VBS take three

On Saturday afternoon we went to a kick-off event for this week's VBS. It included a large inflatable castle, a sprinkler, hot dogs, watermelon, and a slip and slide. Nadia and Oliver had a lot of fun with the inflatable and slip and slide. Ian went through the inflatable once, and the rest of the time he spent talking to people (primarily about Legos) and eating a hot dog. It still amazes me he likes to go on the Phoenix (a BIG roller coaster) but is scared of things like staircases and slip and slides. Go figure. I thought all three kids would be going to that VBS on Sunday night, but Nadia started complaining of a headache around 6:00pm on Saturday. I took her temperature, and she had a mild fever. I gave her some Tylenol and thought she'd probably be fine on Sunday, but actually she woke us up during the middle of the night. She complained about her stomach but didn't actually throw up. I gave her some Ibuprofen and then she proceeded to sleep until 10:00 am. That is definitely the latest she ever slept in her life. I had gone in to feel her cheeks at 8:00 when I was deciding whether to wake her up or not, and I could tell she still had a fever. Paul stayed home with her, and I took the boys to church. She stayed in her pajamas all day yesterday. She played a game of Life with Paul after her very late breakfast (she won!). Aside from her fever her only other symptom seemed to be that her appetite was very small. She still had a fever in the evening, so I only took the boys to VBS last night. She was asleep in bed before they got home.

This morning she woke up without a fever around 7:00. She has eaten more than she did yesterday, but her appetite is still not back to normal. Otherwise she has seemed to be doing much better today. She wanted to go to VBS tonight instead of Spanish class. I gave her the choice of either missing Spanish tonight or the musical rehearsal on Wednesday night. She picked skipping the musical. We are going to Dutch Wonderland amusement park tomorrow (first time for the kids and I), which means the boys will be attending four out of five nights of this VBS (Mt. Everest curriculum) since we'll be in Lancaster tomorrow. Since Nadia was sick last night and had Spanish class tonight, she'll just be going to VBS on Wednesday and Thursday. They aren't rehearsing the act she's in this Wednesday so I think it will be okay if she misses this rehearsal. Paul and I are going to go out on a date on either Wednesday or Thursday and take advantage of not needing to pay a babysitter for that luxury. I am very grateful that these churches have allowed Oliver to participate even though the minimum age was three years old (since he'll be turning 3 in less than a month). He actually has told me more about what has happened at VBS than Ian has. Oliver's personality is definitely more similar to Nadia (not Ian).

One of the things I've been doing during my extra time is work on planning the next school year. I don't have things planned out as thoroughly as my sister does, but I have things far more planned out than I ever have before with homeschooling. Here's what I've been working on. We've already been reading many of the picture books for the introduction, US, and Canada, and I've also been getting a head start on the chapter books. We're reading Anne of Avonlea right now, and we're listening to The Incredible Journey on cd in the van.

I was going to start Cameron Townsend next, but Paul put in a request for the next book in the Chronicles of Narnia so I will read Prince Caspian before we start reading the biography on Townsend. For quite a while I keep saying I need to start doing more crafts with the kids, and I think this year it's actually going to happen. I also am going to be trying more new recipes than I have been trying lately with making at least one food for each country. I haven't finished picking out all the recipes and crafts yet, but I am making great progress! I will definitely not plan out the other subjects in advance because I find the pace is so variable with spelling, reading, math, etc. Ian has been asking to work on reading so we are currently on lesson five of the second grade reading curriculum. Keep it up, Ian!

First person again

For the last seven years Paul and I have been in the habit of referring to ourselves in the third person when we're talking to our children. By that I mean we often use the word "Mommy" or "Daddy" instead of the word "I" or "me." From time to time when I hear Paul talking in the third person it makes me laugh. I recently suggested to him that we both work on eliminating this habit. Our kids certainly know our names, and Oliver could use some better modeling of pronouns as he uses the word "my" instead of "I" or "I am" (ex. "my thirsty" or "my hungry"). I suggested to Paul that he and I should help each other break this habit and point out when we are using the word Mommy/Daddy when we should be using a first person pronoun. We shall see how long it takes us to break the habit, but I will be very grateful when we do. I love being a Mommy, but I'd like to stop using the word so much.

Musketloader

We had a busy day today that included yard sales, a workshop at Lowe's, slip and slide, and an inflatable. I also took Nadia and Ian to a rural heritage day event. I had taken Oliver and Ian to it last year when Nadia was driving  back from Florida with Paul's parents. Today we went during Oliver's nap. Some of the exhibits were similar to ones we saw in Williamsburg (such as the cooper and blacksmith), but there were some that were different. The kids did the "rope walk" to make a rope. Nadia used some mortar on a wall, the kids held some three day old turkeys (I mistook them for chickens), Ian fed a sheep, Nadia made a corn husk doll, the kids had a ride in a pony cart (Ian laughed his head off when they went really fast at one point), and they both used a rifle for the first time in their lives. At first Ian said he wouldn't do it (because it was too loud), but after Nadia did it he then agreed to do it as well. We've had a lot of rain lately, but thankfully it was a very sunny day today for all our outside activities.

Annie!

This morning I drove the kids down for Nadia's final Annie rehearsal. I took the boys to one playground, the library, and then we fed ducks at another playground before picking Nadia up and taking her home. We were home for a little over an hour when my parents and Maurice arrived at our house. We hung out for about three hours before driving to Texas Roadhouse where ten of us had dinner before her show. Nadia had to be there at 5:45 to have her hair and make-up done and get her microphone on.  The rest of us arrived at 6:30 for the 7:00 show. I discovered as we walked in that I knew a woman there to see her grandchild (playing the part of Molly). She had kids in the school where I was principal years ago. I also ran into a former student from Bloomsburg University who was there to see two of her students performing (she's a public school teacher), and I ran into another mom from one of the homeschooling groups we are part of. It's a small world after all! Jenn and Holly were there for Nadia, and they gave her flowers at the end. How sweet! Jenn's husband was Paul's advisor when he got his master's degree at Bucknell (and one of his colleagues now). There were 11 people in the audience (including the nine of us who are related to her) who came to see Miss Nadia!

She did a FABULOUS job. I know I am biased, but I really believe even if she wasn't my daughter, I would say that the girl playing Pepper did a very good job. She didn't have a big solo like Annie or Miss Hannigan did, but she had a few very short solos and she sang them beautifully. I thought she did a good job with her speaking parts and choreography as well. Nadia has shown improvement with her skills at basketball, soccer, and gymnastics, but she's still usually near the bottom of the pile in those arenas. I think swimming is the physical sport in which she seems to have shown the most innate ability thus far. I think that music and drama might be more her "thing" than athletics. I was very proud of her. I wonder what musical they'll do next summer? She really wants to do it again. I am grateful that this church provided this opportunity for young children like Nadia. It was a great learning experience for them! I took lots of pictures, and Paul took several videos. Here is a taste (4 pics and 3 videos). I will share more in the coming days. Time for me to get some sleep. My dear parents and my brother drove for 7 hours (round trip) today to be here for Nadia. That's true love!

Thankful Thursday

1. Paul's parents watched Ian and Oliver last Friday so I could do a freezer cooking day after Nadia's tennis lesson.

2. Nadia and Ian enjoyed building a scooter at Home Depot on Saturday morning with Paul. Home Depot almost always includes paint in the projects (which Lowe's never does), and the kids enjoy being able to paint their project.

3. Nadia, Ian, and I enjoyed the fireworks on Saturday night in our town. We are SO blessed to live in a country where we still have the freedom to worship among other things.

4. I am enjoying the C25K app on my smartphone. I have done four workouts so far (the program includes 24 workouts altogether). Last Friday I also discovered that through the Amazon Music app I can listen to many different albums offline (so I don't need to use data when I'm doing my workout) via Amazon Prime. I now have a whole new reason for loving Amazon Prime!!! I have downloaded three different cds so I don't have to listen to the same one every time. I have finally entered the world of digital music. I used a cheap MP3 player at our previous house (2004-08) when I mowed our 2.5 acre lawn, but I only used it to listen to the radio. This is my first time truly downloading music.

5. I helped out in Oliver's classroom (The Circus) on Sunday morning. It's nice to have more of an idea what goes on in there. I have volunteered to help out in Nadia and Ian's classes each once this month as well.

6. Nadia enjoyed a play date at Bella's house (the seven year old playing the part of Annie) from noon to 4:30 on Monday after their three hour Annie rehearsal. Bella's dad said some really nice things about Nadia to me on Wednesday, which was nice to hear.

7. Paul has helped with a few projects including working on bikes and also helping me with a small project in a flower bed. I always appreciate his help!!

8. Paul and I went for a walk on Tuesday and Wednesday nights (about 2.5 miles each time) while the kids were at VBS.

9. The kids have been enjoying their second week of VBS. It started on Sunday night and ends tonight. Nadia was able to go three of the five nights. The boys were able to go all five nights.

10. I was able to get a haircut while the boys were at VBS on Monday night. Paul and Nadia were at her Spanish class. Nadia does not like the fact I got it cut shorter, but Ian had the opposite reaction the first time he saw me. This reminds me of a funny story. When we were in Maryland recently, Oliver said to my mom "Grandma you have blonde hair like I do" (or something to that effect). Paul started laughing, but my mom declared that Oliver is now her favorite grandchild, ha ha! She said she had never before in her life been told she has blonde hair. :)

11. The choir has a two month break at church. Although I like singing in the choir, one perk of the break is I can pick whatever I want to wear to church. Normally we are assigned a color each week (we don't wear choir robes but we are all supposed to wear the assigned color). I really like being able to choose what I wear since I generally only wear my skirts on Sundays, and some of my favorite colors were never (and/or rarely) in the rotation.

12. Although I am glad the drives to her Annie rehearsals are ending this week (35 minutes one way), I will really miss being able to go to Aldi's each week. Their produce prices just can't be beat as one small example. This week I paid 89 cents a pound for strawberries, 89 cents for a pint of blueberries, 99 cents a pound for red grapes, etc. I wish we had an Aldi's a little closer to home!

13. We are currently reading Anne of Avonlea. Oh how I love that series! The last books I read to the kids prior to that were Stone Fox and Paddle-to-the-Sea. We also watched the movie for the Paddle book. It was an excellent book for learning about geography.

14. I'm glad Nadia loves to try new things. We can't wait to see her in Annie tomorrow night! This week she asked me if she could also be in a Chinese class. One language at a time, my girl! We'll just stick with Spanish for now (the church where she's taking Spanish also has Chinese classes for children).

15. I downloaded the Shopkick app, and after using it just a couple of minutes at the mall on Monday night, I already earned enough for a free $5 gift card to Walmart (or I could pick another store). I need to find and use more apps like this to cover the cost of the phone. I think our bill is going to go up more per month than I thought it would because it turns out with the new plan we're not eligible for the 18% employee discount we'd been using the past seven years.

16. I'm hoping to see more weight loss when I weigh myself tomorrow morning, but as of Saturday I had lost five pounds in fifteen days. Yay! I'm trying to lose 20 altogether.

17. Paul took Nadia and Ian to see Sideways Stories (from Wayside School) at the Bloomsburg Theatre Ensemble today. While they were there, Oliver took a nap and I mowed the lawn.

Bike Shop

Over the past seven days, Paul has worked on four different bicycles. Last Wednesday he installed a new child seat onto my new bicycle. Thankfully, I purchased an already assembled bicycle, but installing the child seat was a time consuming project for him. Today he installed the hand brake on Nadia's Tinkerbell bike that my parents gave her for her birthday last year. We had discovered last summer that it was a little too big for her to use to learn how to ride without training wheels so I bought another bike last summer that was smaller. I purposefully got a blue one (not a girl color) because I figured it would actually become Ian's bike in the near future. Now that she's mastered riding that blue bike, she was promoted to her purple Tinkerbell bike today. This meant that Paul could lower the seat on the blue bike and install training wheels on it so Ian could use it. Once he becomes comfortable riding that bike with training wheels, Paul is going to start teaching Ian how to ride without training wheels. Finally, Paul lowered the seat on the bike Ian had been using so that Oliver could learn how to ride a two wheel bike.

Oliver can pedal our two tricycles (something our other two couldn't do when they were two years old), but he still doesn't prefer to do it. He had a harder time using the two wheel bicycle today. I am guessing he won't really start using it until next spring, but that's not a problem as he can ride one of the tricycles or ride on the seat on my bicycle. Hopefully Paul will get a break now from doing any work on the bicycles. What I want to know is why don't these bikes come with kickstands? Mine did, but Ian and Nadia's bikes don't have them.

Today was a hot day. In general it's been a very mild summer thus far. Today was the first time I was wishing we could go swimming. Even though we didn't get a membership this summer, I am planning on taking the kids swimming several times this summer. Today wasn't the best day for that since there wasn't much time after Oliver woke up from his nap before it was time for dinner and taking the kids to VBS.

Around the World

In many ways homeschooling is something that happens every month of the year. Recently I actually started reading the kids chapter books from my list for this coming school year (Kingdom Tales, Hero Tales, Paddle-to-the-Sea, and Stone Fox). When I was a middle school teacher and also when I was a professor, I planned things out in detail months in advance. Thus far I have a more laid back approach to homeschooling, in part because I want to go at the pace of each child, which might at times mean going faster than anticipated and at other times going slower than expected. I don't have to file any official goals and objectives yet (will need to do so next year for Nadia if we still live in PA), but here are some tentative goals of mine for the upcoming school year.

Continents and Countries to be studied:
North America - United States, Guatemala, Mexico, Canada, Puerto Rico, Panama, and Cuba
South America - Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Chile
Europe - Netherlands, Norway, Italy, France, Germany, Ireland, Spain, United Kingdom, Greece
Asia - Israel, Saudi Arabia, India, China, Japan, Russia, Iraq, Afghanistan

Africa - Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, Ghana, Nigeria, Morocco, Mali
Australia
Antartica

All three kids (at least Nadia and Ian):
1. Help cook at least one recipe for each country
2. Listen to folktales and other picture books about each country
3.  Listen to many chapter books (see list below)
4. Do one craft a week related to each country
5. Go on a wide variety of field trips
6. Listen to music from some of the countries
7. Read and discuss all three bedtime math books (just Nadia and Ian)
8. Watch dvd's related to some of the countries

Oliver - 3 year old Preschool
1. Start memorizing one Bible verse a week for Cubbies starting in September
2. Be able to count to 20 by May
3. Be able to identify all the uppercase letters of the alphabet by May
4.  Be able to write his first name by next August
5. Begin to use scissors
6. Be able to identify the basic shapes

Ian - Kindergarten:
1. Improve cutting skills
2. Complete the 1st grade and at least part of the 2nd grade spelling curriculum
3. Complete the A Beka Kindergarten science textbook
4. Memorize an average of three Bible verses a week for Sparks starting in September
5. Participate in a gym class (90 minutes a week), play on a soccer
team, take ice skating lessons, play on a basketball team, learn to ride a bike without training wheels, and take gymnastics
6. Sing in a children's choir at church once a week
7. Practice writing uppercase and lowercase letters through writing in a journal and completing the first grade handwriting textbook
8. Complete the 2nd and 3rd grade reading curriculum
9. Be able to count to 100 by ones and tens and complete simple addition and subtraction problems

Nadia - 2nd Grade
1. Complete portions of the Exploring World Geography textbook and play games to help her learn the locations of many of the countries in the world
2. Practice keyboarding skills at least three days a week
3. Use Rosetta Stone to learn more Spanish at least three days a week
4. Memorize at least three Bible verses a week for Sparks starting in September
5. Participate in a weekly gym class, play on a soccer team, take ice skating lessons, play on a basketball team, and take gymnastics
6. Sing in a children's choir at church once a week and practice the piano at least four times a week
7. Practice writing uppercase and lowercase letters through writing in a journal
8. Read chapter books independently
9. Help cook at least one recipe each week related to the country we are studying
10. Finish the 2nd grade math textbook (introduce regrouping) and do currency exchanges for each country
11. Complete the ACSI 2nd grade science textbook
12. Complete the 3rd and 4th grade spelling books
13. Write at least one letter or type one email each week
14. Share an oral current event via Skype with cousins once a week regarding the country being studied that week
15. Learn to play Chinese checkers, mancala, marbles, jacks, hopscotch, and chess.

Chapter Books: (not in order)
1. Kingdom Tales 2. Hero Tales 3. Stone Fox 4. Betsy and Tacy Go Over The Big Hill 5. Incredible Journey 6. Anne of Avonlea 7. In the Year of the Boar and Jackie Robinson 8. Gladys Aylward 9. Cameron Townsend 10. Amy Carmichael 11. Nate Saint 12. George Muller 13. David Livingstone 14. Rainbow Garden 15. The Secret at Pheasant Cottage 16. Hans Brinker 17. A Gift for Mama 18. Snow Treasure 19. King of the Wind 20. Three Go Searching 21. The Secret of the Fourth Candle 22. Rikki-Tikki-Tavi 23. Twenty-one Balloons,

24. BFG 25. Lotus Seed 26.  Chucaro: Wild Pony of the Pampa 27. The Wheel on the School 28. Nory Ryan's Song 29. I, Juan de Pareja 30. Shadow of a Bull 31. Treasures of the Snow 32. Listening for Lions 33. Akimbo and the Lions 34. Call it Courage 35. Gay Neck: The Story of a Pigeon 36. Sadako and the Thousand Paper Cranes 37. The Family Under the Bridge 38. Tales of the Resistance 38. Tales of the Restoration 39. The House of Sixty Fathers 40. Hero Tales vol. 2 41. Hero Tales vol. 3 42. Star of Light 43. The Endless Steppe 44. Letters from Rifka (and probably others will be added to the list considering we read 32 chapter books in the first six months of 2015)

I am really looking forward to the new school year!!!

Happy Birthday, USA!

When I realized that Home Depot was having their monthly workshop on July 4th, I asked Nadia and Ian whether they wanted to do the 9:00 scooter workshop or the 10:00 parade. They picked the workshop and said they hoped Oliver would share the candy he collected with them. Well it was raining cats and dogs for many hours today so Oliver and I skipped the parade. After Oliver's nap we all went to the park in the hopes of still participating in some of the festivities, but the petting zoo and ponies (free rides usually) weren't there, and the puppet shows were cancelled. It definitely was a low-key Independence Day for us due to the rain. Thankfully the rain stopped in the early evening, and they didn't postpone the fireworks. Oliver went to bed at his usual time, but I took Nadia and Ian to the fireworks. All three of us really enjoyed it! They were up until 10pm, which is a VERY rare occurrence for our kiddos. I took LOTS of pictures. It was only my second time taking pictures of fireworks in manual (the last time was in 2013). I brought my 85mm lens which I quickly learned was a mistake. Hopefully next time I'll remember not to go bigger than 50mm. Nonetheless, I took oodles of pictures of the fireworks. I'll include two tonight and probably more over the coming days. Although I'm not keen on the direction our country has been heading (away from the Constitution in my opinion), I am still very grateful to live in the United States of America!

No boys allowed

Several days ago I asked Paul's mom if they could watch all three kids on July 6th while Paul was working at the plant. He's been going down on average one day a week to try to finish the machinery project he started last summer. I planned to have a freezer cooking day while the kids were at their house. On Wednesday night I got an email from KTE with the Annie rehearsal schedule for next week. Up until this week they've been having two rehearsals a week. Wednesday night I found out there will be five rehearsals next week. So I asked Nadia if it would be okay if her brothers went to Grandma and Pop Pop's house without her this Friday (today). She couldn't join them because she had a tennis lesson from 8:30-9:30. Thankfully she was fine with this plan (although she wants to go to their house some other day this summer). Paul and the boys were gone for almost twelve hours today. I don't ever recall having a day with just Nadia since Ian was born 5 1/2 years ago. It would have been fun to do "girly" things like paint our fingernails and toenails. The next time we get a "girl's day" we'll have to do things like that.

Today was a very productive day for me. We got home from the tennis lesson and library at 10:00, and I cooked non-stop for over four hours. I chatted with my mom on the phone for thirty minutes and then went back to cooking. Nadia helped me with a little bit of cooking. She stuffed some jumbo shells with ricotta and mozzarella cheese and also made some meatballs for the first time. She also helped me clean the bathrooms and picked up things so I could vacuum. When she wasn't helping me cook or clean she was either working on a 300 piece puzzle, painting a horse, writing a thank you card, riding her bike, playing on the iPad, jumping on the trampoline, drawing on the driveway with chalk, or playing with neighbors outside. In addition to cooking 13 meals, I vacuumed the carpets, mopped the kitchen floor, cleaned the bathrooms, recorded Nadia's 7th birthday interview (see below), and mowed the lawn. Whew. I didn't do a C25K workout today, but I feel like I got plenty of exercise anyhow as I was on my feet almost the whole day. Nadia and I also went on a bike ride together to the playground at the elementary school before we had dinner. She had spaghetti and meatballs, and I had a salad, like I've been having almost every night.

I had two freezer cooking days in 2010. I certainly made more food today than I did those two times.  Although tuna noodle is a favorite in our house, I didn't make it today because it's such an easy casserole to throw together. I decided to stick with things that are more time consuming to make. Once a week I make breakfast for dinner. Last night I made what I called "patriotic pancakes." I put fresh blueberries inside the pancakes, and then I topped them with fresh strawberries, fresh blueberries, and some white whipped cream (no syrup) - red, white, and blue! Nadia, Oliver, and I enjoyed them (I took the night off from having a salad). Also, one night a week we are usually out somewhere (ex. an amusement park), or I'll pick up a large pizza from Aldi's for $4.99 one night. All that to say, I think I made enough meals today to last two months if I make a few easy dishes along the way such as tuna noodle or a soup in the crockpot. Altogether I cooked for five hours today, and then I spent another 30 minutes this evening washing pots and pans. I got tired of cooking after 3 1/2 hours, but persevering another 90 minutes enabled me to make some more meals. Usually a casserole or soup from the crockpot lasts us two nights, so I think I made enough for at least 26 dinners. It certainly was easier to do all that cooking and cleaning with only Nadia at home. Here is what I made today:

lasagna (1)
meatballs (2 batches - one in the frig and one in the freezer)
meatloaf (1)
chicken bacon bowtie bake casserole (2)
split pea and ham soup (1)
beef noodle bake casserole (2)
jumbo stuffed shells (1)
ground beef in a bag for another casserole (1)
diced cooked chicken in bags for other meals such as quesadillas and my salads (2)

As a comparison, here's a link to her birthday interview last year.

Thankful Thursday

 1. We enjoyed part of the Magnamus Cirque show on Thursday afternoon. They advertised it as an event for children, but the ending was definitely not family friendly. Had I known we wouldn't have gone. It was free to the public (sponsored by Bucknell).

2. We had a safe trip to my parents' house on Thursday evening, and Nadia enjoyed opening the last of her birthday presents that night.

3. We had a fabulous day at Six Flags on Friday with my dad!

4. The kids enjoyed making Captain America's motorcycle at Lowe's on Saturday morning.

5. We had a safe trip back to PA on Friday afternoon, which was no small feat considering the torrential rain we drove through for hours. It was also a wonderful treat to have lunch with my friend, Laura, and her husband on the way home. She served us yummy chicken quesadillas and watermelon.

6. Nadia and Ian played with two neighbors for a few hours on Sunday afternoon. Jack just turned five last week, and Ellie is a few years older than Nadia. I think they'll be playing together more regularly. Yay!

7. I got my first smartphone yesterday! Here's to joining the rest of the world with texting and such. The first app I downloaded on my phone was the C25K app, and I used it this morning from 6:15-6:45. I had no trouble keeping up today with the pace, and it was nice when the little voice said that I was at the half-way point as then I knew when to turn around and start heading back home. I am aware of a few muscles right now that I'm not usually aware of, ha ha! Over the past two weeks I've lost four pounds. I am hoping to lose sixteen more over the next eight weeks. I am planning to do the C25K program every other day. I opted not to include a large hill in my route today, but as I get in better shape, I plan to include that hill.

8. Nadia has been enjoying her second week of tennis lessons. She missed two lessons this week due to Annie rehearsals, but she'll make those up in August.

9. Nadia has been loving the Annie rehearsals. She already told me she wants to do other productions with this group in the future. She had a five hour play date with the girl playing the part of Annie on Tuesday. The girls had a great time together.

10. All three kids make me smile so many times. With Oliver it's the way he pronounces a few things. Here are a few of my favorites: upside down is "upsee down", chocolate milk is "chockit milk," and bottom is "bobbin." I love it when Oliver asks me for a hug or a kiss. I am so grateful that all three of my kids are very affectionate as I know some kids aren't like that.

11. I called the cable company to see if we could bring our internet bill down, and it's going down $10 a month (back to what it was before the recent price increase).

12. Ian worked SO hard on completing the Kindergarten handwriting textbook this week. He learned how to write his numbers (1-10) and all his lowercase letters and reviewed how to write his uppercase letters. Of course he needs more practice, but boy that child can be extremely determined when Legos are involved!

13. I got a bike with a child carrier! Nadia is so pleased that we can ride bikes together now. Since Paul and I are the same height, he can also use the bike.

14. Paul's mom is finally getting her taste buds back after not being able to taste foods for about ten months!

15. We stopped at a great yard sale this morning. I bought Nadia quite a few outfits and dresses for the winter, and she spent $2 of her birthday money on a Tinkerbell toy.

16. It's so nice having Paul home during the summer. He spends most of the day in our bedroom on the computer, but he can come down for all three meals, which is wonderful! He has been working one day a week for his father (to finish a project he started last summer), and he does go in to Bucknell from time to time, but most days he's at home.

17. We enjoyed a program about military and police dogs at the library yesterday. The presenters had three dogs with them - a retired police dog from NC and two retired military dogs (one served in Iraq and the other in Afghanistan). Did you know all the branches of the military use dogs and they train the dogs using commands in either Dutch or German?

18. I've really been enjoying my 35mm lens lately that I received as a birthday present in April. My 50mm lens has been my most favorite for so long, and I didn't think I'd ever use another one as much as that one, but I've been getting a lot of use out of my 35mm one lately. Thanks, Mom and Dad! :)