Favorite Read Alouds

A few months ago one of Maurice's friends in Maryland asked me if I could make a list of our favorite chapter books since the list of chapter books I have read to the kids (or we've listened to on CD or Audible) has grown rather long over the years (we're working on #444 right now). These are some of our favorites (in no particular order). Enjoy!

1. The Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis
2. Ramona the Pest series by Beverly Cleary (as well as others by the same author such as Socks, The Mouse and the Motorcycle, etc.)
3. Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle series by Betty Macdonald
4. Secret Garden and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett
5. Heidi by Johanna Spyri
6. Mr. Popper's Penguins by Richard and Florence Atwater
7. Paddington Bear series by Michael Bond
8. Anne of Green Gables series by Lucy Maud Montgomery
9. Pollyanna by Eleanor Porter
10. Five Children and It by Nesbit
11. Lillian Trasher: The Greatest Wonder in Egypt by Janet and Geoff Benge (and many other biographies by the same authors)
12. Half Magic by Edward Eager
13. Cat of Bubastes by Henty
14. Green Ember series by Smith
15. Wingfeather Saga series by Andrew Peterson
16. Wilderking trilogy by Jonathan Rogers
17. Listening for Lions by Gloria Whelan
18. Pippi Longstocking books by Astrid Lindgren
19. Stuart Little, Charlotte's Web, and Trumpet of the Swan by EB White
20. Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder
21. Mr. Lemoncello's Library series by Chris Grabenstein
22. Snow Treasure by Marie McSwigan
23. Incorrigible Children of Ashton Place series by Maryrose Wood
24. Crispin series by Avi (as well as others by the same author such as Poppy)
25. Treasures of the Snow by Patricia St. John (and other books by the same author)
26. The BFG and Matilda by Roald Dahl
27. The Tale of Despereaux, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, Because of Winn Dixie, and Flora and Ulysses by Kate Di Camillo
28. Igraine the Brave by Cornelia Funke
29. A Single Shard by Linda Park
30. Imagination Station series (most are by either Marianne Hering or Paul McCusker)
31. Jotham's Journey and other books in the series by Arnold Ytreeide
32. Doctor Dolittle series by Hugh Lofting

I could add SO many more to the list, but I was trying to keep it as short as I could, so I shall stop there!

First skiing lesson!

Paul has gone skiing a total of four times in his life. There was a gap of more than 25 years in between his second and third times. I have skied more often than Paul in my life, but I have only skied four times in the past 23 years. There are five lift tickets on my ski jacket. The oldest one has a date but not a year. That was when I skied in New Mexico (early 90's). The other lift tickets are from 1996, 1999, 2017, and 2019. In 1999 I skied with Maurice and my Dad. In 2017 I skied with my Dad, Ian, and Nadia. It was their first time. In 2018 all five of us planned to go skiing, but since Oliver was recovering from a recent skull fracture, he and I stayed home. Paul took Nadia and Ian skiing in February 2018. So Paul and have been doing things together since 1997, but yesterday was the first time the two of us ever went skiing on the same day. Yesterday was Oliver's first time skiing and the third time for his siblings. The only place they've ever skied is at Ski Sawmill which is one hour northwest of our house. The last two years we didn't pay a penny to ski because we receive four free lift tickets and four free ski rentals through our membership with WVIA (a PBS station).

Yesterday we needed to pay for the fifth person, which cost a little less than $50 for lift ticket, ski rental, and a helmet rental. Oliver was the only one wearing a helmet. In hindsight, it would have been better if Paul had been the one wearing the helmet. Two years ago my dad and I taught Nadia and Ian to ski. I took Oliver up the smallest slope a few times, and then decided I'd rather pay someone else to teach him. You have to be at least seven-years-old to join the group class, which meant I had to pay for a one hour private lesson ($50). Thus far we had never paid for any classes or lessons so I figured a one time investment of $50 considering we have three kids wasn't too bad. It meant we've spent a little under $100 for the kids to go skiing over a span of three years (granted all that was spent yesterday but I was trying to put it in perspective). Oliver's skiing skills improved dramatically during his lesson, but his skill at getting off the t-bar didn't. I had trouble getting my skis off each time we'd end up in a heap. The last time it happened to me another girl also landed on top of me as well as her mother. That was a mess! The little girl was screaming her head off.

After that, Nadia took over and went up with Oliver up the t-bar. I greatly appreciated her help! I did have to go up and help once because she had him stay on the t-bar a tiny bit higher up the slope and he was refusing to come down. Most of the day Nadia spent going up to the top of the mountain and coming down a longer trail. She actually preferred to use the t-bar over the chair lift because the t-bar was faster. Paul went down the longer slope twice - once with just Nadia and once with Nadia and Ian. He also went down the easy slope once with Oliver. That was the sum total of his skiing for the day in part because the second time he came down the longer slope he fell and hit his head. Nadia loves skiing and is very independent. Ian loves to go down the straight slope and can do that independently. He went up higher this  year than he did the last two years. He did the longer path twice this year (for the first time). The first time he took a wrong turn and landed on a black diamond part. He wisely walked down while carrying his skis. The second time he took the correct path and skied down the whole thing, but one part scared him so he didn't want to do it again. Oliver isn't independent yet. Hopefully next year he'll be able to get off the t-bar without needing assistance.

Even though I repeatedly reminded the kids to bring their hats, gloves, and snow pants, Ian managed to leave all three items at home. I happened to have an extra pair of gloves with me, so he wore a pair of my gloves (they were too big for him but he managed to keep them on). Oliver had brought a hat, but since he was wearing a helmet he gave his hat to Ian. So the only thing Ian was really missing were his snow pants. He said his legs stayed dry. He's a bit of a speed demon coming down the slope, but he didn't fall down very much. Next year hopefully all three kids will remember their gear! Once they all are at the level Nadia is at now, I think Paul and I can just watch them ski. We were at the ski resort for a little over 6 hours. Nadia would have loved to ski a bit more, but the rest of us were tired and hungry. We had packed a lunch, but I had something in the crockpot for when we got home for dinner. Since we used different muscles that we don't typically use, Paul and I are still feeling a bit sore today! I have included a few pictures in this post. I took more than 200! I don't really have the right lens for this situation. Since the vast majority of the photos are going to be deleted, I hope that some of the videos turned out. I haven't looked at the videos yet. Thankfully I did get at least a few photos that I view as "keepers."

Quizzing, Chemistry, and a Concert

It snowed on Wednesday last week. My student teacher I was scheduled to observe that afternoon called me at 8:30 to say that they were dismissing at 11:00, which meant the kids would have lunch at 10:00. She has only been teaching in the afternoons thus far, but they rearranged the schedule in light of the early dismissal. If I could get there at 9:00, I could observe her. Paul had stayed home because of the length of his commute and the condition of the roads. He took his car for a VERY overdue oil change and tire rotation that afternoon. They also did the annual inspection and replaced the rear brakes. The time of my observation on Thursday was also shifted due to a two hour delay, but thankfully I was able to observe four student teachers last week. Because Paul stayed home three days instead of the usual two days, he went in to work yesterday, and because we plan to all go skiing tomorrow, he put in a full day at the plant today.

On Friday evening we attended the AWANA quizzing event for the third year in a row. Nadia earned 2nd place when she was in third grade (2017), and this year she received a first place medal in the fifth and sixth grade division. In 2017 she had a perfect score on the written test and 9 out of 10 during the portion with the paddles. Last year she again had 9 out of 10 during the paddle part, but she didn't do as well on the written test. This year she had a perfect score during the paddle part and missed one question on the written test; the question she got wrong was about a reference for a verse. None of the fifth or sixth graders had a perfect score this year, which meant her score was enough to win first place. She said next year she wants to earn the champion ribbon that they give those who earn a perfect score. This was Ian's first year participating. He earned second place among the third and fourth graders. He missed one question during the paddle part and four questions on the written test. He was pleased to win a red ribbon, and Nadia was happy about her medal. Last year I didn't help her review due to how overwhelmed I was with juggling homeschooling plus a full time job, but this year I was determined to take the time to help them review the first half of their books. Oliver was happy there were cookies and donuts and such at the end.

Since we had a bye week in Upward Basketball, yesterday morning I took the kids to Susquehanna University for Saturday Science. The theme for the four sessions this semester is chemistry. We won't be going next week due to basketball games, and we'll miss another one because I'm planning to take them to the Children's Museum in Bloomsburg to dissect fetal pigs that day. So we are planning to attend two of the four chemistry programs this spring semester. Next fall we are planning on starting a chemistry and physics textbook in science. These two sessions should be a good introduction for that. We're studying anatomy and physiology right now. We stopped at Aldi's and the library on the way home, and we were home for about an hour before it was time to leave again. Paul had also come home from work, and the five of us headed to Wilkes Barre. Paul's brother met us at Applebee's for dinner. Paul had gotten a gift card to that restaurant for his birthday from Dad and Margie. After dinner the six of us headed to a concert put on by Compassion that included Matthew West, Michael W. Smith, Tenth Avenue North, Matt Maher, etc. It was an outstanding concert! I had purchased four tickets (for Al, Paul, Ian, and Oliver). Nadia and I were volunteers. We passed out brochures for Compassion. Nadia and I helped four people sponsor a child! We were in the higher seats, but our seats were free since we volunteered. The concert lasted more than 3.5 hours. It was almost done when we left (around 9:40pm), which meant we got home a little shy of 11:00pm. The kids slept for most of the ride home. They were up past their bedtimes two nights in a row due to the quizzing on Friday and the concert on Saturday.

President's Day

At one point I planned to take the kids to Valley Forge yesterday as they were having special activities in honor of Washington's birthday, which actually Martha did have a birthday celebration for him there once during the Revolutionary War. Also, it seemed fitting to visit that site in February considering it was cold when Washington and his troops were there, although we planned to have warm coats and suitable footwear, which was not true for most of the men in the army. Since I am still sick (I can't recall a time in the last 30 years that I've had a sore throat for more than two months straight- Ugh!), I was not at all interested in driving that far yesterday. I do really want to take the kids there since it's less than three hours from our house and we have been studying that time period. We're currently in the early 1800's. The last chapter book we read was Fever 1793. They are having an event for homeschoolers in May. I am hoping to take the kids then. The weather will be much nicer, and it's after the spring semester is over so hopefully I will have the energy for the drive. I'm doing less driving this semester, which I greatly appreciate.

Our local school district was closed yesterday because of the holiday, but we had school. I let them skip a couple of subjects such as typing yesterday. On Sunday Paul's parents joined us in the second service at church because the kids' choir sang. They joined us for lunch; I made beef stroganoff, which the adults liked but wasn't a hit with the kids. They played with the kids for a few hours before they left.

Yesterday I had a shock when I went to check to see if we had read a certain book, and I discovered one page of my blog was missing. It was the page where I had listed all the picture books, chapter books, DVDs, and CD's we had used thus far for history and science this school year (since July 2018). It had more than 500 titles (plus authors).

I hadn't backed it up anywhere. BIG mistake. I didn't delete it. I had only created one Read Aloud page (all the chapter books since December 2012 to present), and now I have two Read Aloud pages (on is a duplicate), but the other one that had science/history for this year has vanished. I had spent HOURS creating and updating that list over the last 8 months. Since my blog is private, there aren't any cached versions of it for me to access. If any of you happened to access that particular page (the URL had early modern history at the end) and can do so again through your browser's history or a cached version, I would be SOOOO thrilled if you could copy and paste it and send it to me.  I can give my email address if anyone can retrieve it. I know the world won't come to an end if it can't be rescued; I was pretty upset about it yesterday, but I've put it into perspective today. We're supposed to keep lists like that if we homeschool in PA, but I'll just have to tell my evaluator that my list disappeared and she'll have to trust me that I read the kids 500+ books for history/science this school year. Hopefully I have learned my lesson about doing a better job of backing things up! I have already copied and pasted the other lists (read alouds, Ian's chapter books, Nadia's chapter books, etc.) into Word documents and saved them elsewhere.

Today was my longest work day at the university thus far this year. I left the house at 8:15am to go observe two student teachers in our district, drove to BU, spent 3 hours in my office, and then taught for six hours. I got home at 8:45pm. I'm exhausted. Thankfully there are only 9 more Tuesdays left in the semester (not counting spring break and finals week). I think I can, I think I can. Tomorrow I'm only observing one student teacher. Thursday I'll be gone from about 9:15am to 5:30pm, and then I plan to be home with my kiddos for the four days after that.

First Sleepover

Nadia had her first sleepover at our house last spring; she also attended a friend's sleepover birthday party last year. The last time Isaiah and Micah were over for a play date, Micah mentioned he'd like to have a sleepover. I said that would be fine. Their mom thought it would be better if both boys came over because they're not using to being separated. Isaiah is 5 1/2 years old, and Micah will be turning 8 in two months. After homeschool gym class and my ladies Bible study were over at 11:30 yesterday, I brought five kids home with me ages 5, 6, 7, 9, and 10. We had lunch, and then they played for a few hours. They mostly played inside although they did jump on the trampoline a little. I allowed four of them to play the Wii for about 45 minutes while Oliver played on the iPad. We picked up pizza for dinner, and after eating dinner the boys watched Kung Fu Panda while Nadia watched the Incredibles. I inflated two air mattresses and made their beds. Isaiah slept in Oliver's room, and Micah slept in Ian's room. Isaiah really wanted his mom to come snuggle with him before he went

to sleep, but when he realized that would mean he would be going home, he accepted snuggles from his brother instead. Isaiah, Micah, and Nadia were the first ones up this morning. They played for a bit downstairs before Ian and Oliver woke up. I asked the boys what they would like for breakfast, and they asked for French toast. Oliver, Isaiah, and Micah had French toast. I made scrambled eggs for Nadia, and Ian had a bowl of cereal. The kids played for a little bit more, and then it was time to go to Nadia's basketball game. Their mom was already at the church. Overall, I think everyone had a good time. Oliver cried quite a bit, which makes me think that he's probably not ready for a sleepover at their house. I realize he cries easily, but it seemed at times that he was the odd man out (was excluded by the other four).

There are only six basketball games left - three on March 2 and three on March 9. We have a bye week next week. Paul and I are ready for it to be done. Ironically I only took pictures of Nadia and Oliver today, and Ian was the one who scored a basket. Oops! Actually though Ian had very little contact with the ball during the whole game, but the one time he touched the ball he scored a basket! Nadia played better defense today, particularly in the first half. Her team lost (again). They don't keep score in the K/1 games. Ian's team is 6-0 (undefeated!). At the start of the season their coach promised to do the chicken dance if they were undefeated the whole season. Looks like he might get a chance to fulfill that promise!

Happy Valentine's Day!

Science experiment using iodine as a starch indicator

Prior to having kids Paul and I used to give each other a gift (ex. some years Paul got me a nice piece of jewelry) and go out on a date as our way of celebrating Valentine's Day. Fast forward almost 11 years, and now we are focused on making the holiday special for our kids instead. Earlier in the week they each received a card in the mail from my Dad and Margie. Yesterday they received their gifts from Grandma and Pop Pop - they each received $3, a little box of candy, and a small stuffed animal. I also gave them their gifts last night. I gave Oliver another set of Magformers (since the set he received at Christmas has been such a hit with all three kids), Nadia the game Taboo, and Ian two DVDs (Lilo and Stitch). The homeschool group we are a part of has a big Valentine's Day party every year. For various and sundry reasons we've never participated. Thankfully it worked out for Paul to take them to the party today. I figured Nadia is in 5th grade and hadn't yet experienced a Valentine's Day party. The kids had their first experience with signing their name on a bunch of Valentine's cards. We were told that about 60 kids would be attending the party so it took multiple days for Oliver to write his name on that many cards. Having a short name was an advantage for Ian! Nadia decorated a bag, and the boys each decorated a box to hold the Valentines that they were given. The party lasted 2 hours. The first part they were divided into groups by age and were to discuss a historical biography they had read recently. Then it was time for pizza, bowling, and exchanging Valentines.

I didn't need to leave the house until 9:45 (thanks to my commute to the school district where my student teacher was located being less than ten minutes). I was able to snuggle with Oliver when he climbed in bed with us around 6:45am, make the boys heart shaped pancakes for breakfast, help with homeschooling, and also work on my Bible study before leaving for work. I got home from work about 5:40pm while the kids were at basketball practice. I hadn't cooked anything for dinner today because I knew the kids and Paul would be having pizza at the party. So I stopped at Wendy's on my way home from work for a cup of chili. Paul put a lot of preparation into the kids' history lesson today because the topic was Napoleon - one of his most favorite historical figures.

I have had a cold for two straight months. It has varied in intensity. Sometimes my cough has gone away. My throat has been sore for the vast majority of the time, and my voice has come and gone. Last night it was really pointless for me to go to choir rehearsal as I couldn't actually sing very many notes, but since I had missed the previous week (due to Cinderella) and the rehearsal had been cancelled the week before that because of the weather, I felt like I needed to go even if I couldn't sing. I need many cough drops to teach at the university. It hurts to read to the kids, which is a bummer for me as normally that's one of my favorite things. I'm super thankful for Audible! I'd really like the congestion to clear up and my throat to be back to normal ASAP! The kids and Paul have also come down with it more than once over the past two months. My voice has been affected more than anyone in the family. Hoping and praying we are all healthy in the near future.

Snow Day #2

Two weeks ago it snowed and the school districts closed (or had early dismissals) but my university did not. That same week I did end up getting a snow day on Thursday, which was really due to the cold temperatures. Last week we didn't get any snow. Today my university was closed due to the snow and ice we received. I had planned to visit a student teacher and then be on campus from 11:00am to 7:30pm, but I actually stayed home sweet home all day. On my first snow day, Paul went to work, but today he stayed home because it didn't seem safe for him to drive to work and back given the road conditions and the fact his commute is one hour each way in good weather. I loved snow days when I was a student although that joy was somewhat lessened when I knew we had to make the days up at a later point. At the university we don't make up snow days, so that makes them even better! The first four weeks this semester have been much better than the previous three semesters for a variety of reasons including the fact that it's the first time my course load is exactly the same

as last semester (no new course preparations), I only have 6 student teachers (compared to 15 last spring and 10 last fall), I'm only 5% over FT compared to 25% over FT the past two semesters, my student teachers are VERY close to home, and two of my first 7 days of
 class were cancelled due to the weather. I rescheduled today's observation for Thursday. Thankfully I observed four of them teaching last week, which means I only need to get caught up with one student teacher. Since I thought I was going to be at work today, I cooked two meals last night (chicken quesadillas for last night and split pea and ham soup for today). This meant I didn't need to cook today. I could just focus on things like homeschooling, emailing students, adjusting things on the course websites due to the snow day, and grading.

Since it's been 9 days since my last gratitude list, here's today's Thankful Tuesday list:

1. I love the pictures I took of the kids in their penguin sweaters on February 4. The five

sweaters were definitely worth the $5 I spent on them almost 2 years ago!

2. Nadia has greatly been enjoying the membership in the Adventures in Odyssey club. Sometimes her brothers also listen, but Nadia has loved having access to all 700+ episodes.

3. Nadia and I enjoyed the Cinderella show at the Community Arts Center last Wednesday night, and we had fun together on Sunday afternoon while the boys enjoyed seeing the new Lego movie with Paul. I'm thankful that due to coupons their tickets were free, and Paul only paid $1 total for two popcorns and two drinks.

4. The kids and I enjoyed our community group on Sunday night.

5. I had a snow day today! Woohoo! After this Thursday I will have made it through the first 1/4 of this semester.

6. The kids did well in their living history presentations last Friday night. Hopefully next year we won't wait until the last minute to finish them! The four of us enjoyed having dinner at Wendy's that night. Gift cards to restaurants are a blessing!

7. I've stuck with my diet for sixteen days now! Hoping to see the number on the scale go down some more the next time I weigh myself. I am purposefully not weighing myself too frequently so I don't get discouraged by a plateau.

Mommy Daughter Time

On Wednesday night I dropped Ian off at AWANA and had Nadia say her four Bible verses, and then Nadia and I had a Mommy Daughter date. I think this is the first time over the past eight years that I've scheduled something for a Wednesday night during the school year as normally I have choir rehearsal and this is Nadia's 8th year in AWANA, but the touring Broadway Cinderella was only in our area for one night. I used some money an aunt gave me for Christmas to buy two tickets to the show. Oliver wasn't in AWANA that night because he had a 101 degree fever. He stayed home with Paul. Nadia and I enjoyed the show. It wasn't as amazing as Aladdin (which we saw in Buffalo last August), but we had a special night together. The only downside was that we were both tired the next morning as we were up past our bed times.

Originally I was planning on heading to a state park for their winter fest event this afternoon, but considering all the snow melted when it was unseasonably warm for a couple of days last week, I didn't think

the events the kids enjoyed (sledding, riding a snowmobile, etc.) would be taking place today. Ian and Oliver really, really wanted to see the new Lego movie. Since Nadia had a special outing with me on Wednesday night, I gave Paul coupons for three free movie tickets, two free popcorns, and two free drinks. It cost a grand total of $1 for their outing. While they were at the movie, Nadia and I made chocolate chip cookies (and yes I resisted eating any even though warm, homemade chocolate chip cookies are one of my most favorite foods), and then she sat next to me on the couch (she almost never sits on the couch when the boys are at home) and watched a movie on Hulu (which we signed up for in late November for 99 cents a month for a year) while I got some work done on the finances and my Bible study. The boys weren't home very much at all today. We were at church for 4 hours, then home for about 15 minutes (long enough to eat a sandwich), went to the movie, and then they were home for about 1 hour before the kids and I left for a community group gathering (people from our church who live in our town). Nadia only stayed at the gathering for one hour as her middle school youth group at the Methodist church is from 6:00-7:30 on Sunday nights. The boys and I were at the social for 2.5 hours before coming back home to get Oliver ready for bed.

Yesterday was the fifth basketball game of the season. We have three more games (each child) over the next four weeks. I have to say I'm ready for it to be over, and I'm grateful that our kids only do one season of a team sport. We used to do three seasons a year. Three games takes up a good chunk of the day when you factor in the games aren't all back to back. Most of Ian and Oliver's games are back to back, but yesterday the games were 8:00, 12:00, and 2:00. Paul took Nadia at 7:15 so the boys and I could have 30 extra minutes at home. Because we didn't wake up until 7:00 (oops!) I bought the kids and Paul each one donut at the concession stand since we didn't have time for breakfast at home. I quickly ate a bowl of oatmeal before we left. After the last game, we did chores together, ate dinner, and the kids watched a DVD. Then I gave the boys haircuts and before their baths and showers.

Wax Museum

Last year I had planned to have Nadia and Ian participate in our homeschool group's wax museum, but then it ended up being the same night as a concert that Nadia wanted to attend at our church. This year all three kids participated. They each selected a person months ago, and I bought colonial type costumes for each of them several months ago in preparation for this event. Last week Nadia and Ian started working on their displays, but sadly they weren't touched again until today. This morning they did reading and math before we headed to gym class (glow in the dark dodgeball) and my ladies Bible study (2 Timothy 2:6-7 today). Usually the boys play in the indoor play land while Nadia is in the 5th grade art class, but today I knew time was a precious commodity so we went grocery shopping instead. After picking up Nadia, we came home and had lunch and then spent the next about three hours finishing all three display boards. I do NOT like doing things at the last minute. Hopefully next year we will do a better job of finishing sooner than the 11th hour. After we

finished and the kids got on their costumes we headed out to go to the library and have dinner at Wendy's (using a gift card one of the kids got from their grandparents at Christmas) before heading to the Wax Museum. For the first 45 minutes the kids were setting up their displays and then going around and seeing what the other kids had done. Then for the next 45 minutes parents, grandparents, and other adults who attended the event walked around and asked the children questions about their person. I had asked my kids to pick someone from the Revolutionary time period because that's what we've been studying lately. I told them next year they can pick someone from 1860's to the present. Nadia is thinking of picking Lillian Trasher next year. The Revolutionary time period was well covered tonight as there were two George Washingtons, two Ben Franklins, one Marquis de Lafayette, one Betsy Ross, one Abigail Adams, and one Patrick Henry. I took one photo of my two kids plus the boys who did Patrick Henry and Lafayette.

I'm sure I can't list every character that was represented tonight, but some that I recall included Neil Armstrong, Amelia Earhart, Roy Rogers, Wright Brothers, Jane Goodall, Lucille Ball, Laura Ingalls Wilder, Milton Hershey (2), Henry Ford, Maria Tallchief (2), Einstein, the man who wrote the story of Spiderman (Stan Lee), and an artist (can't recall which one but the girl who played her is standing in between "Abigail" and "Lucy" in this picture. I am grateful that the science fair and wax museum projects are DONE. Now to have the kids finish making their valentines for the homeschool valentines party next week. I'm glad they had this opportunity, but it meant I didn't get much grading done for the university today. Hopefully I'll get caught up tomorrow. I did manage to do some laundry, but that was about it as far as housework today.

P.S. I know Ian is really wearing an outfit that looks like Washington rather than Franklin. I figured at least we hit the right time period, eh?

6.5 years old!

February 7 is a significant date for me for two reasons. First, it was on February 7, 1997 that I met Paul at a ballroom dancing class. We started dating soon after that. Twenty-two years later that date is also significant because it's Oliver's half-birthday. My baby will be turning seven in six months! Birthdays are a BIG deal to my youngest. He frequently talks about what he wants to do at his next birthday. He doesn't focus on the gifts. I would say "gifts" is probably at the bottom of the list as far as the love languages go with Oliver. Physical touch and time are far more important to him. This boy LOVES hugs, kisses, and snuggling. I often call him my snuggle bear or cuddle bear. Last school year he was the one who objected the least to me going back to work. It was the other two who would at times cry about it and beg me to stay home. This school year HE is the one who dislikes me working outside the home the most. When I tuck him at night, it's usually the first thing he asks me, "Are you staying home tomorrow?" And the last question is always a request for one more hug.

When Ian was this age Ian still loved to wear a dress shirt and tie on Sundays. That's no longer a true statement for Ian. He'd much rather wear a sweater or polo shirt. Thus far Oliver still loves to wear a dress shirt and tie to church.

He's changed or showed progress in many areas over the past six months such as:

1. READING!!!! It took a very long time for him to finish Level one in the reading program, but now he's taken off. It won't be long until he's finished level 2. I'm guessing next fall he'll be in level 4 at the pace he is going now. He wants to read. He tries to read things he's not really ready to read yet. What a difference! The most recent skill he's been learning in terms of reading are soft "c" and "g" words (like slice and page). When Nadia turned 6.5 she was half way through Level four, and Ian finished level four and both of his siblings were reading chapter books prior to turning 6.5, but I could care less that Oliver is "behind" where his siblings were at this age because he's been making amazing

progress over the past about 4 months! Hopefully in the next six months Oliver will start reading chapter books and also pay better attention when I am reading a chapter book (or we listen to one on Audible). He did a little bit better job when we listened to Appleblossom the Possom recently.

2. Spelling!! I didn't even start him with spelling until a few months ago, and he is almost done with Level one. He'll be moving into Level two in the very near future! Way to go, Oliver! His most recent skills he's been working on have been compound words and plurals (ex. backpacks, dresses, etc.).

3. Ice skating!! As of the beginning of January he could only ice skate if he was holding on to something or someone. He can ice skate on his own now! Paul took the kids for ice skating lessons this week. He hadn't seen the kids skate in more than a year, and he was very impressed with how much progress all three of them had made and the fact that Oliver can now ice skate.

4. Basketball! He's definitely one of the weaker players on his team, but unlike his brief stint playing on a basketball team last year, he actually is running up and down the court (usually at the appropriate times), and he has attempted to make a basket. He's made one in practice. I have my doubts that he'll make one in a game this year, but I could be wrong.

5. Gymnastics! We're taking a break right now during basketball season, but Paul told me that Oliver really made a lot of progress in gymnastics in the fall.

6. Teeth: Two of his permanent teeth erupted and his baby teeth weren't wiggly so the dentist had to extract them. I was very proud of him for being a good patient. When Ian turned 6 1/2 he had only lost one tooth thus far, and Nadia lost five teeth before she turned 6 1/2.

7. Glasses: Both Oliver and Ian got their first pair of glasses before they turned 6 1/2. Nadia still doesn't have glasses at the age of 10 1/2.

In many regards he's the same as he was 6 months ago:
1. His favorite color is still green

2. His green blanket is still his lovie. That blanket is usually on the couch in the family room during the day and on his bed at night.

3. He's still a social butterfly who is obsessed with water balloons.

4. He still loves to dance and listen to music. He likes a wide variety of music - classical (such as the Nutcracker), Gregorian chants, music from the show Odd Squad, Christian contemporary, etc. Some music that he likes (such as Skillet) gives me a headache. He really loved the Trans Siberian Orchestra concert we attended the end of November.

5. He's still very generous. Way to go, Oliver!

6. He still eats just about anything. He typically has a bowl of dry cereal for breakfast. Lunch is either a ham and cheese hot pocket or a peanut butter and grape jelly sandwich with half of an apple.

We love you, Oliver! I look forward to seeing how he'll grow and develop over the next six months!

My 3 penguins

In March 2017 I bought five sweaters at Macy's for $1 each - one size 4T, one size 7/8, two size 10/12, and one for myself. Ian loves the sweater. He has been wearing it at least once a week. He wasn't happy when I asked him this morning to pass his beloved size 7/8 sweater down to Oliver so that all three kids would have a penguin sweater to wear today, but once he realized I was giving him one of the size 10/12 sweaters to wear, he was fine with giving his to Oliver. The weather was brutally cold last week, but it started warming up yesterday, and today it got into the high 40's which was a drastic improvement compared to last week. In light of the warmer temps and the fact Mondays are usually a day I am at home with the kids (I participated in a faculty meeting via Zoom from 3:00-4:30 instead of going on campus), I decided to take pictures of the kids wearing their penguin sweaters again today. The mountain of snow near the river wasn't as large as in 2017, and it was in a different location so I wasn't able to exactly recreate the picture from two years ago, but I love some of the pictures I got today! Let me tell you it is no easy feat to get all three kids to have their eyes open and smiling in the same photo. There were many outtakes! I should have waited a little later in the day because the sun was a bit bright when we went (hence why there were so many pictures in which Oliver's eyes were closed). 

The last few days I realized on more than one occasion that I hadn't planned far enough in advance. I had events on the calendar for months but hadn't yet made the reservations. Hopefully I have learned my lesson! I went to buy our tickets to go up to the crown of the Statue of Liberty next month only to find out the first available tickets were for May 5. We're still going to NYC in March, but I had to rework our plans for that 3 day trip in light of the fact that I had originally planned to spend one whole day at the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. The current itinerary includes: Intrepid, American Museum of Natural History, Central Park, Brooklyn Children's Museum, Transit Museum, Tenement Museum, Liberty Science Center, and the Nintendo New York. If anyone has any recommendations, I am all ears! Some things I eliminated due to the kids' ages (such as the 911 Memorial Museum); we'll save some things for when they are older. Most of those museums we can get into for free with our ASTC membership. Ian rarely saves up his money, but he's started saving as he wants to buy a plush at the Nintendo store. I will admit the government shutdown was part of the reason I delayed buying the tickets (it's a national park). I toyed with just getting pedestal tickets, but Nadia said she'd rather wait as she really wanted to go up to the crown. She's wanted to go for a few years. We were waiting until Oliver was 48 inches tall as that's the minimum height to climb to the top.

Similarly, I had plans to go to a few places in May when they were having a program for school children. I went online this weekend to look and see if advance reservations were needed, and found out that again they were already totally booked. Oi vey! I rescheduled that trip. We can still do the school program at the one site (Washington Crossing Park), but at the other one we're doing a Living History program on a Sunday afternoon instead of a program geared for school children because ALL of the dates were full at Pennsbury Manor (William Penn's home). I'm hoping to stay with a friend for a couple of nights for that four day getaway. I know that if you want advance tickets to the Washington Monument (which means you don't have to show up there at the crack of dawn) you have to request them at least 6 months in advance. We're planning to go there in November, but the monument is currently closed for repairs (has been closed for more than a year). It's supposed to open in the spring. I hope by "spring" they mean at least by May as they aren't accepting requests right now. I really enjoy planning our field trips and vacations, but it sure takes a LOT of time. The government shutdown also has put a crimp in my planning as some of the national park websites haven't posted their schedule for 2019 yet (which is later than usual). We've been studying the Revolutionary War lately so we're hoping to go some battlefields this year - Saratoga, Valley Forge, Ticonderoga, etc. 

Mondays often have a bad rap. People tend to love Friday a lot more than Monday. Well I happen to be a fan of Mondays. I don't usually go to work that day, which means it's a day I primarily focus on homeschooling the kids, laundry, cooking, etc. I still email students and such, but any day I am home with my kids is a good day in my opinion. The warmer weather and also taking the time to take some pics of my kids also put a smile on my face. As an added bonus, when I weighed myself this morning, I discovered I lost a total of 5 pounds in the first week of my diet (I started dieting last Monday). I know I won't maintain that pace (my goal was to lose 1.5lbs a week), but I'll take a faster rate any day of the week!