2025 by the numbers

My dad with all 16 of his grandchildren

1 - Number of vehicles we currently own. Also, the number of times anyone in our family went to see a movie this year. Nadia, Ian, and I didn't go to a movie theater this year. Oliver and Paul saw one movie together. Ian had one surgery this year (septoplasty). Paul and I attended one of the Classics events at our church, which was a first for us. Nadia attended one prom (which was a new experience for her).

2 - Ian visited two colleges this year - Cairn and Cedarville. He's hoping to attend Cedarville. Nadia has had two jobs this year - working in the kennel that is two miles from our house and working at a Christian camp and retreat center that is 32 miles from our house. The kids went skiing twice this year - once at Elk Mountain and once at Montage Mountain. We had two car accidents this year. A deer ran into our van while I was driving home from church in the spring, and Nadia totaled Paul's car in November while driving to Camp Susque.

3 - Number of people in our household with driver's licenses as of September 26. All three kids performed in a musical together at MCS for the first time. They were in three performances of The Wizard of Oz. We went to three amusement parks this year - Knoebels, Six Flags Fiesta, and Six Flags over Texas. Our family helped out with service projects at our church three times this year - packing meals and packing shoeboxes for Operation Christmas Child. We didn't fare well in terms of the goal to have dates with each of the kids. I don't think Ian or Nadia had any dates this year. Oliver had three dates this year - a movie with Paul, a dinner with Paul at Bonanza, and seeing Annie (musical) with me. I taught our Sunday School class three times this year as a substitute. 

4 - We visited four zoos or aquariums this year - two in Texas, one in Louisiana, and one in Arizona. We rented four vehicles - one that we drove from New Orleans to Phoenix, one on Oahu, one on Maui, and one on Hawaii. 

5 - Milo turned five years old in August. We went on five boat trips this year - one in Louisiana, one in Texas, two off of Oahu, and one off of Hawaii. I had five comments on my blog this year, which is far less than I used to get in the early years of this blog (considering I received over 1,800 comments altogether) but also an improvement as I had only 1 comment in 2024 and 0 in 2023.

6 - Number of credits Ian earned through Cedarville University this year. Milo spent six days at the kennel this year. It had been 28 months since he had been in a kennel. I volunteered at Experience Missions six times this year. Some of those times some members of the family joined me. Some people in our family attended six concerts this year. I went to 5 of the 6 (all but Winter Jam). Paul attended 3 of the 6 concerts. My favorite of the year was the Point of Grace concert in December, and Paul's favorite was the concert in Hershey that included TobyMac, Matthew West, and MercyMe. 

8 - Number of states we spent time in this year not counting our home state (Maryland, Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Indiana, Hawaii, and Illinois). 

9 - We saw nine plays or musicals this year. Some of them we saw with our whole family (and the Towfighis joined us for two of those), and others only a part of our family attended.

10 - We boarded ten flights this year - 2 to get us to New Orleans, 2 to get home from Phoenix, 2 to get to Honolulu, 1 to Hilo, 1 to Maui, and 2 to get home from Maui.

13 -Oliver turned thirteen in August in Hawaii. Paul and I attended thirteen ballroom dancing lessons this year - 4 in salsa, 2 in merengue, and 7 in intermediate swing.

14 - Ian read fourteen books this year (four for one of his college classes this fall and the other ten for high school English). He asked for specific books for his birthday and Christmas so maybe he'll be reading some books of his own choosing in 2026?

15 - Number of credits Nadia earned through Liberty University this year (Government, Theology, Biblical Worldview, New Testament, Developmental Psychology, and Astronomy). 

16 - Ian turned sixteen in December. The kids each earned sixteen Junior Ranger badges this year.

17 - Nadia turned seventeen in June in Indiana during the Bible quizzing nationals.

19 - Our co-op grew over the course of the year! We had nineteen students participating in the fall session.

21 - We held co-op at our house on twenty-one Tuesdays this year.

23 - Number of family who were together for Christmas at Wendy's house in Chicago. 

24 - We celebrated our 24th anniversary in August in Hawaii. Nadia read or listened to at least twenty-four books this year. She reads physical books, e-books on her phone, and listens to audiobooks through Libby. She's procured multiple library cards. 

40 - Milo spent forty days at the Seibert's house this year.

42 - We had forty-two family fun nights this year. I'm pleased with that number considering we don't have one on the weeks we're on vacation, when Nadia is working at Camp Susque, etc. 

50 - Number of states we have now visited as a family as we spent time in Louisiana and Hawaii this year. I also saw all fifty license plates this year! I was stuck at 49 for several months, and then on December 22 I finally spotted Wyoming when we were about 75 minutes away from Chicago! The last time I succeeded in spotting all fifty in one year was 2021. Oliver read or independently listened to fifty books this year. 

53 - I turned fifty-three in April.

56 - I wrote fifty-six blog posts this year, which is very close to the number I wrote each of the previous two years.

57 - Cooper spent fifty-seven days at our home this year, which means the two dogs were together ninety-seven days altogether.

55 - Paul turned fifty-five in January. 

Six seven - The inanest expression of the year. Hoping it dies out sometime in 2026.

70 - Not counting the many wedding photography books I read this year, I read or listened to seventy books. Some years the majority of those were audiobooks. I've been reading more eBooks and also some physical books lately.

76 - Nadia spent 76 days at Camp Susque this year. Most of those days she was at work.

79 - We listened to (or I read aloud) a total of seventy-nine books as a family. 

87 - Nadia worked 87 shifts at Warrior Run Petcare this year. Some of those shifts were only 2 hours long, and other times they were 4-5 hours long.

The 23 of us ate and slept under one roof in Chicago in December

Thankful Thursday

 1. Cheri and I attended a Point of Grace and Jason Gray Christmas concert on December 5. It was amazing. I knew it would end up being my favorite Christmas concert of the year. 

2. All of us (except for Nadia) met most of the Towfighis plus Toby for pizza and a Christmas show at a church near where Jenna and Toby live on December 6. Brendan made use of the free nursery service. 

3. The kids enjoyed attending a Christmas party at the Seiberts house on December 7 while Cheri and I attended a Christmas candlelight concert at Bucknell.

4. Nadia enjoyed attending a Christmas dinner for the employees at the kennel where she works. She also was very grateful for the Christmas gifts her boss gave her, especially the $100 gift card. 

5. Our family plus Cheri attended a Christmas concert at our church on December 12. 

6. Nadia enjoyed watching her friend perform in the Nutcracker on December 13.

7. Nine of the Towfighis met us at Great Wolf Lodge on Monday. We spent time in the water park on Monday and Tuesday.  They spent the night at our house on Tuesday night and attended a homeschool roller skating party with us on Wednesday morning. We started the annual tradition of going to Great Wolf Lodge to celebrate Ian's birthday in 2018. This was our 6th time we visited GWL; one of those trips was in May of 2023. In December of 2023 and 2024 we went to the indoor water parks at Kalahari and Camelback. I think the kids enjoy these experiences a lot more when we invite friends (which we did last year) or cousins (May 2023 and this week) to join us. They love their cousins very much! Paul and Joe played two games of chess inside the water park on Tuesday. Paul was the only one who never wore a bathing suit on this trip. I hug

8. We watched Cooper while the Seiberts were at GWL last week, and they watched Milo for us for a little over one day this week while we were at GWL. It's so wonderful being able to swap dog sitting with them. Unfortunately, it won't work for Milo to be with them over Christmas. Praying that he'll have a good stay at the kennel next week. 

9. We usually have the thermostat set between 68-70 degrees in the winter. Thanks to our "smart" thermostat, it read 49 degrees when we came home from Great Wolf Lodge. We wore our winter coats while we ate our tacos. Thankfully, the pipes didn't freeze, and it only took two hours for the temperature to rise to where we wanted it to be. 

10. The kids attended two Christmas parties yesterday - one with homeschoolers at the roller-skating rink in the morning and with the youth group at night. We gave Faith and Xandir a ride to the roller-skating rink in the morning, and they spent the afternoon with us until it was time to go to Bible quizzing. Faith and Nadia baked cookies that they took to the youth group party. Ian and Xandir played games and went on a long walk with Milo. I'm thankful the kids have good relationships with friends and also cousins!

Sixteen years old!

I now have two kids who are old enough to drive! Oliver and Nadia love sitting up in the front passenger seat, but Ian refuses to ever sit there. He'll have to be willing to sit in the front row to be able to drive! Usually, we don't do schoolwork on Ian's birthday, but since we are taking off on December 15-17 to go to Great Wolf Lodge for one night and spend time with the Towfighis, today was a normal school day. He received his main birthday gift from us very early (in August) when I got him a nice desk chair for his bedroom. I had the idea because he had borrowed Nadia's while she was working at Camp Susque in July. He received a book from Nadia today, a TSO piano book from me, and money from Grandpa, Oliver, and Paul and me. He asked for stromboli for dinner, and he asked Nadia to make him peanut butter bars for dessert. Yum! 

Sixteen ways Ian has changed over the last year:

1. When he was very young, he and Nadia used to each eat half of a banana at lunch. Neither of them has been eating any bananas for quite a few years. This fall, Ian decided that he should eat a banana every day. 

2. He also has gotten in the habit of drinking a glass of milk every day, which has meant we're going through more gallons of milk per month than we used to. He doesn't drink coffee regularly by any means, but he does have some coffee now and then (such as when we're on vacation). 

3. He's completed his first two college classes through Cedarville University. He earned an A- in Bible and the Gospel. His professor still is grading assignments in his speech class, but he also has an A- in that class at the moment. He also visited two colleges - Cairn and Cedarville, and he has chosen Cedarville as his top choice, partially because that is where his cousin, Nathan, plans to attend.

4. From December 2020 to June 2025 Milo used to sleep with Ian half of the time. Milo slept with Paul and I for a few months starting in July, but now he is sleeping in a crate in Oliver's bedroom. Ian and Nadia used to each get Milo for half of the time while we did homeschool subjects together, but this school year Ian has Milo with him on the beanbag while he does schoolwork. Nadia doesn't have much contact with Milo. Nadia taught Ian how to trim Milo's nails. Ian is trying to do a better job of brushing Milo's teeth.

5. For many years Ian had a peanut butter and marmalade sandwich at lunch. He still has this every once in a while, but now his typical sandwich is a grilled ham and cheese with onions on whole grain whole wheat bread. Paul won't eat anything that has any onions or peppers in it, and Ian loves onions and peppers. 

6. Several months ago, he started letting his hair grow out. I don't mean it's long in the back. This has led to FAR more "bad hair days" than when his hair was much shorter, but it's his choice. I will say he doesn't have as many crazy hair moments as Oliver does. Oliver has followed in his brother's footsteps in terms of letting his hair grow longer. 

7. Ian continues to make good progress on the piano. I have been enjoying listening to him practicing his recital piece. I have included that in his birthday video. His teacher is working with teaching him to play Joy to the World by ear. He played two arrangements of Christmas carols at church in the foyer on November 30 in between the first and second services and after the second service. He continues to occasionally play with the youth praise team on Wednesday nights. 

8. Ian gets exercise in a variety of ways. He likes to take Milo on a lengthy walk/run. He has weights that he uses either in his bedroom or the basement. He has a pull-up bar in the basement. 

9. Ian eats at least one apple almost every day. When he was younger, his favorite types of apples were golden delicious and gala. Currently, his favorites are pink lady, snapdragon, honey crisp, Jonagold, Granny Smith, and cameo apples. 

10. Last spring Ian was Nikko (flying monkey) in MCS's production of The Wizard of Oz and Will Scarlet in our homeschool production of Robin Hood. This fall he played the part of Captain Hook in our homeschool coop's performance of Peter Pan. I have included clips from the play in his birthday video. This fall he tried out for the part of Sebastian in MCS's upcoming production of Little Mermaid and was given the role of Chef Louis. He was very excited to learn this week that next year MCS will be doing a play in the fall and a musical in the spring.

11. He has decided that he doesn't want to attend camp next summer as a camper. Nadia's boss has agreed to interview Ian so that he could work at the kennel. Nadia plans to end her employment there in early May due to working at Camp Susque and then going away to college. 

12. Ian had his first experiences with surfing and parasailing and skied at Montage Mountain for the first time (third ski resort he's skied at so far). 

13. Ian visited his 49th (Louisiana) and 50th (Hawaii) states this year! He swam with sea turtles, manta rays, and dolphins for the first time in Hawaii.

14. He attended Camp Susque three times over the last year as he had his first experience attending Winter Camp (he's doing that again later this month), spent a week there last summer (not doing that again), and attended his second youth group retreat there (will likely do that again). 

15. He took the PSAT for the first time. 

16. He had a septoplasty surgery in January. He uses mouth tape when he's sleeping to try to train his body to learn to breathe through his nose. 

Thankful Thursday

1. I had several months where I wasn't getting my usual amount of sleep due to Milo being in our bed and then my body took a few weeks to adjust to the time change. I am very grateful to be back to getting an average of nine hours of sleep each night, which is optimal for me. 

2. I recently purchased a new bath towel for myself. It is SO soft. I think the rest of my family thought I was crazy for caring, but I really, really like my new towel.

3. We've been down to one vehicle for a month. Most of the time it hasn't been a problem, but this weekend was going to be a bit crazy. Thankfully, Nadia found out that a friend from church is also working at Camp Susque this weekend, and her friend is going to give her a ride to/from Camp Susque, and I also found someone who can give the boys a ride to a Christmas party on Sunday evening. I will be taking Nadia to that same party after she gets off work, and I will pick all three kids up after I attend a candlelight service at Bucknell with Cheri. 

4. We had our first snow (that accumulated) on Tuesday. The boys had fun throwing snowballs at each other. I was thankful we didn't have any plans to go anywhere that day (which is rare for Nadia) as I don't like driving in the snow or ice. 

5. A friend recently posted about how it is helpful to have not only a Philadelphia Free Library card (which I've had since 2019 thanks to her recommendation), but also one from Pittsburgh. I signed up for one last week, and we have already begun enjoying some books that we could get through Libby through that library that we couldn't get through our other library cards. I only sign up for Audible when it costs 99 cents a month, but they do that fairly often so between getting some books for $1.05 each (after tax) through Audible and most of our books for free from Libby, our budget for audiobooks is very small. Recently, we di

6. I used credit card points to fully pay for the rental of an SUV for 12 days while we're in Wales, England, and Scotland in May. We'll need to pay for renting an SUV for one day in Dublin and two days in Northern Ireland, but that will be it! 

7. I usually decline purchasing an extended warranty, but I did pay for an extended warranty on the eyeglasses that I purchased for Ian and Oliver in February. That turned out to be the right call as Oliver broke his glasses last week. We will be receiving a replacement at no charge. For the time being he's wearing his previous pair of glasses. 

8. Nadia continues to help a lot with cooking and baking. For Thanksgiving she made the yeast rolls, a cheesecake, and a peanut butter pie. She also used a recipe from Camp Susque to make sticky buns for us last week. 

9. I was asked to play the piano in the foyer again this past Sunday. I played a couple of Christmas carols and then had Ian play two hymn arrangements of Christmas carols. He played both songs after both services. He was very nervous at first even though it's a very low-key situation as people are walking by, talking, etc. It's good to be stretched out of our comfort zone sometimes. I'm thankful he had the opportunity.