Thankful Thursday

1. On Friday morning when I weighed myself I was greeted with a number that showed I had lost two more pounds. This put a BIG smile on my face. It put my total weight loss at 14 pounds, which means I have 6 pounds to go. I'm still hoping to reach that goal by the end of October. I haven't been dieting much, but I have been jogging about 16 miles a week (4 miles a day on Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday mornings).

2. We had a fabulous day on Friday with my parents at the Maryland Science Center and Port Discovery Children's Museum. I was thankful that we didn't hit much traffic at all either direction and that we had a safe, fun trip. I'm also thankful that Port Discovery wasn't nearly as crowded as it was the one other time we went there years ago.

3. Oliver had an accident on Monday evening. Ironically, his clothes were dry, and I told him to go to the bathroom, and he emerged handing me soaked pants and underwear and wearing wet socks. Lovely. I'm not particularly thankful for that, and I'm not exactly sure what went wrong, BUT it was the
first accident in a few weeks, and I am thankful for that because around the middle of August he had a big regression. I actually hadn't been thinking about "potty training" at all for a few weeks, which was a happy thing as he's been wearing underwear for a full year now. He definitely has taken a LOT longer than the other two, but in time it will be a thing of the past.

4. I placed two orders with Shutterfly on Monday night. The first order contained 2 photo books, two 8x10 prints, 4 small magnets, and a Star Wars placemat I made Ian to save as a birthday present for him, and for all that I paid not one penny. WOOHOO! I could have gotten 3 photo books for free, but I opted to order the third one separately and pay $8.47 for it so I could have lay flat pages in that one. I am really getting the hang of maximizing the use of coupon codes on Shutterfly!

5. My kids love each other. This picture of Ian and Oliver holding hands wasn't posed. Ian volunteered to carry Oliver's chair, and I quickly snapped this photo when I saw they were holding hands as we were walking off the field after Nadia's soccer game on Saturday. I love when my kids hold hands. It just melts my heart!

6. The big rope has been missing at the playground closest to our home for a couple of months. The kids were so excited to see it was back on Tuesday, and Ian put a big smile on my face by walking across it without ANY problems for the first time ever. He actually enjoyed it and did it multiple times whereas in the past he would refuse to try it even once. He has really been getting braver lately!

7. We went on our 5th field trip of the school year yesterday. We went to R. B. Winter State Park for a program about Fall, since yesterday was the first day of Autumn. Today we went on our 6th field trip to tour a 911 center.  We had a tour around the center to learn how they do their jobs, the kids got to dial 911 on a phone and answer questions (ex. what is your address, what is your phone number, what is the emergency), and they got to put out a fire with a fire extinguisher in the parking lot. Ian's "emergency" was that a bank robber was coming in our house. LOL! My goal is to average about one field trip per week over the course of the school year, and this is our sixth field trip in five weeks so we are off to a good start at achieving that goal of mine. Some weeks we haven't taken any trips, and other weeks we have gone on two or three trips.

8. I received a check in the mail for $50 yesterday for playing the flute last week. I wasn't expecting anything so it was a pleasant surprise. Since I received paychecks for more than 20 years, it is still an adjustment for me to not have an income so that $50 means more to me than it would have when I had a job.

9. We did Facetime with the Towfighis in Turkey on Monday, which was a treat. Nadia played a song on the piano, Jenna played a song on the piano, we talked about recipes we had tried lately as we study different countries, kids recited Bible verses they had been learning this week, etc. We are really enjoying having more regular communication with their cousins. I am so glad Yvonne had this idea to try to connect once a week! Last week they were studying Mexico, and Bruchko right now, and we finished it on Sunday. We really loved that book, by the way.

so were we. It's fun to have some similarities in our curriculum. They are reading

10. The past few weeks we have tried a few new recipes. The kids liked the Guatemalan fruit smoothies, Mexican hot chocolate, churritos, tres leche cake, tacos, and taquitos. Nadia and Ian were not fans of the flan, moros y cristianos (Cuban black beans and rice), or the chilaquiles (which I thought Nadia would love since she adores scrambled eggs). The kids will eat the coconut kisses (for Puerto Rico), but I also don't think they'll ever ask me to make them again. I am grateful that the kids have liked some of the new recipes. I think their most favorite was the churritos, and their cousins favorite new recipe so far was churros. I am not a big fan of cake. I'll usually pick a  brownie, cookie, or pie over a cake, but I have to say the three milk cake was very tasty!

11. Paul came home in time to have dinner with us this evening before taking Nadia to soccer practice! It was a surprise and a very rare treat. I would say in a typical week all five of us eat four meals together - lunch and dinner on Saturdays and breakfast and dinner on Sundays (Paul eats lunch by himself on Sundays while we are at the second service at church). Paul eats breakfast with the kids the four mornings that I run, and he has dinner with Nadia on Monday nights after her gymnastics class. I used to be able to be back home from my run before they woke up, but I really can't leave much before 6:30 am these days unless I want to run in the dark. We got really spoiled for three months this summer in that he ate a minimum of 17 meals a week with us each week; that will likely never be the norm again. He received a VERY warm greeting by all three kids when he surprised us at dinner tonight. He leaves for work before the kids get up on Tuesdays and Thursdays. I knew we wouldn't see him for many meals during the year, and that was why I had us finish the Chronicles of Narnia series while he could be with us as I knew he really enjoyed those books.

Hello, Autumn!

Although it felt like summer was over when we started back to school, yesterday was technically the last day of summer, and the last few days the weather has gotten cooler so it actually feels like fall. This morning we had a field trip at R. B. Winter State Park. Today's program was titled "Countdown to Fall" and included talking about the signs of fall (migration, hibernation, storing up food, leaves changing colors and falling, length of day/night being almost equal, etc.), looking at samples of many different kinds of leaves, listening to the park ranger read a book by the same title as the program, going on a nature hike to complete a scavenger hut (listen to crickets, spot a hawk in the sky, pick up an acorn, etc.), and making a wreath with the items collected on the hike. Oliver really enjoyed brushing glue on to his wreath. There were also many different activities set up in the nature center, and the kids did some of those as well. I let them play on one of the playgrounds at the park before we headed back home.

I had packed our lunches so we could eat on the way home as we live about 40 minutes from this state park. Unfortunately Nadia threw up on the way home (car sickness), but the good news is that Nadia grabbed the trash can we keep in the van and everything went in there which made it MUCH easier for me to clean up once we got home. Whew. It was a little cool out when we left, but it was really nice out by the time we came home. It was a gorgeous day for a nature walk! Many times when we have a field trip I give the kids the day off in terms of their other school work, but today I decided to just let them each skip a subject or two. Nadia skipped handwriting, and Ian skipped science and spelling. Oliver fell asleep on the way home. When he woke up he was so fussy even after I gave him a snack that I put him back to bed. I cannot remember the last time he went to sleep twice during the day. Usually if he takes a nap in the van, that is it for the day, but today he fell back asleep in his bed after taking a nap in the van. He must have really been tired! It seems the theme of the day is scavenger hunts because they will be going on a treasure hunt outside the church during game time at AWANA tonight.

Textless Tuesday

Baltimore Harbor

Yesterday morning the kids and I left the house around 8:30 and arrived in the Inner Harbor three hours later. Aside from an about fifteen minute screaming temper tantrum on the part of Oliver around 10:30, we had a very smooth drive there. We made no stops and didn't hit any traffic. We spent four hours in the Maryland Science Center. We could have spent even longer, but we were also planning to visit Port Discovery (a children's museum). In addition to enjoying the hands-on exhibits in the science museum, we also saw a 3D IMAX movie on lemurs and attended a science demonstration on optical illusions. They didn't have the van de graaff generator out yesterday like they did last year, and this year if you got in as a homeschooler (VERY cheap) then the planetarium show wasn't included, which it was last year. Nadia's favorite part was the bed of nails. It was hard to get all three of them out of the Kid's room on the third floor.

After we left the science museum, the six of us (my parents met us there) walked around the harbor to Port Discovery. We had an early dinner at a Subway near the museum. Once a month they have a reduced admission ($2) from 4-8 pm. The last time we took advantage of it was several years ago (before Oliver). It is a large three story children's museum. Oliver's favorite parts were the water room (see how much fun he had washing the windows!) and the diner. Nadia's favorites were the castle and the diner. Ian really liked the Lego castle area. After we spent about two hours in the museum we left because we had to walk back to the parking garage and then drive three hours to get home. My phone told me that once we were in Baltimore we walked 6 miles, and since I jogged 4 miles yesterday morning, the phone said I had walked 10 miles total. Oliver fell asleep as soon as we were in the van. My dad and I carried him a little, but he was walking most of the time as well, and he also didn't get a nap. Ian fell asleep about 20 minutes into our drive so it was a very peaceful drive home. We arrived home at 10:00 pm. It was great to be able to spend the day in the harbor with my parents!

Thankful Thursday

Oliver ready to cheer Ian on in his new Mickey chair ($3 at CVS).

1. Nadia and Ian resumed participating in the homeschool gym class at our church on Friday morning. The first three weeks of this eleven week session they'll be doing basketball with the women's basketball coach at Bucknell. I was impressed to see that Ian is dribbling the ball. Both kids will be playing Upward basketball in the winter. I think they will attend nine of the eleven sessions this fall. They will miss tomorrow due to a field trip to two museums in Baltimore. Oliver also enjoyed his 90 minutes in the playland at the church during their class.

2. Nadia and I enjoyed a concert by the Kiev Symphony Orchestra and Chorus at church on Friday night. We stayed for 2 hours. I imagine the concert didn't go on TOO much longer, but it was already well past Nadia's bed time. Her favorite song was "Joshua fit the battle." Mine was probably either "My tribute" or "And the glory of the Lord" from the Messiah. They sang a few songs in English, but most of the songs were either sung in Russian or Ukranian, which I thought was good as we're studying many different countries and cultures this year in school.

3. Saturday morning they both had their first soccer game of the season. Most of the week last week it was in the 90's and sunny, but it cooled off (yay!) and was rainy (boo because it meant we scrapped some of our plans for the day). Their soccer games went on despite the rain (yay for umbrellas for the spectators at least). Paul's parents came up, which was appreciated. Ian scored a goal! He scored his first goal in early May, but I didn't see it as I wasn't at that game. I saw this one!!! He kicked the ball more in this one game than I think he did in all the games put together last spring. Last night he had his second game of the season, and he scored another goal! Paul said that he and Jack are the two strongest players on his team. Nadia only scored one goal in her three seasons playing U6 soccer, but I think Ian will be scoring many goals. He has come a long way! He needs to work on keeping the ball in bounds as many times he kicks it out of bounds. He could have easily scored three goals last night, but two times he kicked it just a little bit wide right so it went out of bounds instead of in the goal. I am proud of his progress!

Warming up with his team before the game began

4. On Sunday afternoon I got two new tires put on the van, and while they were doing that I shopped in Sears. Thanks to clearance racks and coupons, I paid $11.27 total for 5 items (bathing suit for Nadia, suit coat jacket for Ian, pants for myself, etc.) that the original prices came to $150.

5. I also used a coupon code on Amazon ($10 off) to get a Lego set for free for Ian.

6. I have been selling some clothes and shoes via yard sale pages on FB (collected $50 over the past two days). I have very mixed feelings about this. I would much rather teach a class at a university, but unfortunately that is not an option right now because enrollments are down and they aren't hiring adjuncts. I had no idea when I resigned that it would be hard to reenter the profession. I like shopping at yard sales, but I don't enjoy selling things. I'd rather just donate everything, but earning a little bit of money is better than earning none, right? Homeschooling is the MOST expensive type of education there is when you consider the loss of my income. It costs about 10 times more than it would to send our three kids to a Christian school, but they are worth it!

You can't see Ian very well, but this was when he scored a goal last week!

7. The last two nights I played my flute in the dress rehearsals for the Harvest Festival Pops concert in Milton. The concert will be taking place tonight. I enjoy being able to play my flute! The praise band's rehearsals at church were also moved up a little earlier starting this month so I told the music pastor last night that I would like to be in the rotation for playing the flute. There is one flautist, but she doesn't play every week. I haven't played the flute at this church yet so I didn't play it much this past year.

8. I found out last night that our church isn't doing AWANA any more. They are doing something else on Wednesday nights now. I am very grateful that they did have AWANA last year, and I'm very thankful Paul isn't teaching on Wednesday nights this year so the kids can go back to the AWANA program they were in from September 2011- May 2014.

9. Nadia and Ian had their first Soul Patrol (kids' choir) rehearsal on Sunday for the new year. The practices have been moved from Sunday night (when they were last year) to the second service on Sunday mornings. This unfortunately meant I had to pick between either having them in the worship service with us OR going to their Sunday School class during the first service. I wish I didn't have to pick, but I am grateful they can be in a choir at church since they are homeschooled. I chose for them to be in the worship service with us. During the months Soul Patrol doesn't have a rehearsal, they will go to Sunday School during the second service. Oliver is in Sunday School for both services.

10. Oliver had carrots for breakfast this morning. I almost said "no" to his request because that isn't a traditional breakfast food, but then I thought, if the kid wants to eat vegetables, who am I to say "no" no matter what meal it is. I am VERY thankful this kid loves vegetables and just about every other food I have ever given him to eat. This is a BIG blessing.

11. Oliver took a nap today. Unfortunately he has been hit or miss lately. He didn't take a  nap yesterday, for example. I appreciate every nap he does take. I know he probably only has about 11 months left of taking naps, but I am trying to make the most of the nap times while he's still taking one.

12. I am thankful that our school day is usually over by 11:00 am. The kids get a lot more time to play, and it gives me time to do things like clean and make dinner.

13. The kids generally don't find the biographies I have read to them to be *quite* as engrossing as fiction, so usually we alternate chapters. However, they are SO engrossed in Bruchko right now, that they just want me to keep reading it and not switch back to the fiction book we are also in the middle of. That puts a smile on my face! I am also thankful the library was able to get the book for me through interlibrary loan and save me the cost of purchasing it.

Seventeenth Day

Eating her cupcake from Sparks for saying the most sections (nine)

Today was our seventeenth day of school this year, although it was the fifteenth day of "normal" school work because two of those days were field trip days. We had school on Labor Day because Paul had school that day also. We usually start our school day by 8:30, although yesterday we had a late start because I was working on organizing the kids clothes as the weather has turned cooler and we were needing to unpack pants and such from the boxes in their closets. This also has helped me realize what gaps they have which will be helpful the next time I shop at a yard sale, consignment shop, or clearance rack. I used to donate everything the kids outgrew, but recently I had been donating some and also selling some at a consignment shop. Since selling Nadia's car went so smoothly through a FB yard sale page, I decided to give that a whirl with selling some clothes and shoes as well. I was concerned about driving various places to sell things for say $3, but this afternoon I met a woman at the grocery store in our town and she bought a bunch of items for $30 total, and another woman is meeting me at Ian's soccer game tomorrow to buy 8 pairs of shoes so if it keeps going like that I will probably keep selling things on FB.

I have been doing Ian and Nadia's school work at the same time although Nadia's takes longer than Ian's. I try to have one do something independently (such as handwriting) while I work with the other on something that requires one-on-one interaction (such as spelling). Oliver does at least two puzzles each morning, and he gets a 30 minute iPad turn, and I also usually have him eat a snack to help keep him occupied while the others do their schoolwork. Ian already completed the Kindergarten ABeka science textbook and is now working through the 1st grade ABeka science book. Tomorrow Nadia will finish the second chapter of the 2nd grade Purposeful Design science textbook. Nadia is half way through the second grade Purposeful Design math textbook. We just started a chapter on fractions, and she has told me this is her most favorite math textbook. The chapter we recently finished was on addition and subtraction, and it introduced regrouping for the first time. Ian just started the first grade Purposeful Design math textbook today. I had done the Kindergarten one with Nadia when she was five and had decided just to start with the 1st grade textbook for the boys. Ian is doing the first grade Handwriting without Tears textbook, and Nadia is using Draw Write Now books for handwriting and drawing; she also practices the piano each morning. I have included below a video from her playing the piano this morning. Ian does a cutting exercise every day from a workbook I purchased a few months ago for 80 cents. He loves it, and his scissor skills are really improving.

Ian is half way through the first grade All About Spelling curriculum, and he has really been sailing through it easily. He is on the sixth lesson of the third grade All About Reading curriculum, and he just has now hit a part that is harder for him so we have slowed down considerably (which is fine!). Nadia is half way through the third grade All About Spelling curriculum, and the lesson we are on is definitely going to take a little while to conquer (knowing whether to use "ch,", "k," "c", or "ck" for the "k" sound). A new activity for her spelling lesson is that each week she has to create some sentences to use a few of the spelling words. For reading, I have Nadia read from a chapter book. If the chapters are short she has to read at least three chapters. Yesterday she started reading Little House on the Prairie, and in that book one chapter is enough as the chapters are longer. I also read picture books and chapter books to the kids every day. Right now we are listening to From the Mixed-up Files of Mrs. Basil E Frankweiler in the van, and I am alternating between the biography Bruchko and Tales of the Restoration when we're eating at home.

For social studies we have studied Canada and Guatemala the past two weeks, and this week we are studying Mexico. Last week we had some fruit smoothies (Licuados) made with ice, a peach, a little sugar, and grapes in honor of Guatemala and on Sunday I made a flan. Oliver is the biggest fan of the flan. Yesterday we had tacos and churritos for dinner. They loved the churritos (asked for more), and they ate the beef and refried bean tacos although they weren't as excited about that (probably in part because I put lettuce and tomatoes in them). Tonight we are having chilaquiles, which is a breakfast food, but we usually have breakfast for dinner once a week. The other recipes I plan to make this week in honor of Mexico include taquitos and Mexican hot chocolate.

Although there are moments when all three children are asking for my help at the same time (and I am of course unable to do that), in general I think we are in a good routine.

Thankful Thursday

1. The nine of us enjoyed seeing Joseph at Sight and Sound on Friday. Having four grandparents there made it more special! We met my parents at Chick-Fil-A a little before we headed to the theatre for the playground, bathrooms, and a snack, and we went out to dinner at Friendly's with Paul's parents afterward. Oliver didn't make it through the whole thing last year, but he did this year even though it was 2.5 hours long!

2. Paul's grandmother was released from the hospital and then from rehab and has moved back into the assisted living facility (into a smaller unit).

3. The kids enjoyed the mini petting zoo at the children's museum on Saturday (goat, chinchilla, rabbit, dogs, turkey, chickens, etc.) as well as the playground in Bloomsburg.

4. Nadia was one of only two kids who showed up for their 90 minute gymnastics class on Monday night (due to the holiday). Two teachers for two students = a private lesson!

5. Ian finished the level two reading curriculum on Monday morning. Just two more levels and he'll be done. :) He also can ride his two wheel bike without training wheels completely independently!

6. I posted a picture of Nadia's pink battery operated car on a FB garage sale page on Tuesday, and on Wednesday a man gave me $100 for it. I gave $20 to Nadia (it had been one of her Christmas gifts from her grandparents in the past) as she's saving up to buy a lego set, and I told her the other $80 would be used toward her next gymnastics session. The kids all prefer to drive Ian's red vehicle because it goes much faster, and we were needing to have more room in the garage for bicycles. It was my first time selling something through FB. I guess I will have to use that more often!

7. I had been eyeing up a different style matching dress for Nadia and I for next year, but then one in the same style (different colors) was REALLY marked down on Labor Day, so I bought it as a Christmas gift for Nadia because she loves matching me (and I know she won't enjoy that forever). I paid less than $30 total for a dress for me AND a dress for her AND that included paying for shipping (since my total was so low shipping wasn't free). We didn't do a formal family picture this year (just the one at Sea World with our Bob & Larry t-shirts), but next year I want to do one when Nadia and I are wearing our new matching dresses. Now I have plenty of time to make sure I have outfits for Paul and the boys that will coordinate (coral or navy blue).

Crazy Hair Wednesday!

Tonight is crazy hair night at AWANA. As you can see, Nadia wanted to wear as many clips and barrettes and such in her hair as possible! She is ready to say six verses and recite all the books of the Bible; if you complete five sections you get a piece of candy, and that is why she learned so much for tonight. I haven't decided how I will make the boys' hair "crazy" tonight. I am hoping I can convince one of them to wear a clown wig. Ian is ready to say his verse (John 3:16), and Oliver is ready to say his "verse" (a portion of a verse). His is just 3 words long - "all have sinned." I took a video of Ian saying his first Sparks verse, and I also took a video of him riding his bicycle because he can now ride it completely on his own! His motivation was that he wanted to ride it to Jack's house. Jack is in his Sparks group and on his soccer team, and he lives just a few houses down from ours. Now if we could just get Oliver to ride his tricycle or his bike with training wheels.

Thankful Thursday

1. Our hot water heater was leaking water on the basement floor on Sunday night. The good news was that Paul "happened" to go down to the basement before all 40 gallons were deposited on the floor. Also I had recently done a lot of work organizing and purging in the basement, which meant that the boxes that used to be on the floor near the water heater were on shelves in another part of the basement. Nothing was ruined aside from some empty boxes. It could have been MUCH worse. The first plumber who came out on Monday morning gave us a quote of $2K, but then Lowe's said they could replace it for $700. We had hoped it would last until we had to move, but after a quote of $2,000, $700 was a relief. I'm also thankful we had the money for the repair. When the installer came on Tuesday morning, we found out that the hot water heater we had purchased was not the right one for our house, but they were able to install the correct one Tuesday night (for $1,270 which was still a savings of $700 over the first quote).  We are very glad to have our hot water back!

2. Last night the new year of AWANA began. Ian had his first night in Sparks, Nadia started her third (and final) year in Sparks, and Oliver had his first night in Cubbies. Now to get back in the habit of working on Bible memory verses at lunch every day. This will be the very first time Oliver has memorized any verses. The first one Ian is to memorize is John 3:16. Four neighbor kids are in this AWANA program (and we live in a very small development). I didn't have choir last night, but starting next week Paul will be in charge of taking the kids to and from AWANA as I'll have choir rehearsals on Wednesday nights. Since I didn't have choir last night, Paul and I went on a 2 1/2 mile walk together while they were in AWANA. Oliver looked so cute wearing an AWANA vest for the first time. He was in Puggles last year, but they didn't have any uniforms.

3. Oliver had his third appointment with the pulmonologist yesterday, and this time we were told he doesn't need to come back for six months! The doctor said he had sinusitis and an ear infection so

he started him on an antibiotic. I had already been giving Oliver breathing treatments. Before his appointment I ran into the consignment shop in that town and bought Nadia a pair of cleats (size 1) as her size 13 ones were getting tight. Her feet hardly grew at all the previous year, but it seems her feet are in a growth spurt right now as she's already outgrowing size 13 even though she just recently switched to that size. I was able to get her a bright pink pair of soccer cleats using $5 of my $100+ store credit from bringing items in previously.

4. Ian is showing a lot of improvement at his soccer practices! He also is doing really well with his school work - particularly with his scissor skills, reading, and spelling. He's also been doing science and handwriting. The next subject I plan to add for him is math. It cracked me up because when Nadia heard Ian reading she said, "I had better start reading longer chapter books or Ian is going to catch up to me." Ha ha!

5. Although I am not looking forward to getting all the apples off our apple trees (still a million to go it seems), we have been enjoying eating many apples. Two days ago I made a delicious apple french toast dish for the kids and I (Martha Stuart
recipe). Yum!

6. Today we had our first field trip for the new school year (and I have two other field trips planned for the next two days). Today we went to Fire Safety Day at Camp Susque. The kids played on the playground for awhile and then we were divided into three groups (I think there were more than 100 homeschoolers present). The group we were in went first to the smoky cabin station. The firefighter talked for awhile and then the kids crawled through a dark cabin filled with theatrical smoke. They were supposed to follow the fire hose out. Oliver went with an older girl the first couple of times, but then even he did it by himself. The kids loved it and went through it umpteen times before it was our turn to move to the next station where we studied pictures to identify fire hazards and wrote out escape plans. The last station was at a fire engine, and after the fire fighter showed us various tools and gear (ex. the jaws of life, pick head ax, etc.) the kids were able to climb up inside the fire engine and try on some of the gear. They loved it!

 7. The grocery store in our town had some great deals this past week on things like peaches, grapes (99 cents a pound), bananas, Pepsi (88 cents for a 2 liter), Doritos, etc. I stocked up!