Welcome, Lily!

In December 2016 we got the kids their first two pets - two guinea pigs whom they named Jenna and Patches. Guinea pigs were on the main floor of our home until December 2020 when Milo joined our family. Patches passed away in February of 2020. We had two rabbits for a couple of months after she passed, but when that didn't work out, we got two new guinea pigs which meant that for about 20 months we had three guinea pigs. Jenna is the only one of our guinea pigs who has made it to the age of five. Patches is the only guinea pig who has been to a vet, but all he did was put her to sleep when she was a little shy of 3.5 years old. The reported average lifespan for guinea pigs varies from 3-5, 4-7, and 5-8 years. The record holder lived to be fifteen. The first guinea pig the kids and I got to know was one named Mickey, and he lived to be more than ten years old. Buttercup passed away last week. She was a little shy of 4 years old. I had to retrieve the bodies of Buttercup and Jenna from the cage which was highly unpleasant. Paul has been the one to bury the bodies of all three guinea pigs who have passed away. There was a brief period when Jenna was our only guinea pig, but most of the time we've had 2 guinea pigs at a time. Unfortunately, it seems that Peppa is a bit of a bully, so we haven't been able to put Lily in the cage with her. We've been keeping them separate, but Paul is planning to make a divider so the two can share the same (large) cage. I ordered a second water bottle and second house which are supposed to arrive on Friday. Nadia thinks we should get another young guinea pig so that Lily will have a companion. We haven't made a decision on that. If we do, she's naming the next one Rose. I never would have guessed we'd buy five guinea pigs over a span of seven years! I'm hoping Lily lives until Nadia graduates from high school. Once Nadia goes to college, we won't be buying any more guinea pigs. Considering she graduates a little bit more than 2.5 years from now, Lily should make it that long. 

Today I'm giving thanks:

1. That Paul and Oliver were able to help with the set construction for Sound of Music last Friday evening while Nadia, Ian, and I helped to set up for the OCC shoebox packing party.

2. That the kids and I were able to work with other volunteers to pack 339 shoeboxes on Saturday.

3. That Xandir and Faith were able to spend about five hours at our home Saturday afternoon before their parents came over to join us for dinner. They helped decorate the house because it was Melinda's birthday. When I invited them, I had no idea it was her birthday, but once I found out I planned the menu around her favorite foods. The kids put up a boatload of birthday banners around the house and blew up at least 30 balloons. She appreciated it! After dinner eight of us played Quiplash together, and then Faith, Nadia, and the four adults played Taboo together.

4. I've really been enjoying our Scribd membership lately. We just pay for a month from time to time, but it's such a great service for audiobooks. I really enjoyed The Last Exchange by Charles Martin, and now I'm listening to Evidence Not Seen, which Margie and my friend, Joanna had both recommended to me awhile back. I enjoy being able to listen while I walk the dog, and also while I drive to and from Sound of Music rehearsals. 

5. The kids have really been enjoying hosting a co-op at our home. They wish it wasn't ending in three weeks. Two of the families have agreed to resume it in March, and that session might last as long as twelve weeks. We haven't worked out the details yet. Paul led a dissection of six clams this week. 

6. The kids have already been asking when we can visit Aunt Janet again. Since we are planning to go to Ecuador and Alaska next year, I can't picture us also going to Reno. Even though she sold her home on Long Island two years ago, she still spends part of the summer out there. I asked her if we could spend a few days with her this summer at her cabana at the beach if we stayed at a hotel. She thinks that will probably be possible! It's much easier (and cheaper) for us to drive to New York than fly to Nevada. The kids would also like to see Ziggy again. If Brent, Robin, and Ziggy spend some time on Long Island next summer, maybe we can overlap our trip so that we can have at least one day with Ziggy. We still have some National Park sites to visit in New York so a trip to Long Island would also help us with that goal. 

7. On Monday night as I was driving Nadia and Ian home from their choir rehearsals, Ian asked Nadia and I to rank our day on a scale of 1-10. When I turned the question on him, he said that lately all of his days have been tens. What a great attitude! I was feeling rather exhausted that day due to running a lot of errands (orthodontist, shopping, choir, etc.), so his comment was a good reminder about having an attitude of gratitude. 

8. Although the kids aren't too keen on chorus class at MCS thus far (new teacher this year), they are really enjoying the art class. 

9. I wasn't keen on the last two musicals that MCS did; I'm thrilled that they are doing Music Man in April. I hope that Nadia and Ian will both be able to participate in that musical!

Go, Bears!

 

Several years ago, Paul and I stopped watching football. It's been a while since we have had cable tv, so we don't watch any sports. Last year I asked the kids a variety of questions to determine what sort of experiences to include on a first-time experience bucket list. Some of the questions related to sporting events such as whether they'd like to see a PSU football game. The kids said "no" to most of the athletic events I asked them about, but the exception was that they said they wanted to see a hockey game. When I was their age we lived in Maryland, and I remember going to NHL hockey games to see the Washington Capitals. It would be a longer drive if we drove to Pittsburgh or Philadelphia to see the Flyers or Penguins, so I decided that we'd go to a Hershey Bears game. Three nights a year they give out free tickets to HersheyPark at a Bears game. It's been seven years since we've been to HersheyPark, and the last time we went (May 2016) the water park wasn't open, so the kids have never been on the water rides there. The kids attended their first hockey game on Sunday evening, and we received 2024 HersheyPark tickets that we plan to use when we go to the park with the Towfighis next year in June. Our seats were above the goal that the Cleveland Monsters were defending for two of the three periods, which was a good place to be to see a lot of the action as the Bears defeated the Monsters 5-2. We had an early dinner at Pizza Hut before the game, and we visited Chocolate World before driving home after the game. We rode the free ride (which also means everyone gets a small piece of chocolate), and the kids also received a few extra pieces of candy as we walked throughout the building. Nadia was the least enthusiastic, but the rest of us really enjoyed the game, and I think all five of us are looking forward to going to HersheyPark in June! 

Here are some things I am thankful for today:

1. The boys were able to take a Safe Babysitter course on Saturday that was offered by a local hospital. They received their American Heart Association certification at the end of the day as they learned CPR and other first aid. 

2. While they were at that class, Nadia and I spent four hours working with other volunteers to pack 43,000 meals for people in Uganda, Ecuador, and Haiti. 

3. Saturday evening the VanHorns came over to our home for dinner. My kids enjoy spending time with Julianna (who is in 9th grade) and Nathaniel (who is in 8th grade). All of us played Big Picture Apples to Apples together. The four adults plus the two girls also played Taboo.

4. We enjoyed our time in Hershey on Sunday evening. Thankfully, it's only about 90 minutes from our home. 

5. Our second meeting of our little co-op went well yesterday. One family brought a second microscope which was helpful for the marine biology lab. I haven't taken any photos of our new co-op yet. Hopefully, I'll take some next Tuesday! 

6. Yvonne's body is finally acclimating to the high altitude in Ecuador! 

7. Although I had to make more trips today because of Nadia took the PSAT from 8:00-11:00, Nadia and Ian are now staying longer on Wednesdays so that usually I don't make as many trips to church on Wednesdays. Usually, I drop them off at 1:15 for art/chorus. They have a break for 90 minutes before they attend Bible quizzing (4:30-6:00), midweek meal (6:00-6:30), and youth group (6:30-8:00). This has meant Oliver has stopped attending Bible quizzing. He'll most likely rejoin it next fall. Paul, Oliver, and I return to church at 6:30 for Bible study. We all go home together after 8:00. Chorus was cancelled today because of a pep rally so Nadia and Ian had a longer break than usual in between art and Bible quizzing. Had we known about the pep rally, I would have had them skip art class today and just brought them at 4:30 for Bible quizzing. 

8. The repairman returned and finished cleaning our heat pump. We haven't gotten the bill yet, but I'm sure it will be a much smaller charge than it would have been if they had to replace the motor like they thought at first. We're thankful it's working again. It will be many months until we'll need the air conditioning again, but we will want to be able to heat the house! 

Thankful Thursday

1. Last week was the first time that I felt overwhelmed by the Sound of Music rehearsal schedule. Thankfully, this week on Tuesday our rehearsal ended an hour early (at 8:30 instead of 9:30), and that same night our director said that the nuns only need to be present from 6:30-8:00 tonight instead of 6:30-10:00. Including tonight's rehearsal, we have twelve rehearsals and five performances between now and November 12. 

2. The kids and I enjoyed the annual free lunch in our town in honor of breast cancer awareness last Tuesday. My kids have lost three grandmas to cancer - one to breast cancer, one to ovarian cancer, and one to lymphoma. 

3. Six of us enjoyed a Micah Tyler concert at our church on Friday night. My friend, Cheri, had purchased a ticket and planned to sit with us, but she injured herself that day. We invited Pop Pop to join us since she gave us her ticket. Naturally, Nadia asked me to buy her a Micah Tyler t-shirt, which I set aside and will give her at Christmas.

4. On Saturday morning I was at our church bright and early helping set up for a food packing event. Paul and the kids arrived a couple of hours later. Paul was a food runner which involved carrying fifty-pound bags of rice and lentils. I supervised about forty volunteers. The kids packed meals. In about two hours the three hundred volunteers packed a little over 120,000 meals for people in Uganda, Haiti, and Ecuador. 

5. Saturday night I took Nadia to another concert. It was my second date with her this year. Our first date was at Olive Garden in May. Paul will be taking her on her third date to a concert at Lancaster Bible College next month. This time we drove to Penn State to hear Andrew Ripp, Crowder, and MercyMe. She had been wanting to see MercyMe in person for the first time. Crowder was our least favorite of the three groups. She used her own money to buy a MercyMe t-shirt and an Andrew Ripp sweatshirt. We waited in a long line that resulted in Andrew Ripp autographing her sweatshirt and also taking a picture with Nadia.

6. Months ago, I volunteered to help with prep work for the children's classes. Ironically, the first time the children's pastor gave me something to do was last week. I say ironically because I was already signed up to help with other service projects every week this month. Pastor Chris had given me 600 pop it keychains to attach to 600 post cards. They are going to pass them out at a parade to advertise another campus of our church. Thankfully, I received help with the project. I brought them with me to the Sound of Music rehearsal last Thursday, and some other "nuns" helped me complete the project. 

7. We had the first meeting of our new co-op at our house on Tuesday. There were ten students in health, speech, and chess club. There were twelve students (two groups of six) in the marine biology lab. Paul and Dave are leading the chess club, and Paul is teaching the biology lab. The lesson this week was on sponges. In future weeks they will be dissecting clams, sea stars, and dogfish sharks. I facilitated two book clubs - three kids discussed the first three chapters of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, and four boys discussed the first five chapters of The Prince and the Pauper. Three girls discussed the first act of Much Ado about Nothing.  I slipped out during the 90 minutes allotted for chess to get a haircut. 

8. At the beginning of this month, we discovered our heat pump/AC wasn't working. The man who installed it four years ago said he isn't doing service calls. Someone came on Tuesday, and he thought we needed a new motor (which would be very expensive if not under warranty). His son came out yesterday and discovered it was something else that was easier to fix. 

9. Nadia finished her first college course last week. She earned an A in General Psychology and started a class in U.S. History on Monday.

10. I received a $50 gift certificate to a science company where I had recently ordered specimens for the dissections because I was one of the first 25 people to complete a survey. I used the money to buy additional specimens of clams and sea stars, and I also started buying things we will need for Paul to teach the chemistry lab next year. 

11. On Sunday afternoon the five of us began assembling 300 hygiene sets for Operation Christmas Child shoeboxes. We plan to finish the project tomorrow in preparation for the packing party at our church on October 21.

Thankful Tuesday

Arlington Cemetery - near the tomb of the Unknown Soldier

I haven't written a gratitude post since August 24. This won't be comprehensive since it's spanning that many weeks, but here are some of the many blessings I am thankful for.

1. Yesterday I took Nadia to the thrift store during Ian's choir rehearsal as she wanted to get some new clothes. I recently was told that I needed to get black lace-up ankle boots for my nun costume in the Sound of Music. They had some there that fit me! As an added bonus, Nadia said she likes them and wants to wear them after the show is over. 

2. We had a great vacation. No one broke a bone, and no damage was done to the SUV we rented. The weather was amazing during the entire trip. We saw some beautiful sights and were able to spend some time with some of my relatives. 

Library of Congress

3. I'm really enjoying listening to Ian practice the piano. He's going to be playing The Waltz of the Flowers from the Nutcracker as a piano duet next month. 

4. We had a nice field trip for a small group of homeschoolers on September 18. First, we had a two-hour tour of Curtin Village, and then the naturalists at Bald Eagle State Park conducted two programs for our group. 

5. We came very close to being a car accident in Lynchburg on our way to Margie's funeral. I'm very thankful for safety during all our travels. 

6. We don't have health insurance. Thankfully, immunizations don't cost us a penny. That was a pleasant surprise! I have still been receiving bills for the mammogram I had last December even though I paid the bill very promptly. I *think* the billing mistake has been fixed. If they stop sending me bills, then I'll be certain that is the case. 

7. Paul was able to help my friend Cheri by driving a U-Haul van to help her mom move on September 30. I'm thankful for his willingness to help! 

8. Paul took Oliver bowling last night for one of his dates for the year. 

9. On September 29 the VanHorns rode with us to the Lumber Museum. We spent four hours at the museum for their Woodhick Day program. We all learned a lot! 

10. Milo was at the kennel during our vacation. Thankfully, a teenager in our neighborhood was able to watch him when we spent a day in DC last weekend. Milo turned three years old on September 30. We are very thankful for our dog (even if it's rather expensive to have him in a kennel for a 16-day vacation). We got him Pupperoni snacks, a squeaky pig (which he barks at), and a banana dog toy that he also enjoys playing with although he quickly destroyed its head. Nadia made him a birthday cake made of peanut butter, honey, applesauce, baking powder, carrots, oil, and an egg. 

11. I am enjoying being in The Sound of Music, and so far, the rehearsal schedule hasn't felt overly demanding for me. I need to finish memorizing all of the Latin songs over the next seven days. 

12. Last Friday evening we drove to Maryland to spend the night at a hotel so that we could do some sightseeing prior to attending a concert in Arlington. We visited the Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens, Belmont-Paul National Historic Site, Library of Congress, Capitol building, and Arlington Cemetery. The kids earned 2 Junior Ranger badges that day. Nadia currently has earned 200, Ian has earned 202, and Oliver has 186. Not counting dinner at Cheesecake Factory (one of Nadia's favorite places to go) and the concert (Unspoken, Cade Thompson, and JJ Weeks), I think the highlight for most people was the tour of the US Capitol. The line was long to enter the House gallery (where they were deliberating over the budget) so we didn't actually step into either chamber. If we return to that building in the future, we'll do so when we have passes so we can go in the Senate and/or House chambers. I wasn't upset that we didn't end up visiting the Theodore Roosevelt Island on that trip. We'll hopefully see it next May instead, but I was disappointed that we arrived at the Arlington House while on our tram tour through Arlington Cemetery only two minutes before it closed. Oops. The kids had already earned that Junior Ranger badge through the mail, but I wanted to see Robert E. Lee's house in person and also get our passports stamped. I'm sure we won't pay for the tram ride again, but maybe we could walk to that site at some point in the future? We were thankful that we found free parking in DC. On-street parking was definitely easier on a Saturday morning. We had to pay parking three times in Arlington - at the cemetery, near the restaurant where we had dinner, and at the shopping mall where the concert was held.

13. Ian decided to go one month without screen time - meaning no playing Brawl Stars on the iPad or using the Nintendo Switch. If we are ALL watching a movie together, he's allowed to watch, but that's it (aside from World Watch News everyday M-F and the Tuttle Twins once a month). I'm proud of him for being willing to give those up as normally he plays them for almost 2 hours a day. He's been playing with Legos more since he's given up screen time. The only downside has been that he's been reading less as he usually reads to earn screen time. 

14. Something is wrong with our central air. Someone is coming on Friday to hopefully repair it. I'm thankful that although it's unseasonably warm this week, it still cools off at night which has made it easier for us to keep our house at a reasonable temperature. 

15. When we got back from vacation, I started working on an approximately 100-page photo book through Shutterfly. At first, it wasn't accepting the coupon codes. A week later I was able to use some codes to order three 8x11 books for less than $30, which represented a savings of more than $200.  

16. Paul is going to church on Wednesday nights for the first time in our 22-year marriage! We are in a Chosen small group (watching and discussing the first season together). What a blessing!

Changing of the Guard ceremony