ABC's of 2020

Doing a puzzle in January - long before I knew we'd do MANY puzzles in 2020.

I decided to do an alphabetical "year in review" post and include some of my favorite photos from over the past year.

A - One of our two stops on the first day of our vacation was to the Air Force Museum in Dayton, Ohio. This was a highlight of the trip for Paul, Ian, and Oliver! Nadia and Ian had taken art classes at the Christian school the past three years, but due to COVID we didn't pursue that for this school year. The kids are enjoying taking art classes online through our membership with Creating a Masterpiece; Nadia has done 25 art projects over the past few months and the the boys have done 21. We love to listen to audiobooks! Not counting the ones we're in the middle of right now, the kids and I listened to 143 chapter books together this year!  We've begun saving one book for just when Paul is able to listen with us (usually Saturday night and all day Sunday) - typically a biography. I paid for some through Audible, but the vast majority we got for free through Hoopla or Overdrive via the library. Nadia has been enjoying playing Among Us the past two months online with Ava.

B - In January Nadia joined a Bible Bowl team at our church. At that point she was on a team with three seventh grade girls, and they were memorizing the books of Hebrews and I and II Peter. Because of COVID, the annual competition wasn't held. In September Nadia joined a team with two fifth grade girls and one eighth grade girl, and they are studying the book of Matthew. Because she turned twelve years old in June, Nadia is now allowed to babysit. She and her friend Evanna babysat a preschooler together for several hours once, and I have paid her to babysit Oliver on multiple occasions. Because of COVID-19 restrictions, she has been able to babysit more than I anticipated. She likes being able to earn more money! All three kids got new bikes this year. Nadia sold her 24" bike and claimed my bike as her own. Ian and Oliver received new 24" mountain bikes this year, and Pop Pop built Oliver a bike ramp. Birthdays were very different in 2020. For the past 12 years we've had extended family at the kids' birthday parties. No relatives came to our house for Nadia or Ian's birthdays. We spent Oliver's birthday at Aunt Janet's house, and we saw Grandpa and Margie a few days later. 

A field trip to Gettysburg in February before I had any idea we'd go on very few field trips this year!

C - Although COVID-19, coronavirus, and cancelled are probably the first three "C" words that come to mind for 2020, I'm going to pick Cincinnati because we enjoyed our time that area in October. The playgrounds along the riverfront, the IMAX movie about dogs, the Ark Encounter, and the Creation Museum were among the top six experiences of our family vacation this year. In January and February the kids took a computer hardware class for four weeks, Oliver began learning how to write in cursive in August, and as always friends and family have been fighting cancer. One of my friends died of cancer in October, and two of my friends lost their spouses to cancer in August and November. Margie was diagnosed with breast cancer and had surgery on November 9. Once Nadia finished watching all the episodes of Full House, she switched to working through all the seasons of the Cosby show. I've sung in an adult church choir consistently since the fall of 1986. COVID brought an abrupt end to our choir season at the beginning of March, and it looks like the choir break will last at least one full year.

D - We paid for a subscription to Disney+ in December 2019, and due to COVID-19 some movies that were originally going to be released in the theatres went straight to Disney+ instead. Paul and the boys have also really enjoyed watching two seasons of Mandalorian this year. Baby Yoda is so cute! Last year I assumed we'd only have the subscription for one year, but we paid for another year earlier this month. One of the reasons we made this decision was because we usually pay for at least four months of cable tv each year to watch the NFL, but we didn't do that this year. The kids get a new privilege and a new responsibility each time they have a birthday. Nadia's new chore now that she is twelve years old has been to do the dishes at one meal each week. Thankfully, the five of us rarely see the doctor aside from annual physicals. This year we spent more than usual in the "medical" category of our budget ($1,500) because Paul saw the doctor a lot more than usual. Thankfully all the test results came back normal (aside from showing he has carpal tunnel). He had a colonoscopy, stress test, upper EMG, and lower EMG. 

I had no idea when I took this photo that the rabbits would only be in our house for two months.

E - We are finally making progress with learning a foreign language as the kids and I are speaking more and more Español!  Hopefully we'll make even more progress towards becoming bilingual next year through our subscription with Talkbox.mom. The three topics which I think were in the news the most in 2020 were COVID-19, riots and protests related to the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Election. As usual, the candidate I voted for didn't win. I'm praying about the special election in Georgia that is taking place in a few days. 

F - Paul turned fifty years old this year! We have been wearing face masks or face shields for the first time in our lives. Paul wears a face mask far more than the rest of us because he wears it at work. We hope that sometime next year they will no longer be mandatory. Nadia completed a personal finance class online this summer, and she also finished watching every single episode of Full House. We got our first chest freezer this year, which was somewhat of a miracle given the shortage on them due to COVID.

G - Four different guinea pigs lived in our home this year. Jenna is four years old. Sadly, we experienced the death of a pet for the first time this year as Ian's first guinea pig, Patches, suddenly died in February at the age of three. In April we brought home two more guinea pigs - Peppa (Nadia's) and Buttercup (Ian's). Unfortunately the younger ones sometimes wake me up in the night with their loud chirping. Nadia has Peppa and Jenna out a lot. They are accustomed to being held and purr quite a bit.  - - This year we also got new garage doors, and Ian got new glasses because his second pair of eyeglasses were broken by another child at Bee's Backyard in February. During the quarantine, the kids and I played 74 different games at least once! 

H- is for hoverboards! Grandpa and Margie gave Oliver a hoverboard for his birthday in August, and Nadia bought one during a Prime Day sale at Walmart in October. 

Two of Nadia's friends who came over for sleepovers several times this year.

I - The kids and I spent a week on Long Island with Aunt Janet the first week of August. It was different than our previous three trips there due to COVID and also a lengthy power outage, but we still had a great time. All three kids participated in group ice skating lessons this year, which was a first for Oliver. 

J - Although MANY our trips to National Parks were cancelled this year, the kids have earned 72 Junior Ranger badges altogether, and 50 of those were earned this year. That would never have been possible if it weren't for the fact that some can be earned from home without actually visiting the site.

K - Although some science museums have been closed since March due to COVID-19 and others have only partially reopened, the kids had a blast at the Kentucky Science Center. We also enjoyed visiting the Kentucky Derby Museum. 

L - It was a shock to have all the libraries closed for four months this year. This fall I got another library card and switched to using the Lycoming county library system as our primary library. 

M - We got a Bichon Frise puppy on December 12 named Milo! On the first day of 2020 we had two pets, I would never have guessed we would have six pets in our home by December 12. Because Nadia began studying Matthew in September and we opted not to have the boys join AWANA by Zoom this fall, the kids and I have been memorizing the Sermon on Mount (Matthew chapters 5-7). So far we have memorized chapter 5 (which has 48 verses). Ian and Nadia have been playing Minecraft lately.

N - We have had very brief shortages at other times in my life due to a snow storm or something like that. I can't ever recall any other time in my life where we had SO many national shortages this year. The list is lengthy and contains a wide array of items such as: toilet paper, napkins, pasta, bicycles, freezers, bread, cleaning supplies, hand sanitizer, etc. Thankfully the grocery stores have been close to fully stocked lately. 

O - We had to attend church online for three months. Church still isn't back to "normal" - no choir, for example, but we're very thankful we can attend in-person again. We also picked an orthodontist for Ian this fall. He will begin phase one (expander) in January.

P - Puzzles is the "p" word that first comes to mind. We spent FAR more hours doing puzzles this year than ever before. I spent FAR more money on puzzles than I had ever spent before. Oliver has moved beyond 100 piece puzzles. With assistance, Nadia has done up to 1,000 piece puzzles. We listened to audiobooks for many hours while doing puzzles together during the spring. The kids couldn't attend Camp Susque this summer as they usually do, but they were able to attend Pocono Mountain Bible Conference instead. Ian continues to excel at playing the piano, and Nadia has been enjoying taking an online photography class.

Q - It's usually challenging to come up with a "q" word, but this year it's easy. In 2020 Q is for quarantine and Queen Esther. The kids and I were quarantined for three months this year. Paul continued to go to work, and he took over the grocery shopping during that time period. We originally had tickets to see Queen Esther at Sight and Sound in April, but due to the lockdown we actually went in December.

R - Nadia didn't make it to any of the WGRC skate nights in 2020 for a variety of reasons, but the boys dramatically improved in their rollerblading skills this year. All three kids own their own pair of rollerblades, and I've been taking the boys to a roller skating rink once a month. 2020 is also the year when Ian enjoyed rock climbing for the first time. He learned to enjoy ziplining in 2019. I love seeing him conquer his fears! We also had two pet rabbits for two months this year. Unfortunately, we had to take Cocoa and Coal back to the SPCA as they were spraying pee on each other and our house as well as chewing baseboards and such. We all love to READ. I'm not sure how many books Paul and I read, but I can say that both of us read more books this year than we had read in one year in quite awhile. Ian and Nadia each read at least 60 chapter books this year. I tried a lot more new recipes than usual - 87 over the past four months. We usually go to several concerts each year. This year Paul and Oliver didn't attend any concerts. Ian, Nadia, and I were able to attend The Roadshow (put on by Compassion) in Wilkes Barre in early March. 

S - We went skiing twice in one year for the first time this year! I took the kids to Elk Mountain (first time any of us  had ever been there) in January, and all five of us skied at Ski Sawmill in February. 2020 was the year Oliver learned how to ski! Probably the words that come to most people's minds for 2020 that start with "s" are safe, social distancing, six feet, and hand sanitizer. I signed us up for a Six Flags membership in early January thinking that we would visit five different Six Flags parks this year. Because of COVID we only made it to two of them, but the kids and I did spend five days at Six Flags this summer, and Paul joined us for one day. Because the parks opened later than usual, we will be able to go to Six Flags for free through the end of July 2021. Ian and Nadia received scooters for Christmas last year, and so all three kids rode their scooters quite a bit during the lockdown. We started the year without the use of either of our showers. In November we agreed to hire someone to finish the master bathroom shower which was been a project Paul began in May 2016. I  believe that project will be completed in early January. So in early 2021 we will likely have the use of TWO showers for the first time in years!

T - I think we all would agree that we've had our temperatures taken FAR more in 2020 than any other year of our lives! In past years we've seen Paul's family the most (since they only live an hour away) and the Towfighis the least (since they lived in Turkey for 15 years). This year we haven't seen Wendy's family at all, whereas usually we see them 1-2 times a year. So in this upside down year, the kids and I saw the Towfighis more than any other extended family member (I'm not counting Paul as he sees his brother and dad at work). They came to our house in June, we met at least some of them at Six Flags (MD/NJ) on three occasions, and we saw most of them at Refreshing Mountain in September and again at our house for a couple of hours in November. Finally in November we were able to spend time with Paul's extended family after not doing so for more than 10 months.

U - 2020 was Nadia's seventh and final year of playing Upward Basketball. The first several years my parents would come to at least one game, and Paul's parents would attend several games. 2020 was the first year that we didn't have any extended family members attend any of the kids' games. Thankfully their season ended right before the lockdown began. 

V - Nadia took one semester of voice lessons this fall for the first time ever (by Zoom). She was motivated to complete her piano books so that she wouldn't have to pay for the voice lessons. Originally I thought that the kids and I would be going on five vacations this year - three without Paul and one with Paul. Three vacations were cancelled (to Chicago in April, to MD/DC in May, and to Canada in August), but the kids and I did go to Long Island in August and our eight day family vacation in October to Ohio, Kentucky, West Virginia, Indiana, and Pennsylvania DID take place although it certainly was far different than what it would have been if we weren't in the middle of a pandemic.  I prayed for a vaccine this year more than I've ever prayed for a vaccine before.  Paul and I had never paid a bill at a veterinarian  prior to this year, but we visited three different vets this year -in February for Patches (guinea pig), then for Cocoa and Coal (rabbits), and finally this month for our puppy, Milo.

W - In previous years we haven't had a plan for regularly incorporating current events into our curriculum. This fall I subscribed to a year of World Watch News, which is an approximately 10 minute show that is aired M-F. I expect we will continue to keep this subscription, as the kids and I find it to be enjoyable and informative. 

X - Although we have belonged to swimming pools in the past, we hadn't done so recently and didn't plan to join one this summer, but in light of everything that was cancelled this summer, we joined the Exchange pool in June and swam there for quite a few days this summer. 

Y - Nadia joined two youth groups in January. She attends First Baptist's youth group on Sunday nights and CWC's youth group on Wednesday nights and Sunday mornings. Nadia has participated in a theatre camp every year from 2013 to the present. She participated in two this summer, and Ian participated with her in the second one called Youtheatre. It was his first time ever participating in a theatre camp. It was NOT his idea, but he loved it. 

Z - Oliver asked for a pet for the first time this summer. In early August he received two zebra danios. We enjoy watching them swim around when we're sitting at the kitchen table. He named them Henry and Zuma. Sadly, this morning we discovered they had both died. Probably the "z" word that comes to mind first for 2020 is Zoom. I had used Zoom previously to participate in faculty meetings from home, but Nadia used Zoom a lot this year - to just chat with a friend or her cousin Rachel OR for Bible Bowl and youth group meetings during the lockdown, and she even participated in a play that was performed on Zoom in October.  Nadia usually is on Zoom, Facetime, or Kids Messenger video from 8:45-9:30 each night, and she stays on it until 10:00pm one night per month. 

Jonah

When Nadia was three-years-old, she was obsessed with the story of Jonah. We had multiple picture books that told the story, and I read them to her at her request umpteen times a week. She also had a fear of whales when she was that age. I remember once she asked me if there might be a whale in the bathtub. When I took Nadia and Ian to SeaWorld in August 2011 on the day the Wendy and Drayton took their kids to Magic Kingdom, I was really hoping that seeing Shamu would help Nadia realize that a whale could never fit in a bathtub and also that she would see whales in a more favorable light. When I found out that Sight and Sound was showing Jonah in 2012, we decided to celebrate Nadia's fourth birthday in Lancaster. I was in the hospital, but Paul came and picked me up and I was allowed to watch the show provided I went into the theatre in a wheelchair. This past spring Sight and Sound released a recording of one of their performances of Jonah (from 2017). I saw that it was being aired, but I didn't suggest that we watch it a few months ago because I figured seeing it in person is much better than watching it on our TV. However when I saw more recently that they were airing it again this weekend on the TBN app, I decided we should watch it today. Yes, most of us had seen it before, but Oliver hadn't ever seen it, Nadia had just turned 4, and Ian was only 2 1/2. I'm glad we watched it today. Yes, it's not nearly as powerful as watching it in person, but buying five tickets to Sight and Sound costs quite a bit of money, and this was free. They are airing a live performance of Esther in early September. That broadcast won't be free. Since we have tickets to see Esther in December I'm not tempted to pay to watch it on TV, but if you aren't able to see the show in person, $25 for your family to see the show is quite a bargain. I hope we are actually able to see Esther in person in December. Time will tell. My favorite show of all the ones I've seen at Sight and Sound over the years so far was Jesus, which we saw in 2018.

In general our area has not been hit hard during this pandemic. Lately our county plus another neighboring county have not been doing well in the number of new cases per 100,000 people analysis. This is because more than 100 cases of COVID were reported in a federal prison in Union County. In our county the spike has primarily been due to more than 125 cases at a nursing home in Milton (the same town where we go to church).

I'm one who strives to follow the rules, but I have to say in various instances over the last 5 months the rules haven't made any sense to me. For example, we still aren't allowed to walk into the library and access anything on any of the bookshelves. Thankfully, we can pick up materials that we have previously requested at the front desk. During the entire pandemic there has never been any restrictions on what customers could or couldn't touch at the grocery store, Walmart, Home Depot, etc. The stores that weren't allowed to be open in the red phase (such as department stores) reopened in June again with no restrictions on what customers touched. So what is so dangerous about library books compared to items sold at stores? The library we usually go to has three libraries that are connected. They transfer the books between the three libraries three days a week. I knew that the books that patrons returned were quarantined for three days, but I learned a few days ago that if a library employee transfers book from one library to another the books are again quarantined for another three days. If two different librarians touch a book in the same building they don't quarantine them again. I don't understand the logic. Similarly it seems that doorways are particularly "dangerous" when it comes to COVID. We wear our masks for less than a minute as we enter church and do the same when we exit, but we don't need to wear them during the worship service. It was the same at the swimming pool. We had to wear a mask when passing through the entrance, but that was it. It seems to me either we should wear the masks the whole time or we don't need to wear them at all. I can't see how the danger is any greater during the 30 seconds we pass through the doorway, but since that is what we are asked to do, that is what we do. Speaking of entrances, usually there are four entrances into our local Walmart. I understand why the one by the Auto Center is closed because the Auto Center hasn't been open since the middle of March, but I don't get the logic of closing two of the three main entrances. Doing so means that many more people are crowded together because there is only one entrance. Having all three entrances open would make social distancing more likely to happen. I have seen some stores have put arrows on the floor indicating which direction traffic is supposed to flow in an aisle. In my observation people don't seem to be paying any attention to those arrows. Most people are wearing masks inside stores, and most people are trying to stay 6 feet apart from each other in a checkout line, but the one way arrows don't seem to have done a lick of good.

Because of the rise in cases in the federal prison, the two school districts in that county were asked to delay the start of their school year until September 8. Again, I cannot see a correlation between inmates testing positive and what is done in K-12 schools. It doesn't make sense to me. We are supposed to resume classes at our church on September 6. I am praying that this surge of new cases in the nursing home will not mean that has to be postponed. I have a feeling they are going to require kids and teens to wear masks during those classes since that is what they are requiring in the local schools. They are hosting a bonfire on August 29, and I believe that is when we will find out those details. We're not fans of wearing masks, but we definitely prefer wearing a mask to class than not having the class offered at all, which is how it will have been for almost 6 months if they do reopen in two weeks. Next Sunday they are having a picnic outside after church prior to an outdoor baptismal service. 44 people have signed up thus far to be baptized next Sunday! 

Nadia has an audition this evening for a theatre production that the audition, rehearsals, and performance will exclusively be done through Zoom. We shall see how that goes. I know she'd prefer to participate in person, but drama via Zoom is better than no drama at all. The woman who directed Cinderstein is the one organizing it. This one act play is called "Bad Audition by Bad Actors." 

Day of Rest

I am thankful that the theater camp that Nadia is attending this month is much closer to our home than the theatre camps she attended in 2015, 2016, 2017, and 2019, but when we were at the pool yesterday afternoon I decided to ask Paul if he would take the kids to the pool today without me. Of the past twenty-two days, I took the kids to the pool nineteen of those days. We didn't go the two days I drove them to Six Flags, and we missed one other day because of the weather. The pool is only 15 minutes from our house, but when Nadia is at camp I drive 20 minutes to take her to camp, 25 minutes to take the boys to the pool, 25 minutes to go back to get Nadia, and 20 minutes to go back home. I thought I'd drive less on Saturday, but the FBC youth group went on a hike in Lewisburg yesterday morning. In light of COVID-19, it's more challenging to find ways to occupy the boys for 2-4 hours while she's otherwise occupied. The park in Lewisburg that has shade hasn't been reopened due to COVID-19. I was shocked when I took the boys there around 3pm on Thursday. I talked to someone on Saturday who said her boys just walk around the barrier and play at the playground anyhow. We can't hang out at the library, and the Lewisburg swimming pool is closed due to COVID-19. I took the boys to the playground which doesn't have shade; I had brought some bread for them to feed the ducks again. It's been HOT and dry the last couple of weeks. I haven't mowed the lawn in two weeks, and I still don't need to mow it. I usually mow once a week. They lasted a little less than an hour at that playground. I ran into the library to pick up one book and one DVD, and then we got lunch. I went through the drive-thru at Wendy's to buy nuggets for the boys and through the drive-thru at Panera to get myself a salad. We ate in our vehicle in the parking lot at Panera. On my receipt it stated that I had earned a free cookie. After I finished my salad, I went into Panera and selected one cookie for the boys and I to share. I love their chocolate chunk cookie. I'm thankful I don't know how many calories are in it. At least I only ate 1/3 of the cookie and not the whole thing, right? It was SO delicious. I think at some point I'm going to attempt a copycat recipe for that particular cookie.

I thought we'd drive straight to the pool after picking Nadia up at noon, but she begged me to stop at a thrift store we pass on the way to the pool. She picked out a dress, pair of shirts, and a long sleeve shirt. She wore the dress today. We swam for a couple of hours and stopped at the grocery store on the way home to buy four steaks as they were having a three day sale on steaks. I have been in penny pinching mode for the past year once I realized I was unemployed again, but I have been trying to loosen up a little bit recently because we have spent less than planned due to many things being cancelled and have received more money than expected (for example, the stimulus check). I have been putting most of the extra money into a savings account or CD for future expenses, but it's also nice to have a few little splurges here and there. I can go years without buying any steak, but I bought four rib eye steaks. Paul grilled them today. Nadia and Paul each ate a whole steak. Oliver and Ian shared one steak. Paul will eat the fourth steak tomorrow. I made myself a taco salad because I'm not a fan of steak.

I had reservations for the Children's Museum on Friday as I assumed we'd go swimming with Nadia from 5:30-7:30 pm as we had on Thursday because Nadia had missed not being able to swim Monday through Wednesday, but Nadia didn't want to have eat a meal I packed. She wanted to eat lunch and dinner at home so she could have a hot meal both times. So I took the boys swimming for three hours instead. I also took the boys to May's Drive-In for ice cream on our way back to pick up Nadia. Ian asked for a peanut butter fudge sundae. My first instinct was to just ask him to get something that was a little cheaper, but I stopped myself and said yes. We could afford that "splurge." It only cost about $10 total for the three of us to have an ice cream treat even with his sundae. 

Paul was disappointed when I asked to stay home this afternoon. He was looking forward to the five of us doing something together. I totally understand where he is coming from. He swam with us on two other Sunday afternoons this month, and both times I contemplated staying home and both times decided it was important for the five of us to do something together. We don't see much of Paul Monday-Saturday. But I had a much more hectic schedule last week, and it will continue this week during her second week of theatre camp. Next Sunday I will be driving to Long Island. I knew TODAY was my chance to spend more time at home. We all went to church this morning, and I take Nadia to youth group at 6:30 pm and Paul picks her up at 8:00 on Sunday evenings. I am able to read a book at the pool, but I am trying to finish a photography course so I can end my membership this week before they charge me $14 on Saturday.

I think part of the reason I'm tired of running here and there the past week is because I had recently spent several months at home not going anywhere. I'm not saying I like staying home ALL the time. I am very grateful that we are able to go to church on Sunday mornings and pick up books and DVDs at the library, and the kids have really been enjoying being able to swim on an almost daily basis, but being out and about every single day of a week is not my preference. But one of my "jobs" as a stay-at-home mom is chauffeur. This too shall pass. The pool will close on August 20, and after that we will probably return to spending most of our days at home because I think field trips will be few and far between for the rest of 2020 due to COVID-19. The kids don't play on a team sport in the fall, and I'm not planning on signing them up for classes at MCS this year due to COVID-19. I don't think I'll have choir rehearsals on Wednesday nights this year, and AWANA might be done by Zoom this year. So Sundays might be our only day that we'll be regularly going somewhere this fall. 

Thankful Thursday

1. All three kids had normal results from the lipid panel, and Paul also had a normal result from his stress test on July 13.

2. The kids have been enjoying the lunches provided by the Methodist church on Mondays and Wednesdays. We are given 6 quarts of white milk and 3 pints of chocolate milk each week, many different snacks for the kids, and five meals. This week the meals were a ham/turkey/bacon sub, grilled cheese sandwich, beef stroganoff, taco boat, and a "Christmas in July" meal that included turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, and corn.

3. Nadia's annual physical went smoothly on July 7, and the Pediatrician kindly gave Ian a prescription for EpiPens during her appointment.

4. We were able to go to Six Flags twice this month. At least some of the Towfighis joined us for both trips. We visited the parks in Maryland and New Jersey.

5. Evanna and Nadia had a 48 hour sleepover from July 10-12.

6. Our church didn't cancel the in person services after the Governor changed the indoor maximum back to 25 people. Also, the change in the face mask regulation hasn't really impacted our lives except for the fact we wear masks for about 1 minute every time we go to the swimming pool.

7. The kids and I enjoyed a picnic at Pastor Ken's house on July 12.

8. The boys enjoyed the "Greek to Me" program at the library on July 15.

9. The kids and I enjoyed hiking with Cheri and her foster son at Ricketts Glen on July 17.

10. Nadia is enjoying her acting class which began on July 20. It's very different considering they were masks for almost four hours straight and have to stay farther apart than usual. She appreciates the mask break when they eat a snack outside. 

11. We have visited the pool almost every day this month. We usually stay for about 2 hours. Twice this week we stayed for 2.5-3 hours. 

12. Nadia was able to attend the youth group at FBC in person on July 12 and 19. She's looking forward to going on a hike with that youth group in two days.

13. Nadia and I completed a 750 piece puzzle earlier this week! This was the biggest puzzle Nadia had ever done. The previous week Ian, Nadia, and I took almost all week to complete a 500 piece puzzle which was much harder than the 750 piece puzzle because almost all the pieces were light blue.

14. I ordered two garage doors, Oliver's birthday presents, and a chest freezer this week. The chest freezer is a birthday gift. Thanks, Dad and Margie! I got three estimates for the garage doors. I ended up going with the salesman whom I least expected to choose. For one thing, he referred to my kids as my grandkids. Oops! I'm thankful we had saved up the money to pay for this project because my garage door has been really struggling to open and close lately.

15. Yesterday Ian found a wrapped birthday gift for Adam that had fallen behind a bookshelf in the dining room. I'm not sure how long it had been back there. I opened it and asked Wendy if they already had that DVD. They don't own it. We will give it to them the next time we see them. Better late than never! Oops!

16. The Lewisburg Children's Museum is reopening today after being closed for 4 months. The boys will spend two hours in there today while Nadia is in her acting class, which is located in the auditorium of the same building. We have reservations to spend 2 hours there on four different days over the next eight days. 

17. We've enjoyed watching a few movies together recently such as Cool Runnings, Bridge to Terabithia, Four Kids and It, and The Adventures of Tintin. Cool Runnings was the second movie I saw in a movie theatre. My first time in a movie theatre was when I saw Beethoven in Lynchburg in 1992 while I was working on my master's degree. We recently listened to Bridge to Terabithia, and I was rather impressed with how closely the movie followed the book. 

18. We're continuing to enjoy audiobooks together. Of the eight we've finished thus far this month, I think our three favorites were Hold Fast by Blue Balliet (about a family who temporarily lives in a shelter in Chicago), The Wild Robot, and The Wild Robot Escapes by Peter Brown. Today we finished Walk Two Moons (which was NOT one of our favorites) and began Sophie Quire and the Last Bodyguard. 

Giving Thanks

1. Our county and other counties near us are going green next Friday! Time will tell what exactly life will be like in the green phase (when will our church reopen? when will Knoebels open? when will the kids be allowed to play on playground equipment?), but most businesses will be reopening, which is a very good thing for the business owners and overall economy. You'd think it would be a very good thing for the employees also, but the government's extra $600 a week has created a myriad of problems. Entering the green phase also means Yvonne's family can come up to visit us next weekend for Andrew's birthday! My kids are very excited about seeing their cousins!

2. We went on a FIELD TRIP yesterday! Woohoo! I never dreamt that government intervention might make that impossible for three months, but we were very glad to go to Reptiland yesterday. Hopefully we'll be able to go on some more field trips over the next three months. I'm also thankful I was able to see my friend, Cheri, yesterday for the first time since December.

3. We live in a small development, but thankfully children live in most of the homes. One family moved out during the lockdown. They didn't use a realtor to sell their home. The family that moved out had one preschool boy (whom Oliver played with), and the family that moved in has a nine-year-old girl and a twelve-year-old boy. After Nadia turns 12 (in 18 days), there will be 5 twelve-year-olds in our development! Most of the children are between the ages of 7-14. The family that has an inground pool also has a nice slip and slide, hoverboard, and mini Segway. Oliver has enjoyed using all of the above. He asked for a hoverboard for his birthday after he found out they are much cheaper than a mini Segway. I'm very thankful the kids have other kids to play with and that Camden's family has allowed all three of our kids to swim in their heated pool. In the picture below Nadia and Addi (who just turned 10 three days ago) were making business cards to advertise their pet sitting and baby sitting business. We will be pet sitting Evanna's two gerbils this month while she's on vacation in Montana with her mom.

4. Nadia's friend, Grace, came over for a sleepover last weekend.

5. Nadia is going to a youth group meeting IN PERSON tomorrow night for the first time in almost three months. Tomorrow *should* be our last Sunday of church taking place in our family room staring at our TV. We plan to begin attending church services IN PERSON at FBC on June 14.

6. Shawn came home from the hospital. He was hospitalized for three weeks following having his appendix removed. We're still praying for him. 

7. We've picked up meals at the public school four times so far. These meals have really increased the amount of containers going in the garbage and recycling bin. We threw away one PBJ sandwich, but otherwise everything has been consumed. The kids have eaten almost everything. None of us like broccoli, but the guinea pigs gladly gobbled that up. I've cut back how much milk, bread, and fresh fruit I am buying because of what we're receiving at the school. This Wednesday one of the things we received was a bag of Starbucks coffee. We shared that with Paul's mom and brother because none of us drink coffee. In the summer the kids have participated in the Kid's Café that the Methodist church usually puts on in our town's park five days a week when school isn't in session. Because of social distancing, they won't be offering the program in the way they usually do but instead will be offering a "to go" curbside lunch program two days a week. We'll give it a whirl once that begins on July 1 to see if the kids want to pick up meals there or not this summer. 

8. Millie was able to buy a box of jumbo shells for us. Thanks, Milllie! That was something I hadn't been able to purchase at Walmart or Weis around here. I'm planning to make stuffed shells next week.

9. The library we usually use reopened for curbside service this week. There have been serious glitches to this new system, which I didn't anticipate because they've had a way to place holds online for years. I had been waiting all week for the books I requested on Monday to be ready for me to pickup. The items were on the shelves and no one else had requested them, but for some unknown reason some of them weren't pulled from the shelves until today. I was at the library on Monday, but some things that came in that day which they didn't give to me were checked out to me that day. In other words some things I picked up today are due in two days even though they always let you have things for at least seven days. Unfortunately, the same thing happened today!!! I got home and checked my account versus what was in the bag they gave me, and there are three books listed in my account as being checked out to me that they didn't actually give me. Two of the books were for Nadia and are ones that they give you 14 days to read, but the book for me is one that you can only check out for seven days. It's frustrating, but at least the library is open and we did get some books and DVDs. Hopefully in time they will work out the bugs to this system. If they don't, we will try to use the library as sparingly as possible this summer as I don't want to start driving there multiple times a week given the library is 20 minutes from our house.

Nadia really enjoyed the book I got for her on Monday (Absolutely Almost), so I got her another book by the same author today. It's very easy to tell when she loves a book because she finishes it MUCH, much faster. Nadia is very thankful the libraries have reopened as she isn't a fan of reading on the Kindle.

10. Speaking of books, the kids and I are thankful for free audiobooks! We finished our 600th chapter book on May 6, and as of June 6 we are in the middle of Rufus M, which will be our 615th book, and two of the fifteen books were each over 500 pages long! The series we are enjoying right now is the Mysterious Benedict Society. We've listened to the prequel and the first book so far. We're in line on Overdrive for books two and three, and I'm planning to pay around $8 for the fourth book on Audible because I can't find a way to listen to that one for free. I figure paying $8 for something that we'll enjoy for 12 hours is a reasonable use of money.

11. The kids love water balloons, and I'm thankful for the Bunch O Balloons that Grandma and Pop Pop gave the kids recently. It is SO much easier than filling and typing balloons one by one. The kids are also very thankful I included freeze pops in my Walmart grocery order on Monday. Little things like a water balloon and a freeze pop can put a smile on a child's face!

12. After the stress of owning two rabbits, I'm thankful for three guinea pigs that bring enjoyment to the kids (mostly Nadia) without stress. Since Nadia has had extra time on her hands recently, she's been setting the guinea pigs up for photo shoots by having them wear doll clothing or using props like old cell phones and plastic sun glasses. 

13. I unfortunately had gained back some of the weight I lost last year. I really hope I do a better job keeping it off this time!!!!! Anyhow the good news is that over the past couple of weeks I've lost 5 pounds. I'm on a plateau right now, but hopefully I'll see some progress again n the near future. I'm hoping to reach my goal by the end of July. At least I'm going in the right direction at the moment....

Baby Steps

Life is definitely not anywhere close to what it was just three months ago, but we are definitely closer to normal compared to what life was like two months ago. More businesses were allowed to reopen in the yellow phase than were allowed to be open in the red phase. The places where I typically shop are grocery stores, CVS, and an occasional trip to a hardware store. Since all of those were deemed "essential," I haven't shopped at any of the other stores that were allowed to reopen on May 8. Most of the places that I've been waiting for them to allow to reopen are ones that can't do so until the green phase. Here are some changes that to me represent baby steps back to normalcy:

1. The neighborhood kids are playing together outside, without wearing masks, without staying 6 feet apart, and without worrying if they have some physical contact. For about six weeks the neighborhood kids didn't play together at all. Then they started interacting but still kept more physical distance than usual. Now when they play together it looks totally normal. Up until yesterday none of them had entered our house and my kids hadn't entered anyone else's house (since all this started), but yesterday Karyss had permission from her mom to play with Oliver inside our house, and today Oliver was invited into her house! Another baby step! Oliver has always been one to spend many hours playing with the neighbors. Ian was the first to start joining him more often, and now just in the last several days Nadia has been doing the same. There are three boys in our development who also just finished sixth grade (Damien, Maddox, and Trent). She's played with them. Damien in particular has really been enjoying interacting with Peppa (Nadia's younger guinea pig). The kids that play with my three the most often are Westyn, Addi, Karyss, Damien, Maddox, Trent, and Camden who are all between the ages of 7-12. Addi is turning ten on Wednesday. My kids each gave her a Mylar balloon and a birthday card today to help make her coronavirus birthday special since she can't do what she wanted to do on her birthday (spend some time at a skate park with her family and one friend). 

2. We can get curbside service from the library. Our "usual" library reopened for service today. It involved plenty of "hiccups." It took them multiple hours to get the "hold" system working again on their website today. I called and placed my holds over the phone after many failed attempts to do so online over the course of several hours. They had some of what I asked for ready when we showed up around 3:15pm. Grandma had given me $20 in my Mother's Day card and said it was to buy the kids and I a treat the first time we could return to the library. I let the kids pick where we spent the $20, and they picked Sweet Frog. They stayed in the van for the other errands, but donned their masks to go into Sweet Frog. Oliver lost his Paw Patrol mask before he ever actually wore it in public. He wore the one I bought for Nadia, and Nadia wore one of Paul's masks. Paul owns several since he wears them every day at work. In the "normal" days you would fill your container with frozen yogurt yourself and put your toppings on yourself. Now you tell the employee what kind of yogurt you want and what toppings you want. The price used to be based on weight. Now it's a flat price. I got them each a small, which cost $5 each and included 4 toppings. I opted to get myself a cup of soft ice cream at another little ice cream stand on the way home because it was cheaper and I didn't want the extra calories of the toppings. It was the first time in 2020 that any of us had soft ice cream or frozen yogurt. I savored every bit. Thank you, Grandma! When I got home I discovered that while we were putting away the groceries they had pulled 3 more books plus 1 more DVD that I had requested this morning off the shelves for me. Those four items were listed in my account as being checked out, but the six books I brought home were still listed as being ready to be picked up. What?!? I called and they said once they pull a book it's now going to be immediately checked out. They've never done it that way in the past, and our local library isn't doing it that way now so I wasn't expecting that. I'll keep that in mind in the future in terms of timing my requests more carefully. As for the books I brought home, that was their mistake and they corrected it in the system to show that I already checked those out. I usually only go to the library once per week, but I'm going to need to return sometime this week or the DVD they "checked out" to me today that is in the lobby will be due before we even get it. Now that understand the new system, I will plan accordingly. Ian was happy to get two more Paddington Bear books today. 

3. Nadia has had three different friends over for sleepovers the past three Friday nights. The next one is scheduled to take place towards the end of this month in honor of her birthday.

4. Nadia is looking forward to attending a youth group meeting in person on June 7 for the first time since March 15, and our whole family is looking forward to attending an in-person worship service on June 14 for the first time since March 8. Granted we will have to wear masks, we won't be going to our church (because our church isn't offering in person services yet), and there won't be any Sunday School classes, but still meeting in a church building instead of watching our TV at home. Paul put in a full day of work yesterday at the plant, but the kids and I watched one sermon plus the sixth episode of The Chosen. It was definitely my favorite episode thus far. We only have two more to watch. I hope they continue to make more seasons in the future. If you  haven't watched it before, you can watch it for free on YouTube. Each episode is about 50 minutes long. I'm very grateful that we only have ONE ore Sunday of church at home. I can't wait to take that baby step towards a more normal Sunday albeit I'm dreading wearing a mask for that length of time. 

5. In general ordering groceries online seems to be going more smoothly. The one thing I'm still really struggling to purchase anywhere is a box of jumbo shells or manicotti. I have the ricotta cheese, but I need some pasta to put that cheese into. Weis let me add it to my order (which wasn't the case at Walmart), but when I actually showed up to get my groceries today, nope no jumbo shells. I never dreamt trying to buy pasta would be challenging for weeks on end. The price of ground beef is also no where close to normal. Between now and Nadia's birthday I'm going to have to buy some because she wants rigatoni and meatballs for her birthday. The only meat we've been eating lately has been either chicken or tuna.

6. Reptiland's address is in Allenwood, PA, ,and Allenwood is in Union County. BUT it seems Reptiland is considered to be in Lycoming County because they said today that they are reopening on FRIDAY when Lycoming County enters the green phase! We haven't been on a field trip since March 8, and let me say we really miss our field trips! Reptiland is less than 10 minutes from our house. I think we'll be going there on Friday or Saturday! Going on a field trip (even if we have to wear a mask) is definitely going to feel like another step back toward normalcy. 

7. All the camps I signed the kids up for this summer were cancelled, BUT there will be camps in PA this summer! Last Monday the woman who runs the horseback riding camp texted me to see if we were interested in a week of camp. She raised the price from $200 per child to $250 per child. I realize that's still a very good price for 30 hours of horseback riding camp, but that would mean I'd have to pay $750 for three kids for one week. I paid $600 last year, but that was when both of us were employed. If that had been the only camp the kids could have gone to this summer, I probably would have signed them up for it, especially since Tab was willing to sign her boys up and we could have carpooled like we did last year. Since Nadia found an overnight camp the kids can attend for free this summer, I'm not planning on sending them to horseback riding camp this month. I also found two theater camps today that haven't cancelled yet. Nadia has participated in camps at the one in Williamsport before. They had multiple options. I didn't pick that one for three reasons #1 they said if they cancel you will have a credit (I want a refund), #2 it cost $75 more than the other one I found, and #3 of the five camps she could have picked between (based on the fact she'll be entering 7th grade this fall), two kids had signed up for one of the camps so far and no kids had signed up for the other four camps so far. It seems very likely they might cancel those camps due to low enrollment even if they are allowed to hold them in light of COVID-19 restrictions. The one I selected is about 20 minutes from our house. The two camps were pretty equidistant from our house albeit in opposite directions. There were only two options for her grade level. The production they will be doing is a mash up between Cinderella and Frankenstein, which certainly wouldn't be her first choice. But in 2020 with camps being cancelled left and right, beggars can't be choosers! This camp said they will give a full refund if they end up cancelling due to low enrollment or COVID-19 restrictions. They will make a decision by June 15. So I signed her up. Since VBS has been cancelled this summer as well as the camps they planned to attend, signing all three up for one week of overnight camp plus signing Nadia up for 2 weeks of an acting class (4 hours a day) seemed like baby steps toward normalcy - provided these camps do actually end up taking place that is!

Going Green

Today our Governor announced that 17 of the 24 counties that moved from red to yellow on May 8 will move to green on May 29. Sadly our county and all but one of the counties in our area that moved to yellow on May 8 are not in that group. The smallest county in our state (by land area), which is about 30 minutes from our home, is moving to green on May 8. If the churches in that county resume in-person services on May 31, I think our family will make that drive so we can attend in-person services. I am very, very relieved as I'm guessing that moving to green is likely to happen in the first half of June for our county. Some counties will move to yellow on May 29, and the rest will move to yellow on June 5. All businesses can reopen in the green phase - even in the entertainment category as long as social distancing can be maintained. However when someone asked if a high school graduation could be held in a county once they were in the green phase, he said that they hadn't yet determined what the limitations would be on the number of people that could be at a gathering in the green phase. Unfortunately there aren't any museums, zoos, etc. in the county near us that is going on green on May 31 so that change won't lead to any field trips, but I am hopeful that we might be able to go on some field trips in June if more counties move to green sometime next month. This is SUCH a relief! The library we usually use hasn't begun offering curbside service yet, but we've been able to get some books and DVDs at our much smaller local library while we wait for the bigger one to reopen. I am very, very glad to know that in the next week we will find out what the restrictions will be in the green phase as I'm wanting to know if amusement parks will be allowed to open this summer, if the size of our church is going to be a problem or not, etc. If we're going to go on field trips we are going to have to get used to wearing those icky masks. I assume that playgrounds will also be permissible in the green phase, which will mean we can walk to playgrounds instead of just walking for the sake of getting exercise. It is SO encouraging to realize that the green phase is likely just around the corner for our county and some other counties in our area. It feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel.... presuming whatever restrictions they announce for the green phase aren't going to make it impossible to go to church and other venues that attract a larger crowd. Previously they had said that things like festivals and concerts couldn't take place in the green phase. I'm looking forward to hearing more specifics. What number is "large" in their minds?  Green won't be totally normal but hopefully a lot closer to normal than yellow or red.

Our church draws people from a fairly wide radius. The IT director at our church crunched the numbers and if you combine the data from all the zip codes where our church family (2,000+ people) live, our area has had 1.4 cases of COVID-19 per 1,000 where the national average is 4.8 per 1,000, which means we are 70% lower than the national norms. Considering 84% of the cases are mild and 80% of the cases are in individuals over 65 (primarily those in care facilities), it seems reasonable for life to be allowed to move much closer to normal for those who are under the age of 65 and don't have other health conditions that put them at greater risk. I know that Trump today said that churches are "essential" and that in-person religious services should be allowed to resume. It will be interesting to see what churches decide to do - follow the Governor or the President? I'm assuming churches will still continue to provide on-line services for those who are not comfortable attending in person or are at greater risk and need to stay in quarantine for a longer period of time. 

MSN ranked the states plus DC  in terms of their coronavirus restrictions. Pennsylvania was in the top five of having the most restrictions. The five most restrictive were Hawaii, Rhode Island, DC, Illinois, and Pennsylvania. I hadn't heard anything about Hawaii so that one surprised me. I was expecting to see Washington (state) and Michigan higher on the list given what I've read. Considering New York has definitely been hit the hardest, you would think they'd be higher on the list. They were ranked at #7. The five with the fewest restrictions were South Dakota #51, Utah, North Dakota, Missouri, and Idaho. Florida was #43, Indiana was #36, Minnesota was tied with Alaska for #30, Virginia was #25, and Maryland was #12. I mentioned those five states as I know some of the people who read my blog live in those states. Well if life looks a lot closer to normal sometime next month, it will mean we were under the most rigid phase of restrictions for about 3 months. Why did they say NO sports (except for golf and tennis) in Pennsylvania this summer? It also makes me wonder if the camps were jumping the gun to cancel summer camp? Or maybe the social distancing requirements will still make those impossible even in the green phase? Camp Good News said they would make a decision in May regarding their day camp and overnight camps that are scheduled to take place in July. They haven't announced a decision yet. It would be so, so wonderful if they still held the camps. I had almost no hope of them doing that prior to today, but now I have a little bit of hope. Time will tell. Many places have already announced that they will be doing virtual camps instead of in-person camps, and we have zero interest in any virtual camps. I realize it's very probable we will experience a second wave of the virus in the fall and/or winter, but I have a bit more hope at the moment that we might be able to go on the vacations we planned for August and October. It's too far away to be certain, but maybe, just maybe it will be possible. I'm going to wait until next week when I hear what the green phase restrictions will be to decide whether to reschedule our Esther tickets for fall 2020 or spring 2021. Here's to hoping that the restrictions will also be eased next month in Maryland so we can go to Six Flags with Yvonne and her family in June or July.

Nadia's friend, Evanna, came over again today to spend about 24 hours at our house. Nadia's friend, Grace, is planning to come over next weekend for a sleepover. We are thankful that it is again permissible to have friends over to our house. It's a rainy day today so Ian has been inside all day. Oliver did spend some time outside this morning before it started raining. The boys swam for about 90 minutes in the neighbor's heated pool yesterday. Nadia has done three 500 piece puzzles and four 300 piece puzzles over the past 6 days. Way to go, Nadia!! The kids have done eight of the ten new puzzles at least once, and several have been done twice already. They've avoided the two 750 piece puzzles thus far. We listened to The One and Only Ivan while they did their puzzles yesterday, and today they listened to The One and Only Bob. I'm very thankful for audiobooks! We had listened to the Ivan book in 2016. I chose to have us listen again since the movie based on the book is supposed to be in the theatres in August.. I got E.T. at the library today so the kids can see that classic movie for the first time this weekend. Nadia doesn't like reading on the Kindle; she is very thankful that I got her three "real" books from the library this week. I enjoyed watching the movie Stargirl on Disney+ earlier this spring. She is reading the book now as she wants to read it before watching the movie. Ian doesn't mind reading on the Kindle. He's been reading Tumtum and Nutmeg books on the Kindle via Overdrive, so I didn't get him any "real" books from the library.

Two chocolate cakes

The weather forecast for the day, even when I checked it this morning, did not look promising for egg hunts. The librarians hid the eggs inside the library because of the weather forecast. They had two eggs which contained a "gold" coin. Nadia found one of them, which meant she received a chocolate cake. Each plastic egg contained a penny, piece of candy (or a sticker), and a letter. At the end the kids would spell out the words candy or basket. For every time they spelled out the words, they received a ticket for the drawing. There were supposedly four "p's" along with MANY h's and o's. If you spelled "pop" you could receive a prize basket. Only two "p's" were actually found (we didn't have any), so they used the tickets for drawing two of the prize baskets also. They had three total cakes to give away. Ian's ticket was drawn, and he received a smaller cake. We've gone to this egg hunt at the library for many years, and this was the first time we won a cake - and we won two cakes! I had planned to make an apple crisp for Easter dinner tomorrow, but in light of us bringing home two cakes, I might pass on making the apple crisp. Although I actually prefer an apple crisp to a chocolate cake, and since tomorrow is my birthday I might end up making the apple crisp anyhow.

I should have brought the cakes in as soon as we got home, but I didn't bring them in until a few hours later. Oops! Nadia's cake fared just fine, but Ian's cake had some melting issues. I put it in the refrigerator for a bit. I'm sure it didn't affect the taste, but it definitely doesn't look as pretty as it did when we first received it. We went directly from the library to the second egg hunt. It sprinkled a little at that one (I got out my umbrella for a little bit), but it was warm enough the kids didn't mind. All three kids were in the same division at the library as they only split the kids in half. At the 11:00 egg hunt Oliver was in the second division (ages 4-8) and the other two were in the oldest division (ages 9-12). Most of the eggs were plastic eggs with a prize ticket or candy inside. There were also a few hard boiled eggs. The kids collected a fair amount of eggs, but none of them had a prize egg. The kids each got a hot dog as we left. We came home and ate a bit more lunch, and then I went out and started mowing the lawn. The third "egg" hunt actually is just candy strewn over the park with only 10 total eggs (all prize eggs).

That one is divided into five divisions. Oliver was with 1st/2nd grade, Ian with 3rd/4th grade, and Nadia with 5th/6th grade. Most of the egg hunts are for 0-12 years old, which means she can participate two more years, but next year will be her last at that egg hunt since she'll be in 6th grade next year. The church where she goes to youth group on Sunday nights has an egg hunt for grades 7-12 that's done in the dark; she thinks that sounds like fun. After the third egg hunt, I finished mowing the lawn just before it was time to head to the last egg hunt, which was the one held at the playground we go to the most often. We could have walked there, but given I needed more time to finish mowing, we drove. They divide the kids into four divisions. Nadia didn't get many eggs, but the boys did. All three of my kids were in different divisions at that egg hunt. None of them got any prize eggs. So this year Nadia found two prize eggs (April 14 and April 20), and Ian found one prize egg (April 13) and won one drawing (April 20). Oliver struck out this year, but we brought home more than 3 dozen hardboiled eggs, a bunch of pennies (haven't counted them yet), and a LOT of candy.

It poured yesterday, but we were very fortunate today. At the third egg hunt, the MC even said at the end (in reference to the weather) "God is good" which surprised me as it was not an egg hunt sponsored by a church but by a Lions Club. Including driving time it was about 4hr 45 minutes from the time we left for the first egg hunt and got home from the last one, which meant in the span of less than five hours we attended four egg hunts, I mowed the lawn (which takes a little more than an hour), and we ate lunch (while I read a chapter book to them about the California Gold Rush). Whew! After that it was time for Saturday chores (vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, etc.), dinner, and then we headed to church. I had to be there by 5:15 as the choir warms up 45 minutes before the service. The first four pictures are from earlier this month. The last three are from today.