Jenna and Toby's Wedding

 

My preparations for Jenna and Toby's wedding began months ago. I purchased two (physical) wedding photography books and four wedding photography e-books, borrowed many wedding photography books through Kindle Unlimited, purchased gifts for the couple, purchased additional memory cards, a dual camera harness, and camera batteries, and created lists of shots that I planned to take at the wedding. Nadia and I had appointments for manicures and haircuts on February 3. The stylist was running behind so Nadia was the only one who got a manicure. It had been 12 months since Nadia had a haircut, and it had been 7 months since I had a haircut. I got myself a new dress for the wedding a few months ago. Last month I bought Ian and Oliver dress shirts for the wedding at a thrift store. Nadia wore the dress I got her for the Ray of Lights Awards event she and Ian attended with the cast of Seussical in 2024. On the way down to the church on Friday, we stopped at the thrift store and Boscov's. Paul got himself dress pants and a dress shirt at the thrift store as that morning he had discovered the ones he owned don't currently fit him. The kids got some clothes at the thrift store and also used the Boscov's gift cards that Paul's Aunt Debbie had given them for Christmas. Nadia and Ian got clothes at Boscov's, and Oliver used the last $10 on his gift card for a watch. Both Ian and Oliver are now wearing men's size small! Oliver loves the fact that he is now a smidge taller than me, and I think Ian might be taller than Paul. We brought a variety of things down with us including a ladder (for me to use for some photographs), clothes to donate to Yvonne's family (that the boys have outgrown), cameras, lenses, etc. 

Six of Jenna's cousins, three of her uncles, and two of her aunts

I started taking pictures on Friday afternoon of the dress (on a hangar), her earrings and necklace, her boots, their wedding rings, etc. I also tried to scope out where I would take photos outside the next day. I took a few pictures of their rehearsal. Paul ironed tablecloths for the reception for hours on Friday. Many people were working hard with decorating, cooking in the kitchen, etc. Since they met at a Chick-Fil-A where they were employed in the fall of 2020, food from Chick-Fil-A is what was served at the rehearsal dinner. 5 years plus 3 months passed from their first date to their wedding. Paul and I dated for 4.5 years before we were married. I have some of my niece's and nephew's birthdates memorized, but in most cases, I just remember what month they were born and use calendar reminders so I can send cards and such. Several of Jenna's siblings have birthdays that fall on holidays, so I easily remember those (Julianna's is on Valentine's Day, Wesley and Joshua's birthdays are on St. Patrick's Day, etc.). I am quite certain I won't memorize all the anniversary dates for my nieces and nephews, but I do think I'll remember Jenna's because February 7, 2026 was the 29th anniversary of the date Paul and I met at a ballroom dancing class at the Boscov's in Pottsville, and it's also Oliver's half birthday. 

Normally a macro lens would be used for this shot, but I don't own one. I still like the picture.

Ian spent the night on Friday night at an Airbnb that Toby had rented for one night. Toby's groomsmen plus Joshua, Nathan, Joel, and Ian spent the night together. They played games for many hours and slept a tiny bit. We had four rooms at a Holiday Inn that night. Aunt Janet had a room to herself. My dad had the room to himself on Saturday night, but Oliver joined him on Friday night. Drayton, Adam, Grace, and Rachel shared a room on Saturday night, but on Friday night their room was used by Grace, Rachel, and Nadia as Drayton and Adam joined Paul and I in the room we got for one night. I got barely any sleep. I ate breakfast as soon as the buffet opened (about 6:55 am) and then I drove to the church so that I could take pictures of the bride and bridesmaids getting ready. They showed up 30 minutes later than planned, and some of the groom's family weren't there in time for us to get some of the photos that we had planned to take before the ceremony, but we did get some photos done before the wedding. Jenna wanted a winter wedding because she wanted snow in her wedding pictures. The snow that fell two weeks before her wedding was still on the ground because it has been so cold lately. That was an answer to prayer, but it turned out that the temperatures that day tied a record low from 1948. It also was VERY windy (up to 50 mph). With the wind chill, it was as low as -20 degrees!! I went outside to take photos four different times. The first time it was -12 out, and I didn't have a coat on because I was wearing my dual camera harness. The fourth time I went out with a coat and just one camera around my neck (much better). The lighting was much better the fourth time we went out. The sun was too bright the first three times. I own a reflector and planned to use it, but no one was outside helping me with the photographs. If I am ever asked to be a wedding photographer again, I am going to make sure someone is helping me with things like a reflector. At one point it was also TOO windy. Toby's hair was standing straight up from the wind. I hadn't planned on taking pictures in front of the brick wall at the church, but we moved there as it wasn't as windy. I'm very grateful they were willing to brave the elements as most of my favorite shots from the day were taken outside. I wish we had taken a couple with the entire bridal party outdoors, but understandably some of them wanted to stay inside. 

The wind blowing the veil was a blessing in this shot

Almost everything went smoothly on their wedding day. Nathan (age 17) really struggled to play an arrangement of Holy, Holy during the wedding. It seems he was very nervous. The guests started leaving the reception long before Jenna *thought* the reception would end, so the plan to give the guests sparklers to use when they left was ditched. I took over 600 photos. Nadia also took a few as she stood behind Jenna when she walked down the aisle with her dad. Did I nail every shot? Absolutely not. Did I get a lot of good pictures? Definitely. I uploaded 333 photos this morning for the bride and groom and some guests to enjoy. Some of the pictures I deleted were from when I took multiple pictures of the same group of people due to the fact sometimes people are blinking, not looking at the camera, not smiling, etc. In other instances I deleted the photo because I hadn't done a good job in taking it (ex. the ones of the first kiss in the wedding ceremony). Thankfully I got some other good pictures of them kissing. 

I finished the photos this morning. I got up at 4:30am, which is definitely earlier than normal, because I wanted to get tickets for us to tour Big Ben in May, and the tickets for May were released this morning at 10:00 London time, which was 5:00am our time. Although I was clicking on the site as soon as the clock turned to 5:00 am, I was too late to get 5 tickets for any of the time slots on May 16, which was my first choice because the Parliament tours are only available on Saturdays. I then started searching through the time slots for May 15, but most were sold out and the others only had 1-3 tickets available per time slot. I then looked to see what was available for May 18. The first time slot that day would have been ideal, but it was already sold out. The earliest time slot that still had 5 tickets available was the 12:45 tour. I bought them before they also sold out. I had read that typically the entire month's tickets sell out within 10 minutes. I'm guessing they sold out within 5 minutes or less today. My mom always referred to our grandfather clock as "Big Ben." Paul and I didn't visit Parliament or Big Ben when we were in London in 2002. So I'm grateful that I was able to get five tickets even though it might mean that we won't be able to tour the chapel at King's College in Cambridge that afternoon as planned. I decided this morning that touring Big Ben was more important to me if I had to choose, and when I told Paul what happened later, he shared my opinion. I knew that I would be unable to get back to sleep even though I had only slept 6 hours, and I prefer to get 8-9 hours of sleep. So I continued to work on editing photos, deleting photos, and uploading photos to a Google photo album so that Jenna, Toby, and other friends and family could access them. 

I thought Jenna's boots were so cute! I took several pictures of them, ha ha!

I have zero desire to be a professional wedding photographer, but I am definitely willing to help out another niece or nephew in the future if any of them should ask me. I am quite certain I wouldn't be willing to do so for Brendan given I'm 52 years older than him and would likely be in my 70's if he got married in his 20's, but for those closer in age to Jenna, I would be happy to do this again. Her brother Joshua will probably be the next one to get engaged, and Andrew (who is graduating from college in May) also has a girlfriend. We shall see. In case I am ever asked again, I want to record a list of lessons learned that I can look back at should the need arise. I don't have any control over the time of year they will choose to get married, but I'm hoping any future weddings that I photograph will take place on a warmer day when we can take more photos outside (especially of all the wedding party). Borrowing Wendy's camera body and zoom lens were definitely helpful. In the past I've exclusively used prime lenses, but her zoom lens definitely came in handy on Saturday. The dual camera harness was also very helpful, especially during the ceremony. I had asked several friends to pray that I would get some good photos that Jenna and Toby could treasure for years to come. I think the Lord answered those prayers.

1. I need at least one "assistant" with me during the photo shoots - to hold a reflector, to help fetch the people needed for the next shot, and to help me with posing the people and giving them instructions. I had a list of instructions in my head prior to the wedding (ex. girls should hold the bouquet with one arm in the shape an L at their waist). Sometimes I remembered to give some instructions (ex. men put your hands in your pocket, Jenna lower the bouquet to your waist, etc.) but many times I had too many things on my mind (figuring out what lens to use, what settings my camera should be at, etc.) and we were very pressed for time and needed to move as quickly as possible as the reception was to start at 1:00. When I was editing the photos, I noticed things like Jenna's bouquet was often held too high (covering up the bodice of her dress). The pictures taken outside when I didn't have a coat on were rushed for another reason - we were all very cold! Two heads are better than one. 

2. The ladder was helpful. I would bring that again, but next time I will make sure the ladder is with me when I'm taking photos of large groups of people.

3. Next time I want to bring a pillow that I can use for my knees when I am kneeling to take photos. My knees were in pain for a couple of days afterward. 

4. I brought a black backdrop and clamps. I would have greatly preferred to use that for all the myriads of group photos that were taken in the sanctuary. A drum set and such is really not the ideal background, and it often looked like the cross was coming out of someone's head. The lighting in the foyer was MUCH better than in the sanctuary. For a whopping $30 I could buy an adjustable background stand. If I am asked to photograph another wedding, I'm planning to buy one so that will be an option (although outdoor photos would still be "plan a" for me). I could also have used that backdrop for the getting ready photos. There were NO windows in that room, and the walls were a really dark shade of teal, not exactly ideal! But I worked with what I had. Not every picture is going to be hung on a wall or in a photo album. Some are just for documenting the very special day.

5. I brought a squeaker toy to attract Brendan's attention, but it was downstairs while I was upstairs. I need to keep it with me in the future!

6. If I am taking group photos that include young children, I need to take MORE photos of each pose than I typically do. Usually, I would find at least one pose for each group that I thought worked in terms of people having open eyes, looking in the correct direction, and smiling, but that wasn't true for the photo of Jenna and Toby with Jenna's immediate family. Bummer! 

7. I was so busy taking pictures for Jenna and Toby that I forgot to get a group photo of my three kids or one of all five of us. If we're at another wedding in the future (even if I'm not the photographer), I want to make sure I get those! I did get one of Nadia/Ian, but it's nothing to write home about (taken in the sanctuary). 

8. If it seems like I'm going to be asked to be a wedding photographer more than one more time, I think I should invest in a macro lens for the detail shots unless I'm unable to borrow Wendy's zoom lens in the future. If that happens, then instead of a macro lens I should probably get a zoom lens.

9. Wear comfortable shoes! I was on my feet for many hours, and the boots I wore were not comfortable enough. 
 

Thankful Thursday

 1, Paul, Pop Pop, and I enjoyed watching the boys in their performance of "The Museum of His Story" at our church on August 2.

2. I was thrilled to see Nadia on August 3 and hear about the four weeks she spent at Camp Susque. 

3. The week of August 4 we watched a few movies at home as a family - IF, Fall Guy, and Unsung Hero.

4. We enjoyed having dinner at Texas Roadhouse on August 7 to celebrate Oliver's 12th birthday. I am so grateful that he is part of our family!

5. Oliver had an uneventful physical on August 12, and I had an uneventful dentist appointment on August 5.

6. I enjoyed having lunch with Tab on August 13 to celebrate her birthday! 

7. The five of us plus Cheri enjoyed a We are Messengers concert at a church near our home on August 13.

8. I'm thankful that we have the resources to pay for getting new rear brakes and three new tires on Paul's car on August 8. That car has been used very little over the last year, but that has changed recently as we've been having Nadia drive that car even though it's a bit uncomfortable for the five of us to ride in that car at the same time.   

9. Nathaniel and Julianna spent several hours at our home on August 8. Friends are a blessing!

10. Nadia, Ian, and I served as Compassion volunteers at a concert on August 16. Paul and Oliver also attended the concert. 

11. We got our very first picture of the six of us - meaning our first family picture that included Milo! A friend organized a Sunflower Festival, and we got our picture taken there on Sunday afternoon. 

12. We had a safe drive to Maryland on August 19 and were able to walk through the Utz factory en route to the Towfighis home. Joe graciously got up very early on Tuesday morning to drive us to BWI. We had a safe flight o Anchorage and were able to see Denali from the air! The weather was gorgeous on Tuesday and today (sunny with a high of about 61 degrees). We're so thankful we are able to travel to see this beautiful state and that we are getting very close to achieving the goal of visiting all fifty states! 

13. The Seiberts are watching Milo for us. We'll return the favor for them and watch Cooper in November. So thankful Milo does so well with them when we're away! We're also thankful that our neighbors are giving some food/water to Lily, and their son is also mowing our lawn once in our absence. 

14. We have liked the two places we've stayed so far in Alaska - an Airbnb in Girdwood and Tides Inn in Seward. 

15. We were able to see three moose on our hike in Girdwood yesterday morning, saw a bear cub this morning when we were driving to the zip lining course, saw salmon in Anchorage, saw some fish jumping in Seward, and saw an otter in the harbor near our hotel this evening. The bird we've seen the most often so far has been the magpie. We hiked to the Byron Glacier, and we hiked toward the Exit Glacier. 

16. Today we went zip lining! It was the first time Paul or I had done this, and it was the most exciting one the kids had ever done. We zip lined eight times. Some were as short as 65 feet long and others were as long as 1,100 feet long. We also walked across three suspension bridges and rappelled twice - once down 60 feet and the second time down 40 feet. 

17. We have enjoyed the pizza we've eaten, and we had delicious gelato last night. Oliver enjoyed his clam chowder this evening. 

18. The kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge as well as a patch at Kenai Fjords today. 

19. We encountered a LOT of flies during our hike with a park ranger to Exit Glacier today, but otherwise we haven't encountered any pesky insects. 

20. Everything went smoothly with the TSA on Tuesday, and we are all healthy!

Stitches again

 

It seems that for every day of the year people have assigned a celebration of some sort - national cheesecake day, pi day, Star Wars day, etc. In other instances, we are encouraged to celebrate or focus on something for a month - Black History month, Women's History month, breast cancer awareness month, etc. Next week is the 12th annual National School Choice week. I'm very thankful that we still have school choice in our country. A majority of children attend their local public school, but some parents choose to send their child to a charter school, send their child to a private school, or homeschool them. I'm not sure what impact COVID has had on the enrollment of private and charter schools, but I do know that the number of parents choosing to homeschool their children has gone up dramatically. The states that have the largest percentage of homeschoolers include Alaska (27.5%), Oklahoma (20.1%), Montana (18.3%), and Florida (18.1%). Although homeschooling is typically quite different than remote learning at home through a public school, a vast majority of parents did get at least a taste of homeschooling in the spring of 2020. I don't think homeschooling is the right choice for everyone, but we do believe it's the right choice for our children. 

On Wednesday night Paul called me and said he was taking Nadia and Ian to the hospital because he thought Ian needed to be seen at the ER due to an allergic reaction to having eaten something with a tree nut at youth group. The other time eating a tree nut caused Ian to have breathing difficulty was in June 2020. Benadryl was enough that time, but the Pediatrician did give him a prescription for epi pens at that point. Paul decided to come home first, and Benadryl was enough. His whole body was shaking for a long time afterward, and his throat was in a lot of pain as his reaction is due to eosinophilic esophagitis. He had asked his youth group small group leader if the food had nuts, and the leader had said "probably not." Ian now understands "probably not" means he needs to definitely avoid eating the food. 

On Thursday night I did take Oliver to an urgent care clinic because he fell at the beginning of their ice skating lessons. It's his third time to have stitches on his head over the last four years. The most noticeable scar is from his sledding accident in 2018. The same physician assistant who sewed him up under his chin last summer is the one who sewed him up above his right eyebrow last night. This time he only needed three stitches. The Lidocaine injection is definitely the worst part of the ordeal. I was torn how long to wait to take Oliver. In the end I let Nadia and Ian stay for about 40 minutes of what would have been a 75-minute lesson. A man at the ice-skating rink who helped clean Oliver up also gave him two candy bars and a bottle of water. Oliver gave one candy bar plus a majority of the second candy bar to his siblings as he felt badly that they had to miss part of their lesson on his account. I was planning to take Oliver to the closest urgent care clinic, but when I called, they said they weren't taking any more patients that night because the current wait time was 2.5 hours. I didn't want to take him to the urgent care clinic run by the same hospital where I had my ankle surgery in light of how unhelpful they have been with my surgery bill. The clinic I took him to didn't have any wait, and it was the best one for Paul to meet me there on his way home from work so that he could take Nadia and Ian home with him. They charged me $90 since we don't have insurance. I'm hoping there won't be an additional bill. When I took Ian to his physical earlier this month, I paid $50, but then I received a bill in the mail for another $190. Thankfully, when I called, they said it was a mistake and they wrote off the rest of the bill. I was told his sutures should come out on Wednesday, and I made an appointment with his primary care physician since I think that they will charge me $50, and I'm guessing it would be another $90 if we returned to the urgent care clinic. Also, the PCP is about 22 miles closer to our house. I hope that Oliver will do a better job of protecting his head and not need any more stitches! Thankfully this scar won't be visible because his eyebrow hair should cover it up. 

Today I paid for a photography membership that I considered signing up for on Black Friday. It was cheaper that day, but at that point I wasn't convinced I should take the plunge. I have taken a very small number of pictures over the last four months; I'm sure it's a record for the fewest pictures I've ever taken in that time span over the past 13.5 years not counting the time I was in the hospital during Oliver's pregnancy. I'm hoping that this membership will #1 help me get back in gear in terms of taking more pictures and #2 help me get off the very long plateau I've been on in terms of growth as a photographer. 

As I read in the news recently, I am hoping we WILL follow the pattern of the UK in at least two regards and will NOT follow the pattern of Canada in another. I was thrilled to see that the UK is now treating COVID as endemic = no more mask mandates or vaccine mandates and such in that country. It is now being treated the same as a seasonal flu. I really, really hope that our country will follow suit in the not-so-distant future. Also, they have raised interest rates in the UK, which is something that needs to happen here to help curtail inflation. People didn't like the high interest rates in the US in the 70's, but it brought inflation down and helped bring about the economic boon of the 80's. As for Canada, they have recently partially done away with freedom of speech and freedom of religion as pastors, rabbis, and imams will now face criminal charges if they speak about sexual topics. Unfortunately, it's not hard to envision that will eventually also happen in our country, but I would love to be wrong. Although there's plenty of things in the news that are disturbing, there are some that are encouraging such as the Supreme Court ending the OSHA vaccine mandate, and the filibuster being upheld in the Senate. The Democrats might not want the filibuster now, but won't they want it the next time the Republicans have the majority in the Senate? I don't actually think there should be a vaccine mandate for employees, but if that was to happen, it should come through the legislative not the executive branch.

Six Weeks

As of yesterday it has been six weeks since I walked on two legs. We were on vacation for the first three weeks of that time which meant the only time I climbed stairs was when I got in and out of a shuttle bus. Our hotel rooms were either on the first floor, or I was able to use an elevator. Since we've been home, I've had to crawl up a flight of stairs on my hands and knees, and I go down sitting on my bottom. This task has definitely become easier since the splint was removed as it went up almost to my knee on the back of my leg, but I am still only willing to go up the stairs once a day as it's not a pleasant experience. At least I only have one flight of stairs to crawl up. When my sister broke her ankle when they were living in Turkey, she had to climb up more than one flight of stairs to get to their apartment, and she didn't have any crutches or a walker to use during the weeks her leg was in a

cast! Someone carries my walker up or down the stairs for me so that I can use it once I reach the top or the bottom of the stairs. Oliver was the one who helped me with that this morning. I haven't used the crutches at all since I opened the walker box. I feel a lot more stable with the walker, but they're definitely louder, especially on linoleum. For I can't remember how many years I've had to go to the bathroom many times during the night. Paul and I have been married for more than 20 years, and he only just found this out! I guess I normally do so quietly enough that he had no idea how many times I get up in the night, but I can't hop in the bathroom quietly with the walker.

During the vacation I learned that strangers go out of their way to be kind to someone on crutches. They try to give you a WIDE path and often will

open doors for you. Since we've been home, people have expressed their kindness in other ways such as giving my kids rides to church on Wednesday nights, two people cooked meals for us, two others bought us pizza, Margie ordered things for me on Amazon such as the walker, and a neighbor mowed the lawn for me once. I have also appreciated the ability to watch the worship service from the comfort of my chair at home on Sunday mornings. Normally I vastly prefer being there in person, but getting in and out of the house is a challenge plus I can't keep my foot elevated at church. 

In 25 days I'm hoping to be given permission to resume walking on two legs (weight bearing on my atrophied right leg) and driving. Aside from those two BIG things, there are so, so many little things that I miss being able to do right now. The ones that are more prone to bring me to tears are the things that are once in a lifetime (ex. not being able to see things on our vacation and/or take pictures on vacation) as well as the things that only happen once a year. Fall is my MOST favorite time of year to take pictures of my kids. I love taking pictures of them when the leaves are turning colors. I love taking pictures of them wearing pumpkin shirts and also in their costumes. I have to wait until next year for all of the above. I can at least see a few leaves turning colors from my chair in the family room. I also really, really miss tucking my boys in at night. Presuming I do regain mobility in 25 days, the length of this time will be very similar to the length of time I was in the hospital on bedrest during Oliver's pregnancy nine years ago. There are some similarities and some differences. At least this time I'm at home with my kids and not in a hospital in Harrisburg (almost 2 hours from our home). 

Call me crazy, but I really miss cleaning the house. Paul and the kids can tolerate far more clutter and uncleanliness than I can. The toilets hadn't been cleaned in weeks. Yuck! The kids and Paul don't care if a bed is made or not. When I have the use of both legs, I always make my bed before I come downstairs for breakfast. Our bed hasn't been made in weeks. Today I decided that enough was enough. I'm not going to go to the trouble of making my bed, and I won't attempt to clean the basement until I can walk down those stairs, but my leg is just going to have to start dangling down more even if it turns purple. I am going to do more in the kitchen and keep this floor of the house tidier. I also miss mowing the lawn. Nadia mowed it three weeks ago except for one part inside the fence. A neighbor mowed our lawn for us 12 days ago (the parts that he could do with his riding mower).  Paul mowed all the lawn yesterday. He had done the weed whacking the previous weekend so the lawn is totally done at the moment. I won't be mowing until next spring, but Paul can probably get away with mowing it just one time in November. Although there are many things I can't do right now, thankfully I can still homeschool my children, read books, and use my laptop. I finally finished the vacation video today. It isn't what I had pictured in my mind prior to the trip, but considering I'm usually the one who takes 100% of the pictures on a trip, I'm very thankful for what we got. It's 15 minutes long. I wanted it to be shorter than that, but in my defense I was summarizing 25 days. :) Enjoy!

Thankful Tuesday

1. Nadia had a great week a Camp Susque! She made some new friends, two of whom attend a Christian school about 25 minutes from our home. She is hoping to go to Camp Susque the same week as the one who is also entering 8th grade so they can be in the same cabin or tent next summer. The weather was great, and her only physical ailment was a hefty collection of mosquito bites. I'm not sure if this link is shareable, but here is a link to a 5 minute video the camp made of that week of camp. During the closing ceremony, the campers and parents sang several verses of two hymns. Tears streamed down my face as we sang "And Can it Be." I wasn't familiar with the second hymn. I also shed tears while watching the video during the part when the girls were singing "Wonderful Grace of Jesus," which was my most favorite hymn when I was Nadia's age. My mom got goosebumps when she really like a song. That was embarrassing to her. I think tears streaming down one's face is more noticeable than goosebumps. We don't sing many hymns at our church, and when we sing we can rarely hear the congregation singing, which is a bummer to me. So I really savored singing hymns on Saturday morning with only two acoustic guitars. 

2. Micah and Isaiah came over for a play date on Tuesday. They played at home with Ian and Oliver and also played at the playground before eating tacos and drinking root beer floats at Kid's Café. They also painted pottery at Centered Earth and went roller skating at Trout Pond Park where it's free to skate on the first Wednesday night of every month. We are thankful for our friendship with their family!

3. Addi and Westyn joined us on Thursday for a free game of bowling followed by arcade games, laser tag, and the trampolines at Kaos for $10 each. Our night out concluded with sharing a large pizza. 

4. The boys enjoyed having pizza with me at OIP and then spending four hours at Knoebels on Friday night. Their wristbands only cost $12. Paul joined us for the last two hours at Knoebels.

5. I'm very thankful for the nine years that Oliver has been a part of our family! He liked all of his presents; his favorite was definitely the electric scooter that Pop Pop gave him. My dad called him on the phone, and Paul's dad spent several hours with us on his birthday.

6. The kids and I plus three kids in the neighborhood have been enjoying eating the chocolate cake with peanut butter icing that Aunt Millie made Oliver.

7. Two weeks ago FedEx delivered a package to our house that was for the previous owner who sold us this house 13 years ago. I called the sender (Walter Reed), and they told me to take the package to a FedEx store. Thankfully I was able to find a phone number for the man, and he came to get his package the same day it was delivered to our house. He was thankful I helped him receive his prosthetic. 

8. I'm thankful that Ian and Oliver can participate in VBS for four nights this week at the Alliance Church. Ian has gone to VBS there since he was three years old, and this is his last year as they only do it through 5th grade. Oliver will, Lord willing, be able to go for two more summers provided there are no more closures like we experienced last year.

9. Even though I didn't intend to go to Panera yesterday, I did really enjoy the strawberry salad. I hadn't had one since Cheri took me out for my birthday in April. Today I opted to buy a $2 egg McMuffin at McDonald's instead because the salads at Panera are expensive. Most fast food restaurants in our area are still drive thru only, but thankfully the one in Williamsport is allowing people to eat in their restaurant which meant I had a place to plug in my laptop and use their Wi-Fi.

10. Although it was frustrating that due to "social distancing" I wasn't allowed to sit in the library in a room by myself yesterday, I'm thankful that for the most part things are closer to normal than they were at this point a year ago. It's wonderful not to need to wear masks, the kids don't have to have their temperatures taken each day at camp like they did last year, and VBS is being offered again.

11. We enjoyed watching the second season of The Chosen and the first season of The Benedict Society. We are eagerly anticipating watching new seasons of both shows in 2022. On Sunday we watched a video of the 2005 production of Ruth at Sight and Sound. We're looking forward to watching "David" in person in 2022 as we aren't going to Sight and Sound in 2021. The boys and Paul have also been enjoying watch Bad Batch on Disney+. The last episode of the first season will air this Friday. The kids enjoyed watching the Olympics on Locast and also the Peacock app. They learned about some sports they had never seen before. Did you see the speed rock climbing? Unbelievable!

12. I'm very thankful I have finally taken the plunge with creating some nicer videos. I hope they will be something our family can enjoy for years to come. I'm thankful I'm learning how to use a stabilizer for my cell phone and a tripod for my DSLR. Hopefully my skills will improve over the years.

13. Although Nadia was disappointed that she didn't get one of the five main parts especially considering there's only one participant older than her and none are her same age, I'm thankful that all three kids can participate in the theatre workshop this week. I'm looking forward to seeing the musical on Friday.

14. I wrote Nadia emails that they printed out and delivered to her at dinner M-F last week at Camp Susque. It made me think about all the letters I wrote my parents and received from them when I was at camp as a child and teenager. My mom wrote me thousands of emails from 1990-2016. I got an email from her almost every day, and many days I received multiple emails from her. And these were lengthy emails. I almost quit the blog after she died because one of the main reasons I started the blog was for my mom. She used to write me an email after reading almost every blog post responding to what I had said in that particular post. Unless my children at some point in their lives develop the habit of frequently emailing me, I highly doubt that anyone will ever come close to sending me even half as many emails as my mom sent me. I miss her, and I'm grateful for the time she invested in talking to me on the phone and sending me letters and emails.

15. Paul, his brother, and one other employee are on the company's health insurance policy. The premium went up recently more than 50% so Paul is discontinuing offering that as a benefit. Thankfully today I signed us up for a plan that costs less than $500 a month (which is about 1/5th of what the company had to pay for our insurance per month). The plan seems to be good in general with the exception that we'll have to pay 30% of any hospitalization or surgery. Hopefully we can stay out of the hospitals as there isn't a maximum out of pocket for this plan. 

16. I'm also VERY thankful that my phone has a feature to automatically silence phone calls that come from numbers not in my contact list because ever since I started shopping around for private health insurance I've been deluged with MANY phone calls and texts each day regarding health insurance. 

Last week of camp and VBS

The word "camp" is overused in my opinion these days. For example, our church calls their VBS "Kidzway camp." They are the rare exception in that instance. Every other church around here still seems to call it VBS. The word "class" is almost never used if it happens in the summer. For example, Ian and Nadia were in what I would call an art class for 3.5 hours a day for 4 mornings, and it was called an art camp. The kids have technically been in 5 camps this summer: overnight camp for the boys at PMBC, overnight camp for Nadia at Camp Susque, a two week afternoon theatre camp for Nadia, Camp Good News for all three kids, and art camp for Nadia and Ian. Last summer Ian and Nadia participated in a theatre workshop (evidently Family Life Network goes against the grain in terms of not using the word "camp") at a church about 25 minutes north of us. I actually held off on signing the kids up this year just because all the chauffeuring in the summer is exhausting for me, but then Nadia asked if they could do it again. I didn't see how I could say "no" considering they will be putting on a musical, and Nadia, Ian, and Oliver haven't been in a choir for the last 18 months with the exception of this same workshop last August. The workshop is for ages 8-15. Since Oliver was just turning 8 when the camp was being held and said he didn't want to do it, I didn't sign him up last summer. I didn't give him a choice this year. Ian and Nadia loved it last year. Hopefully Oliver will also have a good time! I did tell Oliver he didn't need to try to audition for one of the main parts. Ian opted out of that last year. I told him this year I did expect him to audition for a part. Nadia has never needed encouragement to audition for anything. The camp is put on by a Christian radio station located in New York. 

One perk of all three kids participating in the camp is that it means I don't have to make two round trips each morning. I'm sure Milo would rather that I did make two trips, but he can handle being in his crate for the 5+ hours we'll be away from home. This is my second time this summer to have some hours without any kids, and I don't think it will happen again until July 2022. The workshop is from 8:15-12:30. I thought I'd run a couple of errands and work on the Duolingo app (Spanish) on my phone until the library in Montoursville opened at 10:00am. The kids are at a church in Montoursville. I walked in with my laptop and sat down in a room where there were zero patrons. A librarian came up to me and said that due to social distancing they don't allow patrons to bring laptops into the library. There was ONE other patron in the entire library, and I picked a different room than she was in. I asked what if I promised to leave if anyone else came in the room. Nope. At our library (which is in the same county system as this one), they have totally gone back to normal. They even took down the plexiglass partition that was in between the librarian and patron at the check out desk. I couldn't believe I wasn't allowed to sit in the library even if I was the only person in that room. Ugh. I drove to Panera, brought my laptop in, and treated myself to my most favorite salad. Now to figure out what I will do the next four days. I toyed with getting a manicure. I got one in 2019 which was my first in probably about ten years. If it were a little cooler out, it would be a good time to take a nice long walk. One project I have this week is trying to find a new health insurance plan for our family as Paul isn't going to offer it anymore at work as the premiums went up too much recently. Well we shall see what I will do since the library in that town won't be an option this week. I'm looking forward to seeing their musical at noon on Friday!

Tonight the kids will also start their second and final week of VBS this summer. Usually they participate in more than two weeks of VBS, but last year they weren't in any so two is a big improvement! Nadia is too old to participate in this one, but she has volunteered to be a helper. Usually this VBS lasts five days, but they are only having it for four days this summer. They are using a different curriculum than the kids had at another church last month, and the church is only 1 mile from our house. 

We were going to swimming this afternoon after theatre camp, but due to a shortage of lifeguards, the pool doesn't open until 4pm today. When will all these employee shortages come to an end?!?!? I took the boys to Knoebels on Friday night, and roughly 40% of the rides were closed due to not having enough employees. The park had a hiring event recently, and they actually were raffling away a CAR to entice people to work at the park! As the signs say at Dunkin and Subway, being short staffed is the "new pandemic." 

I didn't finish Nadia's 13th birthday interview until 6 weeks after her birthday. I finished Oliver's 1 day after his birthday. I think his is better than hers although I think it's too long. I will be more selective in the future as to which photos I include to make them shorter. I included pictures from the last 12 months. If I continue to make videos throughout the year, then I won't include so many in their birthday videos in the future. And I still need to begin to follow the guidelines I learned in the videography course. I haven't done that yet, but at least I've started making videos. 

It's now less than one month until we go on vacation!  That statement puts a big smile on my face and the kids' faces, and it inspires fear in Paul that he doesn't have enough time to finish what he needs to at work. We usually go to Long Island in July, but for a variety of reasons we're going the last full week of August this year. This means our school year won't begin until August 30. We will have seven whopping days of school before we take 3.5 weeks off. So in some ways our school year won't really start in earnest until October 4. Next year we are planning to go to Georgia and Florida for our family vacation. I asked Paul whether the end of April or sometime in September would be better for him, and he said September. So we might be taking our family vacation in September again next year.

Birthday Eve

Oliver has eagerly anticipated this birthday for months.  I had planned 5 special events for his birthday. The trip to DelGrosso's Amusement Park with Karyss and Maddox had to be cancelled since he got four stitches the day before we planned to go. He started wearing his birthday shirts on Monday; he really likes the "Birthday Dude" shirt. This week Micah and Isaiah came over at 10:15 on Wednesday. The boys played at our house, and then I took them to the playground where the played and had tacos and root beer floats compliments of Kid's Cafe. Then they played some more at our house before I took them to Centered Earth. They each picked out a piece of pottery and what color paints they wanted to use. Ian painted an owl cup that he plans to use as a pencil holder in his bedroom, Oliver painted an ice cream bowl, Isaiah painted a dolphin, and Micah painted a gingerbread house. Our next stop was to get breakfast sandwiches from Dunkin'. Because they are still not allowing any customers inside the restaurant, we ate outside on some grass. Then the boys went roller skating; It's free to skate on the first Wednesday night at that rink. I bought them each a slushie. The boys gave Oliver a light for his bicycle tire, fruit snacks, and Goldfish crackers. We got home around 8pm so the boys had almost ten hours together that day.

Yesterday Westyn and Addi joined us for an outing. We would have left a little earlier than we did, but they were attending another Good News Camp. We left around 2:45 and headed to the bowling alley. The kids could have each bowled 2 games for free, but we only had time for 1 game. Ian and Oliver wore bowling shoes that we own. I paid to rent shoes for Addi and Westyn. Because we paid for their skate rental, they gave us two $5 cards to use on the arcades. The kids each got one small piece of candy from the points they earned on the games. The kids used bumpers when they bowled. Addi had two strikes and came in first place (99), Ian got a spare on his first frame and ended up in 2nd place (81), Westyn didn't have any spares or strikes but he came in third place (80), and Oliver had three spares and came in last place (78). Next we drove to Kaos where I paid a total of $40 for the four kids to play for a little less than 2 hours. First they played on arcade games, then they did two games of laser tag, and they ended with 20 minutes on the trampolines. Our excursion ended with sharing a large cheese pizza at Long Island Pizza. We got home around 7:15pm. Paul spent the night at his dad's apartment last night.

Oliver went on a date with Paul in February for his half birthday, which meant his birthday date would be with me. Since Nadia is at overnight camp this week and Paul has been working extremely long hours (ex. on one of the nights he came home this week he got home after 8pm and left for work again at 2:30am), Ian is joining Oliver and I on our date. Oliver picked to go to Knoebels. On Wednesday and Friday nights you can get a handstamp for $12 that is valid from 5-9pm. I'm going to buy the boys each a handstamp this evening. Oliver wanted to bring Milo along as Milo loved being at Knoebels in May, but Ian really wanted to have pizza once more this week. So Oliver agreed that we would share a pizza at OIP in Elysburg prior to arriving at Knoebels at 5pm. Tomorrow, his actual birthday, will bring his four day birthday celebration to a close. 

Oliver will be getting donuts for breakfast tomorrow morning while we are on our way to pick up Nadia at Camp Susque. I can't wait to hear all about her week at camp! Pop Pop is coming to our house tomorrow, and he's bringing a chocolate cake with peanut butter icing that Oliver requested from Aunt Millie and Uncle Al. He asked for macaroni and cheese with grilled hot dogs and hamburgers for dinner tomorrow night, and he invited one of the neighbors (Maddox) over to join us for his birthday dinner.

For the first several years of his life it was very hard to come up with ideas of what to buy him for Christmas or his birthday because #1 he didn't have any particular interests, #2 we already had a lot of toys, and #3 he never asked for things. Last year was the first time he actually gave a few suggestions for a wish list. Over the past year he's told me MANY things he would like to receive such as: table and chairs for our deck, a tent, a swimming pool for our backyard, a treehouse, a minibike or electric dirt bike, an electric scooter, a skateboard, an Edison robot, Paw Patrol toys, a snowboard, Fritos, Goldfish crackers, gummies, a new slide for the play set in the backyard, a knight costume, a subscription to Amazon Music Unlimited, and Super Mario 3D World + Bower's Fury, which is a Nintendo Switch game. He also asks me very, very often if we can adopt another child. I tell him it's Daddy he has to get to agree to that request. I got him a skateboard and a few toys that he picked out at yard sales the last three months, and my Dad and Margie got him the Edison robot. He's not getting even half of the things he's asked for, but hopefully he will have a great birthday tomorrow! 

Speaking of birthdays, I finally finished Nadia's birthday interview video. I didn't record many videos over the past year. I included pictures of her from July 2020 to June 2021, her video interview, two short videos from white water rafting, and short interviews of Ian, Oliver, and Paul. It's definitely an improvement over the videos I've done over the past 13 years as I've never done any editing before - just hit record (mostly with a camcorder) and uploaded whatever I recorded. However, I utilized very little of what I've learned in the video course. In the future I hope to record short video clips FAR more often with either my phone or DSLR. I also hope to improve my skills both with recording videos and also with putting everything together with video editing software. I hope that I will improve with each video I make, but I especially hope that I can do MUCH better with my video of our vacation in September. I've learned that it's better to record interviews indoors (to avoid background noises of birds and such), to use the tripod when I'm recording a video with my DSLR camera, and to use the stabilizer when I'm recording videos with my cell phone. The stabilizer has been a big help for almost every occasion. I got a good video of Oliver doing the limbo at the roller skating rink on Thursday, but I couldn't figure out how to use the stabilizer when I was taking videos of the kids bowling yesterday. I'm sure it's my lack of knowledge that was the problem. Ian and Oliver have already seen Nadia's birthday video. I hope Nadia likes it when she sees it tomorrow. Just like I have to say "I'm done" when making a photo book (or I could spend an absurd amount of hours making one), I had to say "I'm done" with her video. It's the type of project that I could keep tweaking for hours on end. 

Four weeks from today

We are starting our school year a bit later than usual this year because we are headed to Long Island later than usual. Four weeks from today will be our first day of school for the new school year. We started logging some days of school for 2021-22 in July and will continue to do so this month, but those days have been or will be filled with things like field trips, art camp, and theatre camp. On August 30 we'll resume spelling, math, history, etc. Oliver is back to working on his multiplication tables after taking a break for part of the summer. Knowing that our summer break is drawing to a close and that we'll be on Long Island one of those four weeks, I decided to turn my attention toward projects around the house and creating videos. I'm also still working on learning more Spanish. Yesterday I power washed the fence, one side of the house, and the van. I also trimmed two trees and several bushes, did some cleaning and straightening up in the shed, and did some organizing of bookshelves and one kitchen cabinet. Today the boys and I hauled the branches I had cut down last night to the tree farm. It's nice to have a place where we are allowed to dispose of natural waste. Today I mopped the floors and also worked with the boys on doing some organizing and purging in their bedrooms and the basement.

Nadia with her cabin mates and counselor

Growing up I remember my mom would regularly call Ray to come and clean our carpets and/or upholstery. I've owned a home for 20.5 years, but I've never paid anyone to clean any flooring or furniture before. Having a puppy hasn't been good for our flooring. Last week I placed an order for new flooring in our dining room so I certainly didn't pay for that carpet to be cleaned. I figured that paying for the family room and upstairs hallway carpets to be cleaned was a lot cheaper than replacing the flooring. It looks so much better! There was one stain in the hallway they couldn't remove, but overall it looks much better. I also asked them to do the carpet on the stairs. One of the men suggested also doing the tile and grout in the entryway. What a difference! If it wasn't so expensive, I'd also have had them do the kitchen. The tile in the entryway is 22 years old, whereas the kitchen flooring is only 5 years old so I opted just to do that area. I think at some point in the future I'll have them do the kitchen. We've lived in this house for 13 years. I'm not sure how often I'll have them come back, but I doubt I'll wait 13 more years! Last week I tried to get a window repaired, but it seems that's not possible with Pella windows. For now I'm just keeping the blinds down somewhat to cover up the cracks in the glass. Fixing or replacing our front door is more important to me than repairing that window, and our shed is also literally falling apart. Owning a home seems to involve constant repairs of some sort or another. Last week I also framed three pieces of art work from art camp (two of Nadia's and one of Ian's). 

I haven't started actually working on creating a video yet, but I have been taking videos lately that I hope to use in the projects. I'm not a perfectionist by nature, but I feel myself holding back because I know it's going to take time and practice until I reach the skill level that I am hoping at attain as a videographer. I keep telling myself I have to start somewhere! Not that I have "arrived" as a photographer, but I'm certainly a better photographer now than I was 10 years ago. My goal is to create seven videos over the next four months: Nadia's 13th birthday interview, Oliver's 9th birthday interview, Milo's first year, a recap of our 5 trips to Long Island, a recap of summer 2021, a recap of our 25 day vacation, and Ian's 12th birthday interview. Learning this new skill has involved using new equipment. Over the last few days I've been using the cell phone stabilizer my Dad got me for my birthday, a tripod that my parents got me years ago but I haven't used much in the past, and wireless microphones. I've also been using my DSLR to record videos whereas in the past I've only used it for taking pictures. I'm hoping that at least my skills at recording videos will improve over the next few weeks so that I can take some good clips on Long Island at the end of this month and on our 25 day vacation out west in September.

Camp Susque Week 3 of Girl's Camp 2021

Today I'm giving thanks:

1. That the kids had a great week at Camp Good News. Ian won first prize for the week in archery!

2. That we were able to get some of our floors cleaned today. What a difference! Praying that Milo won't ever pee on the carpet again.

3. That Paul can spend the night at his Dad's apartment tonight. He's working really long hours this week while his brother is on vacation. Spending a couple of nights at his dad's place cuts down on his commuting time which means he can get more sleep and we can save money on gas.

4. That the weather was nice on Sunday. Work is being done in the room where we have worship services at church on Sunday, which means we're having church outdoors for two Sundays. Ian was inside as the youth service was held indoors, but Olive, Paul, and I sat outdoors for church on Sunday. Nadia also had a service outdoors at Camp Susque as they use the "chapel in the pines" on Sundays.

5. I enjoyed having dinner with my friend, Cheri, at a restaurant neither of us had ever been to before on Friday prior to attending free concerts on our church's property that were put on by the local Christian radio station. Mostly I just enjoyed being able to spend time with her in person. They had food trucks at the event, and Cheri and I got some Bruster's ice cream. I tried "Graham Central Station." It was delicious!! Someone handed Cheri a pizza from Domino's, and she gave it to me. Paul had some of it for dinner that night, and the kids had some at lunch the next day. We won't object to free pizza!

6. From the pictures I've seen of her, it looks like Nadia is having a good week at Camp Susque so far! She was disappointed it was cancelled last year. I'm so glad she can attend this year and not need to wear masks, etc. 

7. We have been accumulating gift cards for restaurants from credit card points for what Oliver calls our "big field trip." HA HA! You know you're a homeschooler when your child thinks a 25 day vacation is a field trip. We even got a couple for treats (ex. Cold Stone Creamery and Krispy Kreme). I just have to figure out if I can get gift cards for two more dinners, and I'll be done with that project. There are a few times we will eat out and not use a gift card (ex. dinner in Yellowstone National Park), but we shouldn't need to spend that much on meals during our trip provided the prices of food doesn't jump up too drastically. Even when I was at dinner on Friday they had a copy of a handwritten paper that had updates to the prices of the menu which they said was due to inflation. In 6 days I'll be able to see only one month until we leave on vacation!

Chapel in the Pines on 8/1/21

Thankful Tuesday

1. We are still enjoying our new van. It gets a little bit better gas mileage, it's far easier to listen to audiobooks, and the front seats are far more comfortable. The color continues to grow on me. I'm very glad we didn't try to hold out for a different color.

2. We were offered trial subscriptions to Sirius in the past (such as 9 years ago when we bought the Sienna), but we didn't actually give it a whirl until last week. I figured that the three month free trial would come in handy during the weekend getaway to Massachusetts, our trip to Long Island, and our vacation out west in September. That has absolutely been the case. It's so nice to not need to try and find another station when driving through different areas of a state or different states. They've offered to extend the subscription for 3 additional months for a grand total of $2. I haven't decided about that yet, but I'm very grateful for the three month trial.

3. I had a lovely lunch with my friend today! The restaurant we had picked wasn't actually open today, but we found a diner in that small town that was open. We weren't there for the food but rather to talk and enjoy each other's company. I hadn't seen her in two years, and her husband passed away in November. We've been friends for 27 years, but we haven't lived near each other for 25 years so our visits tend to be few and far between. I drove a little over an hour to get to the diner, which is not something I'm usually willing to do for a meal, but it was definitely worth it as we chatted for 3 hours (part of the time sitting outside). That is a very rare treat for me.

4. I'm thankful for ice cream. I know it's not a healthy food, but let me tell you it's one of my most favorite foods. Currently my four most favorite flavors are Cherry Vanilla (Weis), Blueberry Crisp (Weis), Chocolate Fudge Brownie (Stone Ridge Creamery), and Maple Caramel (Stone Ridge Creamery). YUM!

5. I'm thankful for safety as we traveled to and from Massachusetts. I'm also thankful that in our area we don't encounter the traffic we encountered on an Interstate in Connecticut on Sunday. I'm thankful we were able to stream the last sermon in our new senior pastor's 8 week series on Nehemiah while we were driving home. I prefer to worship in person, but it is nice to be able to attend online when we are away.

6. I'm very thankful the Springfield Armory recently reopened and that we were also able to visit the Springfield Museums and Six Flags New England for free on July 23-24. We also were very grateful that a gentleman secretly paid for our large pizza. I'm also thankful that kids are able to visit the Sturbridge Village for free in July and that we were able to use gift cards to pay for our breakfast and dinner on Sunday (we skipped lunch).

7. We're grateful that our friends took care of Milo .I wish he hadn't been such a handful for them. Tab called me on our way home and said she thought we might need to take him to the vet, but he's fine. I think it was a combination of separation anxiety plus adjusting to a transition from puppy to adult dog food. 

8. Oliver is very grateful that his four sutures were removed on Monday morning as that has meant he can SWIM again!

9. I'm getting a new (to me) lens for my camera! I haven't gotten a new lens in five years. I'm really looking forward to using this wide angle lens on our vacation in September. Almost all of my lenses are Canon lenses, but to save money I got a used Sigma lens; however, it's from their Art series which are supposed to be excellent lenses. 

10. My cousin, Brent, who turned 47 years old ten days ago became a Dad today! This means that my Aunt Janet (age 78) became a Grandma today!!! Woohoo!!!! We're hoping to meet her grandson at some point in the future when we take a trip to Lake Tahoe.

11. We've been looking forward to our annual trip to visit Aunt Janet, but now we have even more reasons to be excited about it. First, my niece Rachel will be spending a week with us (part of that will be in NY), and secondly my sister, Wendy, is flying to Long Island to spend 3 days with us. It will have been two years since I have seen either of them, and I've never gone that long without seeing Wendy before. We are thrilled, and Aunt Janet is also very excited!

12. I'm so thankful that Dee (our neighbor) is taking the kids to camp, and Paul is picking them up at night. I am very, very grateful for the reprieve from chauffeuring. As much as I love spending time with my kids and do NOT look forward to being an empty nester in potentially 9 years, I have to say having a few days a year when I can have several hours of quiet time by myself is also greatly appreciated. I'm also thankful that the kids are having a great time and that this camp was practically free. We only had to pay a tiny fee to cover a t-shirt and their snacks at the Sugar Shack. As much as my kids enjoy these camps, they also give me a renewed appreciation for one of the benefits of homeschooling - not needing to get the kids up and out the door before 8:00am. I really don't like having to wake the kids up, and I don't enjoy a rushed morning, which is what is happening this week. Thankfully it's a rare occurrence in our household as during the school year we very rarely leave the house before lunch. 

13. We found a way to watch the Olympics even though we don't have cable. It turns out there is an app to use to watch local channels for free.

14. I placed an order today for new flooring for our dining room. I remember 13 years ago telling my mom that if we stayed in this house after Paul graduated from PSU, the first thing I was going to do was replace the flooring in the dining room as I thought off-white carpet didn't make sense in a dining room. We have changed the flooring in five other rooms in this house over the years, but the dining room still has the 22 year old carpeting. In hindsight I wish I had done both the dining room and kitchen five years ago, but it seemed like too much money at the time. I say that because now it's impossible to get the same flooring. So I tried to pick something out that looked okay next to hardwood (what is in the living room) and what is in the kitchen. Milo's accidents have left stains in that room, the family room, and the upstairs hallway. We keep all the bedroom doors closed so he hasn't damaged those carpets. We've never had our carpets cleaned before. I made an appointment today for someone to come on Monday to clean the family room and upstairs hallway carpets. Hopefully that will do the trick, and I really, really hope that Milo is done having accidents in our house.