We started trying to have children in May 2002. After pursuing fertility treatments, domestic, and international adoption, our daughter Nadia Renee was born on 6-24-08 (at 36w4d). IVF #2 resulted in Ian Alexander, who was born on 12-12-09 (at 34w3d). Oliver Elliot (IVF #3) was born on 8-7-12 (at 31w6d)! Three other pregnancies (in 2005, 2007, and 2013) ended in miscarriage. Our family is complete! We are so thankful for our three miracles!
I'm not sure when one is officially considered to be "over the hill," but I feel like Paul and I have reached that point. He qualified for a senior discount for the first time during our vacation in May. We are now eligible to be in the "classics" group at our church (which for the first several years we attended our church was called "best years fellowship"). Last year we never attended any of their events, but we're actually registered for one on November 15. The kids will be at Camp Susque at a youth group retreat, so it seemed the perfect time to attend one of their events. I'm guessing we'll continue to skip most of their events until we are empty nesters. When you get to this age, you're supposed to start having colonoscopies and get immunized for pneumonia and shingles. Paul had a colonoscopy. I opted to go the simpler (and far less expensive) route with that. Paul got the pneumonia vaccine last year. That was expensive!
I had a physical on Monday morning. In addition to the usual questions, "do you smoke, do you drink, do you wear a seat belt, do you feel safe at home, etc." I was asked a question a medical professional had never asked me before - if I still felt like I was a capable driver (or something to that effect). I was floored. I answered I hope so because I recently taught my 17-year-old daughter how to drive and have two more teens to teach to drive in the next few years. I really, really didn't anticipate being asked that question at the age of 53. I declined the flu, pneumonia, and shingles vaccines. The only one I am contemplating is the shingles vaccine because my aunt has had awful experiences with having shingles many times. If both Paul and I get the shingles vaccine, that will cost us $1K so we are going to wait a bit as this hasn't been a good year for us financially. My doctor said waiting until I am 55 is fine. I'm very thankful that aside from mammograms and physicals, I haven't had any doctor appointments over the last almost four years.
The number of instances in which I feel "over the hill" have been increasing at a more rapid pace lately. Listening to teenagers talk I feel like there are so many words and expressions that they use which I don't comprehend. What is the deal with "six seven," for example? I find myself missing the music that we used to sing years ago in church. I have loved contemporary Christian music for more than 40 years, but I've found myself not enjoying a greater percentage of the music played on a Christian radio station over the last few years. It makes me feel old.
1. I turned 53 on Monday. I'm thankful for the years the Lord has given me so far. On April 18 Cheri treated me to lunch at a restaurant we'd never tried before located 2 miles from our home. We hadn't seen each other since December.
2. I'm eternally grateful for the price Jesus' paid for my sins and that He rose from the grave. We celebrated these occasions by attending a Good Friday service as well as a service on Easter. The choir started the service with the song "He's Alive" that I remember singing with the church choir in Maryland in the 1980s. Nadia worked from 7:30-12:00 on Good Friday and from 4:00-6:15 on Easter. Her generous boss gave her an Easter basket filled with goodies that Friday.
3. Oliver got a lot of candy at his final two Easter egg hunts on April 19. He had eaten and given away some candy between April 12-19, but after his fourth and final egg hunt his candy bag weighed 7.5 pounds!
4. I had invited Al, Millie, and Paul's dad to join us for dinner on Easter. Paul's dad planned to come, but he woke up with a cold and a toothache that day. Paul and I had been working in the living room on Friday and Saturday, so we were able to continue working in there on Sunday. Paul did a lot of spackling and sanding. He's not done yet. I sanded, primed, and painted the two window frames in that room and began doing the same to some of the trim. I will keep working on the trim this week. I hemmed the tops and bottoms of seven sheer curtains by hand since I have no idea how to use Paul's mom's sewing machine that is in our basement. I did a lot of ironing (6 drapes and 7 sheer curtains). After Paul finishes the spackling/sanding, then we can repaint the orange walls grey. I'm thankful for the progress made! The kids were thrilled that I made the yeast rolls that I typically make for holidays. Nadia helped me make them.
5. Our family went out to eat at Olive Garden on Monday. I enjoy the soup, salad, and breadsticks as my entree, and on your birthday, you get a free dessert. I always enjoy the black-tie mousse cake. Yum!
6. On our way home on Monday evening, we got some mulch at Lowe's (only $2 a bag!), and I weeded, trimmed bushes and spread that mulch on Tuesday. The weather has been simply lovely the last several days!
7. The kids all saw the dentist on April 14, and it turns out that Nadia's wisdom teeth never developed. Since most people end up having to have them removed, that seems like a blessing!
8. I called my friend, Joyce, on her birthday (April 19). I received three birthday calls on Monday (my dad and his two sisters), and Yvonne called me on Tuesday. I received six physical birthday cards, two e-cards as well as some happy birthday text messages. Oliver got me a bag of Fritos, Paul gave me some white gold hoop earrings, Nadia and Ian got me a Snuggie, and my dad gave me some money. I'm grateful!
9. Ian played the keyboard for the youth group last night. Grateful he has these opportunities. Our piano was tuned on Monday, and three broken strings were replaced.
10. It involved scheduling her party to take place 3+ weeks before her birthday, but we found a date that is good for Nadia plus five of her friends. I can't believe she'll be turning 17 in two months!
11. Last fall Paul and I enjoyed seeing a sandhill crane a few times near our home. Yesterday while we were walking Milo and Cooper, we enjoyed watching a great blue heron.
The Home Alone movies, which Oliver has watched umpteen times, are about a child accidentally ending up either at home alone or alone in a hotel. I'm referring to a fifty-one-year-old woman having a week alone at home. Last year while the three kids were at Camp Good News, I told myself I didn't want to do this again; so, I signed the boys up for a week of camp in June, but then the Bible quizzing competition was scheduled later than usual, which meant I had to contact the camp and move the boys' registration to the end of July into early August. The upside of all three kids being at camp at the same time was that Paul and I were able to have a date on Sunday. We hadn't been on a date since September 2022. Our first stop was Lowe's to get three things for the house. Then we had dinner at Texas Roadhouse and shared a dessert at TGI Fridays because I had about $7 left on a gift card for that restaurant. Prior to coming home, we stopped at Lingle's to get Coke for Paul. We watched part of a movie together, and I asked Paul to sit on the couch with me. We finished the movie on Monday evening. On Sunday afternoon before the boys left for camp Paul did some spackling in the family room. I'm hoping he finishes the spackling and sanding either today or tomorrow because I'd like to do the painting by Friday.
On Monday I took the van to the Honda dealership for some factory recall repairs. I was there for three hours. I also talked on the phone with Aunt Janet and Charlie Beares that day. Yesterday I met Tab for lunch as an early birthday celebration, and we also walked around Lewisburg talking for a while. I did some shopping at Walmart and the Dollar Store before lunch and picked up ice cream at Old Mill Creamery afterwards. I don't have any plans today through Friday, so I am at the point where I am REALLY missing my kids. Milo is a nice companion, but he doesn't talk! Paul and Al sold the company yesterday, which is an amazing answer to prayer. I'm looking forward to being able to go on dates with Paul more regularly in the coming years. I was hoping to take a ballroom dancing class with him this fall, but I think that will have to wait until 2024 in light of my participation in the Sound of Music. If the kids end up being at camp at the same time next summer, I shouldn't be home alone. I should have the company of my husband! When I first moved to Pennsylvania in 1996, I was frequently at home alone as I lived by myself. It's a blessing that this hasn't been the norm, especially for the last 15 years that I've been a mom.
Many months ago, I had planned that we would spend August 6-7 in the Pittsburgh area so that we could visit the Bushy Run Battlefield on their annual battle reenactment and spend the day at Kennywood on Oliver's birthday. At one point we thought those plans might be cancelled because we'd be spending the week in Maryland, but since the Benners bought a home, they aren't traveling east next week. When I learned of a free music festival that is taking place near I-80 in the western part of the state on Saturday evening, I decided to have us leave on Saturday afternoon instead of Sunday morning. Katy Nichole is one of Nadia's favorite artists, and she will be performing there. Originally, We are Messengers was supposed to be the headliner, but they backed out a couple of weeks ago. Thankfully, Consumed by Fire is coming as well as some other groups. Sunday morning we'll visit the Pittsburgh Zoo/Aquarium and then go to the battlefield. After that we'll have dinner with Nadine and Charlie Beares before we spend the night at a Holiday Inn in Pittsburgh. On Monday, which is Oliver's birthday, we'll spend the day at Kennywood Amusement Park and then drive to Virginia. Tuesday we'll spend several hours with dad and say goodbye to Margie before we return home.
1. Nadia had her first day of work at her first job on June 12. She worked 17 hours last week over three days, and she worked from 8:45-5:00 this week on Monday. She's scheduled to work seven more hours on Saturday.
2. I hadn't had routine blood work done in quite a few years. I took care of that on June 15, and I'm thankful that even with us paying cash (no insurance) the bill was less than $30 and all of my results were normal.
3. Oliver attended a birthday party at a trampoline park on June 16. Nadia and I did some shopping together and picked up some pizza from Pizza Hut, which we typically only visit in June each year as it's a birthday treat to get stuffed crust pizza from Pizza Hut for Nadia's birthday.
4. All three kids were able to participate in a free Young Eagles flight on June 17. Ian flew in a red airplane from the 1950's that is similar to my grandpa's airplane which I flew in many times. Oliver went up in a helicopter, and Nadia flew in a sleek airplane.
5. We had nine people join us for dinner at our home on June 17. Three of the girls spent the night with Nadia, and we took them to church with us in the morning on the 18th.
6. Paul's dad came up to spend several hours with us on Father's Day. Ian, Nadia, Paul, and Pop Pop had steak for dinner.
7. I took my three kids plus three of their friends to Montage Mountain water park on Tuesday. Our admission was free due to our WVIA membership.
8. Yesterday and today Ian and Nadia helped with the 2nd graders at our church's VBS, and I helped with the four-year-old girls. Tomorrow morning will be the last day of VBS. Oliver has been attending as a participant.
9. On Tuesday Margie decided to do one more radiation treatment to try to alleviate the pain in her ribs. Today she began three new medications that she will take as long as they help with the quality of her life. If they don't help, she will switch to hospice. One of the drugs (Ibrance) would have cost them $2,643 every month out of pocket, but they have been approved to receive the medication for free!
10. They recommend having your first colonoscopy when you turn 50. Paul had his first in 2020. I "should" have had my first one last year. I didn't because of our gigantic ankle surgery bill. The Christian medical sharing program doesn't allow members to request reimbursement for screening measures. We had to pay in full for the mammogram I had last year. Because I don't have a family history of colon cancer and a colonoscopy costs thousands of dollars, I opted to go the Cologuard route instead. The test is much easier to complete than a colonoscopy (no prep for one thing!), and because we prepaid, the company gave me a $299 discount which brought the cost down to $381. It's definitely not the most exciting way to spend money, but I'm thankful for the prompt pay discount and as long as I get good results from the Cologuard analysis, I won't need to have a colonoscopy.
11. Things are still progressing well for Paul at work. Closing is supposed to happen the week of July 10. PTL!
12. The drought has ended! The grass is green again!
13. I made a LOT of pulled pork last Saturday. Five pounds of potatoes wasn't enough for leftovers on Father's Day, but I've been enjoying leftover pulled pork. I make a salad that rivals the one I love at Panera. Mine contains their poppyseed dressing, strawberries, blueberries, romaine lettuce, pulled pork, and sometimes I also add pineapple. YUM!!!
14. I've seen a lot of animals on my walks lately! I usually see birds, chipmunks, rabbits, squirrels, and groundhogs. Lately I've seen a black bear, deer (that allowed me to walk rather close to them), and a mink!
Yesterday I turned 51 years old. Some years nothing has really happened to celebrate my birthday. Last year I bought tickets for us to see a show at Sight and Sound on my birthday, and we also ate lunch at a smorgasbord restaurant in that area. This year two of my friends made my birthday special. On Thursday Tab treated me to lunch at Panera because I love their strawberry poppyseed salad. We ate outside the restaurant because it was a lovely day, and we sat and talked for a while after we ate. Thankfully, the kids are old enough that I can leave them for a few hours, and since our school year is winding down it takes less time to finish our schoolwork. I picked up donuts for Friday morning, Venarri's pizza for our dinner, and our favorite peanut butter Oreo homemade ice cream. I'm not really a big fan of donuts, but the kids and Paul really enjoy them, so I bought a half dozen as that is one of our family's birthday traditions. We rarely get our pizza from Venarri's, but it's my favorite pizza place in Pennsylvania. Tab also gave me a card in which she had written some sentences that almost brought me to tears they were so touching. On Friday, my friend, Cheri, took me to lunch at a restaurant I had never been to before. Many entrees on their menu interested me, but I ended up choosing a strawberry crepe because I haven't eaten a crepe in several years. It was delicious! We ate outside and walked around the town some after we finished eating. I don't have lunch with a friend very often. I think it's been at least 14 years since I had two lunches with a friend in the same week. I'm very grateful for these two friends! I also talked on the phone this week with my friend, Joyce, Yvonne, Aunt Janet, Aunt Tina, and my dad. Some weeks I don't talk to anyone on the phone, so I definitely was on the phone more this week than usual! I also received a birthday card in the mail from Paul's dad and my friend, Kay. I gave Cheri my first birthday burger reward from Red Robin. I gave Oliver my free birthday pastry from McDonald's as he loves cinnamon rolls. I got a free birthday pastry from Panera yesterday. I picked a cookie that I hadn't tried there before and split the cookie between Oliver, Nadia, and myself. Paul got me a pair of sneakers, and my dad and Margie got me a tablecloth, book, Perkins gift card, and snowmen to put on the garage lights next winter. Last year was the first time that any of my kids bought me a birthday gift. None of them got me a gift this year, but the boys each did one extra chore for me this week as a gift.
This week was our last full week of school as we did schoolwork every day Monday through Friday. Next week we have two field trip days, and the same is true for Nadia and Ian two weeks from now. May 8 will be our last day of school. Paul got up at 4:30am on Wednesday morning and was on the road at 5:00am. He arrived at the airport in Indianapolis at 1:30pm. A couple of hours later someone from the Honda dealership picked him up. He left the dealership in our van at 4:30pm and arrived home at 1:30am. Paul drove 17.5 hours within 21 hours! We are thankful to have our van back.
We live in a rural area. The main crops grown around here are Christmas trees, soybean, and corn. However, we don't live in the middle of nowhere. We can get to many of the national chain restaurants, big box stores, hardware stores, etc. in about twenty minutes. Pittsburgh, New York City, Baltimore, and Philadelphia are about three hours from our home. Paul and I enjoy visiting the museums and other sites that are available in the larger cities, but we'd never want to live in any of them, whereas my sister, who lives in Chicago, enjoys visiting a rural area but would never want to live in one. Of the four cities I mentioned, the one we live the closest to is Philadelphia. We have taken the kids to Philadelphia a few times in the past. For example, in March 2018 we went to Christ Church, US Mint, Franklin Museum, Franklin Institute, Adventure Aquarium, and Academy of Natural Sciences, and in November of that same year my brother and I took them to Independence Hall, Congress Hall, and the Museum of the American Revolution. I think our first trips there with the kids that weren't in conjunction with appointments at the Children's Hospital were in 2016 when we took them to the Franklin Institute, Please Touch Museum, Independence Seaport Museum, Franklin Museum, Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall. The last time I was in the city of brotherly love was to empty my brother's apartment with Wendy in March 2019 following his very unexpected passing. Because of COVID, we had no desire to visit there in 2020. 2021, or even the beginning part of 2022.
We do have plans to spend two days there this September. Prior to yesterday, the only reservation I had made for the trip was to secure (free) tickets to the Constitution Center. I picked the dates of the trip because it is National Constitution Day and therefore free to visit. We've never been there before. Yesterday I also made a one-night reservation for a hotel, got tickets for a 90-minute guided tour of the Battleship New Jersey, and got tickets for a Harry Potter Exhibition at the Franklin Institute - each of those were definitely not free. We plan to visit five other sites for free over those two days - the Fireman's Hall Museum, Franklin Institute (free because of our ASTC membership), Philadelphia Museum of Art (free on Friday evenings), Thaddeus Kosciusko National Memorial, and the Edgar Allen Poe National Historic Site. The kids should be able to earn two junior ranger badges on the trip. The other two sites we plan to visit that won't be free are the Betsy Ross House and the Eastern State Penitentiary. When I taught middle school in the early 90's, I took my students on field trips to Philadelphia, and that was the last time I was at the Betsy Ross House or the Fireman's Hall Museum. Unfortunately, the time when they offer guided tours of the Penitentiary conflicts with the guided tour of the Battleship New Jersey. Ssince they have an audio tour at the Penitentiary, I opted to choose the guided tour of the Battleship. If we had more time, it would have been nice to return to the Independence Seaport Museum and/or the Philadelphia Zoo as it's been at least six years since they've been to either place. I imagine we'll make at least one more trip to Philadelphia sometime in the next four years as I want my kids to visit the Penn Museum where Maurice was a tour guide for several months prior to his passing. Although I'm emotionally ready to return to the city now that three years have passed, I don't think I'm quite ready to visit that museum yet.
Yesterday I mailed a card to each of the kids and a birthday card to my aunt. When the kids have been at overnight camp at PMBC and Camp Susque, I have been able to email the kids, as the camp would print out the emails and deliver them to the campers once a day. That isn't possible at this camp. My mom was very dedicated about keeping in touch with her children. When we were at camp, we would receive a letter every day. She started mailing them out before we even left for camp so that we would receive them even in the early part of our stay. As an adult, I definitely received more email from my mom than any other person. Even though the camp is about 40 minutes from our home, I think the mail will likely take 2-3 days to get there so my kids are only getting one card from me at camp this summer. In the past I slipped notes into their suitcase. Nadia first started attending overnight camp in 2015, and this is the first year I didn't do that for any of the kids. Unfortunately, I was totally out of commission on Friday and Saturday, and they left for camp on Sunday after church. Because she is a junior counselor, Nadia was allowed to bring her phone to camp this week although there is only one brief time in the day when she has permission to use it. So, I can send her a message every day to her phone. Next week, she will be at Camp Susque. She won't be allowed to have her phone at camp next week, but I can send her daily emails that the camp will print out for her.
I'm writing this post at 3 am, which is a time when I am almost always in bed. I'm calling the doctor's office once they open this morning. I know they can't do anything for my cough, because it's just a cold, but I'm hoping to get relief for my eyes and my left ear. I haven't had pink eye since August 2017, and I haven't had this much ear trouble since 2015. My eardrum might have ruptured. I've had a lot of drainage from that ear, but I haven't seen any blood. However, the pillowcase I'm using right now is black (it was from Maurice's apartment) so it's possible I just didn't see the blood. I have very little hearing in my left ear at the moment. Thankfully my right ear is fine. I avoid the doctor's offices whenever possible, especially when we don't have insurance or a prescription drug plan, but I'm feeling miserable enough that I want to try to get some relief. I know those eye drops work wonders for conjunctivitis (also known as an eye cold). This is the second time in the last 14 years that I've had five consecutive days without any kids at home. The first time it happened (2020) I got a lot done around the house including painting Nadia's bedroom. I had grand visions for this week - spending time with Paul each evening after he came home from work, doing some painting around the house, having lunch with Tab, going on a walk with Cheri, etc. Since I'm sick, all the plans have gone out the window. I've been spending some time with Paul, but I'm trying not to share my germs with him which is why he's sleeping in our bed right now and I'm in the family room. I doubt the walk with Cheri will be rescheduled, but I am determined to take Tab out to lunch for her birthday sometime in the coming weeks as she and I have never eaten in a restaurant together. I certainly lack the energy to do any big projects around the house. I'm just grateful I have the energy to take Milo for walks, albeit much shorter walks than I usually take him on. The cold hasn't interfered with my weight loss goal. I've lost twelve pounds so far, which means I have eleven to go. I can't wait until Saturday morning when I will, Lord willing, be able to hear about the kids' week at camp. It's the last time the three of them will be at the same camp the same week as Ian will be too old to attend the camp in the future and too young to be a counselor next year. Next year I'm planning on sending the boys to PMBC and Nadia to Camp Susque. PMBC is Oliver's favorite camp, and I like the fact that it is much cheaper than Camp Good News (where they are now) or Camp Susque, which is Nadia's favorite camp.
I'm grateful we have the resources to be able to pay for the kids to attend a week of overnight camp (Nadia is free this week) and also a new range for our kitchen. We weren't planning on buying a new range this year, but when smoke started coming out in multiple places from under the cookstove (not from the burner), we knew it was time to replace the 23-year-old range before we ended up with a house fire. Unfortunately, the builder installed a Kenmore drop-in style range. Between Lowe's and Home Depot they only sell ONE drop-in style range, and it's the wrong size. The vast majority are slide-in or freestanding. Paul is trying to find a slide-in model that will fit in our space if he cuts out some of the cabinet. It seems like things constantly need replaced in a home. Nadia's twelve-year-old light fixture died recently so Paul replaced her ceiling fan last week. That was a MUCH cheaper project than buying a new range. Unfortunately, the more inexpensive models won't fit in out space, and we don't want to have to replace our kitchen counter just because we're getting a new oven. Here's to hoping it won't take too long to find, purchase, and install a new range in our kitchen! Although I am thankful, we haven't had a monthly rent or mortgage payment for three years, there are times I wish we had a landlord who could handle these problems!
Mother's Day is in five days! For about ten years of my life Mother's Day was a challenging day for me emotionally because I wondered if I'd ever be a mother. Finally, at the age of 36 I was pregnant with Nadia on Mother's Day, which made the day very different than previous ones. I was also pregnant on Mother's Day when I was 37 and 40. I really, really wanted to spend Mother's Day in 2016 with my mom, but she insisted I spend it with my children. I knew it would be her last Mother's Day on earth, and it was. Paul's mom passed away a few days after Mother's Day last year. I am very thankful for my mom, Paul's mom, and the fact that I've been blessed with three children on earth and more children in heaven. If I made a list of the biggest blessings in my life, my three kids would be near the top of that list. Friday night I took Nadia and Ian to a For King and Country concert in Binghampton, NY, which is a little over two hours from our home. Normally, I would not be willing to drive that far for a concert, but I love my kids very much and that group has been Nadia's favorite for several years. We paid $4 for parking but attended the concert for free as we were volunteers with Compassion. 105 children were sponsored that night! We had been signed up to volunteer at one of their concerts in Hershey in 2020, but it was postponed until October 2021, and I couldn't take them then because of my ankle surgery. Unfortunately, Ian got carsick for the first time in his life about 45 minutes after we left home. Cleaning up vomit is definitely one of my least favorite parts of motherhood. Some of my favorite moments include hugs, reading books together, worshipping together in church, doing service projects together, and making memories together on vacations, at amusement parks, field trips, etc. At the bottom of this post, I included a short video that a man from our church made on Saturday about a Voice of the Martyrs service project we participated in. The kids and I are in the video. Thankfully, he didn't show the time when a trailer crashed on my head. Ouch!!! The woman who witnessed the incident was afraid I had a concussion.
As I was growing up, the only pets we had were cats. When I moved to Annapolis in 1994, I took my cat, Snowflake, with me, but he had a very difficult time being left alone all day when my roommates and I were at work. I ended up taking Snowflake back to my parents' house, and he was much happier there. The next time I lived in a home with a pet was December 2016 when we got our first two guinea pigs. I've known other people who consider their dog to be their child. I never felt that way about a cat or the guinea pigs, but I admit I do feel like I'm a mom of Milo. He follows me around the house whether I'm collecting dirty laundry or vacuuming the carpet. When I go to the bathroom, he waits for me outside the bathroom door. My mom would have called him my shadow. Thankfully his behavior has improved a LOT over the last 16+ months that he's been in our family. We don't even lock him in the crate when we leave the house, although we still make sure the bathroom and bedroom doors are closed before we leave. He's turned into an obedient dog (most of the time anyhow) and has always been a very affectionate dog. Now to hope and pray that he will handle our vacation better than he did last September. He'll be spending most of our vacation with our next-door neighbors and Memorial Day weekend at a kennel. Unfortunately, he'll be spending a lot of time at home alone next week due to Nadia's lengthy drama rehearsals. Considering that for decades I wasn't fond of dogs, it's quite amazing to me how much I love Milo.
I am also very grateful for the privilege to be a stay-at-home homeschooling mom as this enables me to spend many more hours with them each week. Our 180th day of school will be tomorrow, but Thursday will be our last day of school. We're planning to attend a three-hour program about soils for homeschoolers at a state park on Friday. Including field trip days, I believe we'll hit 194 days by the end of June. I've done most of the lesson planning for next school year. We never have a guarantee what will happen tomorrow (much less a year from now), but I definitely feel more comfortable making longer range plans now than I did the last two years. For example, Nadia has been asking for a few years for us to see the Broadway musical, Wicked. I haven't purchased the tickets yet, but I have tentative plans for us to see it in Saint Louis in April 2023. As of May 1, attending a Broadway show no longer includes a requirement to show proof of vaccination (yay!).
Physically I take after my dad more than my mom, but there are certainly ways I take after my mom. Enjoying planning vacations would be one example. Growing up my mom tried to include an industrial tour on our vacations when possible. I recently read a list of the 25 best factory tours in the USA. I have no idea why they included the White House on the list of factories. Of the 24 factories listed, we've been to five of them so far (Crayola, Henry Ford, Julius Sturgis, Turkey Hill, and Louisville Slugger). We have also been on other industrial tours that weren't included in this list such as Corning Glass, Hershey, Purity Candy, Martin Guitar, BWP Bat, Schimpff's Confectionery, Boone Creek Creamery, and Salt Works. We have plans to visit eight others from the list of twenty-four: Jelly Belly (2023), PEZ (2022), World of Coca Cola (2022), Utz (TBD), Ben & Jerry's (2022), American Whistle (2023), Boeing (2023), and Roasterie (2023). I had originally planned to visit Taza in September, but I think that one will be eliminated. We had tickets to tour the White House in 2020, but those were cancelled. I do want to take them there at some point over the next four years, but I don't consider the White House to be a factory. I also have plans to take the kids on some other industrial tours not included on the list such as the Harley Davidson factory (PA), Tabasco Factory (LA), Snyders of Hanover (PA), Whetstone Chocolate (FL), Herr's Snack Tour (PA), Mack Truck (PA), and Herbaria Soap (MO). I haven't given any thought yet to what we might see and do when we visit Alaska and Hawaii so it's possible that I might add another industrial tour to the list in the future.
Speaking of planning vacations, I've had to make several changes to our upcoming vacation recently. Flexibility is vital! I had to eliminate Monocacy Battlefield (which thrilled Nadia and was a big disappointment to Paul), Discovery Science Center, Billy Graham Library, Cedar Creek and Belle Grove, C&O Canal, the National Museum of the Mighty 8th Air Force, and the St. Augustine Lighthouse due to changes to the days of the week the site is open or construction. I added some new stops to replace some of the ones that were deleted such as Shenandoah National Park, Blue Ridge Parkway, Catoctin Mountain, National D-Day Memorial, and Booker T. Washington. The kids will still have the opportunity to earn a total of twenty Junior Ranger badges during the vacation. They are most excited about the two beach days, four amusement park days, and swimming with the manatees.
I love my husband and children very, very much, but celebrating birthdays, Christmas, Mother's Day, etc. is not their forte. There have been years when my birthday wasn't celebrated at all. This year I planned a special outing for the family on my birthday, and I'm glad I did because I received three birthday cards this year - one from my dad/Margie, one from a lady in our Sunday School class, and one from my friend Tab's sons. I received two gifts. Ian and Nadia together purchased a digital book for me, which I read a few days after my birthday, and my dad/Margie are going to pay for a new door for our home. It wasn't intentional, but it so happens that I scheduled a special outing for the family on Mother's Day this year, so the day will be special even if I don't receive anything. We are headed to Pittsburgh! Nadia wanted to see the Stars on Ice show for the first time, and we're also planning to visit the Carnegie Science Center for the second time. We didn't watch the Winter Olympics at all this year, but we're looking forward to seeing some of the ice skaters in person! When we visited the Carnegie Science Center in December 2016 with my dad, we weren't able to tour the USS Requin submarine in the Ohio River, but we should be able to tour it on Sunday.
I've been alive for half of a century. Only God knows what fraction of my life here on earth I have already lived, but I assume I am past the half-way mark.
When I turned ten, I was a fourth grader at Grace Christian School in Bowie, Maryland and had two sisters. We had moved from Texas to Maryland the previous summer. Our family attended Belcroft Bible Church.
When I turned twenty, I was student teaching in a middle school in Dayton, Ohio. I graduated from college a few weeks after I turned twenty, and in the fall of 1992, I began my career in education as a middle school teacher in Maryland. I had two sisters and a brother and was driving a Toyota Tercel. This was the only vehicle that I've owned that had manual transmission and didn't have air conditioning. I was singing in the choir of a Baptist church in Cedarville, Ohio. It cost about $1 to buy a gallon of gas. I was accustomed to having a cat as a pet.
When I turned thirty, I had been married for eight months and was living in a house in Pottsville, Pennsylvania that I had purchased 15 months earlier. I was the principal of a Christian school and was working on my dissertation at IUP. I graduated with my doctorate at the end of 2002. I was driving a Toyota Corolla. Paul and I went on two vacations in 2002; we spent two weeks in England/France and ten days in Mexico. I was a member of Grace Evangelical Free Church in Cressona.
When I turned forty, I was pregnant with Oliver, the mother of a three-year-old girl and a two-year-old son, and a tenured Associate Professor at Bloomsburg University. We had lived in our home in Watsontown for about 3.5 years. I was driving a red Toyota Prius, but in September 2012 I began driving a Toyota Sienna. I was a member of First Baptist Church in Milton.
At the age of fifty, I am a homeschooling mom of three kids between the ages of nine and thirteen. We have two two-year-old female guinea pigs and a male eighteen-month-old Bichon Frise. My youngest now sits beside me in church, fills in the sermon outline, and writes me messages like "Mom, I love you so, so much" on the bulletin. Nadia has three weeks left of middle school as she'll be entering high school this fall. I'm entering a new decade without my brother, mother, or mother-in-law. Over the last decade the type of gifts I ask request for my birthday and Christmas has changed. Paul used to get me good jewelry, but over the at least last five years I've preferred to receive things like a new sink faucet (my 45th birthday gift). Dad and Margie are giving me a new door for our home for my birthday this year, which is something I'm very, very grateful to receive at this stage of life. I'm currently a member of Christ Wesleyan Church in Milton. During the past decade my skills in photography improved dramatically. I used to enjoy riding almost every ride at an amusement park, but over the last decade that changed dramatically. Now I ride very few rides and instead prefer to take pictures of my kids on the rides. I'm driving a Honda Odyssey, our second minivan and my first vehicle with heated seats. It costs over $4 to buy a gallon of gas. Over the last decade we purchased our first iPad, Kindle, and smart phones. In addition to photography, I feel that I also expanded my skills in the kitchen over the past ten years. Most of my life I never raised my hands in worship, but over the last few years I have begun to do so.
If I live to see my sixtieth birthday, I might have an empty nest as Oliver will probably graduate from high school in May of 2031. Milo could still be alive. I have no idea what all will happen over the next ten years, should the Lord tarry, but I want to soak up every minute that I can with my kids as the years that they live under our roof are numbered. I gained some weight over the last two years so I'm hoping I weigh less when I turn sixty than I do now. Lord willing, we will have achieved our goals of visiting all fifty states, gone on a short-term mission trip together, and the kids will each have earned at least 200 Junior Ranger badges before I enter another decade. I'm also hoping I will have achieved my goal of speaking Spanish fluently in the next few years. Although I would love to become a grandma at some point, there's a good chance that will not happen until after I turn sixty.
I think that physical changes are more significant between ages 40-50 than from 30-40 although some of it has more to do with my ankle surgery. Here are some of the changes I have noticed over the last ten years.
I now wear bifocal glasses. Even with the magnification, I can read things that are close up more easily without my glasses, so in the last several months I've gotten in the habit of taking them off and on many times a day. For about 30 years of my life, I had worn contact lenses.
My height has shrunk about 1/2 inch, and my shoe size has also gone down 1/2 size.
It probably has more to do with three pregnancies than age but sneezing or jumping can cause bladder issues.
I've had numbness in my hands due to carpal tunnel since my mid 30's, but in the last few years the numbness has spread to my elbows. This happens most frequently when I am sleeping.
Sleeping in bed became a painful experience for my back around age 36, and it has only gotten worse over the last decade.
Perimenopause
My skin is getting thinner. In particular, my hands are prone to bleeding more easily.
More grey hair or "old" hair as Oliver calls it. Thankfully my hair is not turning grey as early as mom's hair did.
My short-term memory is not what it used to be. I also am far more prone to saying the wrong name. I rarely do this with Nadia's name, but I often mix around Oliver, Ian, and Milo's names.
Due to the plate in my ankle, I think my days of ice skating and snow skiing are permanently over.
I've been nervous about walking on icy roads or sidewalks for about 30 years because I had two previous falls (concussion when I was in college and then another bad spill when I was a principal), but due to my fall in September, my fear of falling has grown exponentially. I gladly hold on to someone else if there is any ice or even water on the ground.
I'm by nature a "Type A" personality, but I've definitely chilled out some over the last decade. I think the pandemic played a role in this. Maybe there are times I should be more motivated (ex. I didn't have my kids participate in the Living History homeschool fair in February), but in general I feel that being more relaxed and not filling our calendar quite as much is a good thing.
I'm entering this decade with a right elbow that is in pain every day from all the weight bearing I did with my arm while my right leg was out of commission. Thankfully the pain has been decreasing recently.
I'm also still dealing with ankle pain and swelling in my right foot which means I spend far more time sitting in a recliner than I ever have at any other point in my life. Hopefully before I turn 51, I'll feel like I've returned back to normal in terms of being able to stand and walk without tightness/pain. Thankfully the massage therapy has been helping me make progress.
Up until Nadia was born, I didn't have trouble falling back asleep during the night. This was a big problem when I was nursing each of my children during the night. Since Oliver was weaned, I had a few years where I could again fall back to sleep easily during the night. Unfortunately, it's again a lot more challenging to fall back asleep. Sometimes I get up much earlier than I really want to get up just because I can't fall back asleep even though I'm still tired.
One other change that I've noticed over the last several years is that for the first time in my life I find myself thinking that I prefer how things were in previous decades. I realize we have had many technological advantages. For example, I enjoy being able to take pictures with my smart phone and the fact that my vehicle has many features that didn't exist in previous decades. Communicating with a sister who lives in another country is much easier now than it would have been thirty years ago. But I could list many ways I think life was better a few decades ago than it is now. Appliances were built to last for far more years. Biological males didn't compete in women's sports. Freedom of speech wasn't so frequently taken away here in the USA. And the list could go on and on. Sometimes it has more to do with matters of taste rather than values. For example, I find myself longing to sing music in church that more closely resembles what we sang in previous decades.
Some years we have not done anything to celebrate my birthday, but that is not the case this year. I've never received a birthday gift from one of the kids before, but this year Nadia and Ian together paid for a $10 Kindle book for me. I haven't been with a sibling near my birthday in I can't remember how many years, but Wendy took me out for dinner last week as an early birthday celebration. Nadia needed some new clothes for our vacation, and most things are 50% off at the thrift store on Wednesdays. We hadn't been there since last summer. Yeseterday afternoon I took the kids to the thrift store and then we used a coupon for a free birthday meal at Red Robin when the kids and I had dinner at Red Robin before we went to church. My friend Cheri, who turned 65 in January, is planning to take me out to lunch next Monday while the kids are at gym class. And I made plans for the five of us (plus Paul's dad) to spend some time in Lancaster today. We have tickets to see David at Sight and Sound, and we're planning to have lunch at Shady Maple (a first for Paul and the kids), tour the replica of the Tabernacle, and tour Wheatland, the home of President Buchanan. I had made similar plans for April 21, 2020 (Esther instead of David), but those were cancelled because of COVID. It seems far more probable the plans will actually come to fruition today. I'm thankful for the fifty years that the Lord has given me so far. Knowing my brother only made it to his 35th birthday, I don't take these years for granted. If I were to live as long as my mother did, I would have 21 more years left to live. I hope to use whatever time the Lord gives me wisely.
Today is the kids' last day at Camp Good News. They left at 8:00 this morning and won't be getting home until probably about 9:30pm because they have a campfire tonight. I still can't believe the camp cost only $15 for the week, and that included a free t-shirt (see above photo) plus snacks from the Sugar Shack each afternoon. They have had such a great time that Ian and Oliver told me they want to go to Camp Good News' overnight camp at this location (Mountain View Bible Camp) next summer instead of PMBC or Camp Susque. Nadia said that she wants to be a junior counselor at that overnight camp next year and attend Camp Susque as a camper. I have to say I am ready for camp to be done. Usually if I'm ready for a camp to end it's because I'm weary of the driving. In all the years of the kids attending camp, I believe this is the least amount of driving I've done for a camp. I'm very, very grateful that our neighbor and Paul have been able to do almost all of the chauffeuring this week. I am ready to trade vehicles though as I prefer driving the Odyssey over Paul's Mazda. However mostly I just really miss my kids!!! I am extremely grateful that I homeschool them. I can't imagine spending so many days apart from them. I'll have about 8 hours with Nadia tomorrow and then we'll be driving her to Camp Susque for a week of overnight camp. I'm very thankful I'll be with my boys next week. Oliver's birthday is next Saturday so I've planned special outings for next week on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday. I'm taking four boys (mine plus Micah and Isaiah) for a pottery painting experience and roller skating on Wednesday evening. On Thursday I'm taking my boys plus Addi and Westyn bowling and then to Kaos for arcades, trampolines, and laser tag. I'm planning to take the boys to Knoebels for bargain night at 5pm next Friday. I'm hoping Pop Pop will come to our house next Saturday on Oliver's actual birthday.
Something else Nadia painted at art camp last week
Nadia wanted to attend a retreat from Tuesday through Friday this week with the youth group at FBC. She couldn't since I had already signed her up for Camp Good News M-F. She was able to attend most of the sleepover at Jill's house on Tuesday night. I dropped her off about 2 hours after it started and picked her up 2 hours early the next morning. Similarly, she would have loved to have gone on the mission trip with the FBC youth group in June, but the dates partially overlapped with the Bible Bowl event in Oklahoma. That trip was also the reason she couldn't be in Alice in Wonderland. She's also missed several youth group events at our church due to theatre camp, Camp Good News, and Camp Susque. I think her choices will become more complicated in the coming years. She could be a junior camp counselor with Camp Good News for one or more weeks next summer, and she's also considering being a junior life guard next summer. She wants to start working at a petcare center near us when she's 16. She could be a full fledged life guard in two years when she's 15. She always likes to be in theatre productions. I'm sure in future years she'd really like to go on this Glory Barn youth retreat that she missed this week. She wants to continue spending one week at Camp Susque for the next 3 years. She'd like to go on missions trips and continue participating in Bible quizzing. The national competition will be in South Carolina next year. Nadia likes having a BUSY schedule in the summer. We shall see what all manages to "make the cut" in the future and what isn't possible due to schedule conflicts.
One of Ian's paintings from art camp last week
I talked to my friend, Joyce, yesterday for about 90 minutes on the phone. We probably talk on the phone about three times a year on average. We've been friends for 25 years. She asked me what did I do this week since I had so many hours without the kids (a very rare occurrence). I had a lengthy to do list. Some items were quick and only took a few minutes such as updating our E-ZPass information with our new license plate or contacting Six Flags again to find out when our membership expires. I finally got an answer! It expires on August 4, which means we're not going to go again this summer. The kids and I visited a Six Flags park 8 times over the past 13 months, and Paul went 4 times. We also received free parking and unlimited free drinks each time plus some other random benefits. I'd say we got our money's worth as it cost us about $360 altogether which works out to $10 per person per day we spent at Six Flags. I'd continue our membership if we lived closer to a Six Flags, but it's at least a 3 hour drive to any Six Flags park.
Nadia's flower
Other things I accomplished this week took more time such as getting caught up on the videography course, lesson planning, and working on learning more Spanish. I am now in Unit 3. There are 9 units altogether. The first unit is VERY short compared to the others. If I keep at my current pace, I will finish unit 3 sometime in August. I did a load of dishes, mowed the lawn, did three loads of laundry, tried a new recipe for s'mores cookies, took Milo on a longer than usual walk every day, and made chicken parmesan with spaghetti. Usually when I have a chunk of time without the kids I focus on projects around the house. That wasn't the case this week, but I am hoping to do some cleaning, decluttering, and organizing over the next three weeks. I also had more time to spend with friends this week, which is a VERY rare treat for me. I had lengthy phone conversations with Aunt Tina, Tab, and Joyce. I met Carol for lunch on Tuesday, and I'm meeting Cheri for dinner and concerts at our church tonight. I asked the boys for LOTS of hugs when they came home at night "necesito un abrazo, por favor" is what I said. I didn't do any reading, and I missed listening to audio books with the kids this week. We listened for a VERY tiny bit each morning while they were eating breakfast, but that was it. I will enjoy listening to books for a bigger chunk of time again starting tomorrow! I loved camp when I was a kid so I'm very grateful that my kids get to go to camp.
"The only constant in life is change." From September 1986 to February 2020, I sang in an adult church choir. I lived in three different states during those years (Ohio, Maryland, and Pennsylvania) and attended churches from five different denominations (Baptist, Evangelical Free, Presbyterian, Evangelical Congregational, and Wesleyan). When I would consider churches to visit after I moved to a new area, I had a few things I wanted to know about the church before I'd visit it. One of those was whether the church had a choir. My favorite choir was the one I sang in from 1986-1990 and 1992-94. I loved the music the music pastor selected, the choir was large (around 100 people), and we were accompanied by a full orchestra (woodwinds, brass, strings, timpani drums, etc.). Most of the choirs have been much smaller than that. At one point I actually was the director of an adult church choir, but the vast majority of the time I've sung alto (first alto when the altos split). There have been many differences in how the conductors have lead each choir. Some included a time for sharing prayer requests and some haven't. The worship arts pastor who has been my director for the past 7 years had two choir members alternate sharing a devotional at the end of the rehearsal. Some directors spend almost the whole rehearsal working on just one or maybe two pieces of music. Others (such as the woman who was my director from January 2009 to May 2014) had us practice MANY different pieces of music in each rehearsal. Each director has had something different that they spent a lot of time focusing on. The woman I just mentioned really focused on "messy s's" meaning words that ended with an "s" - making sure we cut off at the same time or attaching the final sound of one word to the first sound of the next word. My current director often mentions unifying our vowels (which sound to emphasize in diphthongs). I've been accustomed to singing once a week on a Sunday morning during the school year, having a rehearsal on Wednesday night, and presenting a cantata of some sort at Christmas and Easter. That was something I've missed the past 7 years as we've only sung one song on Sunday mornings - no special programs (cantatas).
Oliver in the Friends' church building in Sturbridge
It seems at least for now that my time singing in a choir has come to an end. I have confidence that I will be able to do it again in the future, but I think it might not be for another nine years. Sob! Our senior pastor retired two months ago. Our new senior pastor decided that the choir would only sing once a month. There have been many Bible studies I've been interested in joining on a Wednesday night over the past 7 years, but I didn't because it conflicted with choir rehearsal. If the choir is only singing once a month, I would rather be in a Bible study on Wednesday nights. From 2004-2008 I played in a handbell choir and sang in a choir. From 2004-2012 I was asked to play my flute many times at church either to accompany the handbell choir or the choir or as a soloist. I've never played the flute at our current church. Singing in the choir was something I enjoyed musically, spiritually, and emotionally. It also was one of the ways that I could serve in a ministry. I'm trying to figure out how to fill those voids - a musical outlet of some sort and also another ministry to serve in. I considered offering to teach an adult Sunday School class starting in October, but then I found out that Bruce, who had been my SS teacher from 2012 until COVID, is going to resume his class in September. My areas of ministry the past 7 years had been helping in the children's ministry and singing in the choir. I stepped down from the children's ministry in February for another reason. If our kids were younger, I think we would be switching churches right now. That's how highly I value being able to sing in a choir, but Nadia's friends are almost all at this church. Presuming that Ian and Oliver develop friendships with kids at church over the coming years, I don't think we'll switch churches until Oliver graduates from high school. If that doesn't happen, then maybe we'll switch in five years when Nadia graduates. I really, really hope that church choirs don't become a thing of the past.
My observations have been that #1 governments almost always only get bigger over time and #2 when churches eliminate or decrease a program in some way, it rarely ever comes back. One of the reasons that Coolidge is one of Paul's most favorite Presidents is because he actually did take actions to reduce the size of the government. When I was growing up, we went to church on Sunday mornings, Sunday nights, and Wednesday nights on a weekly basis. Over the years I've noticed that many churches have eliminated Sunday nights and Wednesday nights, and also many people only go to the worship service on Sunday morning rather than Sunday School and the worship service on Sunday morning. I haven't attended Sunday School for 17 months due to COVID. I'm grateful that will be resuming in the fall. We've been attending the second service, but I think we'll switch back to attending the first service in the fall and then the kids go to the youth service (N/I) and Oliver can go to Kidzway during the second service while I attend Sunday School. Nadia and Ian attend youth group at a different church on Sunday night and at our church on Wednesday night. Whether Oliver attends AWANA at the Alliance Church or the midweek Kidzway program at our church will depend on where I end up attending a Bible study on Wednesday night. Speaking of choirs, my kids sang in choirs since they were four until COVID. Nadia and Ian sang in the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale in the fall of 2019. When COVID hit, Nadia was in the middle school chorus at Meadowbrook Christian School, I was in our church's adult choir, and Ian and Oliver were in the kids' choir at our church. Ian is now too old for our church's kids' choir. I haven't heard if the kids' choir will be resuming at our church or not. If it does, Oliver might be the only member of our family in a choir.
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.
