2024 by the Numbers

1 - We went horseback riding once (Ecuador), ziplining once (Alaska), and canyoning once (Ecuador). Ian was on our church's top Bible quizzing team this year, and they won the national competition. Nadia and Ian participated in their first musical (Seussical) at Meadowbrook Christian School. Almost the entire year we have only had one guinea pig (Lily) as Peppa passed away very early in the year. I organized one field trip for homeschoolers this year - to a nuclear reactor at PSU.

2 - We went white water rafting twice (Ecuador and Alaska). Also, Ian played piano with the youth worship team on Wednesday night twice this year, and he performed in two piano recitals this year. Nadia and Ian sang in two programs at Meadowbrook Christian School (once for Oliver). The kids attended two roller skating parties at Trout Pond Park this year. We visited two waterparks this year - Montage Mountain (outdoors) and Camelback (indoors). 

3 = the number of (private) ice skating lessons the kids had this year. I hosted three game days at our home for homeschoolers. We saw three Broadway quality shows - Daniel at Sight and Sound and Prince Caspian and Pilgrim's Progress at the Museum of the Bible.

4 - Milo turned four in September. Since we visited Ecuador in February, Paul and I have now been to four continents (for the kids it was their 2nd continent).  Nadia was the captain of our church's "B" quizzing team this year, and they came in fourth place at the national competition in New York. Not counting relatives, we had friends come over for dinner only four times this year, which was less than the past two years. Paul and I attended four lessons of Intermediate Cha Cha. 

5 = the number of guitar lessons Nadia had this year. We visited five amusement parks this year Knoebels, Hersheypark, Kings Dominion, Canada's Wonderland, and Busch Gardens. Ian saw five specialists this year - two pulmonologists, two ENTs, and one cardiologist. These resulted in a diagnosis of sleep apnea and the scheduling of a surgery on his nose. 

6 - Nadia completed six college courses this year - three through Grand Canyon University and three through Liberty University. She has earned a grand total of 27 credits over the past 15 months. 

7 = the number of books Ian read this year. Sadly, the number keeps decreasing.

8 = the number of voice lessons Nadia had this year. We also visited 8 new zoos/aquariums this year, which brings our grand total to 38. 

9 = the number of days Nadia has worked at Warrior Run Petcare since she started that new job on November 8. 

10 = the number of books Nadia read this year. Sadly, the number keeps decreasing. Milo had his annual physical this week. He weighed exactly the same as he did last year - 10.4 pounds.

11 - Some members of our family saw 11 different movies at AMC this year. Some of these we saw as a family, and some of them only a couple of us went to see the movie. The first one Nadia, Cheri, and I saw this year was Cabrini (in March) and the most recent time was when Ian and Paul saw the new Sonic movie on December 21. 

12 - Oliver turned 12 in August. Nadia's current salary is $12/hour. 

13 = the number of kids who attended Oliver's 12th birthday party which featured playing bubble ball and glow-in-the- dark dodgeball at our church. 

15 - Ian turned 15 earlier this month.

16 - Nadia turned 16 in June. 

17 - The kids each earned 17 Junior Ranger badges this year bringing their totals to 217 (Nadia), 219 (Ian), and 203 (Oliver). Oliver read 17 books this year. After being on Facebook for 17+ years, I deleted my account in October.

18 = the number of days we hosted the homeschool co-op in our home this year.

22 = the number of days the boys both spent time at a camp this summer - 6 at overnight camp at PMBC with Xandir, 4 at a manufacturing camp, 5 at a theatre workshop, 2 at an overnight youth retreat at Camp Susque, and 5 at a Stronghold camp with some of their cousins. Ian spent an additional three days at Camp Susque for winter camp. It was his first time attending a winter camp, and he loved it! 

23 - Paul and I celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary in August.

28 = the number of days Nadia worked at Camp Susque this year. She's actually there working there right now (from Dec 31- Jan 3). She also spent an additional five days there with as a camper or on a retreat. We visited 28 National Park sites this year bringing our grand total to 158. 

41 = the number of piano lessons Ian had with Mrs. DeVito this year.

48 - This year we saw the license plates for 48 of 50 states (plus DC and several Canadian provinces). The states we never spotted were Hawaii and New Mexico. Last year the only state we didn't find was Wyoming, and in 2022 we didn't see North Dakota or Hawaii. We found all of the license plates in 2021. This year we visited our 48th state - Alaska.

49 = the number of books I read or listened to independently. This number was down from previous years primarily because Paul joined me for far more walks which meant I wasn't listening to an audiobook while walking Milo. 

51 = the number of field trips the kids went on this year.

52 - I turned 52 in April.

54 - Paul turned 54 in January.

58 = the number of posts I wrote this year, which was almost identical to how many I wrote in 2023.

65 - Nadia logged 65 hours driving on her learner's permit. 

83 = the number of books we listened to together or I read aloud. This was down from 94 last year, but this year one series we listened to was Keeper of the Lost Cities, and those books are LONG (one of the books was more than 24 hours long). 

1,246 - In October I achieved a 1,246-day streak on Duolingo. For 169 of those weeks, I had been in the diamond league. I was unimpressed with the daily refresh material available upon completing the Spanish course, so I deleted the app from my phone and my streak came to an end. 

12,836 = the number of steps I averaged a day this year (a little less than last year)

$18,158 - the amount of money we received back from the insurance company to pay for my ankle surgery in 2021

Merry Christmas!

We began our Christmas celebrations on December 8 when Al & Millie came up to our house; we put up our Christmas tree and decorations a day or two prior to that. We didn't see them at all in 2022. In 2023 and 2024 we saw them one time a year - both times on a Sunday afternoon in December at our house. The kids attended a homeschool Christmas party at the roller-skating rink on December 11, a youth group Christmas party that same night at church and sang in a Christmas program at MCS on December 12. Nadia and I attended a Christmas concert with Cheri on December 13, and our family attended a Christmas concert at our church on December 14. We decided to skip going to MCS on December 18-19, which meant I was able to take Oliver and Xandir to Kaos for two hours on December 18. Originally, we planned to celebrate Paul's dad's 83rd birthday on December 20, but due to the snow that day we postponed it to December 23, which is when the kids also received their Christmas gifts from him. We miss not being able to see Ellie. On December 24 we gave the kids their Christmas gifts and attended one of our church's Christmas eve services.

On December 25 we drove to Maryland; including one brief stop it only took us 3 hours and 10 minutes, which was shorter than usual. Nadia drove the first hour, and Paul drove the rest of the way because I was holding Milo the whole time. In 2022 and 2023 we brought him to Virginia and Chicago. This was his first trip to Maryland. We had to keep him on a leash most of the time for a variety of reasons including the fact that their cat, Skittles, was not a fan of Milo. It was the first time in ten years that we all celebrated Christmas together. The number of people (23) was identical to how many were gathered together in 2014. We lost two (Maurice and mom) and gained two nephews (Wesley and Brendan). The last time we were together for Christmas Micah was the youngest (3 months old) and Jenna was 12. Since the kids are older this time around, Jenna's boyfriend, Toby, and Joshua's girlfriend, Esther, also spent some time with us. This time the youngest is Brendan (8 months old) and Jenna is 22. A photo canvas in my home is from that Christmas. The photo is of Jenna, my mom, and Maurice. Jenna is the only one still alive ten years later. I miss Maurice and mom very much. Ten years ago, Oliver became very sick while we were in Maryland, and we had to cut the visit short earlier than planned to take him to the hospital in Pennsylvania. I'm thankful he's outgrown his premature lungs.  Now that the Towfighis are living in Maryland, I doubt I'll ever host the large family gathering again at Christmas as I don't think our house is big enough for 23 people, and that number will likely grow as our nieces and nephews begin to get married and have kids. Activities included playing many games, jumping on the trampoline, playing pickleball, watching The Secret Life of Pets, opening gifts, and going ice skating. Nadia and Rachel continued their tradition of making a mystery dessert. They went a more conservative route in selecting the ingredients, and the cupcakes were delicious! Their sleepover was different as they didn't create a detailed schedule, and Susie and Andrew joined them. We wrapped up our Christmas celebrations today when Paul took Oliver to a free Christmas party at the ice-skating rink in Sunbury. I'm not sure if we'll go to the free ice-skating party on Tuesday, but if we do, Oliver will have been ice skating three times within five days!

We left the Towfighi's house after lunch on Saturday, ate dinner, and then I drove Nadia and Ian to Camp Susque where they will be attending Winter Camp for high schoolers from Dec 28-31. This will be Nadia's last year attending Freeze Camp because after you serve as a counselor (which she plans to do in the summer of 2025), then they have you attend Blast Camp (college/young adults) even if you're a senior in high school. Ian hasn't ever attended a winter camp. I signed him up without asking him if he wanted to this time because I knew it would be the only year he could attend with Nadia. I'll give him a choice in the future. I'll pick Ian up at 11:30 on December 31, but we won't pick Nadia up until January 3 as she's working as a member of support staff for Blast Camp. She'll be cooking meals, doing dishes, and cleaning. Normally we resume our schoolwork on January 2, but due to Nadia being at Camp Susque, we won't resume until January 6. From December 21-January 17 the kids will end up having a whopping 8 days of school due to Christmas break, skiing at Elk Mountain on January 8, and Ian's surgery on January 15. Our second marking period will end on January 17. Our co-op won't resume until February 4. 

16.5 years old!

Six months from today Nadia will turn seventeen years old! Here are some ways that she changed over the past six months.

1. She quit practicing the guitar, so I ended her lessons. She has sporadically been practicing the piano. 
2. She had voice lessons for two months this fall. Due to the fact she is only in the ensemble of The Wizard of Oz and didn't make it into the district choir, she stopped taking voice lessons. 
3. She visited Alaska for the first time, which was her 48th state!
4. She completed three classes through Liberty University this fall (7 credits) - Old Testament Survey, Evangelism, and 20th-21st Century Art. She earned 3 A's. Altogether she's earned 27 credits so far. 
5. She worked at Camp Susque for four weeks. She is scheduled to work during their Blast winter camp from December 31-January 3, and she has applied to be a counselor there next summer. She received a care package in the mail from Camp Susque earlier this month that included some snacks and a book by Paul David Tripp.
6. She has begun working at Warrior Run Petcare. Sometimes she works there from 4-6pm, and other days she works from 7:30-noon. She enjoys her job working with dogs! Her boss gave her a very nice gift bag last week that contained super comfy socks, a $100 gift card to Amazon, hot chocolate, chocolates, lip balm, and a mug that looks like a dog. 
7. She has had her learner's permit for almost exactly six months! She has completed the 10 hours of driving at night as well as the requirement to drive for at least 65 hours altogether. She thinks she'll try to get her license at the end of January. She needs to learn how to parallel park before then.
8. She's been studying chemistry. It's not her favorite subject, but she has to take chemistry in college so hopefully this will prove helpful in the future. She's completed 7 out of 16 chapters so far.
9. She's been completing Pre-Calculus through Teaching Textbooks. It's also not her favorite subject, but she has to take Calculus at Liberty in the future. She's looking forward to not having a math class next school year! 
10. We had her first official college visit at Liberty University when we attended College for a Weekend. While there we submitted the only college application that she plans to submit to begin as a residential student at LU in August 2026. She won't find out if she's been accepted until after we submit her HS transcript in May 2025. 
11. She's begun preparing to take the SAT in March. Her goal is to do well enough that she won't have to take another math class at LU prior to taking Calculus. 

Fifteen years old!

Ian Alexander joined our family fifteen years ago! We began his birthday celebration on December 8. Uncle Al, Aunt Millie, and PopPop came up after church. I served shrimp, pot roast, breadsticks, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce, and vegetables. Al and Millie brought cookies and a birthday cake for Ian/ PopPop which had a photo of JoJo and some gummies that looked like Legos. Ian received his birthday and Christmas gift from Al and Millie that day, and I also let him open the birthday card from Grandpa. We all played Wits and Wagers and then the kids plus Uncle Al and Paul played some Jackbox games while I did the dishes.

Usually, we don't do schoolwork on Ian's birthday, but this year we didn't do schoolwork on December 9-11 and did do it on his actual birthday. On December 9 Xandir, Julianna, and Nathaniel joined us at Camelback resort in the Poconos. We left our home around 11:00 and arrived at the resort around 12:30. After we checked in, the kids enjoyed the water park for about 3.5 hours. We've been to Great Wolf Lodge many times. Last year we tried Kalahari, and next year we're letting Nadia pick which indoor water park she wants us to visit. The Bobinis family had spoken highly of Camelback last year. On Monday we had dinner at Red Robin. I was impressed that (before tip) the total for six kids' meals and two adult meals plus one soda for $75. The kids enjoyed the fact that many of the things that were served were bottomless. The room we stayed in had two bunk beds (four boys), a king size bed (Paul and I), and a queen size sofa bed (Nadia and Julianna). Five of the kids played Phase 10. We had breakfast sandwiches and donuts at Dunkin Donuts the next morning. The kids were in the water park for almost 7 hours on Tuesday. Paul and I participated a little. We went to a pizza place for dinner before driving home. The next day the kids went to a homeschool roller skating party from 10-12, had lunch at home, and then were at church from 1:15-8:00 for art, chorus, Bible bowl, and a youth group Christmas party. 

Paul's dad came up to our home on Ian's birthday. He played chess with Ian before dinner. I served PopPop beef stew, and the rest of us had Georgian egg and cheese bread, which was Ian's request. The kids sang in the Christmas program at Meadowbrook Christian School that night. The middle school/ high school chorus sang five songs. Their least favorite was O Come All Ye Faithful because they sang it in Latin. The birthday gifts Ian received over the course of the week included money, Sonic game for the Nintendo Switch, Legos, Phase 10, Super Mario book, Sonic comic books for the Kindle, and a laptop. I think he had a good birthday! We love him SO much and are so glad he's part of our family! Below here are some ways he changed over the last six months. 

1. Ian's voice finished changing.
2. He was on the A team at Nationals in June. Their team won first place. Ian came in 8th place both in the written and individual competitions. Unfortunately, he hasn't gotten off to a good start this year. Hopefully he will put a lot more time into studying Luke over the next six months.
3. Ian has been assigned the roles of a crow and Nikko (head of the flying monkeys) in The Wizard of Oz. 
4. In school he's studying English, Geometry, Chemistry and modern history (1707 to the present).
5. This fall he's read Uncle Tom's Cabin. The Two Towers, and the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn for English. He's currently reading To Kill a Mockingbird. 
6. He was diagnosed with a mild case of sleep apnea after having a sleep study done in Hershey.
7. He's scheduled to have a septoplasty in Mechanicsburg next month.
8. He visited Alaska, which was his 48th state. 
9. He now has braces on his bottom jaw and has rubber bands that are used to connect his two jaws when he's not eating. 
10. The transition to high school has NOT gone smoothly for him. He's temporarily lost the privilege of having a cell phone until he gets caught up with his schoolwork. 
11. His closest friends at the moment are Xandir, Ben, Nathaniel, and his cousin, Joel. 
12. I never have to remind him to practice the piano. In fact, sometimes I actually ask him to stop practicing so that he can get other work done. 
13. He has been waiting SO long to see the new Sonic movie that he plans to see at the theater with Paul next week. 

Surgery #3

Ian has been under anesthesia four times so far - two urological surgeries and two endoscopies. Since an endoscopy is technically a nonsurgical procedure, his next surgery (septoplasty) will technically be his third. Since those surgeries and endoscopies took place in 2010 and 2011, Ian has no memory of them. As he'll be fifteen years old when he undergoes the septoplasty, he will remember this one. Not counting the surgeries that I had which were related to pregnancy, my last surgery was a septoplasty. Dr. Wilson said the procedure hasn't changed over the past 30 years (mine was in 1994). Ian's sleep study showed he has mild sleep apnea. We had been told he had hypertrophy turbinate as well as a deviated septum and that the septum could only be repaired after he was eighteen. We were trying to decide whether he should have one or two surgeries, but this pediatric ENT said that she can do both procedures at one time on a fifteen-year-old. Ian didn't want to wait three years to be able to breathe through his nose when he's awake, and hopefully this will also lead to an improved quality of sleep for him. We could have scheduled the surgery to take place as soon as January 15, but we're waiting to get a price estimate from the second surgical center before we choose between the two locations where Dr. Wilson performs surgeries. The two locations are the same distance from our home (85 minutes away one way). I paid $250 yesterday for Ian to see her in Hershey, which was closer to 100 minutes away one way. Considering it took eleven months for him to have his sleep study, I'm grateful the wait for the nose surgery won't be as lengthy and that we don't have to make any more trips down there prior to the day of his surgery.

Here's a few highlights of what we've been up to since I wrote last:

1. Another mom and I took 13 kids to see The Best Christmas Pageant Ever at AMC. On another day my dad and Cheri joined us at AMC to See Bonhoeffer. They were both good movies! Ian has decided to do his report this year for the history fair on Bonhoeffer. Oliver is doing Abraham Lincoln, and Nadia is doing Jane Goodall. 

2. Ian played the piano with the youth praise team for the second time ever and performed a duet (see video above) at a recital. Pop Pop joined us. Nadia wasn't able to attend as she was at work. 

3. Cooper was at our house for 8 days while his family was on vacation.

4. We helped pack over 300 shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child at our church.

5. Oliver, Cheri, and I attended a Trans-Siberian Orchestra concert and had dinner at Olive Garden.

6. Nadia has been working more hours recently. She worked about five hours on November 30, four hours on December 2, two hours on December 3, and she's scheduled to work about four hours on December 6. She loves having a job that involves working with cats and dogs! 

7. My dad spent 6 days with us, and during that time Yvonne's family (11 people) also spent about 39 hours at our house. 

8. I've been making progress with vacation plans. I booked our rental vehicle for our trip in May (the cost was painful). On the other hand, I paid a tiny amount to book an Airbnb for four nights in Honolulu and two nights on Maui because I used $1,250 worth of gift cards to Airbnb that I got through credit card points. I've booked 11 out of our 13 nights in Hawaii so far for a grand total of $219. I'm hoping to use credit card points to get Turo gift cards to pay for the rental cars on Oahu and Maui. We'll have to pay for the rental vehicle on the Big Island because we plan to pick it up at Hilo and return it at Kona, which means we can't use Turo. I'm really looking forward to visiting Hawaii for the first time!