Favorite Things

Over the months and years our favorites change, especially when it comes to kids. Every once in a while I like to record those as I think in the future it will be fun to look back on lists like this to see what has stayed the same and what has changed. So as of May 10, 2017 these are a few of our favorite things:

Breakfast - Apple Jacks for Oliver, Froot Loops or Captain Crunch for Ian, and Frosted Flakes for Nadia. All three of them enjoy eating a donut for breakfast if we are celebrating a birthday, and occasionally I buy blueberry pop tarts because Paul, Ian, and Oliver all enjoy those. Ian and Oliver also sometimes choose to have a bagel or peanut butter toast for breakfast. Nadia pours a lot of milk in her bowl and then repeatedly adds a few flakes at a time of cereal because she can't stand soggy cereal so she just adds a few flakes at a time.  She positions the gallon of skim milk and the box of cereal in such a way that it blocks her view of her brothers' bowls of cereal. I have a banana and a bowl of oatmeal for breakfast. I think Paul has a glass of milk. He leaves before any of us are up, although I did wake up when his alarm went off this morning around 2:45AM or something like that, but I went back to sleep.

Toys - Ian still loves Legos and stuffed animals as well as building with blocks. All three kids love to play on the iPad. Nadia's favorite thing these days are American girl paper dolls. She loves listening to Adventures in Odyssey CD's in her room while she plays. All three kids love to play inside a big box when we get one from Amazon. The game Nadia has been playing the most lately is the Chocolate Fix game, which works on deductive reasoning. Oliver loves to be outside - riding his bike or playing with other kids in the neighborhood. He also does puzzles far more often than his siblings.

Karyss (at left) is 8 months older than Oliver, and Collette (center) is 8 months younger than him. 

Lunch - Nadia and Oliver love ham and cheese hot pockets. Nadia and Ian love hot dogs. Nadia just puts ketchup on hers; Ian wants ketchup and mustard on his. Ian loves to eat a peanut butter and orange marmalade sandwich, and Oliver enjoys a peanut butter and honey (or grape jelly) sandwich. Both boys like cheese and peanut butter sandwich crackers. All three kids like chips, popcorn, pretzels, cereal bars, cookies, brownies, etc. Ian and Oliver usually each eat half an apple at lunch; Ian likes to dip his apple slices in peanut butter. Nadia usually has baby carrots dipped in Ranch dressing. Their first preference is to have grapes. Nadia also really enjoys clementines, blueberries, strawberries, and pears.

Church - Nadia prefers to go to Sunday School and then kids' choir, but she does a fine job in church (even fills out the sermon outline in the bulletin) when she attends the worship service instead of going to Sunday School. Ian usually goes to the worship service with us and then to kids' choir. Ian doesn't take notes, but I can tell that he is paying attention because sometimes at a later time he makes reference to a sermon. For example, last week we were at Walmart buying spray paint for Nadia's costume for the musical at church. He grabbed a can, and I said that brand is more expensive. I pointed to another can that was cheaper. Ian said to me, "Weren't you listening to Pastor Arlie's sermon? We're supposed to give God our best." Cracked me up because I don't think that means we need to buy more expensive spray paint, but I was thrilled that he took the message to heart. At first Oliver enjoyed both Sunday School and kids' choir. Then he said kids' choir was boring and wanted to stay in Sunday School for both services. Now he has become clingy and wants to stay with parents or grandparents for both services. In the summer when the kids' choir is on break all three kids will go to Sunday School for one service and the worship service for the other.

Books - All three kids enjoy a wide variety of books. When it comes to chapter books Ian usually reads Magic Tree House, Cul-de-sac kids, or the Three Cousins Detective Club books. Right now he's reading a Magic School Bus book about bats. On a typical day he reads three chapters, but sometimes he'll read an entire book in one day. Nadia reads a wider variety of chapter books than Ian, but her two favorite series at the moment are American girl books and Christian Heroes: Then and Now. Those biographies are each a little over 200 pages long; she's reading one about Lottie Moon right now. Oliver enjoys a wide variety of picture books; in particular he has been picking the Veggie Tale books lately. Nadia's favorite picture books are still Berenstain Bears and anything by Patricia Polacco.

Hygiene - All three prefer baths to showers. Nadia occasionally takes a shower; the boys always take baths. Oliver loves baths and would take one every day if I let him. Ian and Nadia complain when I say it's time for a bath, but then once they are in the tub they enjoy it. I have Nadia take at least two a week, and the boys at least one a week. Nadia and Ian brush their own teeth; Oliver has just recently expressed a desire to brush his own teeth. I do it and then let him "finish." They see the dentist tomorrow; hopefully we'll get three good reports! Nadia brushes her hair, and then I brush it some more. Lately she has been having me put her hair up in a pony tail. Nadia cuts her own nails. I cut the boys' nails. Ian prefers to go barefoot; whereas Oliver prefers to wear socks around the house.

Drinks - Ian drinks water almost all the time. Oliver and Nadia alternate between water and milk. All three love it when I buy either chocolate milk or apple juice, but I don't buy either very often. Oliver is "firsty" very often so we have to remember to bring a water bottle with us for him most of the time. Nadia drinks the least amount.

Dinner - All three kids like hot dogs, pancakes, bacon, tuna noodle, rigatoni and meatballs, chicken quesadillas, chicken nuggets, fish sticks, carrots, green beans, and pizza. Oliver loves to eat a salad, and baked beans and potato soup are two of his most favorite foods. Nadia enjoys corn on the cob, and scrambled eggs are one of her most favorite foods. Neither of the boys are big on eggs. They all enjoy ice cream. Nadia loves pie. The boys are not as interested in pies.

Miscellaneous - Ian loves anything small; he loves babies of all kinds. Ian likes to spell out some words when he is speaking. He will often spell one word per sentence. Nadia's pillow is still her most treasured possession. The boys each have a blanket they sleep with, but neither are anywhere near as emotionally attached to those as Nadia is to her pillow Paul got her in Poland.

Activities - Ian is a home body. He enjoys playing soccer and basketball, homeschool gym class, ice skating lessons, etc., but he would also be content to stay home most of the time. Nadia wants to do everything. If we had the financial means as well as the time and energy to do so, she'd be taking gymnastics, ballet, a Spanish class, and be in dramatic production in addition to all the other things she's doing right now. Ian's first instinct is to say "no," and her first instinct is to say "yes." In particular she adores field trips. She is very schedule/calendar oriented and so I often discuss upcoming plans with her at her initiative. She's very excited that next week we have big field trips planned for three days.

Sunny Day

1. I went to JCP on Saturday afternoon. I bought a size 12 teal long sleeve dress shirt plus necktie for 49 cents. Neither Ian or Oliver will fit it for a few years, but for that price I don't mind storing it in Ian's closet. It was sad walking in the store and seeing all the signs that the store is closing in July.

2. Between our trip to Chicago, our illness, and the AWANA Grand Prix, I hadn't been to choir rehearsal since April 5. It was good to be back on May 3. The choir director is very concerned because our choir numbers have been way down lately (about a 50% drop). I am praying that he won't decide to end the choir as I really enjoy being in that ministry. I know for a church our size the current size of the choir is small, but there are plenty of choirs who function with 30-40 people so I am hoping either people will be more faithful in their attendance or he'll be okay with a smaller choir. On Easter Sunday we had over 70 in the choir, and he has prayed in the past for our choir to have 100 members.

3. Paul and I recently enjoyed the movies "Lion" and "Hidden Figures."

4. We have been enjoying the book Summer of the Monkeys.

5. Nadia and I attended the church's annual dinner last night. The event lasted almost three hours long and concluded by 800+ candles being lit and held by those in attendance. Inside each candle holder was the name of a person who had accepted Christ through the church's outreach over the past year; about half of those were local and the other half were from mission's trips in other countries.

6. On Saturday I went back to a jewelry store I had visited in January. They are going to put the diamond by Dad gave me in December into a setting. The jeweler bought my engagement ring for almost 50% of what we paid for it in 2000. I also am having the rings I alternate between for the ring finger on my right hand resized as my knuckle on that finger has gone up a size. The new (to me) diamond was from my Dad's

grandmother. There was another setting I greatly preferred, but it cost almost twice as much, and the two jewelers who gave me a quote for that one wouldn't buy my previous engagement ring, so this setting cost me about 1/5 of what the one I loved would have cost. I am sure it will be very pretty. When we bought the engagement ring in 2000 we planned to trade it in at some point to upgrade it. I didn't think we'd end up waiting 17 years. I almost did so in 2013, but I decided at that point I'd rather have a new mattress instead. I am glad we went with the mattress in light of the fact that my dad gave me a diamond in 2016. It was worth the wait, and my back is glad we got a new mattress four years ago. My ring fingers feel a bit naked with only a wedding band on, but this is just temporary. I'm also thankful (once again) for the money from my mom's coin collection. I'd MUCH rather have my mom around, but without that money I wouldn't have been able to buy a setting for the diamond. Grateful.

7. This weekend Paul installed the ceiling fan that my dad gave

Nadia for Christmas! We so appreciate my Dad's gift and Paul's time and skill to install it. That's one more thing off the honey do list. WOOHOO! I also shortened his list by buying the guinea pigs a wooden house. They had eaten a lot of the cardboard box, so Paul was going to build them a little house, but things have been very busy at work so he hasn't had time. I decided it was better to just buy one on Amazon.

8. Paul had a doctor's appointment later today to have more of a mole removed, but it turned out it was infected so he picked up two prescriptions and has to return in three weeks. This is one expensive mole as it has already cost us more than $300. I was going to take Nadia to her softball game this evening, but Paul's parents took her so Oliver didn't have to go with Paul to his doctor appointment. We're thankful for their help! The team lost again (they've lost all their games thus far), but they only lost by three runs this time (fewer than usual). Nadia didn't get any hits. The coach bought ice cream for everyone at the Purple Cow on

the way home. Paul's parents had a VERY long day as they left early this morning for a doctor appointment and then didn't get home until after 10pm since they live an hour from our house. They spent a few hours at our house this afternoon, which was a treat!

9. Margie and my dad made it safely back to Virginia last night after spending two weeks in Turkey.

10. I sold a few more things to someone at our church for $20 yesterday. Less clutter in the garage is a good thing as well as a few more dollars toward the new carpet in our master bedroom.

11. We did another Creating a Masterpiece art project today with pastels, and that means we only have one left to do for this school year (another watercolor). The last one will be our tenth for the year. Since art isn't my forte, I am grateful for resources like Sharon Hofer's classes to help us with art class.

12. Paul came home early from work on Saturday so that he could see half of Ian's soccer game.

13. It was cool again today, but it was sunny after three rather rainy days. This meant I was able to mow the lawn today. I should have mowed it last Thursday, but I hadn't checked the weather forecast so I didn't realize I wouldn't be able to the next three days. It was really needing to be mowed!

14. Oliver was more cooperative at his soccer game this evening. He went on at first without any tears (that was a first this season). It was an effort to get him into his Sunday School class yesterday, but the teacher helped and he settled down. I tried for more than 30 minutes to get him into his choir rehearsal, and finally just took him with me to my Sunday School class. He is going through a phase where he is VERY clingy. He was never like this before, and I wasn't expecting it to show up at age 4.75 years old. He pitched a fit part way through the game about wearing his coat, and he certainly could have been more energetic with running on the field, but it was a small step in the right direction. His team dominated the other team, and the other kids on his team scored tons of goals without his help.

These are Nadia's.

These are also Nadia's. The pastel on the left we did today.

These are Ian's.

Ian's pastel from today. I helped him a little bit.

Nadia's is on the left, and Ian's is on the right.

This is from awhile ago, but I can't remember if I took a picture earlier. Nadia (L) and Ian (R)

Rainy Day

We have gotten a lot of rain this week. On Monday night we had a torrential storm that dumped a lot of rain in a short amount of time. The parking lot of the soccer field was flooded so much that the large wooden beams used to mark the parking spaces floated out of the parking lot and ended up in the soccer fields and in the area around the field. A lot of the soccer field was also under water and some of the benches on the field were carried to random places as well. I couldn't believe how muddy everything was there on Tuesday night. It was a swamp. It's raining again today, and it's supposed to rain tomorrow. Normally gym class can be held inside, but the church needed the gym for another event this morning, so we had been told last week that if it was nice gym class would be held outside today, and if it was raining they'd cancel the class today and extend the session by one week. My most favorite yard sales each year are the community yard sale the first weekend of May in Milton and the one in our town in September. I had my list of things I was planning to look for today such as sandals for Nadia and grey pants and summer pajamas for Ian, but it has been raining most of the day. I know some people said their yard sale was rain or shine because they could hold it in their garage, but I am not that die hard of a yard sale shopper that I wanted to get in and out of my van to visit yard sales in the rain. It's supposed to rain again tomorrow morning so I don't plan to go to the yard sales tomorrow, and I'm hoping Ian's soccer game will be postponed. He's the only one currently scheduled to have a game tomorrow.

They have been out of their eggs for 7 days now!

Gym class and yard sales was how we were going to spend our morning, but due to the rain we were home. The kids played, we listened to chapters 21-25 of Isaiah, the kids read, and I helped them finish an art project Paul started with them several months ago. I think Paul has a lot more artistic talent than I do, so I had been hoping he would do some art projects with them, but I need to get it in my head that I am their art teacher even though I feel very unqualified in that area. Nadia told me that I am a better artist than they are, and that is a true statement. I can follow the directions that Sharon Hofer gives (via video) better than they can at their ages. We did three projects from start to finish this week plus finished a fourth project. We did a lot more art this week than we usually do in a month! We have two projects left, and we'll be done with art for the 2016-17 school year. Nadia and Ian will be doing five days of a painting and drawing class at the Children's Museum in June. Of the projects they did this week, the peacock feather one was my favorite. We used a black Tombow pen and Bombay inks for that one. Another project didn't turn out quite right because I didn't understand that rubbing alcohol wasn't the right kind of alcohol to use for the project. Turns out we needed ethanol. Oops!

Usually I enjoy seeing a picture or post that Facebook shows me that I had posted on this same day in a previous year. That wasn't the case today. Facebook decided to remind me that it was on this day four years ago that Paul graduated from Penn State with his Ph.D. That was thrilling news four years ago. It makes me want to cry my eyes out today. I would never have guessed in a million years that three years after he graduated he would have gone back to working at the family concrete plant.

Nadia and Ian have been doing really well with their math flashcards (all four operations); so I said they could finish watching the second Star Wars movie tonight (Attack of the Clones). I also checked out Revenge of the Sith today at the library, but Ian needs to learn to tie his shoes before we will watch that one. Nadia started teaching his this evening. Paul and I saw a good movie this week(Lion). We get all our DVDs from the library - just one more way of saving a little money as several years ago we used to get DVDs in the mail via Netflix. Although I have taken steps to live on a smaller income such as refinancing our house and staying with relatives on our vacations this year, I have loosened up a little in some other areas. When we were trying to live on an adjunct income, I was trying to spend as little as possible thinking that it was a temporary situation and Paul's salary would gradually increase back to what I had been making as a professor, but once I realized that his salary was actually going to be smaller as he left the field of higher education, I decided it was impossible to stay in this "try to spend as little money as possible" mode for years on end. For example, today I bought myself an iron. Ours has been broken for more than a year. Granted I don't use it very often, but it was very frustrating when I did need to use it. I thought I might get one as a Christmas or birthday gift, but since that didn't happen I "splurged" and bought myself a new iron at Walmart today. If only I had inherited my mother's skill with ironing, but I didn't. I did iron a patch on Nadia's AWANA uniform today though.

23 and Me

In March I received a little box in the mail which contained a vial which I was to fill up with my spit so the DNA in my saliva could by analyzed. I think my Dad was interested in learning more about our family's ancestry. I have never had my spit analyzed before. Yesterday I got the reports. Some things that they predicted I know whether they are right or not, and they certainly didn't get everything right, but they got some things right. Here's a summary of the report I got:

1. My ring finger was probably longer than my index finger - nope.

2. My big toe is likely longer than my second toe - nope (although I'm not like my Dad's mom - her second toe was considerably longer than her big toe)

3. I am likely to have wet earwax - yes (91% of people with European ancestry have wet earwax so their odds of being wrong were slim)

4. My ancestry is supposedly 62% British and Irish, 13%

French and German, 2% Scandinavian, and the rest was "broadly Northwestern European."

5. My maternal haplogroup is J1c1. I have no idea what that means.

6. They got it right that I have a lot of freckles on my body. Ian is the only one of my kids who has a lot of freckles. Just one more proof that Ian has more "Harton" DNA in him than my other two do.

7. They got it right that I don't have the photic sneeze reflex (sneezing when exposed to bright sunlight). Never heard of that one before.

8. They got it right that I have straight, dark brown hair.

9. They said there was a 71% likelihood I have detached earlobes, but mine are actually attached.

10. There is a 52% likelihood I have blue eyes, but actually I have green eyes. They did say it was only 2% chance I had brown eyes.

May 1 (day three of being out of their eggs)

11. I am not likely to have a cleft chin, unibrow, widow's peak, or cheek dimples - correct.

12. They said I am 61% likely to prefer salty snacks to sweet ones. Well in reality I like some of both kinds, but I would say if I had to pick one I'd pick sweet over salty.

13. They said I likely consume 9mg more caffeine per day than average. They are totally wrong with this one as the only caffeinated beverage I ever consume is hot chocolate, and that doesn't have much caffeine, and I

May3 (day five out of their eggs)

don't drink it very often. I don't drink soda, coffee, or tea.

14. I don't have the sprinter/power fast-twitch muscle type. I will concur I've never been a fast runner.

15. I likely have more movement during sleep - yes.

16. I'm not lactose intolerant - true.

17. Predisposed to weigh more than average - sadly it's true.

18. I am less likely a deep sleeper (don't have strong delta waves)  - I have no idea.

19. I am likely to be able to smell the asparagus metabolite in my urine. I have no idea. I rarely eat any asparagus. Who wants to smell their urine anyhow???

There you have it. This is what they learned by analyzing my spit.

Thankful Tuesday

1. The kids enjoyed racing their cars at AWANA last Wednesday night. I am grateful that the Alliance Church, which is about one mile from our house, offers this program.

2. I was able to watch almost all of Nadia's softball game on Thursday night.

3. All three kids participated in homeschool gym class on Friday, and one hour of the class was held outside because it was so pretty out.

4. I enjoyed having dinner at the Country Cupboard (I had a bowl of chili) with Melissa. She's 11 months older than me, and she has homeschooled her four children. Her youngest is two years older than Nadia. We also enjoyed the Matthew West concert at our church. He sang three songs that I was hoping he would sing - "Heaven is the hope" which was very special to me at this time last year when I knew my mom would be going to heaven a lot sooner than I had previously thought, "Grace Wins," and "Hello, my name is." The last two songs were the last two of the concert; in fact the

latter was the encore song. It was my first time hearing Matthew West in concert, and I would definitely love to hear him again in concert if the opportunity comes around again. Dinner with a Christian friend and the concert was a wonderful way to celebrate my 41st spiritual birthday. My dad gave me a comic book about the 12 disciples, which Nadia and Ian enjoyed reading on Friday. I am eternally grateful for the gift of salvation, which Christ made possible through his death and resurrection.

5. Paul wasn't able to make it to Nadia's softball game on Thursday evening, but he saw part of her game on Tuesday night and also came home from work early on Saturday so he could help me get the kids to their three games. He saw all of Ian's soccer game and part of Nadia's soccer game.

6. The baby robins in the nest in the wreath on our front door hatched from their eggs on Saturday! There are at least 3 baby birds in the nest. I am hoping there are four. It's hard to be certain because they are on

top of each other.

7. We had a good day at Knoebels on Sunday. Last year when we went on Saturday of opening weekend, the lines were insanely long. It was the biggest crowd I had ever seen at Knoebels. The upside to the huge crowds was they kept the park open later and they were running more trains on the roller coasters. This time around the only kept the park open a little past the announced closing time of 6:00pm. The line for the Phoenix, our favorite roller coaster, was very reasonable. We rode it twice within 30 minutes. The line for the Impulse, the newest roller coaster, was much longer. Nadia and I waited in that line for 70 minutes. Ian is very close to 48 inches. He did ride a couple of rides that he needed to be 48 inches to ride, and other times he was not interested in going on the rides that had that height requirement. Without shoes on he is definitely under 48 inches tall. Nadia was tall enough to ride the Impulse without the booster seat. She JUST made that height requirement. Last  year she needed the booster on that ride. Here's a video showing the Impulse experience.

8. The kids have been having fun playing with the neighbors lately. It is such a blessing that a total of fourteen young children live in six of the houses near ours. Oliver spends the most time playing with neighbors, and Nadia spends the least time playing with neighbors. There is one boy almost exactly his age (Westyn), one girl who is about 8 months older than him (Karyss), one girl who is 8 months younger than him (Collette), and one boy who is one year older than him (Camden). Camden is in Kindergarten this year so he's one grade younger than Ian and one grade ahead of Oliver. There are two boys who are the same age as Nadia, one girl one year older than Nadia (Madeline), one girl who is 6 months younger than Ian (Addy), one boy who is a few months younger than Ian (Jack), two boys who are both two years older than Nadia, one boy who is one year older than Ian (Cooper), and one girl who is two years older than Nadia (Elle). There is also one girl who is about two years old. I love that they can get to four of the houses just by crossing

through the backyard of our house and the backyards of other houses (don't have to go on the street at all). Also the street our house intersects has no outlet so it's kind of like living on a cul-de-sac - no through traffic comes in our little development.

9. Yesterday I sold our single jogging stroller for $30, which is what I paid for it when I got it at a yard sale. Most of the time I prefer just to donate clothing and other things we don't need any more, but sometimes it is nice to get some money for some items. I sold three things for $47 total. I'm trying to come up with some extra money to pay for the new carpet in our master bedroom that I'm ordering this week. When he measured the room on Saturday he asked about the closet. The master bedroom closet is inside the master bathroom, and I said I'm fine with leaving the Berber carpet in there. We're getting navy blue carpet in our bedroom. I can't wait!

10. This week I actually have two Bible studies because I'm starting a study of Ruth tonight

that only lasts five weeks, and the study of I Samuel ends this Thursday that began in January. I have six weeks left in the Revelation study I've been in since January. I'm so grateful there are many different Bible study groups at our church. I think this summer I'm going to do a topical one on the names of God.

11. Doing less schoolwork this week has made it easier for me to get my Bible study homework done (especially as I have ten lessons due this week and five more due next Tuesday). I also started being more diligent in working with Oliver. Yesterday we worked on his numerals (he still needs to learn 5, 6, and 9) and shapes (only knows square and oval thus far). We also are doing more art projects this week, which is a good thing as I haven't been very regular with that during the year.

12. I bought two blueberry plants several days ago. We haven't planted them yet, but we are getting closer to achieving that goal. I did plant a new hosta plant yesterday and started working on mulching the flower

beds.

13. During the month of April I could have gotten one free bagel a day at Panera. I only redeemed it once. I tried a second time, but Oliver threw up when we walked into the restaurant. Yesterday I got an email saying I could also get one free bagel a day in May. I got a free bagel plus a free cinnamon roll yesterday (another birthday treat they offered me), and I had a tiny bit left on a Panera gift card which I used to buy one more pastry. The kids and I shared the bagel and two treats last night. They discovered they like cinnamon rolls! Yum!!

14. Nadia has been reading missionary biographies that are a little over 200 pages each. She's reading about Lottie Moon right now. I love that she has a desire to read these books! She also is starting to read the Little House on the Prairie books. She recently bought two more sets of American girl paper dolls. She loves that book series very much! We also got another American girl dvd from the library yesterday.

15. I'm always thankful for my camera and lenses and my three beautiful children whom I love to snap pictures of. I also am thankful for being able to get many photo related items from Shutterfly for free. I am working on an order to place in the next couple of weeks with a free shipping code I just got yesterday, which means I can get a bunch of items totally free!