A new co-op

The weather varies greatly in Pennsylvania in April. Today, April 1, started out as a very rainy day, but the rain cleared, and the temperature soared up into the 70's! After taking Milo on many walks the last few months during which I was wearing a ski jacket, scarf, hat, and gloves, it was heavenly to not need a coat of any kind. Milo won't walk if it's raining so I didn't get my usual 2 miles in at 7am, but after I took Oliver to two Easter egg hunts I was able to take Milo for a nice long walk. Now that the weather has been nicer, I've been trying to get my average closer to 6-7 miles a day. Nadia and Ian were at church for 6+ hours today with their Bible quizzing team. After taking Oliver to his third egg hunt (at which he won a prize of a 1/2 lb. chocolate bunny), I watched the last hour of the quizzing. Three boys and ten girls competed, and the team that consisted of the three boys won! Ian has improved SO much over the last year. I think if he puts in more time studying over the next almost 3 months that he will do well at the Nationals in Indiana at the end of June. He was also one of the top performers in the individual competitions. Usually, I take the kids to Easter egg hunts on the two Saturdays before Easter. This is the first year that Ian is too old to participate. Oliver will be able to participate for two more years, which will be my 16th year of taking at least one child to an egg hunt as Nadia’s first was in 2010. I'm planning to take Oliver to one tomorrow afternoon, and that will be his last one for this year as we'll be in Chicago next Saturday. We're also planning to see the movie "His Only Son" (about Abraham/Isaac) at the theater tomorrow afternoon. 

On Tuesday our friend hosted a game day at her home. The number of kids attending continues to grow. Most of the kids are between the ages of 10-15. I decided to see if some of these families might be interested in forming a new co-op, and there are about eight families who are interested! We have scheduled a meeting for April 18 to discuss ideas regarding what day/time to meet, what classes to offer, etc. The man who is the kids' Bible quizzing coach offered to teach a Bible or history class and/or lead a chess club. Although Nadia's first choice would be to attend the Christian school at our church (MCS) next year, all three kids are excited about seeing their friends more regularly through this co-op. I have scheduled two field trips that many of these families are planning to attend next month - one is a guided tour of Eckley Miner's Village and the other is a VERY local guided tour of a historic church, home, and cemetery that is less than 4 miles from our home. As I have the last two years, I've given Nadia the choice of attending drama (and possibly art) at MCS as she did in 2019 or the CHEF co-op. She's chosen the CHEF co-op the last two years, but I think she's leaning towards choosing MCS for the 2023-24 school year. If so, I will sign both Nadia and Ian up to be in the chorus at MCS, which would mean that they could both perform in that school's spring musical next year. Speaking of musicals, Nadia is attending a performance this evening of Beauty and the Beast with her friends Macey and Christopher and also Macey's parents.

Highlights from the past three weeks would include:

1. Nadia and I saw a performance of Guys and Dolls that some of her friends were in.
2. Our whole family saw a performance of Julius Caesar.
3. Ian had four teeth extracted at the dentist at the request of the orthodontist.
4. Oliver, Nadia, and I attended a Matthew West concert at our church.
5. We saw a passion play with my niece Jenna and her boyfriend, and we all had dinner together at Texas Roadhouse. 
6. The five of us attended an anniversary party for a couple in our church.
7. Ian and Oliver attended a game day for homeschoolers. Oliver and I didn't attend because Oliver was under the weather.