Prince Caspian

Supreme Court

In early September (2023) I purchased six tickets to see Prince Caspian at the Museum of the Bible in April 2024. One of the tickets was a gift to my dad. At that time, I thought April 2024 would be the next time we went to DC. As it turns out, we've taken the kids to DC four times over the last fifteen months. The two unexpected trips (November 2023 and March 2024) were to attend concerts. The end result is that we crossed off more sites in DC off the list I had created years ago earlier than expected. I will say that we've had really nice weather for all four of those trips. Our first stop on Friday was a parking garage. After that we walked one mile to the Supreme Court for a thirty-minute program. Next, we walked to the Museum of the Bible where we met my dad who had come into DC via the Metro. The show was three hours long (not counting the intermission) and was very well done! It was put on by the Logos Theatre from South Carolina. After eating a quick meal at Subway with my dad, we walked to the Spy Museum. Paul could have spent FAR more time in the museum. I would have enjoyed it more if it wasn't so crowded. We got Paul an early Father's Day gift at the museum - a t-shirt featuring his favorite president - George Washington. After retrieving our vehicle from the parking garage, we drove to Arlington and picked up two slices of cheesecake from the Cheesecake Factory (one was free due to my birthday) on our way to our hotel. We stayed at the same hotel last month. Four of us shared the two slices of cheesecake. I really loved the one that Nadia and I shared. 

After eating breakfast at the hotel, we drove back into DC. There was a lot of construction near Ford's Theatre, but eventually we found a place to park. Our tickets included seeing a show called One Destiny, which was a short production put on by two men about the day Lincoln was assassinated. It was very well done! The kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge, and we also made a quick stop at Petersen's House across the street where Lincoln died. Next, we walked to the National Archives. I had timed tickets, but on this particular day they weren't necessary. We didn't spend a lot of time there, but we did look at the Magna Carta, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, and Constitution. Our last stop before returning to our vehicle was the National Portrait Gallery. The kids and I did an art project, and all five of us explored the museum. The kids said they preferred the National Gallery of Art (which we visited last month) to the Portrait Gallery. Visiting art museums isn't their favorite thing, and we don't do it very often, but I'm grateful they've been to a few of them. We ate some snacks in our vehicle as we drove to Rock Creek Park. We watched a planetarium show, went on a very short hike (in the rain), and the kids each earned another Junior Ranger badge. The current stats are that we've now been to 139 National Park sites in person, Nadia has earned 207 badges, Ian has earned 209, and Oliver has earned 193 altogether. We stopped at Denny's for dinner on the way home. One of our neighbors watched Milo for us during the time we were gone. I'm grateful that in 3-4 hours we can be in NYC, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, and DC. 

I attempted to take Nadia to see Unsung Hero at the movie theater on Thursday night, but our tickets were refunded due to technical difficulties. We're going to try again tomorrow night as she's waited a long time to see this movie. Originally it was scheduled to be released in June 2023. I had a lovely two-hour lunch with Tab at Panera on Wednesday. All five of us went bowling this afternoon as our church rented out a bowling alley for two hours. Although it will take Nadia and Ian longer to finish some subjects (ex. Algebra II), for most subjects our last day will be May 9, which means we only have nine days left at this point! The end of 5th grade (Oliver), 8th grade (Ian), and 10th grade (Nadia) is in sight! Nadia has completed four college classes so far this year. She's currently taking World History, and that course will be finished by June 9.

Fifty-two

Yesterday I celebrated my 52nd birthday. On my birthdays I always miss my mom and my brother a little more than usual as I would normally have at least chatted with them on my birthday. Considering my mom passed away a few months after she turned 71, she only lived 19 years beyond her 52nd birthday. On Sunday a man in our Sunday School class asked me if we are in the Classics group at our church, which is for those age 55+. Since Paul will be turning 55 in January, we are eligible to join the group in a few months. When we were dating and in the early years of marriage, Paul used to take me out to dinner for my birthday. It's been quite a few years since that happened. This year he suggested all five of us go out to eat, which is something we usually only do when we're on vacation. He knows Olive Garden is one of my favorite places to eat and Nadia's most favorite place, so he suggested we go there. I used some points to request a gift card that covered almost the whole bill minus the tip. I don't usually get a dessert when we go out to eat, but since Olive Garden gives you a free dessert on your birthday, I requested the black-tie mousse cake, which is absolutely delicious. I shared a little of it with Oliver and Nadia, and they said I need to find a recipe online and try to make one myself for one of their birthdays. Will do! He had suggested going out on my actual birthday (Sunday), but since we didn't have any plans to leave the house on Friday, I thought it was better to go out that night since we have church on Sunday. We stopped at Lowe's on the way to Olive Garden and got my birthday present, which was a new faucet for the half-bathroom. The kids think it's the worst birthday gift idea, but ours was 25 years old and looking rather dated. On the way home from Olive Garden we stopped at Aldi's for groceries. 

On Saturday morning I put some beef, potatoes, and carrots in the crockpot and headed to a service project with Oliver. When we came back 4.5 hours later, I was flustered when I discovered the food was still cold. The green light was on, but it wasn't actually heating up. I switched to using the oven. The meat was cooked, but it wasn't anywhere near as tender as it would have been had it cooked in the crockpot for 9 hours as planned. The mashed potatoes, yeast bread, and fruit pizza all turned out well. Faith and Xandir were at our house for 18.5 hours, and their parents joined us for a couple of hours for dinner and some games. On Sunday we ate leftovers from Olive Garden and from what I had cooked on Saturday. On Friday night Nadia bought me a plant (lilies). Oliver made me a card and gave me some Andes mints. My I received two birthday cards in the mail on Saturday and one from someone at church on Sunday. I received several birthday text messages and two phone calls on Sunday from Aunt Janet and Yvonne. My dad called me today. My friend, Tab, is taking me out to lunch this week on Wednesday, and my friend, Cheri, is taking me out to lunch next week on Friday. I don't have any idea how many more years I have left on earth, but I am thankful for the years I've been given thus far and for the many blessings in my life including my kids, husband, friends, etc. 

The picture above is of Ian in his Vlad costume for the musical. Next year I'm going to take photos during the dress rehearsal. The picture below is from last Tuesday at our co-op. One of our classes this session is geography. Each of the kids picked a country and prepared a 3–5-minute speech about the culture of that country and also brought in a food item from that country for us to enjoy at a special lunch. Oliver and I made a pizza shaped pinata filled with candy for the kids to enjoy after the lunch. Foods brought that day included a soup from Vietnam, tiramisu cupcakes, sushi, Yorkshire pudding, honey joys, dumplings, Belgian waffles, churros, hummus, macaroons, and fairy bread. 

Seussical!

I haven't posted for three weeks. Here are some highlights as to what we've been up to lately.

1. I took Oliver to one egg hunt on March 23 and two on March 30. One was rained out on the 23rd. Next year will be the last year for Oliver to participate.

2. Rachel, my niece from Chicago, spent four days with us at the end of March. She and Nadia continued their traditions of having a very planned out "sleepover" and also making a mystery dessert. This one was by far the worst they'd ever made. Blech!!! However, they had a lot of fun making the cupcakes! I really liked the Good Friday service at our church this year.

3. Paul's dad joined us at church and at our home on Easter. 

4. I supervised a large service project at Meadowbrook Christian School. The students packed 3,300 kits for Voice of the Martyrs. 

5. While I was helping at MCS, the kids went with another family to a homeschool program about the solar eclipse at Ricketts Glen State Park. A few days later, all five of us did see the eclipse, which wasn't a guaranteed thing because it was a very cloudy day, but thankfully the clouds parted so we could watch it. We weren't in the path of totality, but it was 95% covered in our area. Considering the next one is in twenty years and won't be visible in Pennsylvania, I'm glad the kids saw this one (not that any of us know where we'll be living in twenty years). 

6. I attended my friend's mom's 91st birthday party at a nursing home. That same day Paul took Nadia to a Jeremy Camp concert in Stroudsburg.

7. Nadia, Cheri, her uncle, and I saw the movie Someone Like You in the theater on April 7. The tickets were a bit steep in price, but we enjoyed the movie. Nadia and I had read the book a few years ago. 

8. Nadia and Ian were in three performances of Seussical last week! It went very well. Different friends and family attended each of the three nights. I attended two of the performances. They had a LOT of lengthy rehearsals lately so I'm grateful it's come to an end. Paul's dad attended on Friday night and took them home because Paul, Oliver, and I were at a Casting Crowns concert in Williamsport. On Saturday afternoon Joe, my dad, and six of their kids came to attend Seussical, which was very special. They spent about 24 hours with us. Yvonne didn't come because she gave birth three days ago to their 7th son (9th child) - Brendan. Jenna and Andrew stayed in Maryland with Yvonne and the baby. 

9. Last Sunday I filled in as the substitute for our Sunday School teacher. 

10. This week Nadia is finishing her fourth college class (English Composition 1) through Grand Canyon University. She's starting her fifth next week (World History). In the fall she plans to begin taking classes online through Liberty University.