry professor. One of the last classes he had taken toward his BS was Physical Chemistry at Bloomsburg, and he really loved the class. I was not at all keen on the idea for three main reasons #1 because we were trying to become parents at that point (had an ectopic pregnancy that year), and our plan had always been for me to be a SAHM, #2, he had never spent one minute trying to get a job that used his BS in mathematics and I was afraid the same thing might happen again, and #3 I didn't think he would enjoy being a professor because he didn't like getting up in front of people and talking. He was convinced that he would like teaching Physical Chemistry because the classes are very small. I agreed to continue being the primary (and at times sole) breadwinner for the family as long as he promised to actually use this degree after he earned it. He applied for PhD programs but didn't get in; we figured this was because his BS was in math not chemistry. He was accepted into a master's program at Bucknell. He quit his job and went back to school as a FT student in January 2005 taking undergrad chemistry classes to be prepared to start his MS in chemistry at Bucknell that August. He finished his classwork at Bucknell in 2008, but it took him awhile to finish his thesis so he didn't technically graduate until January 2010. I was hoping he would be satisfied just with his MS degree, but he really wanted his PhD, which meant we had to move. If we hadn't moved, our house would have been paid off by now, but it was too far of a commute to PSU from the house we bought in 2004 so we moved in September 2008. He defended his dissertation in January 2013, which was also the month that I resigned from being an Associate Professor to become a SAHM. He graduated in May 2013 and started teaching at Bloomsburg University as a FT adjunct that August.

He participated in many interviews the first half of 2013, but once it became time to go on interviews in the spring of 2014, he started cancelling the interviews because he wasn't sure he wanted to teach any more. The committee at Bucknell graciously rescheduled his interview, and he was offered a one year contract there. He started to participate in phone interviews in early 2015 and then accepted a one year extension at Bucknell. In early August (2015) we talked, and Paul told me he didn't want to apply for jobs at community colleges, but he did want to apply for jobs at four year schools teaching either general chemistry or physical chemistry. Then on August 20, when I was starting to work on an application for him, he told me he didn't want to apply for any jobs but rather had decided to become the owner of his dad's company. I could not have been more dumbfounded. For the previous 18 years Paul had told me repeatedly that he never wanted to own the company, and he had many times given me a long list of reasons why he felt that way. If Paul told me he was going to vote for Hillary that would have been less shocking (and Paul is registered Independent because he thinks the Republicans are too liberal so you can see for him to vote for Hillary would be a HUGE change on his part). I did not handle the news well that night. I am not sure if I experienced a panic attack or what exactly it was, but my heart was racing and I was unable to sleep one wink that night. I had this incredible burst of energy and was in constant motion the whole night (running outside, cleaning the basement, etc.). At least we paid of his student loans. That would add insult to injury if we had $100,000 in school loans like many do after that many years of graduate school. I am still struggling emotionally with this turn of events, but most of the time I am back to being able to sleep at night, which is a big relief. Ironically, there have been physical chemistry positions posted here in PA this fall. It pains me that he is not going to apply since this was what he deemed his dream job for the past ten years, and he has not yet even experienced it. He hasn't even taught one class for chemistry majors yet. If he didn't want to be a professor any more, I would like to see him apply for other jobs that would make use of his degrees and knowledge of math, chemistry, physics, and/or computer programming, but he is convinced that no one will hire him because he is almost 46 years old. I suggested he visit with the career development office at Bucknell to get advice of possible careers using his degrees because he is a graduate of their school, but he doesn't want to do this.

I held off on telling the kids this news until this past weekend. In part, I was hoping maybe Paul would change his mind. We looked at a house on Saturday morning, but we are definitely not interested in buying that one as it was 800 sq feet smaller than our current home and only a tiny bit cheaper. A realtor came out today to take pictures of our house and start the process of putting our house on the market. I am praying that it will sell in the Lord's perfect timing. We aren't in a rush. It could sell this month, or it could sell nine months from now, and that's fine with me. If we are moving back to that area (we'd love to buy the same house we bought in 2004 but I highly doubt that will happen), it would be especially wonderful if we could live within a reasonable driving distance of the church I attended when we lived there. I loved that church. The problem is the houses in that area are more expensive. There are houses we can afford that are a very reasonable drive to the plant, but they are not a reasonable drive to that church. I am praying for a miracle that a nice house that we can afford will become available in the area near that church when we have a buyer for this house. It's not just the pastor, handbell choir, ladies Bible study, etc, but also what will be available to the kids - AWANA, Upward basketball, etc, and if we moved to that area we would still be within a reasonable drive to things like homeschool art and gym class on Friday mornings, which would not be the case if we moved into one of the other houses that are too far from the church I love.

Nadia's first question was whether my parents would still move up here. They have talked about possibly moving closer to us once we were "settled down." She was very relieved when I said they still might move up to PA to be closer to us. She also was thrilled when we toured the house that she would get to pick out the color of carpet if we bought that house (the only flooring in the entire house was in the bathrooms and laundry room). It doesn't take much to make her excited about moving, lol! Ian was the one who was more upset. He said he didn't want to go to a new church, and he rattled off the neighborhood kids that he would miss. Hopefully wherever we move the kids will be able to make some new friends to replace the ones they will be leaving behind. The bottom line is that prayers are appreciated for the sale of our house (for a good price) and for us to find just the right house to buy. We are hoping to avoid a mortgage this time (yay!) and just borrow money from my retirement accounts instead to make up the difference between the equity in this house and the one we buy, which means within ten years the loans will be paid off and we'll stop paying interest to a bank as soon as we sell our current house as when you borrow from your retirement account you only pay interest to yourself.

3.25 years old!

In honor of Oliver's first 39 months of life, Oliver...

1. Almost always calls me Mama/ Momma.

2. Almost always calls Paul "Daddy" (sometimes "Dada").

3. Is very independent. Things that Ian wants me to do for him (ex. stir up his yogurt), Oliver always wants to do by himself. Most of the time I love his independence. Sometimes it creates disasters (ex using an insane amount of toilet paper when wiping himself).

4. Naps from 1-3pm almost every day. He won't nap if grandparents are in our house. Who can sleep when they're around?

5. Has eaten almost every food ever offered to him. He is not a fan of bananas or eggs. He loves vegetables and often asks for more of them. He is starting to eat more fruit.

6. Loves to go "upsee down" (upside down).

7. Is almost independent with going potty. Sometimes he needs help putting his clothes back on. I rarely have to remind him when to go and accidents (day and night) are now a thing of the past. Yay!

8. Spills his milk rather often (often twice a day). Hopefully we can work on that!

9. Can do puzzles (up to 24 pieces) independently.

10. Has started memorizing Bible verses for Cubbies each week.

11. Is enjoying being in a gymnastics class for the first time in his life. He does fairly well with following directions. He has not yet mastered his forward tuck roll.

12. Loves to pray. Even when someone else prays at the dinner table, he also wants to pray. His prayers are getting longer and are not as repetitive.

13. Does not like his face or hands to have any food on them. He hates to be sticky and wants to be cleaned up multiple times during every meal.

14. Loves to be outside.

15. Loves to play on the iPad.

16. Always wants to help me
cook in the kitchen no matter what I am making. He also enjoys playing with the play food.

17. Loves to sing and tries to sing along with the music we listen to in the van whether it's from a CD or the radio. He also loves to dance at home when we are playing music on the cd player.

18. Likes to sleep on his back with his green "blankie" and a couple of stuffed animals.

19. Sleeps at night from 8pm to 7am most days. Sometimes he wakes up as early as 6:15, and some days he sleeps as late as 7:30.

20. Loves to be hugged, kissed, tickled, and cuddled. He recently learned how to give kisses (with a sound effect).

21. Enjoys being in his class in the "Fire Station" at church on Sunday mornings from 9:00-12:15. He most often talks about playing with his friend, Jovia. He usually is able to accurately tell me what the lesson was
about.

22. Now knows that his name is Oliver Kennedy. He used to object if I said Oliver Kennedy or Oliver Elliot Kennedy and would say, "just Oliver." Now he will say Oliver Kennedy, if I ask him what his whole name is. He hasn't learned his middle name yet.

23. Sometimes says he is four years old when asked his age. Oops! Hopefully in the near future we can get him to always say the right answer! 

24. Is very outgoing like his big sister. When he sees other kids he asks me what their names are, and he often also goes up to people and asks them "what your name?". He refers to EVERYone as "his friend" just like Nadia did at this age.

25. Has started getting into building with Legos. It seems he is going to bypass the Duplo stage and go right to the small Legos. He also enjoys building with Lincoln logs.

26. Says he's "firsty" when he wants a drink. He says the "th" sound in other words (such as "thank") but in thirsty it's "firsty."

27. Loves to discuss what his favorite colors are as well as the favorites of everyone in the family. We have this conversation multiple times a day almost every day. The three colors that most often come up as his favorites are blue, yellow, and orange. He also often talks about what colors mean when we are driving. He often reminds me that red means stop, green means go, etc.

28. Often says "look at me."

29. Wears size 3T clothes. Even almost every pair of 3T pants fit him. He weighs 33 pounds.

30. Did very well at his first dentist appointment. I was not surprised because he almost always does very well at doctor appointments.

31. Still has a temper, but he has shown very significant improvement in controlling his temper.  He is at the stage where he frequently talks about emotions. I have to work with him though as he is quick to say "he made me mad" or "she made me sad." I am trying to teach him that we choose our response and someone cannot MAKE us be mad. He also is far more prone to think someone is mad at him (even when they aren't).

32. Has finally gotten into the habit of eating breakfast when Nadia, Ian, and I eat breakfast. He usually has a bowl of cereal, and he usually feeds himself part of it, and I feed him part of it. He loves drinking the chocolate milk from his bowl if he has chocolate Cheerios.

33. Whenever Oliver sneezes, he says "I chooed." The first time he said this I thought he was saying "I chewed" and I was thinking "what did he eat?" but then I figured it he had turned "ah choo" into a past tense verb. LOL!

34. Has his first scar. Nadia doesn't have any scars yet. Ian's scars aren't as visible because they are under his chin. I am actually hoping Oliver will wear glasses some day to cover up his scar on his nose. I have been putting scar gel on his nose a few times a day to try to minimize the scar. He likes it and calls it "nose butter." I will say that I do not see the point of taking a child to the doctor for such an injury since no one seems willing to use stitches any more because they are more painful. I think a stitch would have meant no scar. It seems a waste of money to take them to the doctor when they won't use stitches.

35. Plays very nicely by himself. He has been playing more with Ian lately. He would like to play with the other two more, but they usually don't want to include him. I think as he gets older this will change. I hope so anyhow!

36. Loves books! I am amazed how much he grasps from the chapter books that I am reading Nadia and Ian. He likes a wide variety of picture books (Little Critter, Froggy, etc.), but if I had to say what I think his current favorite picture books are I would say Pete the Cat books and a set of three books on manners that feature elephants.

37. Is my little fashionista. Sometimes when he sees what I am wearing to church, he will tell me that I need to wear a necklace. Okay, I can do that. I am taking fashion advice from my three year old son, evidently. LOL!

38. Still is a great climber, but he definitely shows fear more often lately than he did when he was younger. He's still far braver than his big brother.

39. Often talks about the weather. He's the first to notice if the clouds are getting dark; he often thinks a storm is coming.

One monkey, many trains

This morning the five of us drove to Wilkes Barre (75 minutes away) to see Theatre Works' production of Curious George. It had been about 3 months since Paul had joined us for a day trip so it made it all the more special. I had taken my students to see productions by Theatre Works when I taught in Maryland, and I took the kids to their first one last year when they saw Charlotte's Web at Penn State. Penn State charged $$ for that production, but amazingly the F.M. Kirby Center in Wilkes-Barre found sponsors and made this a free event. There were other homeschoolers there, but mostly there were busloads from public schools. The musical lasted about 60 minutes, and the five actors went through quite a few costume changes as they each played multiple roles. All three kids really enjoyed the show. The story was about a meatball contest in Rome. We ate lunch in the van after the show en route to Steamtown National Historic Site. This was the reason Paul joined us for the day. He has been waiting for years to take the kids there. Paul and I had been there (before we had kids), and he thought his

Oliver's strange expression is due to him saying "choo choo". Oops!

train loving boys would love the place as much as he did. They did enjoy it, although they ran through the place MUCH faster than Paul wanted. Nadia said her favorite part was the "house" which I then realized she was talking about the Pullman car the kids walked through a few times. We spent two hours there. Ian and Nadia both completed portions of a guide they were given to complete. Nadia was hoping to earn the Junior Ranger badge, but she didn't complete enough of it to earn it. The site is free for those under the age of 16 so we just had to

buy tickets for Paul and I. The weather was amazing. Who would imagine it would be 75 degrees out in November in Pennsylvania? It was a lovely day for a field trip. We used the time in the van to listen to books on CD from the library (Boxcar Children and Encyclopedia Brown). Oliver took his nap on the way home.

Tomorrow we will be on the road again, but this time it will be to go to Home Depot for a workshop for the kids and then to Paul's parents house for his mom's 71st birthday!

Eleven more days

The insurance adjuster called this morning and said it will cost almost $4,000 to fix Paul's car, and it probably won't be ready until November 16. I was hoping against hope it would be ready by the end of the day on November 9. That's not going to happen. Making two round trips a day to Bucknell to take Paul to and from school so that I can have a vehicle is not very appealing (that takes at least 80 minutes) so whenever possible we'll just stay home and let him have the van. We'll have to take him to work on Monday morning. If it weren't for Nadia's art class, I would give him the van next Tuesday, but I guess we'll have to take him to work bright and early on Tuesday morning (he leaves around 6:30 on T/Th because he has an 8:00 class). He probably would have gone down to work at his dad's plant next Friday, but he'll need to stay home so we can have the van for homeschool gym class that day. When we get his car back we will be very appreciative!

Two Continents

This year our social studies curriculum is focused on studying different countries. We started with North America, and this week we are finishing our study of South America by focusing on Argentina. I have followed through with my plans to read different picture books and chapter books and eat at least one new food for each country. I have totally fallen off the bandwagon when it comes to doing a craft for each country. If it's any consolation, I signed Nadia up for an art class at the children's museum which starts next week (presuming I have a way to get her there given our car problem), and they are going to start offering an art class in addition to the gym class on Fridays at our church starting in January (yahoo!). The kids also have enjoyed listening to music from the different countries (thanks to the public library). Oliver loves dancing to Latin music! Next week we will be starting our study of Europe. Considering we will only spend one week on Australia and no time on Antarctica, really that leaves us with five continents which means two down and three to go. This week we are finishing the biography of Nate Saint for South America. It is our third biography this fall. The other two were on Bruce Olson and Cameron Townsend. The next one will be on George Mueller. The fiction chapter books we've read for social studies this fall thus far include: Stone Fox, Betsy and Tacy Go Over the Big Hill, Incredible Journey, Anne of Avonlea, Chucaro : wild pony of the Pampa, Rainbow Garden, The Secret at Pheasant Cottage, Nory Ryan's song, and Shadow of a bull. Nadia also learned to identify all the South American countries on a map and most of the North American ones (not every single island). She has already learned more than half of the European countries. Paul works with her on that after the boys go to bed.

This is our 11th week of school this year, and I thought it was time for an update (since we don't do report cards). My kids have not experienced a report card, test, quiz, or homework. They have never gotten a grade on anything either. Anyhow here is where they are after completing one fourth of the school year (I plan to end this school year on May 6).

Math: Nadia's newest skills including regrouping with two digit addition and rounding to the nearest ten. Tomorrow I am going to introduce regrouping with two digit subtraction to her; she's about 70% of the way through the 2nd grade math book. We also have been working with flash cards to improve her speed with her addition facts to 20.  Ian has been working with patterns, coins, and adding and subtracting (to 12). He's about 20% of the way through the 1st grade math book.

Handwriting - Nadia really wants to learn cursive. I think in January I will let her start on that. She still has issues with reversals (p/9, b/d, and some other letters less frequently). Some days she does a page from the Draw Write Now series, and other days I have her do something like write a card to a child we sponsor through Compassion or write a paragraph using some of her spelling words. Ian is almost done with the first grade handwriting textbook. His pencil grip continues to improve although still isn't exactly what I would like it to be. Once he finishes that book, I am going to have him start writing in a journal every day. In terms of fine motor skills, Ian finished a cutting book and now has been working through a drawing book. He's showing a lot of improvement!

Spelling - Nadia is about 80% of the way through the third grade book, and Ian is excatly 3/4 of the way through the first grade book. Spelling has come very easily for him thus far. He rarely gets any of the words wrong the first time around. This week he's been working on doubling l, f, and s at the end of single vowel one syllable words.

Science - This is Ian's favorite subject. I did the ABeka kindergarten and first grade books with him this fall, He's now about 1/4 of the way through  Purposeful Design's 1st grade book. Nadia is in the second grade book. I need to do more hands-on activities with the kids with science (aside from what they do on field trips). 

Reading - Nadia has been reading on average 60-100 pages a day from chapter books. Her favorite series right now are the Alex books, Boxcar Children, and American Girl books. Ian is about 40% of the way through the 3rd grade curriculum. We have taken a break to read other books. First he read all the Frog and Toad books. Now he is reading all the Little Bear books our library has. I am very, very pleased with the huge strides of progress he has been making lately with reading.

Music - Nadia practices the piano most days, and both kids are singing in the choir at church on Sundays. 

P.E. - Both kids played soccer this fall and will be playing on a basketball team in the near future. They both have been in a 90 minute gym class on Fridays playing soccer, basketball, dodgeball, and kickball. They are both in a gymnastics class on Monday evenings.

Field trips - Although we cancelled a few trips (such as one today and one tomorrow due to being down to one car), we went on seventeen field trips over the past two months. Field trip number eighteen is scheduled for this Friday to see a show about Curious George and visit the Steamtown National Historic Site.

This morning I took two videos, and after I had emailed them to myself, I deleted them from my phone. Well I don't know where they went, but I guess I should have held off on deleting them. I redid one of them this evening (although the lighting wasn't as good) of Ian saying John 3:14-16. I will redo the one of Nadia playing Jingle Bells on the piano tomorrow. I also need to sew Ian's patch on his vest because I had ironed it on last week, but it fell off tonight. Oops! Nadia finished her AWANA book and has made it through a large part of the extra credit book. Ian has only five sections left to finish his AWANA book. I want him to finish it on December 2 so he can start his extra credit book in January. He learned the books of the New Testament this fall. Nadia hasn't been doing much with Spanish or keyboarding lately. At some point this year I want to do more with those. I am very grateful I can homeschool my kiddos!

Thankful Tuesday

1. The fall 2015 soccer season is over for our kids, and they both showed improvement. Ian showed remarkable improvement over the course of 2015. During much of the spring season he was actually running away from the ball. He did score his first goal in May, and that helped change his attitude toward soccer. He was a different boy this fall, and I think he scored seven goals for his team (plus a few for the other side along the way). Nadia scored her first goal since she was on a U8 team. I'm thankful Paul was able to help with coaching both teams since he probably won't be able to do that ever again. It was also an unexpected blessing that they gave him a $25 gift card to a restaurant.

2. The kids enjoyed the Vulture Views program at RB Winter State Park on Friday morning, the Halloween party at the library, and the trunk or treat at our church on Friday evening.

3. I met some people to sell things on Friday and Saturday, and on Friday evening I was meeting someone to sell our audio only baby monitor that I

haven't used in years (since we got the video monitor). Many people want me to come down on my price, but this time I asked for $10 and was given $15. He said to go buy the kids some candy. That was very kind and unexpected from a stranger! Altogether I have brought in $1,200 (well a little more than that but I am subtracting what I have spent on postage, eBay fees, and Paypal fees).

4. The kids enjoyed the Runaway Bunny and Goodnight Moon show at Bucknell on Saturday afternoon, trunk or treat, and trick or treating in our town on Saturday night. We have a very wide assortment of candy in our pantry right now! The kids have been enjoying trying out some kinds of candy that they had never had before plus eating some of the ones they know they love. All five of us love peanut butter cups, for example.

5. The weather turned warmer on Sunday, and I really enjoyed my run that afternoon. I wish the schedule would permit me to run more this week when it's in the low 70's, but I am thankful for the times when I am able to go for a run. I usually go between 3-6 miles each time depending on how much time I have. I did take advantage of the warmer weather by walking with the kids to the playground on Monday afternoon. It's not usually in the 70's in November in Pennsylvania. It's fine with me if the weather stays like this all month!

6. Today Nadia and I went on a field trip to Fort Hunter. Grandma and Pop Pop graciously came up to take care of Ian and Oliver as the program on Native Americans was geared for those in second through sixth grade. They also let me borrow their car for our trip.

7. I received my first ever free shipping code for Shutterfly yesterday! I got it from Kellogg's. I have received a free shipping code for one particular item before (ex. from Pampers) or have spent $39 and therefore qualified for free shipping, but this was my first "use on your whole order" free shipping code. I plan to put it to very good use either this month or next month! Others in the FB group have received free shipping codes over the past year, but they were mostly from Destination Maternity, and I didn't feel right about signing up with them because I am not pregnant and do not think I will ever be pregnant again as we aren't doing ivf again at our ages. Shutterfly has recently changed how they calculate discounts. They used to take the % (ex. 40%) off first and then a dollar off second (ex. $20 off) but now they do it the other way around which means you pay more. This makes me all the more grateful for a free shipping code!

8. Paul was in a car accident last night on the way home from gymnastics. I am thankful that prior to this we had gone 12 years without a car accident and that he and Nadia were not injured. He collided with a dead buck lying on the road. Having only one vehicle to use for the time being makes me all the more grateful that usually we have two cars. I'm hoping it won't take TOO long for his car to be fixed. Our plans will be changed (some field trips cancelled, etc.) until we are back to being a two vehicle family. I also *think* that since we haven't had any claims for more than 10 years that Progressive won't raise our premium over this claim. Hopefully it will "just" cost us the $500 deductible.

9. I am thankful for the freedom to vote that we have in this country. Paul and I voted on the way home this afternoon after Nadia and I picked him up from work. We should have done more research on the candidates prior to voting. We will be more prepared for the next election!

10. Nadia liked the Chilean recipe I made last week - milcaos (potato pancakes). I have never used so much oil in cooking anything in my life, but it was nice to have her request seconds on one of our international recipes. This week I am going to make Argentine butter cookies with dulce de leche in between two cookies. This is our last week on South America.

11. While we were at the trunk or treat on Saturday afternoon, a woman from that church said to me I still pray for Ian when I am praying through the alphabet. She had told me years ago that when she is having trouble sleeping she starts praying through the alphabet (thinking of different people to pray for each letter), and she said to me that Ian is still her "I" when she gets to that letter. It really touched me to think that a woman I rarely see these days is still praying for my son. I think it's a neat strategy to use and should give it a whirl myself during those times I can't sleep (like when Paul's snoring is keeping me awake).

Trading places

I think in some couples one spouse is the optimist and the other is the pessimist. Paul and I take turns switching between those two roles. For example, sometimes I assume my team is going to lose the football game while Paul will still be holding out hope the Steelers will win. Sometimes he ends up being right. Paul has more optimism than I do politically in terms of thinking that a candidate we really like will ever end up being elected as President of the country. Paul always assumes his football games (Giants) will not be aired on tv (since we don't live in NY), and I assume that they WILL be aired most of the time. Thus far I have been more accurate because of the first eight games of this season, seven of his (and seven of mine) have been aired here. I didn't watch my game today because we only own one tv, and both of our games were on at 1pm. Football is more important to Paul than it is to me, so I deferred to him so he could watch his game. When Paul was a student, he was often pessimistic about how well he did after taking an exam, and usually he had actually done very well, and so I wasn't usually concerned by his pessimism as I assumed he had probably done just fine.

Last night Paul was sure the kids would sleep in later than usual because they had been up past their bedtime two nights in a row. I was the pessimist (realist?), and in this case I was correct because Oliver woke up at 5:15 (according to the new time) this morning. Paul had stayed up later than usual because of the extra hour, and I stayed up a little later than I usually do (still went to bed long before Paul did) because I was watching a dvd from the library (Spare Parts). We shall see how long it takes the kids to adjust to the time change. Nadia usually has the easiest time adjusting. The extra hour in our day actually resulted in LESS not more sleep for the five of us. Sometimes it is a challenge for me to get out the door on time for church on Sunday morning because I am supposed to be there at 8:20. Usually I take Nadia with me, and Paul comes with the boys closer to 9:00 because he leaves after the first service. This morning he stayed home so I took all three kids at 8:05, and we had no trouble leaving on time since we were up earlier than we usually are on a Sunday morning. Nadia and Ian have been missing going to Sunday School so this morning I let them go to Sunday School during the first service and the kids' choir during the second service. The downside is it meant I was sitting by myself in church during the first service. I'm thinking of maybe having the kids drop out of the kids' choir so that they can sit with us in church for the first service and go to Sunday School during the second service. Oliver goes to his class for both services.

The time change means I won't be able to run on Tuesdays any more because that is Paul's longest day at Bucknell. He can't leave work until 5pm on Tuesdays, and it will be dark by the time he gets home. I did get a nice run today while he was watching football and Oliver was napping. I am thinking I will be able to run on Thursdays when he gets home from work and on Saturday or Sunday. Eventually it will be so cold out that I won't want to run. Today it was warm ("Indian summer"), and I enjoyed my 5.5 miles in the sunshine.