2016 in Review

Every year has a variety of high and low points, but it varies from year to year exactly how high the highs were or how low the lows were. Unfortunately it's easy for us as human beings to focus more on the negatives than the positives. Several good things can happen in a day, and yet at the end of the day if someone asks us "how was your day?," it's quite common that a negative thing is the first that comes to mind. It would be quite easy for me to say that 2016 was by no means one of the favorite years of my life. Some people feel that way because of the outcome of the Presidential election and the death of various celebrities this year. For me there were some smaller bumps in the road like Oliver's hospitalization for human metapneumo virus, but the two biggies were the death of my mom and Paul choosing a job that requires him to work at the plant what seems like an insane amount of hours to me. It felt like I lost one of my very closest friends (my mom) and became a single parent for six days a week within a very short time span. I remember telling someone early in the year what his hours would be like, and she said, "don't you think you're exaggerating?". Actually once he started working at the plant I found out I had actually underestimated what his schedule would be like.

I am happy to say though that emotionally I am in a much better place in December than I was in January when I was in shock about Paul's decision and had just learned that my mom
had stage 4 cancer. I still miss my mom something fierce. There are still moments when I break down and cry because I want so badly to be able to call her on the phone, and I can't. I want her to be able to hear my kids play the piano or to show her the color of paint in the dining room, etc. However, I am crying far less often about her passing now than I was six months ago. I often hear the kids talking about cancer when they are playing. They will talk about a person not having any hair because they have cancer, for example.

As for processing Paul's decisions and adjusting to bearing exclusive responsibility for three kids for most of the week every week, I have also come a long, long way. Do I like his job? Absolutely not, but I have tried very hard to let go of the anger and adjust to the new normal which means things like realizing I can't go running 3-4 times a week like used to and that most weeks Paul will only sit at the table with us to eat on average 1-2 meals a week. I knew my anger was going to turn into bitterness, and so I chose forgiveness. It was hard for two reasons #1 I usually have needed to forgive something that happened not something that's still happening and #2 it was much harder to forgive that which hurts my kids. My momma bear instinct is alive and well, ha ha! A couple of quotes I heard decades ago kept coming to mind including "love is an action not a feeling" and "trials can either make you bitter or better." I also am working to not take his actions personally. I kept thinking "he must not give a rip about me." But I know he does love me even though it often doesn't feel like he does. I am trying to not view his choices as a reflection of whether he loves me or not. Easier said than done, but I am making progress.

I looked back on the post I wrote of goals for this year. Most of the goals were not achieved. It's a bit depressing to focus on those, but we did achieve some of the goals. Oliver does get himself dressed after he goes to the bathroom (most of the time anyhow), Nadia has learned how to write in cursive, Oliver did learn to ride a bike with training wheels and identify the letters of the alphabet, Ian did finish levels 3 and 4 of the reading curriculum and can read chapter books, Ian did finish the 1st grade math textbook and learned to count to 100 by 1's and 5's, I made many trips to Maryland to be with my mom, and all three kids made progress with eating (for Oliver that meant eating more independently and for the other two it meant eating a wider variety of foods).

Of course there were some wonderful blessings in 2016. Here are several that come to mind in no particular order.

1. We became pet owners! The kids are very happy that two guinea pigs named Patches and Jenna Susie have joined our family. Hopefully we will enjoy them for the next 5-7 years.

2. We had our house on the market for over six months but then decided to stay put even though Paul spends 12-14 hours a week driving to and from work. Since September 2008 I had viewed this house as temporary, but in May I decided to start thinking of it as long term. So I painted one bedroom, three bathrooms, kitchen, living room, family room, dining room, foyer, shed, and the hallways over the past seven months. We removed one of our two apple trees, and I did some  other landscaping. We refinanced the house which lowered our interest rate 3% and took 10 years off the length of the loan. Paul replaced a door that was falling apart and repaired a screen door. The change that pleases me the most in the house is the new flooring in the family room and kitchen - the kitchen flooring in particular had driven me crazy for 8 years. We also traded our kitchen table for a different one with 6 chairs.

3. Ian and Nadia learned most of their addition and multiplication facts by memory. In 2017 I want to keep working on those plus also start working on subtraction and division. Ian started piano lessons, and both Nadia and Ian made great progress on the piano.

4. We enjoyed visits to six amusement parks - Sesame Place, Knoebels, Six Flags, Hershey Park, Edaville, and Cedar Point.

5. Although I'd much rather have my mom, I am thankful for the various items of hers I am able to use now such as some of her jewelry, coats, sweaters, purses, gloves, etc. I am also thankful for the money I received from the sale of the coins she inherited from her dad. That money enabled me to purchase a new camera body, which I am planning to use for many years to come. I continue to enjoy improving my skills as a photographer. Part of that money will also be used to pay for Ian's braces. I wasn't sure how to pay for those on Paul's reduced income, but now we have a way. I'm very thankful.

6. I so enjoy reading to the kids. This year we completed 103 chapter books!  I also love the fact that Nadia and Ian both enjoy reading chapter and picture books.

7. We enjoyed our vacation with Paul's parents in Massachusetts. Nadia enjoyed her first full week at summer camp, Ian enjoyed his first week at Good News (day) Camp, and Nadia and Ian both enjoyed their first week of horseback riding camp. Nadia enjoyed her first diving lessons, Oliver had his first swimming lessons, and Ian had his first tennis lessons. Oliver played soccer for the first time, and Ian played basketball for the first time. Ian made a lot of progress with his soccer skills. Oliver had his first experience in the summer musical and the kids' choir at church.

8. We went on many field trips (in Pittsburgh, Harrisburg, Philadelphia, Baltimore, Washington, D.C., etc.) and enjoyed the weekly homeschool gym class at church. In particular we enjoy our ASTC membership, our swimming pool membership, and our membership at the Children's Museum in Bloomsburg. I enjoyed a Bible study on the book of Hosea. I also am very grateful that I am able to homeschool our children.

9. Ian learned to stop playing with his belly button!

10. We were given a new laptop computer (to replace Paul's desktop and my old laptop - both of which died this year), a new refrigerator (which means we have a functioning ice maker!), and one of my great grandmother's diamonds (looking forward to having that set in a ring in the near future).

As we enter a new year, I realize that we have no idea
what unexpected twists and turns there might be, but I am hopeful that Oliver might be able to stay out of the hospital in 2017, as he has been doing much better with his respiratory issues. I feel like I am starting 2017 in a much better place emotionally than I started 2016, and for that I am very grateful. We may not know what the future holds, but Praise the Lord we know Who holds the future!

Showing my newest canvas (16x20) and the new color of the dining room walls

Healthier

On this day two years ago I was with Oliver in the PICU due to a collapsed lung. On this day last year my mom was in the hospital. She went to the ER thinking she had the flu (but really had 4-5 liters of fluid on her lungs that had shifted the location of her esophagus, heart, etc.), and on December 31 found out she had cancer and before she was discharged found out it was stage 4 ovarian cancer. No one had any idea that she only had 6 1/2 months left with us. Today seems to be a healthier day for our immediate and extended family as no one is in the hospital. Ian and Susie were throwing up last night. They got the stomach bug that Grace had while she was at our house. I think I did more laundry this week that any other week of my life between Grace and Ian throwing up in beds at our house and all the extra bedding from company, etc. I am very thankful for my washing machine and dryer! We were invited to the annual Christmas party at Paul's Aunt's house, but Paul is the only one going in light of the stomach bug. We don't want Ian throwing up at their house OR to spread the germs among his extended family. We shall see if

anyone else succumbs to the virus. I am going to keep working on trying to get the stains out of the carpet in his bedroom. Although cleaning up vomit is high on my list of "least favorite things to do," I would much rather deal with that than be with my two year old in the PICU or find out that my mom has cancer. Here's to hoping that 2017 doesn't involve any hospitalizations (unless it's because I'm having a hysterectomy). Speaking of that, I went back to the doctor to have the blood drawn again for the BRCA test because the lab threw away my first sample. They had NO trouble drawing blood that first time, but today it was very difficult. I guess I hadn't drank enough water. They stabbed me four times, and the final one was in the hand, which I never like. Ouch. All because they didn't know I wasn't Jewish. Well hopefully I'll get the results next week. They did tell me today that my pap smear results were normal.

Since we aren't going to the party, I am going to start the living room painting project today. I had been thinking of going with some shade of tan. I

almost picked the one called "Nobody but Ben" but I ended up going with "Pinch of Clove" which surprised me as orange is typically one of my least favorite colors. I am very happy the living room walls won't be white any more. I am definitely not into white walls these days. I still love the green dining room walls that I recently painted.

The kids almost always have to do something to earn a turn on the Wii or iPad. I make an exception on their birthdays and sometimes when they are playing with other people (like yesterday with Isaiah). Usually they opt to read from a chapter book. The last few days Ian has been choosing to practice the piano. Today I recorded him playing one of his songs. He hasn't fully mastered it yet, but it shows where he is at right now. I am very pleased with his progress over the past almost four months. Way to go, Ian!

 

Thankful Thursday

1. The kids were able to go shopping at AWANA last Wednesday night with the shares they had earned the past three months. The first time Nadia came home with Christmas gifts from AWANA (in 2011) I was impressed and grateful. Nadia was very generous this year and didn't pick out anything for herself, but instead she got gifts for her Daddy, Mommy, Ian, Oliver, Adam, Susie, Rachel, and Grace (the cousins who joined us for Christmas this year). How sweet! She loves her cousins!

2. A woman from church sat with my kids for about 30 minutes in the waiting room at the doctor's office last Wednesday. I really appreciated that. I would have felt confident about leaving Nadia and Ian there by themselves, but I wasn't comfortable leaving Oliver. I was also grateful they are very efficient at this office. They called me on Tuesday night to ask if I was Jewish. Then they called me today to say that the lab had discarded my blood because they didn't know if I was Jewish or not. I'm going to give more blood tomorrow. I'm thankful the office is only 1 mile from our house. Hopefully I'll get the results next week as to whether I have the BRCA 1 or 2 gene mutation.

3. Last Thursday I finished a project I had been working on for a couple of months. For 12 years I've had many of our bills paid automatically from a bank
account. Even though we don't live near that bank any more, it hadn't been a problem because our paychecks were deposited automatically. The problem was that the last automatic deposit was in August (Paul's last paycheck from Bucknell). Paul's family's business issues physical checks once a week. So I needed to switch all our bills to being paid from a bank in our town. It was a LONG list and included charitable donations, etc. But now it's DONE. Whew.

4. Nadia enjoyed her day with her grandparents last Thursday. She did a little bit of schoolwork, although I didn't officially count it as a day of school. She finished reading a chapter book and did two math lessons at their house.

5. Last week I gave each child one of the envelopes the church gave us to pass out. Each envelope had a $10 gift card in it. Nadia gave hers to someone in the waiting room at the doctor's office, and the boys each gave one to someone at the library. It's fun to participate in random acts of kindness!
Similarly, because of the money I received from the sale of some of my mom's possessions, I have been able to give more generously to a variety of organizations this month. It's been fun to give more than I usually am able to.

6. The Steelers won on Sunday! The Giants are guaranteed to be a wild card in the NFC, and the Steelers are guaranteed to win their division. Some years we turn off the cable at the end of December, but that won't be the case this year as both of our teams are headed to the Playoffs!

7. It was wonderful to have eight members of my family come to our house and spend 4 nights and 3 days with us. We enjoyed playing games, bowling, ice skating, seeing a movie, and just spending time together.

8. Grace was sick (stomach bug). She threw up many times on December 23, but she only threw up once at our house, and thus far it seems that no one caught her bug. Whew.

9. The kids enjoyed the craft time at the library yesterday as well as getting some new books and DVDs. Right now they are watching "The Mouse and the Motorcycle" which I got in honor of the fact I've been reading them the book Ralph S. Mouse the past two days.

10. Isaiah and his mom came over for a play date today. The kids had fun playing together.

11. The weather was simply gorgeous on Tuesday. I should have gone for a run, but the kids took advantage of the warmer weather. It snowed this morning,

but the roads cleared up after a few hours which thrilled the kids as it meant we were able to go to the pet store.

12. Paul's parents gave the kids a guinea pig cage, and today we became pet owners! Ian had planned on naming his Rose, but when he picked a white one with a few patches of other colors, he decided to name her Patches in honor of my mom's cat. Nadia wanted to pick one that looked like the stuffed animal she's had for seven years. There were five guinea pigs to choose from. Nadia didn't change her mind about the name. Her guinea pig is Jenna (and Susie is the middle name) in honor of two of her cousins. Hopefully in time Jenna and Patches will enjoy being held. Right now they are fairly terrified if we go anywhere near them. I'm glad we got two because they definitely are finding comfort in companionship.

13. I know I've already said it before, but I still love the new flooring, my new camera body, and the new paint color in the dining room. I think I'm going to

tackle painting the living room on Saturday.

14. We received a $50 refund this week from the bank because it turned out the appraisal "only" cost $425. I'll gladly accept any reduction in the closing costs.

15. My Dad joined us at our church's candlelight service. Everything is more special when Grandpa is there!

16. When Wendy got engaged Drayton used a diamond from my dad's grandmother's bracelet for her engagement ring. My dad recently asked Yvonne and I if we would also each like to have one of the diamonds from that same bracelet he inherited in 1981. We both said yes, and my dad gave me one on Christmas Eve. I am very thankful and am looking forward to taking it to a jeweler so it can be put into a ring that I can wear. I remember my Great Grandma (we called her Pat). With the passing of my mom I am finding myself more sentimental about photos, jewelry, and other things that have been passed down to me from my mom and grandparents.

Fun with cousins!

For four nights and three full days there were thirteen people in our house. The house was very messy and cluttered with suitcases, sofa beds, air mattresses, Christmas gifts, etc, but it was filled with people we love very much. About five minutes after everyone left this morning, Nadia asked me, "How long is it until April?". She knows that I plan to take the kids to Chicago in April. The kids love spending time with their cousins! Oliver enjoyed playing with Grace, and the other five kids enjoyed doing a variety of things together including riding bikes, jumping on the trampoline, bowling, playing Monopoly, ice skating, playing Bubble Talk, playing Pandemic, playing Quirkle, etc. On Monday we went ice skating in Sunbury where the kids take ice skating lessons. There were 13 of us, but Maurice didn't want to skate. Amazingly the minimum size for the group rate there was 12, which was perfect for our group. The group rate is a true bargain as it only cost $48 total for all of us to skate (and that included our skate rentals). We could have skated up to 4 hours total, but we didn't last that long. We had a snack at McDonald's after our ice skating adventure, and then we went to see a movie. It was the first time in 12 years that I went to see a movie at a theater (not counting the $1 ones in the summer). That excursion was far more expensive that ice skating, but Grandpa graciously bought our tickets. The four guys plus Adam and Ian saw Rogue One (a new Star Wars movie), and the six girls plus Oliver saw the Disney movie Moana. It was Ian's first time seeing a Star Wars movie in a theater as he hasn't seen the Force Awakens yet. The Moana movie was shorter and started ten minutes before the other movie, so Wendy and I left the movie theater with five of the kids while the others were still watching Rogue One. We assumed we'd get home about 35 minutes before the guys, but when we were about five minutes from home we witnessed a pickup truck flipping over into a cornfield.

 I pulled over and called 911 while Wendy got out and walked across the street to check on the people in the truck. While she was over there the guy pushed his feet through the passenger window so that he and the passenger could climb out of the vehicle. They said they were fine and asked Wendy not to call 911, and said they were calling someone to come pick them up. Wendy came and told me that the driver was drunk, and so we stayed on the line and the 911 operator transferred us to a police dispatcher. We gave her the license plate information as two vehicles came to help and one truck successfully flipped the truck back over. The truck was still in the corn field when the police arrived. The vehicles who came to help immediately hightailed off the scene. We talked to one police officer, and then had to wait awhile until we were told we could go. We received a phone call later in the evening, and Wendy was told that the driver was cooperative. So in the end we got home the same time as the guys because of the drunk driver incident.

Paul took two days off (Sunday and Monday), but he needed to go back to work yesterday. He was able to come home earlier than usual. He got home a little after 5:00 yesterday (in contrast to 7:10 tonight) so he could go bowling with us. We usually don't go bowling at night, but we bowled in the evening so Paul could be included. Six of us bowled one game, and six bowled two games (my brother came along but didn't bowl). All the kids used bumpers. Wendy and I were wishing we had also used bumpers, ha ha! In the first game, Paul won on the adult alley (which included Susie) and Ian won on the child's side. Adam came in second on that side. Paul also won the second game. It was his first time using the bowling shoes I gave him last year. The rest of the day we stayed at home. The temperature got up to 55 (wow!) so the kids were able to spend a lot of time outside on the trampoline, playing ladderball, riding bikes, playing with various balls, scooters, etc. They also played inside as well and enjoyed a lengthy Facetime conversation with their cousins in Turkey.

 Originally we planned to go down to Paul's parents today to do our gift exchange with his side of the family, but he said he needed to work today. The kids were disappointed, but the part that was the hardest for them was needing to wait until next week to get their guinea pigs that they have been eagerly anticipating for months. So I called Paul at work and asked if he could bring home the cage his parents got them so that I could take the kids tomorrow to get their guinea pigs. They were THRILLED when he came home with the cage. If it wasn't so late (7:10) I would have taken them up to the pet store tonight, but they were up past their bedtime last night due to the bowling outing so I didn't want to keep them up late two nights in a row. TOMORROW is the big day when we become pet owners for the first time in our 15+ year marriage. The only experience I have with pets is with cats. Hopefully the guinea pigs will be a good fit for our family. We plan to go to Paul's parents on Sunday (because if he takes one day off a week that is the day he takes off the most often).

Wendy let me try out her zoom lens. It's a nice lens, but it's not one I'm thinking I want at this point. It was great to be able to try hers out because even to rent a lens isn't cheap. As I was going through the photos I took the last two days I realized that in hind sight I wish I had used a smaller aperture when taking photos at the ice skating rink, and I wish I had brought my speed light (external flash) to the bowling alley. I have so much to learn!

I thought so much about my mom this weekend. She so enjoyed family gatherings like this, but I know she's in a much better place. I kept thinking about how at this time last year we had no idea my mom was so sick. We had no idea it was our last Christmas with her. Susie, Wendy, and Drayton each wrote in the journal I have started about my mom that I am doing for the kids - primarily for Oliver but really all three of them so they will be able to know about Grandma. We love you, Mom and miss you something fierce.

There are over 40 cups, glasses, and mugs in my dishwasher right now. That is a first for me! It seems we had more than 13 people staying here, ha ha! Especially considering I did other loads of dishes while everyone was here, and also considering my three kids had their cups in the refrigerator and weren't placed in the dishwasher yet. When hosting a larger group I am all the more grateful for modern inventions like dishwashers, washing machines, and dryers. I have done far more laundry today than I usually do in a week since I was washing more bedding than usual. We were using the vast majority of what was in the linen closet - most of which goes many months without being used. I was glad I bought extra pillows this summer and that my mom got us the three air mattresses a couple of years ago. I also am again struck by what an amazing woman my mom was. Hosting a group this size is exhausting, and she did it last year with 4-5 liters of fluid pressing on her lungs. Incredible. Aside from vacuuming, laundry, dishes, etc. today, I also took the kids to the library. They enjoyed doing a winter craft. What a difference it was to go from 12-13 people in the house to just the four of us. I wish my sisters and their families lived closer, but I am grateful for the time we are able to spend together now and then. We always see Wendy and her family at least once a year, but we often go more than a year in between visits with Yvonne and her family. Lord willing, we'll be seeing Wendy's family again in a little less than four months.

Merry Christmas!

Yesterday we had our family gift exchange. The gifts the kids get each other from AWANA are always a surprise to me (although Oliver had already told me he got me a candle, ha ha). Nadia gave me white gloves, and Ian gave me a Christmas oven mitt. Nadia and Oliver each gave Paul a small tool (such as a pair of pliers), and Ian gave him a small flashlight. Nadia bought gifts for eight people this year - a large collection of earrings for Susie, stuffed animal for Grace, etc. We gave Ian and Nadia each a Lego set, and they built them yesterday afternoon. My dad and brother arrived around 5pm yesterday. I made beef stew for them, but since Nadia and Ian really don't like beef stew, I also picked up one pizza to make our Christmas Even dinner special for them also. My dad joined us at our church's 7:00 candlelight service, and about an hour after the kids went to bed my sister and her family arrived from Chicago. Oliver enjoyed sharing his bedroom with Grandpa, and Nadia enjoyed having Rachel and Susie sleep in her bedroom with her. The other four Benners plus my brother slept down in the living room and family room.

As you can see from the picture at right, one of Oliver's gifts was a bag of Peanut Butter cups. He has been very generous and has shared them with siblings, his Daddy, Uncle Maurice, and cousins.  This morning I made eggnog French toast, scrambled eggs, sausage, and bacon. There was a little bit of French toast left, but everything else I made was consumed by the thirteen of us. Our current church wasn't having a traditional service this morning, so we attended our previous church's 10:30 service. They served cookies, muffins, fudge, etc. prior to the service so we postponed our dinner a little since everyone wasn't very hungry when we got home. We had our gift exchange with Grandpa and the Benners and then ate our Christmas dinner. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, sweet potatoes, mashed potatoes, green beans, cranberries, pineapple, and pumpkin cranberry bread. Oliver kept asking for potatoes for Christmas and so I made three types of potatoes for dinner. We waited a few hours before having our dessert.

I put one candle in each of the four pies, and four kids helped blow out the candles after we sang "Happy Birthday" to Jesus. Naturally we really missed my mom today as it was our first without her. I thought I would cry when we were singing Happy Birthday, but I didn't, but I did have one little meltdown when preparing the Christmas dinner.

After enjoying pie and cookies, several of us watched the Steelers play the Ravens. My dad and I had asked for Steelers win for a Christmas gift because it would mean the Steelers would win the division and go to the Playoffs. The game was stressful to the last 14 seconds, but we won!!! The Giants lost on Thursday night, but they are also going to the Playoffs.

The picture at left shows the stuffed animal that Nadia bought for Grace. I'm enjoying using my new camera body and also have been using one of Wendy's lenses to help me decide if that's a lens I might want in the future. Nadia got a ceiling fan for her bedroom from Grandpa, which is something she had been asking for for a long time. Her room is always colder than the
rest of the rooms in the house in the winter and warmer than the rooms in the rest of the house in the summer. Years ago we had an electrician install ceiling light fixtures in three bedrooms (the master bedroom already had a ceiling fan when we bought the house) and also the living room. In the living room and what is now Oliver's bedroom we had put in ceiling fans. In Nadia and Ian's rooms we had only put in light fixtures (since they were cheaper than ceiling fans). In hind sight, I wish we had just gotten ceiling fans for all four rooms, but I had no idea back then we'd be living here this many years. I thought we'd only live here for 3-4 years. Ian doesn't mind the temperature in his bedroom so he doesn't need a ceiling fan, but Nadia sleeps on top of her sheets in the summer because it's too hot in her bedroom. She will greatly appreciate having a ceiling fan in her room next summer! Her present definitely was the heaviest box opened today. Ian's gift of three Rogue One figures (see photo later in the post) was definitely the largest box. Oliver's largest box was one
containing a ladderball game from Grandpa, and Grace was the other one who received a large box. Hers contained a hopscotch mat (seen at left). The funniest moment was when Drayton opened his gift from my Dad (seen at left). One of his kids put that mood lamp on his wish list, and my Dad purchased it for him (not realizing Drayton hadn't actually requested it). We all got a kick out of that! It was quite the change from the socks my mom always used to get him every year.

My Dad gave each member of our family different restaurant gift cards (Wendy's, Olive Garden, Subway, etc.), and we will look forward to using those over the coming year! I always enjoy having a night off from cooking now and then. We promised the kids a trip to Friendly's once Oliver learns his numbers. We miss my mom and Yvonne's family, but I'm grateful for the three days the thirteen of us can spend together.

Playing a game that Wendy gave Maurice for Christmas

Grandpa bought these in Chicago for Ian when he was out there at Thanksgiving.

Watching a Mickey Mouse Christmas movie on Saturday morning (waiting for Daddy to come home from work)

8.5 years old!

Christmas Eve is Nadia's half birthday. My princess will be turning nine in six months. Her days in the single digits will be over before I know it. When she turns nine I will let her start staying up until 9:00 pm, and when she turns ten she will be allowed to get her ears pierced. She's very excited about wearing earrings!

She hasn't changed dramatically in the past six months, but here are a few new experiences:

1. She got her hair cut shorter. It's much shorter now than it was in June. We still have some battles over brushing and washing her hair, but it's definitely better. I like her hair this length.

2. She attended her first full week of camp in July. Last year she had only stayed three nights, but this year she stayed seven nights. I have already signed her up for next summer. She says she wants to go every year and become a counselor when she's old enough.

3. She had her first diving

lessons and did back dives off the diving board for the first time. Ironically she had an easier time with back dives than front dives (which turned into belly flops).

4. She graduated out of her booster seat in the van!

5. She made great progress with the piano and started using the pedal for the first time.

6. She learned her multiplication tables, started multiplying 2 and 3 digit numbers by 1 number, and began working on learning her division tables.

7. She started playing U10 soccer in the fall. They play 7 on 7 including the goalies at that level. She says she won't be playing soccer any more.

8. She began her first year in T&T in AWANA having completed two years of Cubbies and three years of Sparks.

9. She is spending far more time reading these days. She typically reads two chapter books a day. Her favorite author at the

moment for chapter books is Ron Roy, and her favorite author for picture books is Patricia Polacco. Other favorite authors/books include: Froggy books (Jonathan London), Amelia Bedelia books, Little Critter books, Fancy Nancy books, the Littles series (John Peterson), and the Clementine series (Sara Pennypacker).

10. She experienced the death of a relative for the first time when my mom passed away in July, and attended her first funeral.

11. Her favorite tv show is Odd Squad (on PBS).

12. She talks about her cousins almost every day. She named her snowman earlier this month "Jenna" and said that when we get her a guinea pig later this month, she is going to name the guinea pig Jenna Susie (how many guinea pigs have a middle name?) after two of her cousins.

13. She attended a couple of contemporary Christian music concerts with me. All three kids saw Big Daddy Weave. Nadia and I saw Sandi Patty and Veritas. She LOVES her Veritas CD.