Thankful Thursday

1. We enjoyed participating in a service project for Voice of the Martyrs last Friday. The items we were packing will primarily be sent to Haiti. There were people there from the church I attended from 2004-2008 so it was great to reconnect with ladies I hadn't seen in years. 

2. Nadia hasn't been able to talk with her cousin, Rachel, for more than three weeks, but that hiatus is coming to an end tonight. 

3. My sister thought her extreme exhaustion the last several months was due to adjusting to the high altitude in Quito (over 9,000 feet), but bloodwork showed she had a flare-up of Epstein Barr (mono). The good news is that she's feeling much better lately, which is an answer to prayer. 

4. We had a couple over to our house on Saturday night for dinner. They had provided us with two meals in the fall following my ankle surgery, and we wanted to return the favor. They are the parents of one of the pastors at our church. We had a lovely time of conversation and also enjoyed playing a couple of games together. Aside from relatives, we've had very few people over for dinner over the last few years. My new goal is to try to have another family over at least once a month.  Two couples are planning to come up to our house for dinner on March 12.

5. On Sunday the kids and I saw a production of The Secret Garden, which was one of my most favorite books when I was a child. We weren't thrilled that we had to wear masks, but we all enjoyed the play. 

6. The weather was unseasonably warm earlier this week! The kids enjoyed using some of their Christmas gifts - roller skates, bubble balls, and hoverboards. As a person who isn't a fan of winter weather, I greatly appreciate the reminder that spring is on the way.

7. Paul's dad came up on Monday. He took the kids out to lunch, inflated two bubble balls for Oliver, and taught Ian how to use an app to program Legos to become an electric guitar. While he was here, I had lunch with my friend, Cheri, at Perkins. There have been years when I've gone more than a year without having a meal with a friend, and I've had a meal with Cheri twice in 2022 and it's only February! 

8. Nadia has taken two of her three standardized tests so far this week. She has her last test tomorrow. I was pleased with her score on the reading test on Wednesday. 

9. Nadia was thankful that she was paid $100 on Tuesday for caring for Cookie for ten days.

10. Paul ordered me a new laptop. I am thankful and hoping it will last me at least six years. Ian is using Paul's mom's laptop for Teaching Textbooks (math), and both Ian and Nadia are using it for coding (Python).

11. Margie had brought some lemon poppyseed cake to our house at Christmas. Nadia had never had it before. She really liked it, so she asked me to make some. I made some in a Bundt pan last Saturday. Yum!  Even though I have a fairly lengthy list of recipes that I cycle through, there is always room to add more to the list! 

12. The book we've been enjoying this week is Sweet Home Alaska. I had no idea that our government spent 5 million dollars to move 203 families to Alaska in 1935. I think that was a waste of money, but it's been interesting to learn more about that project, and the book is well written. The best book we've read over the last year would probably be A Place to Hang the Moon, which we finished last week. The four of us really, really, really liked that one. 

13. Paul, Oliver, and Nadia have watched some things on Netflix. Last weekend the five of us watched a movie together on Netflix called "Home Team" which was about when Sean Payton coached his son's sixth grade team while he was suspended from the Saints. 

14. Oliver is really enjoying books by Dick King Smith. Ian also enjoyed reading his books when he was younger. One of the books Nadia is reading right now is the first book in the Lord of the Rings trilogy. 

"Twosday" (2/22/22)

Yesterday was President's Day. Usually, I don't regret it when I choose to have school on a federal holiday that takes place in the winter because we'd rather end our school year earlier when the weather is nicer, but yesterday the weather was MUCH warmer than it has been lately. In hindsight, it would have been a good day to have off. We love the warmer weather and appreciate having a taste of spring in February! The kids finished the majority of their schoolwork by 11:30. Some of it we pushed off to today, and some of it they finished later in the day. Pop Pop took the kids out to lunch at Bonanza, and I met my friend, Cheri, for lunch at Perkins. Pop Pop and Ian worked on programming Legos to be an electric guitar! The boys were back at that Lego guitar first thing this morning. Pop Pop also helped blow up Oliver's two bubble balls that he had received for Christmas from Pop Pop, Uncle Al, and Aunt Millie. Our three kids plus several of the kids in our neighborhood had fun using them yesterday afternoon and evening. Cookie was picked up last night. I was relieved that our ten days of dog sitting were over. Nadia would like to dog sit for them again. I am not sure if I'll agree to it or not. I do give Nadia credit that whenever she was home, she took full responsibility for cleaning up Cookie's messes and taking Cookie out for walks. Although Milo enjoyed playing with her, he spent FAR more time in his crate while she was here, so I think he's actually better off when she's not here. 

Some people like to frequently trade in their cars, cellphones, computers, etc. for the newer ones. Paul and I are both content to keep using what we have as long as possible. However, many things sadly aren't built to last for too many years. My first washing machine lasted MUCH longer than my second one, for example. Paul has only owned one smart phone, and he's having a lot of trouble with it. It's five years old. We were able to get two extra years out of my first smart phone by changing out the battery (which was no small feat!). I think he's just going to get himself a new phone instead of going the battery route with his. I got a new smart phone a year ago, and it seems it's his turn this year. Unfortunately, my six-year-old laptop also needs to be replaced. I recently bought a new cord for the computer hoping that would solve the problem, but it didn't. Yesterday I attempted to switch things over to the laptop that had been Paul's mom's as then we wouldn't have needed to buy a new one, but it turns out her computer will be six years old in August and also didn't have enough memory. So, I am trying to shop for a laptop as quickly as possible because I use my laptop quite a bit. Hopefully I can get at least six years out of whatever laptop I buy this week. The timing isn't the best in light of the fact we might be facing a $20K bill in the very near future from the hospital, but a laptop is more of a need than a want for me with homeschooling, editing photographs, blogging, email, budget, etc. 

Fourth Quarter

We will soon be entering the fourth quarter of our school year. Not counting field trip days, we have forty-eight days left of school this year. Oliver recently finished his handwriting textbook and his fourth Life of Fred book for this year (Dogs through Goldfish); when he finished Goldfish, we started doing math flashcards every day because he has forgotten some of the multiplication facts that he memorized last year. Nadia and Ian will finish Life of Fred Pre-Algebra 2 with Economics on March 7, and then they will be doing his Financial Choices book. Oliver finished his Flying Creatures science textbook and now has been working through the Swimming Creatures curriculum. Nadia and Ian finished the chemistry portion of their Physical Science textbook and have almost finished the physics chapters. The last section is focused on earth science. In history we have gone from Creation through about 400 BC so far. Next, they will be learning about Plato, Aristotle, and Socrates. We have about four hundred more years of history to cover before our school year draws to a close. In Bible, we have memorized James chapters 1-3 and will finish chapter four this week. That means we have one chapter left to memorize. Nadia is also working on memorizing all sixteen chapters of Romans. She's currently working on chapter ten. As for reading through the Old Testament, most of the rest of our school year we'll be reading Ezekiel, Isaiah, and Jeremiah. Nadia and Ian finished reading the JavaScript book; I am very happy to say that coding has been going much better this semester as they've been actually doing the Python programming exercises on the computer instead of just reading about it. Ian isn't a bookworm like Nadia, but he flew through the five books of the Evil Librarians series and is eagerly awaiting the arrival of the sixth book in the series in September. At the moment Oliver's two favorite authors are Dick King Smith and Mary Pope Osborne.

Because of my broken ankle, the kids didn't participate in the art, gym, drama, etc. classes that I had paid for them to take at the co-op in the fall. Now the kids are all taking ice skating lessons once a week, and right around the time those will end in March, they will begin taking homeschool gym classes for ten weeks at our church; the class meets once a week and lasts 90 minutes. Nadia is also participating in a drama class that meets for 75 minutes once a week. The week of their production they will meet for 7+ hours a day for five days in a row. During our last quarter of school, the kids will be doing a LOT more writing than they did during the first three quarters. Also, I want to give more attention to having them write more regularly in each of their Book of Centuries books. I had set a goal to start working through some of Shakespeare's works every school year starting this year. Aside from attending the Tempest last August, we haven't done so yet. That is also on my agenda for the fourth quarter. The good news is that they are MUCH shorter than Gulliver's Travels, which we finally finished today. Because of COVID, my broken ankle, and the weather, we haven't been on many field trips over the last four months, but that should drastically change starting in May. Although we've done very few field trips, we have been involved in service projects. The hygiene kits that we worked on yesterday will be headed to Haiti. 

This week Nadia is taking standardized tests for the third time in her life. In Pennsylvania homeschoolers are required to take tests in grades 3, 5, and 8. If I choose to hold Oliver back a grade, then none of my kids will be tested next year. There are various paths as far as homeschoolers receiving a HS diploma in Pennsylvania, and I've been contemplating which path to choose for Nadia. One of the options involves taking thirty credits of college coursework during high school. I'm also considering signing the kids up for a homeschool volleyball class in the fall at a YMCA. Life is full of so, so, so many decisions to make! 

Thankful Thursday

 

1. Margie had a lung x-ray ten days ago which showed something that could have been cancer. She had a CT scan on February 11 and received a good report regarding that scan on Monday. They thought her fifth chemo treatment that had been scheduled for February 8 would have to be postponed due to her illness, but thankfully she was able to have it. The next chemo treatment should be the last one!

2. Nadia enjoyed attending Macey's birthday party on Sunday afternoon.

3. Oliver enjoyed his date at KFC and Treasure Castle Playland on Saturday with Paul. He hadn't been there since 2019. I don't think he'll ask to go back again as he now realizes that he's outgrown that place. 

4. I'm not sure if I'll agree to dog sitting again, but Nadia is very thankful that she's had this opportunity to earn $100. She has been very diligent as far as cleaning up Cookie's messes and walking Cookie many times a day. She still hates to be in her crate, but thankfully she's no longer scared of Milo.

5. We are getting close to the end of Gulliver's Travels. Usually, it's not a struggle to finish a book, but this one is long (12 hours) and hasn't been a favorite. In contrast to that, we have only been listening to A Place to Hang the Moon for a few days, and we're nearing the end. Yes, that book is 4 hours shorter than Gulliver's Travels, but more importantly we're really enjoying it. 

6. The kids enjoyed roller skating on Monday. I hadn't seen my friend, Tab, in two months, and now we're going to see each other three times in five days as we went to their house yesterday afternoon and the same 7 kids that played together yesterday are planning to serve together at the warehouse tomorrow afternoon.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I've heard many disparaging comments made about Valentine's Day over the years such as "it's just a Hallmark holiday." The holiday began LONG before Hallmark in honor of Valentinus who was martyred on February 14th during the 3rd century. I understand that the holiday can be a painful one if you are desiring romance and not in that type of a relationship, as I felt that way in the past, but everyone can experience the love of the Lord, and hopefully everyone experiences loving relationships with some relatives and/or friends. Paul and I used to give each other gifts and go out on a date for Valentine's Day, but that went by the wayside sometime over the last several years. I've always had the kids wear red clothes on Valentine's Day, and when they were younger, I had them make Valentine's cards for grandparents and such. I always make them heart shaped food on February 14. In the beginning I didn't buy them gifts. If they got a gift or candy on Valentine's Day, it was from either Paul's mom or my mom. My mom's tradition was to give them each a gift card to a restaurant. A few years ago, I started the tradition of getting them each a gift for Valentine's Day. One year I gave them each a puzzle, and another year I gave them each a book. This year our Valentine's celebrations included: me giving my four loves (kids and Paul) each a handwritten love letter, helping the kids make heart shaped sugar cookies with pink and red icing, attending a homeschool Valentine's Day party at the roller-skating rink today, and buying them each two gifts. I got Oliver two 300-piece jigsaw puzzles as he's really been into puzzles lately and that's his preferred size at the moment. I gave Nadia a book plus the game Vacation Simulator for the Oculus, I gave Paul a three-month subscription to Netflix, and I gave Ian a sleeping bag (he had outgrown his) and the card game Taco Cat Goat Cheese Pizza. We already played the game a few times. Margie was the only one who got Milo a Christmas gift last year, but I got Milo some new marrow bones for Valentine's Day this year. Nadia has already begun reading the book I got her, and Oliver has started one of the puzzles. Multiple people have been using the Netflix membership. Oliver made Valentine's Day cards yesterday for Paul and me of his own initiative, which we greatly appreciated.

Our friends were at the roller-skating party today. We hadn't been together in two months, so it was nice to be able to chat with my friend; we're planning to go to their house on Wednesday as we haven't met their new puppy that they got last month. I made heart shaped pancakes for the boys and a heart shaped egg inside a piece of toast for Nadia and I for breakfast. They definitely had a very unhealthy lunch. They might have eaten a few pieces of cheese or pepperoni, but mostly I think their lunches consisted of things like chips, crackers, and cookies. Parties aren't exactly known for providing a well-balanced meal. Nadia attended three parties in two days. I don't think that has ever happened to her before. She attended a birthday party at a bowling alley yesterday afternoon. I got my haircut while she bowled. Nadia and Ian attended a Superbowl party at church last night with the youth group. I don't know if they watched any of the game, but they had fun playing gaga ball, nine square, etc. 

Macey's 15th birthday party

After the roller-skating party, we drove straight to the orthodontist. He said Ian will just keep using the retainer for at least 6 more months, but he wants to get Oliver started with his first expander as soon as possible after Oliver has another panoramic x-ray at the dentist. Sadly, the cost of phase one at the orthodontist went up 27% in exactly twelve months. 

I seriously have no idea where this 7.5% figure is coming from that the government has reported for inflation. I would love it if the prices had only gone up 7.5%. For example, our natural gas bill for February was 60% higher than the next highest bill we paid over the past 18 months. Nadia has been asking me to buy baby carrots as she usually has some at lunch and we had run out. I hadn't gotten any because either the store was out of stock (the shelves are very bare in many sections of many grocery stores around here) OR the price was much higher than what I'm accustomed to paying. Yesterday I finally caved in and got some because the price at Walmart was "only" 50% more than usual. My price limit for 20+ years has been $1 for a two liter of soda for Paul. Sometimes I pay less than that, and on a few very rare occasions I've paid as much as $1.20 for a two liter. All last year I was able to get Coke or Pepsi for $1 or less at Weis if I bought ten at a time. The lowest price I've seen soda on sale at CVS, Lingles, Walmart, or Weis in 2022 is $1.99. I did see online that if I buy 4 two liters at a time, I can get them for $1.50 each at Sam's Club. Paul wants me to get some at Sam's. That will still be a 50% increase in price. Maybe Paul will cut back on his soda intake? I got the very last container of cream cheese at Walmart yesterday, and the price I paid for that small box was more than double what I usually pay. I guess I just can't pay attention to the prices any longer and just expect that our grocery budget could easily double this year? It's a whole new world for me as inflation hasn't been a pressing issue since I was a child. Speaking of my childhood, the last time there was a major criminal scandal involving a presidential election was with Nixon. He resigned from office. I'm dubious that anyone will be held accountable for the crimes committed against Trump by Clinton's campaign despite the fact they were more heinous than those committed by Nixon's associates, but I'd love to be proven wrong. There hasn't been a war in Europe for 70 years; my heart goes out to the people in Ukraine. 

When I was growing up, our church regularly had business meetings. Our current church can go years in between having one. We had one last spring to vote on our new senior pastor when our previous one was about to retire. We had another yesterday to vote on purchasing a building and land to start a recovery house in Sunbury where fifteen men who have recently come out of a drug or alcohol rehabilitation program can live. Last fall our church started a new Recovery Church that meets on Friday nights in Sunbury, and the pastor at this church will be overseeing this new recovery house. Millions of people die every year from drug and alcohol addictions, and these habits are challenging to break. Hopefully this new ministry will be a blessing to many over the coming years. 

Dogsitting

Earlier this week a mom sent an email to people in the homeschool co-op in her search for a teenager to dog sit their female cavapoo for ten days. Nadia got the job, and Cookie was delivered to our house last night. Nadia loves dogs, cats, guinea pigs, etc. so she was excited at the prospect of having two dogs for ten days, plus she likes to earn $100. She's only earned money from someone other than me one other time in her life (she and her friend babysat a boy together once). I'm happy that someone else is paying her this time! Milo usually alternates between Nadia and Ian's beds. Last night it would normally have been Nadia's turn to have Milo, but because Cookie was crying in her crate for an extended period of time, Cookie slept with Nadia, and Ian had Milo two nights in a row. Normally Cookie sleeps in a crate, but it seems that in a foreign environment she preferred to snuggle with someone. We were told that Cookie doesn't have accidents in her crate but does have accidents in the house. She's had one accident so far. We thought Milo would be thrilled to have a playmate, but so far Cookie, despite the fact she's smaller than Milo, has been aggressive toward Milo (growling and jumping on him). Hopefully they will learn to get along as we hate having to keep Milo in his crate just to keep the two of them separate. 

In early December I joined Sam's club for the first time in my life. Time will tell if I keep the membership more than one year. It definitely made sense the first year as they refunded the membership fee during my first shopping trip. I had done one online order in December, but this Tuesday was the first time I actually went into the store. It was a quick trip because I didn't want to leave the boys at home longer than necessary and also because my ankle still swells up if I walk around too much. What I gleaned so far was that they don't carry everything we typically buy (ex. no skim milk), but they do have good prices on some things. The "find" that put the biggest smile on my face was turkey. Lunchmeat has been very scarce at Weis, Walmart, and Aldi, and also the prices have been skyrocketing. The package contained 2.5 lbs., which is more turkey than I usually buy at one time for Paul, but the price was good, and they had plenty in stock. I put some of it in the freezer. I didn't buy hotdogs there because I thought the price wasn't good. Then I went to Walmart after dropping Nadia off at her drama class and found out that the price of hotdogs had skyrocketed very recently. I hadn't purchased bacon or beef stew meat for months due to the price increases. I purchased them at Sam's. I paid more than I have ever paid per pound for those in the past BUT the price increase was smaller than it is at Lingle's, which is usually where I find the best prices for meat. I've also never purchased so many pounds of beef stew meat at one time. I shouldn't need any for at least a year! I'm not sure if I'll renew the membership in light of the $45 annual fee, but for at least the next about ten months I'm sure I'll shop there from time to time. It is definitely the best place to get Dorito's at the moment. I don't plan on buying eggs there again as #1 it wasn't the best price and #2 you have to buy at least 36 at a time which is definitely more than I usually buy at one time. 

Ian enjoyed his date with Paul last Saturday. They shared a pizza and bowled. The kids really enjoy these dates. Next year I'm planning to expand it so that they each get three dates a year. Today Oliver is going on a date with Paul to Treasure Castle Playland and KFC.

I'm very encouraged to see that some states are ending their mask mandates except for kids in school. Many have stated that masks other than N95 masks aren't that helpful, and I rarely see anyone wearing an N95 mask. Paul heard about a study recently that showed that the N95 masks are only helpful with Omicron if someone sneezes, coughs, or spits in your face. You need something even more powerful (a gas mask?) to prevent breathing the miniscule particles that are just floating around in the air. We've been using an air purifier at home that Paul's dad purchased. I'm even more thrilled to see that the cities which instituted vaccine mandates several weeks ago are already ending them or talking about ending them in the near future (Salem, Boston, Chicago, etc.). I was very encouraged when I saw that Sweden, Denmark, Norway, and England have scrapped their COVID restrictions, and I hoped the USA would follow their pattern. I have made most of the plans for our vacation in May. I'm still holding off on planning our fall trip, but now I have far more hope that we can take our unvaccinated kids on a road trip to New England or the Midwest. 

9.5 Years Old

There are only six months left of us having a child with a single digit age as Oliver will turn 10 on August 7. February 7 is also special because Paul and I met on February 7, 1997, at a ballroom dancing class at Boscov's department store. The teacher of the class, Barbara Snitzer, is currently ninety years old. 

Paul finally took Ian on his belated birthday date two days ago (albeit Ian's birthday was December 12). They went bowling and had pizza. Oliver won't have to wait nearly as long for his half-birthday date with Paul as Paul plans to take him to Treasure Castle Playland this Saturday. The kids love the tradition we started last year of them each getting two dates a year with a parent. Here are some ways I would describe our 9.5-year-old whom we love very, very much. 

1. He started learning to play the piano over the last several months. He's making good progress! He has learned to read some notes in the treble clef and is working to learn some in the bass clef. He's just begun to play songs that involve playing 2-3 notes at a time whereas previously he only played one note at a time. His goal at this time is to learn to play the electric guitar. I told him first he needs to learn to read music via the piano lessons. 
2. His favorite way to earn screen time is by doing jigsaw puzzles. He has come a long way in the last few months in this skill. He can now do 300-piece puzzles on his own in a very reasonable amount of time.
3. Almost every day at lunch he eats 1-2 hotdogs as part of his lunch. He doesn't put ketchup or mustard on them, and he doesn't use a bun. His asks me to sprinkle some shredded cheddar cheese on his hotdogs every day. 
4. He never plays with the Oculus, and he rarely uses the Nintendo Switch. He occasionally uses an app on the iPad when he has screen time, but the vast majority of the time he watches something on the TV or the iPad via Right Now Media, Disney+ or a DVD. I gave Paul his Valentine's Day gift early yesterday - a three-month subscription to Netflix. We hadn't had Netflix for years. Oliver is also enjoying Daddy's Valentine's Day gift.
5. Oliver plays outside more than his siblings, even in the dark in the winter. One of the neighbors who is fourteen years old will often knock on our sliding glass door after dinner to ask if Oliver can come out to play with him. 
6. Oliver has had sutures on his head three times - two of which were in the last a little more than six months. Here's to hoping that trend won't continue! His most recent one won't leave a visible scar because his eyebrow will cover it up as it gets bushier when he's older.
7. I decided recently to have Oliver repeat the fourth grade. If he hadn't been born two months prematurely, he would only be in third grade right now. I can always have him skip a grade in the future if I end up thinking this decision was a mistake. I have toyed with holding him back a grade in the past, but I feel more confident now that it's the right choice to make. I don't think he's ready for fifth grade next year. One upside to this is that I get one additional year before I have an empty nest. In our state homeschooled kids have to take a standardized test three times. I want him to have an extra year before he takes the test as a fifth grader. This decision only really impacts him in two ways #1 he won't graduate from high school until he's eighteen instead of graduating when he's seventeen, and #2 it means we will delay his entrance into the youth group at church by one year (not until June 2024 instead of June 2023). A boy who lives across the street from us was also born in August 2012, and his parents delayed his entrance to kindergarten until he was six, so that also helps Oliver accept the idea of him being in fourth grade next year as that's what grade his friend (who is practically the same age) will be in next fall. Part of Oliver's problem is that he daydreams way, way too much. I'm trying to get him to do a better job of paying attention and not letting his mind wander.
8. Oliver is still very, very generous, and he still really, really appreciates physical affection - hugs, his back being scratched, etc. It's not only good habits that have been true in his life for an extended period of time. I have been trying for years to get him to say "brought" instead of "brung". We shall see when he eradicates that word from his vocabulary!
9. For many years it was hard to come up with ideas as to what to get Oliver for his birthday or Christmas because he almost never asked for anything. In 2020 he did start to come up with a couple of ideas at Christmas and his birthday. In 2021 he swung the pendulum and could easily come up with a very long wish list. 
10. Oliver does a great job of filling in the blanks in the sermon outline during the Sunday morning worship service! He takes after his big sister in this regard as Ian has always been one to draw on his sermon outline rather than fill in the blanks.

Winter Olympics

When Paul and I were in Beijing in 2006, they were preparing for the summer Olympics to be held in that city. We saw the partially completed Bird's Nest. Ever since I was a child, I have enjoyed watching the Olympics, and I have found ways for my kids to watch the Olympics even though we rarely have access to cable tv. This is the first time in my life I am very torn as to whether I will watch any of the Olympics, and it's because I feel that we should have boycotted these Olympics due to China's many human rights violations - genocide against the Uyghurs, persecution of Christians, and other serious issues related to their treatment of people in Tibet, Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc. If I had to pick my ten least favorite American politicians from my lifetime, Nancy Pelosi would be on that list, but I agree with her that we should have boycotted the Winter Olympics this year. We are planning to see some of the Olympic ice skaters in person in Pittsburgh in May. We shall see if we watch any of the Olympics this year or not.

Speaking of China, we had tickets to see the Peking Acrobats at Bucknell next month, but that show has been cancelled due to COVID. Those cancellations were such a shock in 2020, but two years later we've gotten very accustomed to rolling with that kind of punch. The hardest thing to grapple with right now related to COVID is that you can't walk into an aquarium or an art museum in many cities in the US without showing proof of vaccination. I really hope that isn't the case for a very long period of time as I certainly don't want to make a medical decision for that reason. Paul and I are still concerned about the lack of longitudinal data and do not feel it's worth the risk for our kids, especially given how many triple vaccinated individuals have still come down with COVID. 

I got the bill in the mail today from when Oliver received three stitches. The charge was $632, which seems ridiculous for an appointment that literally lasted less than ten minutes, BUT the good news is that they applied a "self-pay discount" in the amount of $507, so we actually were charged $125 for the appointment. Ten ice skating lessons for three kids cost a total of $180, and then one fall on the ice cost $175, but that's nothing compared to my fall in September. Speaking of broken ankles, a dad broke his on the ice last night right before Ian and Nadia's lesson was supposed to begin. Their class was shortened as they waited for an ambulance to arrive. As far as my hospital bill, the insurance commission said that because we knew the policy was limited, there wasn't any violation even though the salesman (who recommended this particular plan) had said it was only limited in three ways (maternity, mental health, and substance abuse). At this point our only hope for seeing the $20K bill shrink is what the insurance calls a network appeal. It would be lovely if the discounts would amount to 80% off like they were for Oliver's stitches, but I'm not expecting that. We should find out in the next week what we will have to pay. If the bill comes down a lot, I want to see a physical therapist. I still experience pain if I do much in the way of walking or standing over the course of a day. I know we'll have to pay for the physical therapist bill, but I hope it would be worth the expense. However, with a $20K bill hanging over our heads, I'm trying to avoid incurring any additional medical bills if at all possible. 

In my spare time I've been reading and working on learning Spanish. I read ten books (plus started some others) in January. I want to get back in gear with photography. I have barely taken any photos over the last 4 months. I snapped the picture in this post at Ian's request. He was working on programming that Lego robot and asked me to take a picture with my phone and send it to Pop Pop. 

On Wednesday as we were driving to church, I asked the kids what age they thought was a good age to start dating. Ian said, "Never." Nadia said, "18," and Oliver agreed with Nadia's idea. Eighteen works for me! I was almost 25 years old when I started dating, but I certainly hadn't wanted to wait that long. We shall see if Ian changes his opinion at some point along the way. 

3rd Birthday in Heaven

Today would have been Maurice's 38th birthday. I wore one of his shirts today in his honor. Our former senior pastor who retired 8 months ago was the guest speaker on Sunday while most of our pastors and their wives were on a retreat. We've been working through I Thessalonians, but he preached a sermon on Heaven. During the sermon I was thinking of my mom, Maurice, and Paul's mom. How can I wish they were still here on earth when they're in a place that is SO much better? But they are missed.

Today Nadia found out that the play they will be putting on in May is called "Forgotten" and is about Wendy when she's in high school and is trying to figure out if Neverland is just a nightmare or a real place. While she was in drama class, I did some grocery shopping. I have to say that in my whole life I have never seen the shelves as empty as they have been over the last few weeks. It took going to more than one store just to find a gallon of milk (which now costs more than $4/gallon). I've visited multiple stores over the last few weeks in an attempt to buy turkey for Paul's sandwiches that he takes to work. Either they are completely out of turkey, or they are selling it for $8-9/lb., which is more than double the highest I've ever paid for his turkey before. How long is it going to take for these supply chain problems to be resolved??? Whenever I make a grocery list, I wonder which items will I actually be able to purchase. For example, Paul asked for cough drops recently. He likes cherry ones, but there were hardly any cough drops for sale at CVS, so I had to buy him a flavor he'd never had before as there weren't any cherry ones available. At least there were SOME cough drops. There have been plenty of times there has been none of a particular item available at the grocery store. The episode of Tuttle Twins that aired this evening was very apropos, as it was on inflation.

Despite the inflation and the empty shelves at the stores, I know we are very blessed. On Saturday afternoon the kids and I spent 3 hours helping with a project for Voice of the Martyrs. Twelve adults plus six kids worked in the warehouse and filled a gaylord with five hundred family med packs for persecuted Christians around the world. These packs contained hygiene items like wash cloths, soap, toothbrushes, bandages, gauze, etc. We are praying for the families who will receive these packs.