Skiing with friends

Ian did this during art class at our co-op (Nathan, Joel, Toby, and Andrew playing poker)

From 2021 to 2024 the kids only went skiing once per year because WVIA stopped offering free passes to Ski Sawmill. Last year I discovered that Montage Mountain has a good deal ($45 per person for lift ticket plus rentals) if you arrive before 4:00 pm Monday-Wednesday. Nathaniel had skied with the kids at Elk Mountain in January 2025 and loved it, so he also joined us at Montage last year. Abby skied with the kids last month at Elk Mountain. She also loved it so today I took six kids skiing - my three plus Nathaniel, Abby, and her brother, Joey. It just so happened that the day I chose for this outing is also Nathaniel's sixteenth birthday, so I asked him to choose where we stopped for dinner after skiing. He picked Chick-fil-A. Overall things went well. It was the first time Joey went skiing, and he said he definitely wants to do it again. Abby only fell one time the whole day, but the one time she fell she bruised her left arm near her elbow, so she stopped skiing a couple of hours before we left. Nathaniel forgot to bring a coat, but I was able to loan him my coat as I was in the lodge much of the time. Nadia forgot her ski goggles, and the snow from the snow machines was irritating her eyes so I bought her a pair of sunglasses at the shop. The kids played a card game in the van on the way there, and they mostly slept in the van on the way home. Some kids played a little bit of Skyjo in the afternoon in the lodge. 

My last gratitude post was on January 25. Here are some things I've been thankful for over the last month.

1. Ian had his piano recital on February 1. His teacher had two recitals that day. She asked Ian and Josh to play in both recitals. Paul's dad came up for the recital, which we appreciated. Now that Ian is done with the Rachmaninoff, he's working on a beautiful piece by Bach. He also played the keyboard for the youth worship on February 11. 

2. On February 3, Nadia and I both got a haircut, and Nadia also got a manicure in preparation for Jenna's wedding. Given she will not be living at home many more month, I want to seize the opportunity for making memories together while we have the opportunity. 

Homeschoolers are being included in the MCS yearbook this year. Here's Ian's photo.

3. All has gone smoothly over the last almost seven weeks with Nadia driving our new car. I'm enjoying a temporary reduction in the amount of chauffeuring as she takes herself to and from work and takes she and her brothers to and from art classes, youth group/Bible quizzing, and musical rehearsals.  

4. I had been praying for months that I would get some good pictures at Jenna's wedding. I wanted to get some photos that they could treasure for years to come. The Lord answered those prayers! Her brother, Andrew, has already asked if I will be his wedding photographer (if his future bride agrees). Thankfully, he's not planning to have a winter wedding, lol! 

5. Oliver and Nadia enjoyed ice skating to celebrate Abby's 17th birthday on February 8. Ian was behind in physics, so he had to take a test while they were ice skating. Our kids plus Faith and Xandir spent some time at the Seiberts house in between the ice skating and the youth group Super Bowl party. I made deviled eggs for the party.

6. Ian and Paul attended a Williamsport Symphony Orchestra concert on February 10 so that he could complete one of his assignments for his Humanities class through Cedarville this semester. He particularly enjoyed Gershwin's piano concerto. 

7. On February 12 Ian had his first chance to sing his Le Poisson solo at the musical rehearsal. He did an amazing job. He received positive feedback from other students and the directors that day and when he sang it at another rehearsal on February 21. For example, Lydia told me it gave her goosebumps. I can't wait to see the performances! 

8. On the rare occasion that Nadia isn't at a musical rehearsal, one of the directors (who lives in our town) has been giving a ride home to one or both boys at the end of the rehearsal, which is greatly appreciated! 

9. Nadia was able to babysit the youth pastor's kids on Valentine's Day so that he and his wife could go out for a date. 

10. We haven't had Peacock for a while, but I paid for one month so we could watch the Winter Olympics. That was a well spent $11. Nadia has enjoyed watching many hours of figure skating. Paul and I really enjoyed watching the replay of the gold medal men's hockey game. 

11. We've attended our current church for 12 years, but up until this year Nadia and I never attended any of the mother/daughter events. Usually, we had a schedule conflict. This year I thought we had another schedule conflict as Nadia planned to work at Camp Susque last weekend, but they didn't need her to work so we signed for a painting pottery event that took place on Saturday afternoon. Most of the events over the years were held in May (near Mother's Day), and that is often when we have gone on a vacation. I never would have guessed that I would have to wait until I was almost 54 years old to attend my first mother/daughter event as a mom. I'm glad that Abby and her mom encouraged us to attend this event with them.

One of the kids in the photography class (co-op) took this photo

12. Oliver came down with a stomach bug on February 14. Ian came down with it on February 17, and Nadia followed suit on February 18. Ian and I were the only ones to attend church on February 15, and all of us stayed home on February 18. Paul and I didn't get sick, but Pastor Eric cancelled our small group that night as he was away. I'm thankful that Paul and I dodged the illness and that all three kids are as my mom used to say "back to the land of the living." They didn't go to art class on February 19, and Oliver was the only one who attended the musical rehearsal that night, but Nadia worked a shift on February 20 and went out for coffee and Bible study with her friend, Maddie. 

13. Last November I decided to pay for one year of Walmart+. Paramount Plus didn't have a Black Friday special like they usually do, and you get a free year of that (or Peacock) with Walmart+. I joined when there was a 50% discount on Walmart+ so I paid only a little more than I usually have paid for a year of Paramount Plus. I have to say I love having Walmart+. I have only used it for delivery service (groceries) twice because you need to tip the driver, but I did the math, and between the two orders I paid only about $1 more towards the tip than I would have paid for gas for two roundtrips to Walmart. If you order items that are considered "shipping" they still typically deliver it the same day you order it, but there isn't any tipping involved even if you just have a small order. For example, one time recently I ordered the generic version of Imodium, and the total was less than $4, and they delivered it that same day without charging for shipping/delivery. I also discovered they come to your house to pick up returns at no charge! I ordered a pair of sneakers for less than $11 after I discovered the shoe I had been wearing was making one spot on my foot bleed. I ordered size 8.5. They were too small. They picked up the size 8.5 and brought me a pair of size 9 without any extra charges. I think they could improve the efficiency of their system though as they sent two different people to my house the same day (one to pick up the return and a different person to bring the other size - why waste the time and gas to do that?!?). Anyhow, I'm definitely a fan. We shall see if I like it enough to pay full price if I can't renew it at the 50% off price in November. We don't have Amazon Prime right now, but honestly if I had to pick between the two, I'd choose Walmart+ although I'm sure we'll pay for one month of Amazon Prime after they release the next season of The Chosen.

14. I routinely take pictures of every receipt for several apps, and we also use the Upside app when possible when getting gas. Periodically I redeem the points I've earned in each of those eight apps for cash or gift cards. Last week I received about $325 back from those apps - some as PayPal payments that I then transferred to our bank account and others as Walmart, Amazon, Red Robin, Panera Bread, and Domino's Pizza gift cards. 

15. Cooper has been at our house since February 18, and he's going to be with us for 25 days. So far, it has been going fairly smoothly. 

16. Although I wasn't able to get tickets for the optimal day (even though I was clicking right at 5:00 AM when they became available), I am very grateful that I did get five tickets for us to tour Big Ben another day in May before they were all sold out. 

17. Nadia's math score on the SAT wasn't high enough for her to be able to take a statistics course in the fall that is required for her major, but thankfully, her score on the university's math assessment was high enough for her to be able to register for that class. Their math assessment cannot be used to qualify for taking calculus, which she's also required to take. She has completed part of a college algebra course through ASU (only costs $25) and also has been taking a free College Algebra CLEP test prep course. At this point she's planning to take the CLEP test as the completion of College Algebra is another way to be given permission to take Calculus. She doesn't need to take their English assessment because she already passed English Composition through GCU. The only other assessment she still needs to take is a technology assessment. 

18. Although we haven’t done so every single week, most of the time Ian has been helping me make dinner once a week. Nadia continues to bake on a regular basis. 

Off to see the Wizard!

Winter is my least favorite season, so I'm always thrilled when the weather starts to turn warmer, the grass gets greener, the trees begin to blossom, etc. I always think of my mom on the first day of spring because her birthday was March 20. She would have turned 80 this year if she was still alive, but she passed away in 2016. Rita's and Dairy Queen give a free treat to all their customers on the first day of spring. The boys and I took advantage of these offers this year, which was a first for us. I intended to last year, but I didn't realize that in a leap year the first day of spring is one day earlier than usual. In some locations ice skating rinks are open year-round. Ours closes at the end of March. Several of the kids from our co-op plus some of their younger siblings went ice skating together on March 21. We had two free passes, so we only had to pay $5 for the three kids to skate since Nadia already owns her own ice skates. 

Ian had his annual physical on March 14. Usually, it costs $50 for us to see the doctor, but awhile back they started charging us $100 for the kids' physicals because they said the hearing/vision screenings also cost $50. This time I asked if those screenings could be declined. She said they could. Ian had just been to the eye doctor the previous month, so I knew the screening wasn't necessary and was happy to save $50. The boys got their new eyeglasses last month. I have to say in both instances I liked their previous glasses better than the ones they picked out this time around. Ian's glasses are more similar to a pair he had previously so that wasn't as big of an adjustment. Oliver's have definitely taken some time for me to get used to seeing them on his face. This is only his second pair of glasses. I prefer his first pair, but to each their own. The good news is that he's gotten much better about wearing his glasses. We have had to buy a few different nose pads for Ian's new glasses because they were sliding down his nose. Ian's sleep study plus nose surgery was the first time we had a significant expense to submit to Samaritan (our health sharing program). So far, we've received checks for a grand total of $5,852 (most of them were $139 each). We are only waiting for the last $278 to come in, and then we will have been reimbursed for everything we paid. It's reassuring to know from experience that this system does work. 

On March 21 five girls from our co-op had an appointment at YWCA's Cinderella Closet to shop for prom dresses. Four of the girls found a dress. They are normally $20 each, but someone had paid for the next twenty-five girls to get their dresses for free, and we happened to be the first four to take advantage of that kind offer! Nadia also got a free pair of heels. Nadia picked a purple dress. I think all of the girls looked beautiful in the dresses that they chose! Five girls and two boys from our co-op are planning to attend a prom together on May 3. Ian, Ben, and Lydia opted not to participate in the prom. The other kids in our co-op are in middle school and therefore not eligible to attend yet. After this year's prom then we can decide whether next year Nadia will be attending the prom OR her cousin Andrew's graduation from Cedarville University as they are going to be held the same day. 

Over the period of March 24- April 5 the kids had Wizard of Oz rehearsals or performances 12 out of 13 days. Their only day off was Sunday (March 30). I'm helping with serving meals to the cast/crew this week. Paul, Paul's dad and Tab will attend on Friday, and the Towfighis, Toby, and Grandpa will attend the matinee on Saturday. I think this will probably be the last time my three kids will be in a musical. I attended the dress rehearsal last night so that I could take pictures. I overheard another mom telling someone else how funny Ian was and that he was going to "steal the show." Last week and this week I would have appreciated if Nadia had her driver's license, but it was worth all the driving for the kids to be able to participate in the musical together. The rehearsals have been going until 10:30 pm this week, which is definitely past my bedtime. Paul has done most of the late pick-ups.

Last Monday Paul and I painted the dining room. When we purchased the house in 2008 that room was painted white. I painted it light green in 2016. This time Oliver and I picked out a light grey. Last Saturday I sanded, primed, and painted the trim that had been stained for 26 years. It's now painted white. What a difference that makes to go from stained to painted white trim! I think it looks much better. I'm planning on doing the living room next. I have no idea how many months or years it will take me, but eventually I'd like to redo the trim in the whole house. It will make the house easier to sell whenever we decide to move.

None of our relatives passed away in 2020, 2022, or 2024, but I've had two relatives pass so far in 2025. My mom's sister's husband died at the age of 83 in January. My dad's one and only cousin died at the age of 87 last week. The last time our family saw Charlie was in August of 2023 when we had dinner with them at a restaurant in Pittsburgh. I spoke on the phone with him a couple of times last year after I read his book that he had recently written. We also exchanged Christmas cards in December. I would have attended his funeral except for the fact that #1 we already had plans with Yvonne's family for this weekend (we have tickets to see a passion play on Sunday afternoon) and #2 a deer plowed into the van on March 27 when I was driving home after dropping the kids off at a Wizard of Oz rehearsal. The auto body guy says it's drivable, but I'm wanting to drive it as little as possible until it's repaired, which won't be until June unfortunately. The earliest available opening conflicted with our upcoming vacation to New Orleans/Texas. 

I can't recall any President in my lifetime who has been working to do SO many things in such a short amount of time like Trump is in his second term. Although I like a fair amount of what he's doing domestically, I think he's turning into a train wreck when it comes to foreign policy. In his first term he negotiated the Abraham Accords in the Middle East which seemed like a very positive thing. This time around I don't understand why he's being so hostile to Canada, friendly to Putin, or making ridiculous assertions like possibly considering using the military to annex Greenland. WHAT?!?!? I also find it equally disturbing that he thinks there is ANY chance he could serve a third term. I don't want any President to be able to serve a third term. George Washington, the best President we've probably ever had, saw the wisdom in stepping down after two terms. If another country has been imposing tariffs on us, I think a reciprocal tariff on them makes sense, but it seems like Trump is going WAY overboard with the tariffs - far beyond just making them reciprocal. I'd love to see an end to the war in Israel and the war in Ukraine, but I don't think just letting Russia take whatever they want from Ukraine is a good idea. I wish the people of Russia would do something about replacing Putin. The Russians have already sacrificed more than 800,000 people to this cause of attacking Ukraine. Why are the Russian people allowing this to continue? I certainly hope Trump's actions don't cause more countries to get nuclear weapons because they now realize they can't count on the US to help them if Russia continues to try to expand its borders. I hope Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania aren't Putin's next targets. God is in control.

Nadia as one of the tornado dancers

Unexpected Blessing

Sometimes when we get an unexpected phone call, the news is very unpleasant, such as when the police called to inform me of my brother's passing in March 2019. Yesterday I had an unexpected conversation with an investigator from the Pennsylvania Insurance Department. It was unexpected because we had filed a case with them in November 2021 and hadn't heard anything from them since 2022. It turns out that another resident of Pennsylvania filed a complaint against the same insurance company in 2023, and during that investigation they uncovered the fact that the insurance company wasn't licensed in the state of Pennsylvania. To avoid a felony charge, the insurance company opted to reimburse the other customer. The investigator then remembered he had received another complaint previously (mine). He said if we submit documentation from the hospital showing what we paid, they will tell the insurance company they have to reimburse us if they want to avoid prosecution. He fully expects that we will be reimbursed! I thought that God's answer to our prayers in 2021/22 had been "no," but it turns out His answer was wait. I never thought we'd get the money back even though I knew their lies were the reason we had to pay such a large bill. We are so thankful that it seems like we will be getting our money back as we paid almost $20K for my ankle surgery! 

Here are some other things I am grateful for today:

1. We hosted two game days at our home for homeschoolers this month. The kids played Wits and Wagers, Outburst, Spontuneous, Battleship, Apples to Apples, etc. 

2. I've been participating in a Bible study at a friend's house one night a week. We've met three times so far. I've also been discussing another Bible study with my sister over the phone. 

3. Nadia and Ian babysat for a small group study at their youth pastor's home once, and they will be doing so again next Monday.

4. Paul and I enjoyed watching season 4 of All Creatures Great and Small together via the PBS app.

5. The kids all had private ice-skating lessons from 2:00-3:30 on Sunday. Paul ice skated with Oliver once earlier this month and with all three kids on Sunday afternoon. They are all having a second lesson tomorrow. A third (and final) lesson has been scheduled for February 11. 

6. Nadia and Ian are enjoying participating in rehearsals for MCS's spring musical - Seussical. 

7. My dad made it safely down to Florida. 

8. We are dog sitting a thirteen-year-old dog for three weeks. He had a stroke last week before his family left on vacation. Thankfully it seems like he's mostly recovered. The first night at our home went very badly. All of us got very little sleep due to all the noise he made, and he marked a lot of territory in our home (carpet, couch, walls, and drapes). Thankfully it's going much better now. 

9. Ian continues to spend a lot of time practicing the piano almost every day. We recently made the change from 30 to 45-minute lessons. For his (early) Valentine's Day gift this year I got him a new book of piano music.

10. Paul, Oliver, and Nadia have really been enjoying doing jigsaw puzzles lately. I bought them each a 1,000-piece puzzle for Valentine's Day - a tank puzzle for Paul, a dog puzzle for Nadia, and a Lord of the Rings puzzle for Oliver.

11. For years I've had the goal to drink more water on a regular basis. I recently got myself a new water bottle, and I think this is going to help me achieve my goal to drink at least 64 ounces of water a day. 

12. I (and then we) had dental insurance for about 30 years. We lost our coverage when Paul sold the company at the beginning of August. The bills for getting our teeth cleaned was much higher than I was anticipating. I also was shocked at how much it cost to have two of Ian's teeth extracted in December. So, I signed up for a dental insurance plan for our family earlier this month. I am confident we will save a lot of money over the course of the year. I had my teeth cleaned this week, and Oliver had two teeth extracted. The extractions will cost more than we paid under the dental insurance we used to have, but they also cost a lot less than what I paid without any insurance. 

Snow Day

The snow that the kids encountered at the ski resort on Wednesday was primarily manmade. We had our first snow that actually accumulated on the ground yesterday. I'd estimate we got about four inches. I had planned to sign the kids up for ten weeks of ice-skating lessons, but the day before we drove to Chicago for Christmas, I found out what the schedule will be for the spring musical rehearsals at MCS. I already knew they'd miss some lessons due to our vacation in February, but when I learned they'd miss even more due to musical rehearsals, it didn't make any sense to sign them up for the class. I contacted one of the instructors to set up some private lessons instead. The first one was supposed to happen yesterday afternoon, but as it was snowing at that time and the ice-skating rink is 30 minutes away, I cancelled their lessons. Oliver's was rescheduled to this afternoon. It turned into a date with dad. We drove in two vehicles to church. Nadia, Ian, and I came home after church. Paul and Oliver went out to eat at KFC and then went ice skating for 2.5 hours of which 30 minutes of that was a lesson. 

We didn't leave the house on Friday or Saturday (except for Paul who went to work on Friday). I spent the extra free time doing some data entry for a missionary and doing some planning for future trips. Sometimes I am mocked for planning so far in advance, but honestly, sometimes it's necessary. In December I contacted our Representative to try to get tickets to tour the White House and FBI in March. I was too late for getting tickets for the FBI. We *might* get tickets for the White House. We'll find out sometime next month. I did recently get tickets for Ford's Theatre for April. It's too soon to attempt (again!) to get Washington Monument tickets. I had tickets for the White House, Washington Monument, and Ford's Theatre in 2020, but those were all cancelled. I'm trying again four years later. Although I know where we plan to go in 2025 (Hawaii for one trip and Louisiana/Texas for the other), I have done VERY little research into the Hawaii trip yet. In contrast, I started doing research for our trip to Europe that we're hoping to make it the spring of 2026. I know that seems SO far in advance, but honestly, I spent years planning our big road trip out west that we took in 2021. I like starting to make the itinerary for a big trip farther in advance so that as the months go by, I can tweak it as I learn of other places we might want to visit, etc. 

My current hypothetical itinerary for Europe has us staying there for about 2.5 weeks and visiting Paris, Amsterdam, Belgium, England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, and Ireland. Nadia had requested that we go to Paris, Rome, and England. I don't think we'll actually go to Italy in 2025. I want to see the tulips in Amsterdam, and Paul wants to visit Waterloo and Ypres in Belgium. Paul and I made three trips to Europe in 2002-2004 so, it's been twenty years since I've been there. We visited Spain, Italy, France, and England together; since that time, Paul visited Italy and Poland without me while attending two conferences. I went on a trip to Austria/Germany in 1997 with my family.  I have listed some things in our itinerary that would be repeats for Paul and me (Eiffel Tower, Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Saint Chapelle, Versailles, and the Arc de Triomphe), but mostly I'm planning to include experiences that will be new ones for all five of us. There are other places in Europe we'd like to visit at some time in the future. If the Lord tarries, we shall see where we end up traveling in 2027 and beyond. Paul and I both prefer to splurge on experiences/making memories over purchasing "things." I'm very thankful we have the resources to take our kids to various states and other countries! I purchased our tickets for visiting Alaska recently. Because of getting an Alaskan airline credit card, we can check our baggage for free, we got one ticket for free (using miles), and we only paid $99 each for two of our round-trip tickets. We still have quite a few miles left over. I'm hoping to use those miles for one of our two vacations in 2025. I also have a decent number of miles left over with American Airlines that I hope to use next year. 

One sad event from the last week was the passing of Nadia's guinea pig, Peppa. In October she started losing some hair in a few different places on her body. Looking online we saw that there were a wide variety of possible causes. We started giving her some vitamins as that was the cure for one of the possible problems. It's possible we could have taken her to a vet and possibly there was a cure for whatever was ailing her, but we didn't want to end up spending hundreds of dollars, especially as there still might not have been a cure. We've owned a total of five guinea pigs. We have one at the moment. Three of the other four passed away when they were three years old. Jenna lived five years. Peppa lived the second longest as she was just a few weeks shy of turning four years old. I hope that Lily lives at least until Nadia graduates from high school. I hope Milo lives for another ten years. The passing away of pets is my least favorite aspect of owning a pet. I retrieved the dead bodies from the cage the last two times. The first guinea pig who died was put to sleep at a vet. Ian did the yucky job for me this time of retrieving her body from the cage. 

A new month

My brother's birthday was February 1. He would have turned 39 years old this week if the Lord hadn't called him home in 2019. I know his three sisters miss him very much. 

We didn't have any field trips in January, but we have plans for a few this month. I had one special outing in January. I treated my friend, Cheri, to lunch at a fancy restaurant for her 66th birthday. A professor had treated me to lunch there in 2004, and I hadn't been there since that time. Tonight, the kids participated in a living history fair. I asked them to choose people who lived between AD 30-1454. Next year we'll focus on 1455-1707, and two years from now we'll study from 1708 to the present. The WVIA ski day that was supposed to happen on January 4 was rescheduled to February 15. They haven't announced yet when the second ski day will be, but it's usually the last week of February. We are also planning to spend next Saturday in DC. I ended up reading or listening to 13 books in January, and I've finished one so far in February (Unoffendable by Brant Hansen). I started more than thirteen books last month, but some of them I decided not to finish. I wish I had made that call with a book the kids and I recently finished - Catherine, Called Birdy. I seriously can't believe it received a Newberry Honor Award in 1995. I asked the kids to remind me of this experience in the future if I'm tempted to persevere through a book that none of us really like. We recently re-read two books by Laura Martin, who is one of the kids' favorite authors. 

Since the time Nadia and Ian were very young, I began mentally creating a list of experiences that I wanted my kids to have. In the early years they were things like take my kids to a circus, see Disney on Ice, go to a parade, see fireworks, etc. In many cases, it was because I remembered enjoying those experiences when I was a child, and in other instances (such as attending a Trans-Siberian orchestra concert), it was something I also hadn't yet experienced. Over the last month or so, I've given more thought to what experiences the kids haven't had yet that we might try to accomplish. There were things that crossed my mind that I didn't include on the list such as riding in a hot air balloon or attending a Penn State football game. When I asked the kids if they wanted to attend a college or professional football game, they weren't interested. The only athletic event that they said they are interested in seeing is a hockey game. We moved to Maryland when I was nine years old, and we lived very close to where the Washington Capitals played so I have memories of attending hockey games. Maybe we will take them to see a Hershey Bears game? The list of specific places I hope the kids are able to visit is very long (Alamo, Alcatraz, Gateway Arch, California redwoods, etc.), but I decided to include very few specific places on the list to prevent the list from being too unwieldy. I'm definitely open to suggestions if there are things that have slipped my mind that would be good to include on the list. Nadia will be fifteen in June, so we know we don't have many more years left with her living here at home. 

Nadia was the one who requested to swim with dolphins. When I was researching other possible animal encounters, I learned about the Wilstem Wildlife Park in Indiana. I have modified our vacation plans for April to include a day there. It has greatly increased the cost of that vacation which otherwise was a fairly economical one, but the kids are SUPER excited about having animal encounters with elephants, giraffes, sloths, kangaroos, and otters. Hopefully, it will be an experience that we'll never forget! If it was up to me, I wouldn't have scheduled it. Paul admits he's the "softie" in terms of being willing to splurge on an experience that I think is too expensive, but if he says we should do it, I agree since he's currently the only breadwinner in our family. 

100th Day

Today was our 100th day of school. When I was a student, that wasn't something that was celebrated, but through my Facebook feed as well as my time in various schools observing student teachers, I have learned that in many younger classrooms, the 100th day of school is a big deal. As of Monday, we will be half-way through our school year in terms of number of days that we do schoolwork at home. Including field trips, I think we'll end up with 187 days of school this year (7 more than required) by May 10, which I anticipate being our last day of school this year. I have chosen next Thursday to be the final day of the second marking period for Nadia because she will finish the first semester of Biology on that day. During the second half of the school year Nadia and Ian will be taking a weekly art class at the homeschool co-op, Nadia will also be taking a drama class at the co-op, and all three kids will be participating in a ten-week ice skating class which began yesterday evening. Here are some highlights of what we've been up to during the first 100 days of school:

1. Read and discussed Matthew, Mark, Acts, Romans and 1 Corinthians together. 
2. Memorized Ephesians 1:1-4:10; Nadia and Ian have also memorized select verses from Acts 1-9.
3. Oliver has been studying earth science, and Nadia is half-way through biology. Ian started the year doing biology with Nadia, but part-way through I switched him to General Science. I recently ordered Ian another Python book as he wants to learn more about coding. 
4. Ian currently has earned an A in Algebra I, and Nadia currently has a B in Geometry. Oliver completed Beast Academy levels 3C and 3D. This week he began 4A. In Life of Fred Ian and Nadia are half-way through Beginning Algebra. Oliver completed Honey, Ice Cream, and Jelly Beans. 
5. In Social Studies we have covered about 1,000 years of history so far this school year as we read about Leif Erickson today. The kids will be participating in a living history homeschool event in early February. Nadia is researching Joan of Arc, Oliver will be doing the Apostle Paul, and Ian is reading about Marco Polo. Marco Polo wasn't Ian's first choice, but I couldn't find books at the library for his first few choices. I wish I had been able find more books about Leif Erickson (one of his choices) as getting him a Viking costume would have been much easier than finding something for him to wear when he portrays Marco Polo. We haven't read any Shakespeare yet this year, but we will be studying Macbeth starting on Monday. 
6. Nadia completed unit studies four biographies about Joni Eareckson, Corrie ten Boom, C.S. Lewis, and Rifka Bary in addition to ones on the Screwtape Letters and The Green Glass Sea. For leisure she has been reading books by Karen Kingsbury. Ian read Beorn the Proud, Twice Freed, Augustine Came to Kent, and Son of Charlamagne. For leisure he has been reading books by Brandon Sanderson, Andrew Peterson, and J.K. Rowling. Oliver and I have been reading Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books together. 
7. Nadia has completed two personal finance courses through Dave Ramsey, and Ian is part-way through one finance course. 
8. Nadia and Ian sang in the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale.

Yesterday Ian had his annual physical. He currently is 59.5 inches tall, which puts him at the 26th percentile for height. He grew 2.25 inches over the past year, and his height percentile didn't change that much as last year he was at the 30th percentile. When Nadia was twelve years old, she grew 3.25 inches and was 5ft 1.25 inches tall, which moved her from the 29th percentile for height to the 41st percentile. Ian lost a little weight over the last year. Yesterday he weighed 76 pounds, which put him at the 6th percentile. Last year he was at the 20th percentile for weight. Because of this his BMI is currently only at the 3rd percentile, which classifies him as underweight for the first time since he was an infant. I'm going to have him weigh himself periodically just to make sure he doesn't lose any more weight. For the last few years Oliver has been the slenderest member of our family, but Ian now holds that position. I was very pleasantly surprised that the clinic had ended the mask mandate since the last time we were there! It was the first time in almost 3 years that we could enter a medical facility without wearing face masks! I had started to think that might be a permanent change. I'm glad I was wrong!

Exhausted!

Last Thursday was our last day of "school." To me the counting of days is rather arbitrary. We listen to audiobooks almost if not every day of the year. On Friday the kids participated in a three-hour program about soil at Ricketts Glen State Park; so obviously I'm still trying to provide the kids with educational experiences even if we're officially on summer break. Saturday morning Nadia and I planned to spend multiple hours shopping at yard sales as she needs summer clothes, but the almost non-stop rain we had on Friday and Saturday thwarted those plans along with my plan to mow the lawn. Our youth pastor and his family came over for dinner at our home that evening. His wife grew up in Thailand, and it was interesting to learn more about her experiences. 

The Stars on Ice show had two other performances in Pennsylvania which were actually closer to our home than Pittsburgh, but those shows were at 7:30pm, and since I'm not a night owl, I chose the 4:00 show in Pittsburgh. If I had known that Nadia's drama rehearsal schedule would be so demanding this week, I wouldn't have made the choice I did. On Sunday morning we left our house around 7:15am. Our first stop was the Carnegie Science Center which is right next to the Steelers' stadium. Unfortunately, because there was a flood warning for the Ohio River that day, the submarine was closed. We are 0-3 in touring that submarine! Our time in the science museum included a planetarium show and a program about liquid nitrogen. The last time we were there we had seen the electricity program that featured a Tesla coil. Our only cost (aside from gas to get there) was parking. I had planned to use gift cards at a TGIF near the Penguins' stadium, but it turned out the restaurant has permanently closed. We rolled with the punches and shared a large pizza instead. Eating a pizza is faster than eating at TGIF so we had some time so spare and considered visiting another site in the city, but in the end, we opted to arrive at the ice show earlier. The show was outstanding; our two favorites were Nathan Chen and Jason Brown. For 10+ years I've had this experience where I well up with happy tears when I'm experiencing something special with my kids. That hadn't happened for about 3 years, but in the past, it's happened when I took the kids to the circus, Disney on Ice, a Broadway musical, etc. Even though I find it a bit embarrassing to shed happy tears at random moments, I'm truly grateful for the privilege to create memories with my three kids. Oliver gave me a Mother's Day card on Saturday, Ian gave me one on Sunday morning, and Nadia made me one during the drive to Pittsburgh. I also received a card from my dad and Margie. Since we had a very early "dinner" at 2:15pm, we stopped for ice cream at Dairy Queen on the drive home. We got home around 10pm and were so very thrilled to receive a very good report from our neighbor about Milo's behavior at their home in our absence. We tried to give them $20, but they declined any payment, which was very kind of them. Hopefully this means he will be a little angel while we're on vacation for the last two weeks of May. 

Monday morning the kids and I were out the door a little before 8:30 for drama. I was planning to sign Nadia up for drama at the co-op next spring as well as sign Nadia and Ian both up for art at the co-op next spring, but this tech week schedule has been BRUTAL. As of now I'm thinking I'll sign them up for chorus and possibly art at the Christian school instead. What made the schedule particularly repulsive to me was the fact that they were expecting the four of us to spend 48 hours at the church this week. I have never been asked to stay at any of Nadia's drama rehearsals over the last nine years that she's been involved in theatre. Ian helped out as a member of the stage crew. Oliver helped some and played some. I was working in the kitchen for many of those hours as three of us were responsible for cooking dinner for eighty people four nights in a row plus providing snacks for the cast all the hours they were there. I pushed myself too much on Monday as I was up at 6am cooking our dinner, started mowing the lawn around 4:15pm after we got home from drama, finished mowing and weed whacked after dinner, and then cooked sloppy joe meat to bring to the co-op on Tuesday. 

On Tuesday morning I was not in good shape physically or emotionally. I chipped a tooth the day before Easter, and the earliest I could be seen by the dentist was May 10. At the time I thought my 2pm appointment would mean Nadia was only leaving a little early from drama, but they lengthened the rehearsal that day to 11 hours long. Although I don't enjoy having my mouth numb for 3 hours, I was thankful that the dentist appointment gave us an excuse to leave much earlier that day. Lately the only places we've had to wear masks have been medical facilities. I was pleased to see that masks are now optional at the dentist for the first time in two years. 

I have been careful NOT to push myself at home the last three days, although I have still taken Milo for a 30-60 minute walk each day. This morning we had our homeschool evaluation from 9-10am. Thankfully our evaluator came to our home. Paul didn't get home from work until 9:15pm on Monday. I asked him to come home a bit earlier on Wednesday for Milo's sake as the kids and I didn't get home from co-op until 9:30pm that night. Paul and Pop Pop plan to attend Nadia's show this evening. Oliver and I left around 6:30pm to come home since Paul could take Nadia and Ian home. The Schrecks, Oliver, and I plan to attend the show tomorrow night. There was a cast/crew party this evening that was supposed to last until midnight (seriously are these people all energizer bunnies?), but our kids aren't participating due to the time of day the party is being held and the fact we will have another long day tomorrow. Our evaluator took literally more than 1,000 pictures during a dress rehearsal yesterday, so I didn't bring my good camera to the co-op yet. I probably will bring my camera tomorrow, but since she was allowed to move in very close to the actors, I hope she got some great shots.

Part of what has made the week challenging for me is the number of hours I have spent on my feet every day. The pain level has gone up dramatically over the last four days, but maybe this is a blessing in disguise if it will help me to be better prepared for our upcoming vacation? I'm learning to just deal with the pain as I refuse to be a couch potato any longer. On Saturday I had two things on the agenda - a program about snakes and a couple I've known for 26 years (they're in their 80's) are coming up for dinner at our house. I think we're going to skip the snake program as this week has been very draining for me. On Sunday we're planning to go to church and then to Knoebels. Monday I'll be getting ready for our vacation: mowing the lawn, getting a haircut, getting the oil changed and the tires rotated on the van, and packing. And Tuesday will be the first day of our vacation. The primary election is on Tuesday, so I mailed in an absentee ballot today. Sometimes I feel like it's challenging to know whom to vote for in a primary election. I rarely have that conundrum during a general election.

Today marks exactly one year since Paul's mom passed away. I was given one thing of hers following her passing - a yellow tablecloth. I have that tablecloth on our dining room table now, and I think of her every time I look at the table. I'm grateful that she's no longer in any pain, but we miss her very much! Unfortunately, Oliver doesn't have any memories of my mom because he was only three when she passed away. Thankfully, all three of my kids have memories of Paul's mom. 

Spring Forward

This weekend we change our clocks again. Paul never likes losing an hour. As a parent I have found that falling backward is harder for the kids to adjust to than springing forward, but now that Ian has changed to being a kid who likes to sleep in, I don't think "falling backward" an hour will be as challenging as it was in the past. March is one of those months in our state where the weather is typically ALL over the map. Just this week we've had temps as high as the 70's (yahoo!!!) and then it snowed on Wednesday and Saturday. I did take my first walk in six months on Monday. I didn't go nearly as far as I would have gone prior to breaking my leg and there was a lot more pain involved, but I just couldn't stay inside on such a pretty day. Next week, on my mom's birthday, it will officially be spring. Winter is my least favorite season, so I always eagerly anticipate the arrival of spring. Yvonne and Joshua flew to Maryland to be home during Jenna's spring break. Yvonne, Joshua, Jenna, and Toby were planning to come up yesterday and leave today, but when they learned that we were supposed to get snow today, they changed their plans and spent 24 hours with us starting at 5:30pm on Thursday. They met us at the ice-skating rink for the second half of the kids' ice-skating party. Because of our guests, I gave the kids the day off of school yesterday. I don't usually cook a hot breakfast, but because we had guests, I made a bacon cheese frittata for breakfast yesterday and chicken parmesan for dinner. Not long after they left, the kids and I left to attend a worship service that our church holds four times a year on a Friday night. Today we are just staying at home sweet home all day long, which hasn't happened for me since March 1. Tomorrow we're having pie day at Sunday School since it's one day before Pi Day (3/14), and I signed up to bring a lemon meringue pie so that is one item on my to do list for the day. 

I haven't written a gratitude list since February 24, so here goes:

1. Margie had her sixth round of chemo, which means she's DONE! Her completion of chemo is a much happier ending than my mom experienced in 2016. 

2. I was pleased with Nadia's standardized test scores. I was nervous about how she would do on the math test. It was her lowest score, but I was fine with the score she received. Next year we get a break from standardized tests because 7th and 9th graders don't need to take a test, and I am going to consider Oliver to be repeating fourth grade, which means we'll wait a year on having him take the 5th grade test.

3. Ian and Nadia did well on the written portion of the Bible quizzing on James on February 26. We had memorized James 1-4 at that point which helped them out!

4. Nadia got a 95% on her physical science test yesterday, which was on electricity and magnetism.

5. I attended a women's conference that was broadcasting a simulcast from Texas on March 4-5. The church that hosted the event didn't charge anyone a dime, and they really went above and beyond providing nice touches to the event such as fresh flowers at the table, very delicious food both days, etc. The speakers included Francis Chan, Jennie Allen, Curt Thompson, Ann Voskamp, a pastor who spoke live from Ukraine, etc. They asked for donations to an organization called Illuminations which is working to coordinate the efforts of ten different Bible translation organizations around the world. They estimate that by 2033 (or sooner) the Bible will be translated in EVERY language on the globe which was astounding to me because I know there are still MANY people around the world who still have no way to access a Bible in their language. Last year women around the world who "attended" the conference gave over 2 million dollars towards translating the Bible into some of the languages spoken in Iran, and the same thing happened this year! It's obviously a VERY risky activity to work on translating the Bible in Iran. My friend, Cheri, attended the event with me, which made it even better! We have seen each other on four different occasions so far this year and it's only March 12! That's far more often than usual.

6. The homeschool gym class resumed on Monday. We hadn't participated in it since the spring of 2019. I enjoyed chatting with Tab during the 90 minutes the kids were in gym class. Paul's dad watched the kids in the gym, took them to lunch, and the worked with Ian on programming the Lego robot. Ian has worked on the Lego robot more since he was here. He's made three of the five different types of robots so far.

7. It was lovely to be able to have my sister, Jenna, Toby, and Joshua at our house for about 24 hours this week. We definitely see them more while they are living in Quito than we did when they lived in Turkey. This is primarily due to the fact that their kids are older and need to be in the US to attend college, get their driver's licenses, work at Chick-Fil-A, take the SATs, etc. Yvonne and the kids plan to come back the end of May and stay through some time in August. Yvonne told me I should buy a "tennis elbow" brace for my right warm, which should relieve the pain I have had in that elbow for almost 6 months due to injuring it when I wasn't able to use my right leg. As for my foot, Yvonne pointed out the places where I still have inflammation and tightness and suggested that I use massage and also ice to decrease the pain. She suggested a massage therapist might be more helpful than a physical therapist at this point as she thinks I have probably regained full range of motion. She also suggested I might need to use a knee walker on our vacation in May. I really hope that's not the case. I hope that massage plus ice can bring about a lot of improvement over the next two months. 

8. Although it didn't count as one of her "dates" with a parent, I took Nadia to see Les Misérables at a local high school last Saturday afternoon. I also am planning to take her to see Seven Brides for Seven Brothers later this month. The kids and I had to wear masks and they had everyone really spread out when we saw Secret Garden in February. There wasn't any social distancing at Les Misérables, the crowd was MUCH bigger, and no masks were required. I am very thankful for the easing of the COVID regulations.

9. Paul's brother took Oliver to Winter Jam last week at PSU. Nadia and Ian could have attended with the youth group, but for whatever reason they didn't sign up to go. Oliver is too young to go with the youth group, and one of his favorite artists (Skillet) was part of the tour. Uncle Al made the evening very special for Oliver. He liked the food they ate, Al bought him a t-shirt, and they attended a meet and greet with some of the artists. One of the highlights for Oliver was when Matthew West was walking up to the stage, he walked through and aisle. One of the people whom he gave a high five to was Oliver! 

10. Albeit I am ready for spring weather, Oliver is having fun playing in the snow today. 

11. I love my new laptop. If my old laptop had continued to work, I wouldn't have asked for a new one, but wow the new one is much faster! I don't think my new microwave is an improvement over the one that died, but at least it consistently works, which couldn't be said for the old one. 

A day in our life

Most of my life what time I have gotten up has been dictated by what time I needed to be at school. When I first became a stay-at-home mom, what time I got up was usually dictated by when Ian or Oliver woke up. This has been the first school year in which the kids have very rarely woken me up in the morning. I usually get up sometime between 6:00-7:00, but every once in a while I sleep until sometime between 7:00-7:30. On March 3, I woke up at 6:30 but chose to rest for twenty more minutes before I got up to take a shower. After I finished blow drying my hair, I woke up Nadia and Ian at 7:20. I ate my breakfast, checked my email, solved the daily Wordle puzzle, and put Paul's dishes from dinner into the dishwasher while they took the two dogs outside. We only own one dog, but Nadia is earning $10/day by dog sitting a female Cavapoo named Cookie. Paul ate dinner after I went to bed last night. Nadia began her Algebra I lesson on the iPad while the boys began eating their bowls of cereal while we listened to an audiobook. I started a load of laundry and swept the foyer before sitting down in my recliner. Due to ongoing issues with my ankle, I still spend quite a few hours in that chair every day. We paused the audiobook whenever Nadia wanted to ask me a question regarding her Algebra 1 lesson. 

At 8:15 the kids and I began watching today's episode of World Watch News. Recently, we began working through a new book about the Old Testament. Every other school day we watch a three minute video that corresponds with the book. A few decades ago, I attended a Walk Thru the Bible seminar. These short videos are teaching the kids the hand motions from Walk Thru the Bible. After we watched the video, we worked on memorizing James 5: 4 and reviewed verses 1-3 of the same chapter. We have been memorizing the book of James and listening to half of the Old Testament together this school year. Today we listened to and discussed three chapters of Ezekiel. After we finish Ezekiel, we will have two books left (Isaiah and Jeremiah) and then we will have finished listening to (almost) the entire Old Testament (I say almost because we skipped Song of Solomon). The last subject that we all do together is history; thus far this year we have studied from creation through around 400 BC. Topics this week have included the Peloponnesian War, Pericles, Malachi, Plato, and Aristotle. 

After we finished history, Oliver copied Isaiah 9:6 in cursive and then started working on a  Spanish lesson with the Duolingo app while I read Nadia and Ian the next to last chapter of Life of Fred's Pre-Algebra 2 with Economics. After Nadia and Ian completed the problems at the end of the chapter, we discussed correlative conjunctions and discussed one day of Fix it Grammar's Little Mermaid. I also read them a brief essay on the taming of Bucephalus and reviewed the concepts of antagonist, theme, protagonist, and climax.  

At 10:00 Nadia took Cookie up to her room while she read Mara, Daughter of the Nile; on school days she has to read at least thirty minutes a day from a list of books I created. She reads other books of her choosing at other times during the day. Currently she's reading Shine by Chris Grabenstein, The Vanderbeekers and the Hidden Garden by Karina Yan Glaser, and Fellowship of the Ring by Tolkien. While Nadia was reading and Oliver was finishing his Spanish lesson, I asked Ian to spell some French loan words such as limousine and exhaust as he is nearing the end of the Level 7 All About Spelling curriculum. After spelling, Ian practiced the piano. While Ian practiced the piano, I asked Oliver to spell the words contained in four sentences from his Level 4 spelling textbook. 

At 10:40 Nadia began working on Physical Science, took Milo out, and then used a laptop to complete some coding exercises from Python for Kids. During this time Ian read God King which focuses on three kings - Hezekiah of Judah, Sennacherib of Assyria, and Taharka of Egypt. After his schoolwork is done, he reads books of his choosing. He recently finished reading books #2-5 of the Alcatraz vs. the Evil Librarians series by Brandon Sanderson. Currently he's reading On the Edge of the Dark Sea of Darkness by Andrew Peterson. While Ian read, I worked with Oliver on math (Beast Academy 3B) and started making lunches for the boys and I. Nadia always makes her own lunch. 

Around 11:30 Ian came down to eat his lunch. After Nadia took Cookie outside, she began making her usual grilled swiss cheese sandwich. We finished listening to Cheaper by the Dozen and began listening to Jessica's Journey. After Nadia finished her lunch, she worked on Duolingo on the iPad while we were listening to the story. I had read Cheaper by the Dozen aloud to the kids in 2015 but they didn't remember it. I decided to have them listen to it aloud again partially because a new movie based on the book is being released on Disney+ in the near future. The kids enjoyed the book, and Nadia and Ian said they want to read the sequel, Belles on their toes. 

At 12:15 Nadia took Cookie upstairs and had a turn on the iPad because she had finished all of her school work aside from a science experiment that I asked her to wait to do so that she and Ian could do it together. She typically plays Minecraft and watches a show during her turns. During this time Ian used a laptop to work on Python and lesson 91 of Teaching Textbooks Math 7. I worked with Oliver in his Swimming Creatures workbook where he completed a crustacean crossword puzzle and dictated a creative writing assignment that featured two different types of crabs. He also took Milo out for a walk. Nadia finished her turn before Ian finished Python or Oliver finished science. Ian really enjoys the Python coding exercises, but they often take him a LONG time (more than an hour today). Nadia took a shower while Ian was working on math and Oliver was finishing science.

Ian has been learning how to do a "shoot the duck" 

I helped Oliver practice the piano while Ian finished his math. Sometimes I needed to leave the piano bench to answer one of Ian's questions, but he's generally pretty independent in math this year for the first time in his life. Nadia also began making peanut butter bars, which is her most favorite dessert. After Oliver finished practicing the piano around 2:30, he had a turn on the Nintendo Switch and then started working on a puzzle until one of his friends rang our doorbell at 3:30 and he went outside to play with her. I helped Nadia make the dessert. Nadia and Ian each are required to cook once a week, but she made this of her own initiative as she had already made jerk chicken and pommes aligot on Tuesday. After Ian finished his math, he drew an illustration of one of the ten plagues and then completed a lesson in the Physical Science textbook. Nadia and Oliver each took the dogs out a couple of times during the afternoon. I folded the load of laundry that I had done earlier in the day, did the dishes, and make chicken quesadillas for dinner. Ian finished his work at 3:00pm, which meant that it was time for Ian and Nadia to do a very simple science experiment related to electricity as the unit they are working on now deals with electricity and magnetism.

For a few years the kids and I had dinner around 4:00pm most of the time. Nadia had asked that we shift the time to 5:00pm, and that is usually the case these days, but because we leave for ice skating lessons around 4:30pm and don't get back home until a little after 7:00pm, we have been eating dinner at 4:00pm on Thursdays. Oliver chose to have split pea and ham soup that I made yesterday. Ian, Nadia, and I had quesadillas. We listened to more of Jessica's Journey while we ate albeit Ian was lobbying for us to start The Last Cuentista, which was this year's Newberry pick. Today was their last ice skating lesson. Next week they have an ice skating party from 4:30-6:30 that includes pizza so we won't eat dinner before heading out to ice skating next week. I have considered these ice skating lessons to be their gym class for the last two months. Ian and Nadia skate for 75 minutes, and Oliver skates for 45 minutes. Usually during ice skating lessons I read a book and/or work on Duolingo. I do spend time on Duolingo every day. My current streak is 287 days straight. Today I had the privilege of chatting with another homeschooling mom for about 30 minutes. Our paths hadn't crossed for almost two years due to COVID so it was great to chat with her a bit last week and again today. 

On our way home from ice skating we made a very quick stop at a grocery store so I could buy some milk and bananas. After Ian and Nadia took the dogs out around 7:20pm and I put away the groceries, we had our devotions and prayer. Typically we do that at 8:30pm, but we had it early because we planned to watch the first part of Addams Family 2 that I checked out from the library yesterday. Paul came home from work a little before 8pm while the kids were watching the movie. Oliver went to bed at 9pm, Ian and Milo went to bed at 9:30pm, and Nadia will go to bed at 10pm. A large portion of our day is the same most weeks Monday through Friday. On Tuesdays Nadia and I are usually gone from 3:00-5:15 for her drama class. On Wednesdays Oliver and I drop Ian and Nadia off at church at 4:30pm and then return at 6:25pm so that he can attend a midweek program for elementary students and I can attend a ladies Bible study. Our weekly commitment for ice skating will be ending next Thursday, but on Monday we'll be starting a ten week session of a 90 minute weekly homeschool gym class. The kids haven't been in a homeschool gym class since spring 2019. I'm thankful we don't have any weekly commitments for three days of the week (has been Monday, Friday, Saturday and will be true for Thursday, Friday, Saturday for the following nine weeks). We typically do most of our chores on Saturday (cleaning the bathrooms, changing the bedding in the guinea pig cage, vacuuming, dusting, etc.).

I am very thankful that I'm "only" homeschooling three kids, doing the laundry, cooking, cleaning, mowing the lawn, etc. and not also juggling a FT job as I did for two school years (August 2017 - May 2019). I again have margin in my schedule - time for activities like reading and working on learning Spanish. On Tuesday I finished reading The Lady's Mine by Francine Rivers, and yesterday I started The Winter Rose by Melanie Dobson. I didn't have time to read today due to working on this post. I've written posts like this several times throughout the years including March 2021,  April 2018, December 2015, September 2013, and February 2013.

Nadia working on her "waltz jump"