Twice in one day

I can go months without entering a hardware store, but today I was at a Home Depot at 9:30 in the morning helping the kids build and paint Christmas ornaments, and then at 6:00 in the evening I was in a Lowe's in a different town shopping with Paul. After the kids finished their projects at Home Depot, I took them to the Children's Museum (it's in the same town) for their annual Turkey Day. There were three turkeys there - two were bourbon red (male and female). Those two tried to escape by flying inside the museum. That was quite a sight! The other turkey was too fat to fly, but Sylvester puffed himself up and showed off his handsome self. After the Children's Museum we were at home for about three hours, and then we took the kids to a Jesus Birthday Bash at the church where they go to AWANA. They did crafts and games with the kids and fed them dinner. We parents were given three hours of free babysitting. Paul chose Texas Roadhouse for dinner. He hadn't had a steak in quite awhile. After dinner we went to Lowe's. There were other things on our list, but that was all we had time

for after taking into account the driving time. It was our first date in 2017. We had a $25 gift card for Texas Roadhouse that covered almost our whole dinner. Not counting what we spent at Lowe's (so Paul can work on repairing the floor of our master bathroom which has been ripped apart for almost 4 months), the date cost us less than $9. We are thankful!

I get to...

On Sunday our pastor's sermon was about the importance of being thankful. I have heard many sermons on gratitude over my lifetime. When I am listening to a sermon on a familiar topic, I try to find at least one thing I can apply to my life. For me on Sunday it was the challenge he gave for us to replace the words "I have to" with "I get to." We might not be thrilled about some task, but the fact that we have to do it represents a blessing of some sort. I "get to" cook dinner; it's so easy to take for granted that we have plenty of food to eat. Cleaning the guinea pig cage is an undesirable task in my opinion, but the reason we own pets is because we have three beautiful children who mean the world to me.

On this Thanksgiving Day here are a few of the things I am thankful for...

1. My three children. Sadly, I didn't get any pictures of them with the fall leaves this year, which is by far my most favorite time to take pictures of them all year. I must get back into using my camera more often!!

2. Safety on the roads. I am driving more these days, and Paul drives 12 hours a week commuting to and from work. It's been over 14 years since I was in an accident. Paul has had two accidents in the past couple of years, but they were both one car accidents as in both case he collided with a deer carcass on the road. The most recent incident didn't do any significant damage to his vehicle. I don't safety on the road for granted!

3. I've been talking to Maurice and Yvonne on the phone a lot more regularly the past few months. I am so thankful for all three of my siblings and the fact that the four of us love each other and get along so well. It is my prayer that my three children will love each other and get along when they are adults.

4. My kids love this show they first were introduced to on Right Now Media (which our church gives us access to) called Friends and Heroes. It's set in the Roman Empire after Jesus. The kids really wanted to see the 2nd and 3rd seasons, but only the first season is on Right Now Media. I found that all three season are on PureFlix, and so I signed the kids up for a free one month trial. Each episode features a story of what it was like for Christians enduring persecution in the Roman Empire, and they also retell one Bible story in each episode as well. I'm so grateful there are such wonderful shows out there that the kids really enjoy which teach spiritual lessons as well as about ancient history at the same time.

5. Paul's mom is responding well to the latest type of chemo. I remember in the fall of 2014 I was concerned that she might not make it as she was getting so sick (pneumonia) from the chemo she was getting at that time. I recall crying at my mom's house about it and my mom hugging me to comfort me. I had no idea at that time that my mother-in-law would pull through but my mom would actually be the one to pass away from cancer less than two years later.

6. for my job. I enjoy teaching, and the income is greatly appreciated. It means we can work on paying off the mortgage as well as makes it possible for splurges of varying sizes. We are enjoying having the money to buy things like take-out pizza. I still try to be as frugal most of the time, but it's nice to know it's okay to splurge now and then. For example, I recently ordered Ian a personalized eight year old t-shirt (with his name on it and BB8 from Star Wars). I paid far more than I usually do for a t-shirt (keep in mind I buy almost all their clothes at yard sales), but I think he'll love it, and I knew we could afford that splurge.

7. Tab is a wonderful babysitter for our kids. She's a good teacher, and the kids enjoy playing with her two sons and their two dogs.

8. This week off has been heavenly. I've exercised four days in a row! I have gotten many things done on my to do list. I have been able to do things like couponing at CVS that I haven't done the past few months.

9. My mom and I had longed for the day my parents would move up closer to us and be able to spend far more time with my kids and I. That didn't happen as my mom went to Glory and my dad has moved farther away from us (to Virginia). This makes me all the more thankful that Paul's parents live only one hour away from us so my kids do have grandparents they can see regularly. Yesterday Nadia and Ian spent the afternoon and evening with Paul's parents. Originally the plan was for all three kids to spend a day with them, but Oliver has had some behavior issues lately so he lost the privilege. He spent the day with Mommy yesterday instead. We baked cookies, rough housed, worked on reading, etc. Ten of us spent the day at Paul's parents' house today.

10. our country. I'm thankful for the freedoms and prosperity we enjoy as Americans.

11. yummy food. This time of year we eat some foods that we don't eat at other times of the year. I've recently made pumpkin cranberry bread, pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and pumpkin pancakes. I think on Sunday I'm going to make sweet potatoes. Nadia and I love cranberry sauce. Yum!

12. music. I love music although the boys have one cd that they want to play incessantly (actually they only play TWO of the songs on that CD which makes it even worse). Yesterday when Oliver and I had the day together I decided to break out the Christmas music (in part to escape that same CD being played for hours on end). I love Christmas music and although I like to wait until after Thanksgiving to decorate, it's hard to wait until then to listen to beautiful Christmas music.

I could add many, many more things to this list, but I'm exhausted and heading to bed. My bed is something else I am thankful for!

Prayers for the Vikings

In general Oliver definitely lags behind in maturity compared to where his siblings were at this age. Ian did have the advantage of having a December birthday. It doesn't help that Oliver's birthday is in August. In addition to behavior issues and schoolwork type skills, he also has seemed far more clueless in terms of spiritual development. Nadia and Ian both are concerned that Oliver hasn't become a Christian yet. I am grateful that they care and understand the importance, but I usually ask them to back off because I haven't gotten the sense yet that he comprehends enough to make that decision. However lately he has surprised me a few times.

A few days ago I was reading a book about the beginnings of Islam and the life of Muhammed. I was about to read about their connection with Ishmael, and I asked, "Who was Ishmael's (half) brother?". I was expecting Nadia or Ian to answer, but I was totally shocked that Oliver was the first to answer my question, and he gave the correct answer "Isaac." You could have knocked me over with a feather! Then yesterday I was reading a book about the Vikings, and Oliver shook my arm and said, "Mommy we need to pray." When I asked him why, he told me that we needed to pray for the Vikings not to be mad. Nadia was about to say something about the fact the Vikings died hundreds of years ago, but I bowed my head and listened to Oliver as he prayed for the Vikings. I'm assuming not too many people pray for the Vikings these days, unless we're talking about the football team. I've never been one to pray that my team (Steelers) wins, but I have prayed a few times over the years that they would play their best or that no one would get injured.

Today I'm giving thanks...

1. The kids and I went to the Little League Museum on Saturday. We usually go once a year. I almost skipped it this year to attend a Saturday Science program at Susquehanna University instead, but we ended up picking the museum because it is closer to home and didn't start as early in the morning. Paul didn't sleep at all on Friday night. He was at work at 1AM on Saturday morning and was utterly exhausted when he got home in the afternoon.

2. The Giants won on Sunday! This was their second win of the season. If my team was 2-8, I would have zero hope of making it to the playoffs, but my optimistic husband thinks there's still a chance they could be a wildcard.

3. I plowed through many thing on my to do list the past two days. It's a wonderful feeling! Saturday and Sunday I spent most of the afternoon and evening working on a big Shutterfly order. Before coupons the total was $332.10, but I paid a grand total of eight cents for everything! Yesterday my main project was writing two final exams. We also ran some errands yesterday including picking up their flag football pictures because we hadn't attended the closing program. One errand was to use two coupons (worth $23) at Sears to get some clothes for Paul, Oliver, and Ian.

4.The kids and I also enjoyed dinner at Friendly's (using a gift card). If we go there Monday-Wednesday, it costs $25 including the tip for the four of us to have dinner and a sundae because the kids' meals are only $2.99 (drink, dinner, and sundae) those three days.

5. It took me more than a week to finish it (as I watched 15 minutes here and there), but I was able to watch the movie Priceless on Amazon (for free).

First Trimester

Most people associate the word "trimester" with pregnancy, but some universities divide their academic year into three trimesters rather than two semesters. The university I attended in Ohio from 1990-1992 used trimesters instead of semesters. When I am thinking about the first trimester, I'm thinking about my three pupils because we are more than one third of the way through our school year. Elementary schools usually divide their school years into four quarters, but since I don't need to make report cards for my kids yet, I don't really pay much attention to things like that. However as my semester at the university is drawing to a close in a few weeks, I decided it was time to reflect upon our school year thus far as well as the remaining about two thirds of kindergarten, second grade, and fourth grade. At this point I am assuming that our last day of school will be May 11, 2018. Our breaks from school will include November 18-26 (for Thanksgiving), December 23- January 1 (for Christmas/New Year's), and March 10-18 (for Spring Break).

Bible - We have read Matthew, Mark, and Luke thus far. We started John yesterday. On Tuesdays and Thursdays Tabatha has been doing the BSF lessons for children with them for the book of Romans. The plan is to finish reading the rest of the New Testament by May 11. They work on memorizing verses every week for AWANA. I've recently started doing "sword drills" with Nadia and Ian to have them practice finding verses in the Bible. Next week I am going to start helping Oliver memorize the books of the New Testament.

Music - The kids all participate in the children's choir at church. I am also giving piano lessons to Nadia and Ian. Ian will finish the Level 1A books sometime in December. Nadia is working her way through the Level 2 books. I have not been doing the Theory books with them lately; we need to get back to working on those. I also want to start teaching them some hymns at home since we don't sing them very often at church. I have also begun teaching Nadia how to play the recorder.

Physical Education - The kids all participate in a 90 minute gym class on Fridays. They all participated in flag football August through October. They are currently taking gymnastics (60 minutes a week for the boys and 90 minutes a week for Nadia). January through March they will take ice skating lessons and play on basketball teams.

Science - We've studied insects and birds the past three months. In December we'll study bats and flying dinosaurs. Then in January we'll start studying swimming creatures. We had one insect field trip (at Hershey Gardens) and went birding once at Montour Preserve. I'm planning on taking the kids to two aquariums this year (National Aquarium in Baltimore and Adventure Aquarium in Camden, NJ) since we'll be studying swimming creatures.

Spelling - Ian has finished nine of the 28 lessons of the third grade textbook, and Nadia has completed eight of the 28 lessons of the fifth grade textbook. The plan is for them to complete these books by May 11. I will start Oliver on Level One spelling whenever he finishes Level One reading; I have no idea when that might happen.

Art - They all took one class at Paint, Party, and More in October and one at the Children's Museum. Nadia and Ian are now enrolled in a 40 minute 4th grade art class at Meadowbrook Christian School on Fridays.

Math - Oliver has been working on learning to write his numbers and counting. Ian only has 8 lessons left to complete the 2nd grade textbook. He'll be starting the third grade text next month. Nadia started the sixth chapter (out of twelve) of her fourth grade text. I don't expect Ian to complete the 3rd grade text this school year, but Nadia will finish the fourth grade text. I still drill Nadia and Ian on math flashcards (all four operations) from time to time. This fall we added the 12 table for division and multiplication. Nadia's attitude toward math has better lately (yahoo!). Math comes very easily for Ian.

Spanish - Ian is doing Level 1 of Rosetta Stone, and Nadia is doing Level 2 of Rosetta Stone.

Social Studies - This year we're studying from Rome to the Reformation. Thus far we've studied the Roman Empire and some early church history. For example, this week we read books about Ignatius of Antioch, Irenaeus of Lyons, and Polycarp of Smyrna. Thus far we read these chapter books for social studies: pages 198-314 of the Story of the World volume 1: Ancient Times, Bronze Bow, Twice Freed, Dangerous Journey, Galen and the Gateway to Medicine, The Door in the Wall, pages 17-111 of Trial and Triumph: Stories from Church History, and pages 17-165 of  the Story of the World volume 2: The Middle Ages. We've also been reading about the Vikings, the beginnings of Islam, and the Crusades.

Handwriting - Nadia has been practicing her cursive, and Oliver is learning to write his uppercase and lowercase letters in manuscript. This is a struggle for him at this point. Ian is getting the year off from a handwriting textbook. Next year he'll start learning cursive.

Reading - Nadia and Ian are reading chapter books. I also read them chapter books, we listen to books on CD in the van, and I read them picture books. I would like to get in a better habit of reading more picture books that are geared towards Oliver's level. I tend to read more picture books that relate to what we're studying in science or social studies. Oliver is at about lesson 10 ( out of 40) of Level One reading. I *think* it's starting to click for him. I'm hoping he'll really take off with his reading skills in the near future.

English- Nadia and Ian have been doing some writing, and we've spent a little bit of time learning some vocabulary words. Nadia has been learning some grammar through her handwriting textbook. This is the area where I really feel I need to put more time and effort with Nadia and Ian.

Life Skills - All three kids make their own breakfast and lunch. They have been packing their lunches at least two days a week. Nadia has been cooking at least one thing a week (with as little help as possible). She has also learned how to sort and fold the laundry. She helps me some with cleaning the guinea pig cage twice a week. Nadia and Ian are responsible for giving Jenna and Patches food and water each day. All three kids are responsible for putting away their laundry (I help Oliver some), clearing their dishes from the table after every meal, making their beds, brushing their teeth twice a day, and cleaning up their toys. Ian helps me with dusting. Oliver collects the garbage from upstairs once a week. Nadia helps me clean the three bathrooms once a week. Nadia showers or takes a bath independently twice a week. I am hoping Ian will be independent with taking a bath or shower in the near future.

Field Trips - We haven't gone as many as usual over the past three months. I am hoping that this will improve over the coming months. Some places we plan to go from December through June include the Museum of the Bible, Bureau of Engraving and Printing, Mount Vernon, Ski Sawmill, National Museum of the American Indian, Baltimore Museum of Industry, Disney on Ice, Qing Jiang concert, US Mint, Franklin Museum, Franklin Institute, Adventure Aquarium, Garden State Discovery Center, Ephrata Cloister, Hans Herr House, Hands-On House in Lancaster, Reptiland,  Buffalo Museum of Science, Old Fort Erie, Fort George, Niagara Falls, Rochester Museum and Science Center, Strong Museum of Play, Genesee Village, Blue Angels airshow, Saratoga National Historic Park, Six Flag's Great Adventure, HersheyPark, Sesame Place, Knoebels, Sight and Sound's production of Jesus, Museum of Innovation and Science, SUNY Poly's Children's Museum of Science and Technology, Maryland Science Center, and National Aquarium. I have planned most of these trips to take place during the weeks I'm not teaching (ex. in between semesters, during spring break, and after the spring semester ends).

Gingerbread and Pellets

The Bloomsburg Children's Museum hosts a homeschool hangout event every other week. We've attended three of the four programs they've held this fall - crazy chemistry, microbiology, and the science of gingerbread. This week's was focused on gingerbread. The kids were able to make and decorate one gingerbread cookie, decorate one gingerbread house (from a kit), play with gingerbread Play-doh (it smelled lovely), build a boat and use the boat to help the gingerbread boy escape from the fox, do an activity related to genetics, etc. Usually we arrive around 12:00 and stay for a couple of hours. The homeschool hangout lasts from 11-1. This week we arrived closer to 10:00 because I knew we had to leave by 11:50 to get to the dentist for the kids' appointments. Usually they schedule them all to happen at the same time, and we're usually in and out of the office in 20-30 minutes. This time we were there for over an hour. Nadia and Oliver were taken back right away, and they were both done in 20 minutes, but then we had to wait 30 minutes until Ian was called back. I had brought a

 book to read (a textbook for one of the classes next semester), and the kids watched Disney Jr. on the television in the waiting room. The boys got good reports. Nadia has one cavity, but it's in a baby tooth (molar) that will be falling out soon (given how short the roots are) so the dentist didn't think we needed to do anything about it. They also said that one of her baby teeth is loose; it happens to be the one that doesn't have an adult tooth to replace it. They told her not to wiggle it, but it might come out anyhow. We shall see. Nadia and Ian both had

orthodontist appointments coming up. I had been planning to only get braces for Ian, but now that I am employed again I'm willing to hear what they say about Nadia because my dental plan will pay up to $3,100 for each child's braces.

Tabatha did several science experiments with the kids on Tuesday related to eggs, and I joined in on the fun on Thursday afternoon. The kids have been studying flying creatures (insects and birds thus far with bats and flying dinosaurs coming up next). I had purchased five large owl pellets for the five kids to take apart. Nadia didn't really  want to touch the things. She thought it was gross. We were digging bones out of the pellets and trying to determine if the owls had eaten moles, mice, birds, or voles. Tabatha's husband would have been a big help to us with his expertise in radiology.

Here are some things I'm thankful for today...

1. Nadia made several baskets in her Upward evaluation on Tuesday night. She's improving! All three kids will be playing basketball this year. Oliver will have his first year on a K/1st team, Ian will be moving up to a 2nd/3rd grade team, and Nadia will be moving up to a 4th-6th grade girl's team. 

2. The kids enjoyed the Gingerbread themed hangout at the Children's Museum on Wednesday.

3. All three kids were well behaved at the dentist office on Wednesday.

4. The Steelers won last night! I only watched the first quarter because I was too tired to stay up. I went to bed at 9pm, and the only reason I stayed up until 9:00 was because that's Nadia's bedtime. Paul and Oliver had gone to bed at 8:00. Our record is 8-2!!

5. The kids enjoyed glow-in-the dark dodgeball today. It was their last gym class until January 12. Ian and Nadia enjoyed their first art class today at the Christian school.

6. The children's museum sent out an email today offering one family four free tickets to a children's Christmas show at Bucknell on December 2, and I was the first one to call so we are getting the tickets (which would have cost us $50 if we had purchased them)!

7. Today is the first day of my 11 day Thanksgiving break from the university! Today was my kids' last day of school before their Thanksgiving break. They'll start back up on November 27. Next week I plan to have Nadia and Ian practice the piano and do some writing. Plus they usually read every day from a chapter book. Since Oliver is too young for creative writing or the piano, I plan to just work on reading with him. This week he showed a big improvement with reading 3 letter short vowel words.

8. Yesterday and today I have been working on grading. Aside from a few students who hadn't submitted an assignment due today, I am totally caught up with grading. That means I won't need to do any grading next week. My first order of business is to write the final exams. 

9. Paul installed my new can opener this week! Mine wasn't working properly for a few months (it was over 20 years old), and so I bought a new one 2 1/2 months ago. Paul had removed the old one shortly after I purchased the new one, so this meant for the past 2.5 months I needed to use the old fashioned manual can opener. I am thankful to have an electric can opener again! The reason it needed to be installed is because I prefer the kind that hang down from a cabinet so as to save space on my countertop. 

10. Paul came home much earlier than usual yesterday! I don't know exactly when he got home as he was home before we were, but it meant we were able to have dinner together, and that almost never happens Monday through Friday. Oliver got some much needed one-on-one time with Paul (doing puzzles), which was also a blessing.

11. I have received some more good coupons for Shutterfly. That is also on my to do list for the next week - to start making some projects and placing orders for ornaments, calendars, etc.

12. Since Coke changed their reward program, I haven't been using Coke caps, but today I entered 20 of them in exchange for a $10 gift card at Amazon. That was nice!

Pop-Up Playground

I used to take the kids to the playground as many as 5-6 days a week, partially so I could get the exercise of walking about 2 miles round trip. This year we have spent far less time at playgrounds than we did the past eight years. In the summer it was because the kids were in so many camps and classes. I did take Oliver to the Bloomsburg playground about ten times in the summer while his siblings were in a class, but as for all four of us going it didn't happen too often. I haven't been taking them to the playground the past three months because of going back to work. I miss the exercise, the fresh air, the opportunities to take pictures of the kids, etc. I'm hoping next spring I'll be able to take them maybe three times a week when the weather is nice. On Saturday I took them to an indoor pop-up adventure playground at the rec center at the university. It was a win/win situation in that the kids had fun and I could count it as service for the university. Quite a few of the students who were helping at the event are in one of the courses I am teaching this semester. Some of my students

helped by collecting boxes prior to the event. It was free and open to the public. The children were each given a t-shirt, and pizza, chips, and bottles of water were available for parents and children. They ordered far too much pizza, so one of the professors who organized the event told me I could take a large pizza home. Paul must have liked the pizza because he ate the entire 16 inch pizza himself over the course of two days. He was at the plant on Saturday and didn't get home until after 6pm. We spent a little over 4 hours at the event. Nadia and Oliver wanted to stay another hour. Ian wanted to leave sooner than we did. One of my students told Oliver, "Your mommy is my teacher" to which Oliver replied, "You're kidding me!". A tv station was there at one point, and when I watched the clip online, I saw that Nadia was in the video (she's driving a car made out of a box).

I got up at 5:30am on Saturday and was working on lesson plans and PowerPoints, and when we got home from the event I got back to work. At

some point the kids asked me to play hide and see with them. Most of the time over the past 3 months when they have asked me something like that, I've said "no" because my to do list was too long. I decided I should say "yes" to them, and after we played the game awhile the four of us ended up snuggling and giggling together in my bed. It was a precious time, and I was ever so grateful I had said "yes" to them and taken a break from my work. I think I need to do that more often. Similarly, Nadia, Oliver, and I went to a concert at church last night. I really

just wanted to stay at home, but I figured if I went I'd end up being glad that I had gone. That was indeed what happened. We enjoyed their vocal music (sometimes a solo or a quartet and sometimes all six of them sang), violin duets, piano solos, trumpet solo, etc. Oliver slept through most of the concert, but even that was a blessing to me because I have always enjoyed holding a sleeping child (although it makes me long for another baby).

Here are some things I am thankful for today...

1. The kids are almost over their colds, and it seems that both Paul and I escaped the bug. The kids have been sick twice this semester, and I am ever so grateful I didn't catch either respiratory bug. I have been very diligent about getting enough sleep, and I know that helps some, but I am also thankful to the Lord from enabling me to stay healthy thus far this semester. It would be so challenging for me to juggle everything on my plate right now while I was sick.

2. Paul's parents came to church with us on Sunday, took us out to Bonanza for dinner, and then spent a few hours at our house. We were celebrating Paul's mom's 73rd birthday!

3. I had been wanting to get a haircut for a couple of weeks. I usually try to schedule it when Paul can watch the kids, but we couldn't find a time for that to happen. Since the stores keep leaving the mall (which is where my normal stylist is located), I decided it would be quicker to go to a salon in our town (save about a 30 minute round trip drive). Well the hair stylist was MUCH slower than my usual one so it actually didn't save any time and it cost more money, but she altered my hairstyle somewhat and I got more positive feedback at church than I've gotten over any haircut in I can't remember how many years. It's shorter than usual, so I might go longer before my next cut. Nadia chatted with the hair stylist the whole time, and the boys played on the iPad. Ian and Nadia would have been fine without the iPad, but I can't imagine Oliver at a salon for an hour without a tablet. That would have been asking for trouble.

4. Similarly, the iPad came in handy today at the dentist. A little less than 3 weeks ago I chipped one of my molars. The dentist saw me today and said I had a cavity that hadn't shown up in my most recent x-ray. It's been years since I had a cavity, and I hope it's many more until the next one because I do despise having a drill in my mouth. My cheek and tongue are still partially numb. Thankfully it shouldn't cost us any money as I am back on the faculty dental plan. Oliver came back into the room with me and played on the iPad. Ian and Nadia stayed in the waiting room during my appointment. We'll be returning on Wednesday for their 6 month cleaning and check-up appointments.

5. The concert last night was fabulous! If you want to get a taste, if you search on youtube for the Collingsworth family. It's a mom, dad, and their four grown children. Three of their children are married, and the youngest (who isn't married) is 19 years old). They have two grandchildren. I loved their a Capella performance of "This is My Father's World." Or search for Kim Collingsworth if you want to hear any of her piano solos.

6. The Steelers won on Sunday, which means they are now 7-2! We play again on Thursday night. Hopefully we play better than we did yesterday. The Giants are just having the worst season I've ever seen them have in the 20 years I've been dating or married to Paul.

7. The kids had fun at the pop-up playground on Saturday.

One of Ian's recent drawings. He loves to draw Artic scenes!

Thankful Tuesday

1. On October 25 we enjoyed the Homeschool program at Bald Eagle State Park - tree identification, birding, how to pack for an overnight camping trip, fishing, etc. The kids and I also enjoyed a dinner at Friendly's that night (using a gift card) while the van was being serviced at Sears.

2. The kids enjoyed going to trunk or treat events on October 26, 27, 28, and 29 as well as a party at the library on October 30. Nadia was the only one who went trick or treating on the 31st with Paul. I stayed home with the boys because they had some issues at the babysitter's that day (Ian had trouble focusing and Oliver had trouble obeying). Nadia definitely ended up with far more candy than her brothers did so trick or treating definitely results in more candy than trunk or treating does.

3. The kids were able to learn about Gustav Klimt and paint a canvas at the Children's Museum on October 28.

4. Paul took the kids to Bloom Bounce on October 29 as it was free for WVIA members that day. We all visited the Lackawanna Coal Mine and Anthracite Heritage Museum for the first time on November 4 because it was free for WVIA members that day. The tour down in the coal mine lasted about one hour. We were about 350 feet below the ground.

5. I got a free long sleeve Bloomsburg University t-shirt for my participation in the Open House event on October 28.

6. The kids each got a free meal at Applebee's on October 31. I used part of a gift card for my meal. Yum! We'll make this an annual tradition if Applebee's continues to give kids free meals on Halloween.

7. On November 1 I took the kids to see Snow White (a musical with 4 actors plus the dwarfs were played by puppets) and then to the Children's Museum for activities about microbiology. Two of

my students were volunteers helping with the program. It's a small world!

8. On Saturday on our way to Scranton to tour the coal mine we stopped at Home Depot. The kids built and painted Humvees in honor of Veteran's Day. I brought my good camera with me to take photos at Home Depot and at the coal mine, but it turns out the battery was totally dead so I was only able to use my cell phone (all the pics in this post are from my iPhone). Lesson learned = keep the spare camera battery in the van because I rarely bring the whole camera bag with me.

9. The trees are so pretty at this time of year! Hopefully I will find the time to snap some photos of the kids with the pretty fall leaves. The pics I have in frames on the wall in the family room now of Nadia and Ian are from last fall with pretty leaves in the background.

10. Paul's mom was finally able to have her 2nd chemo treatment. Praying it is successful with minimal side effects! Today is her 73rd birthday.

We hope to be able to celebrate her birthday on Sunday if the kids are healthy by then. All three kids are sick at the moment, and she can't be around them when they're sick when she's undergoing chemo.

11. I really like my bifocal glasses. I tried the monovision contact lenses for 5 days. I could read better with them than with my other contact lenses, but for distance things were much blurrier. Since it costs $50 every time the eye doctor attempts to get the right contact prescription for me, I have decided just to stick with bifocal glasses for now. There are moments when I wish I could wear contacts (like when I open the oven door and my glasses get all steamed up), but most of the time I've gotten accustomed to wearing glasses again. It is heavenly to be able to see clearly up close and at a distance without getting a headache.

12. I found out that homeschoolers can take specials at the Christian school at our church for $150 a year (per subject). Because we missed 1/4 of the school

year, they are going to waive the registration fee that is usually in addition to that. I have signed Nadia and Ian up for a 4th grade art class (thankfully the principal is allowing Ian to also join the class even though he's not in 4th grade). The class takes place after their homeschool gym class on Fridays. I'll just take Oliver to the Well (indoor playland) while they have their art class. How perfect is that! Nadia was so excited that she was hoping they'd be able to start November 3. They will actually be starting on November 17.

13. Nadia had been wanting to buy a Barbie doll of Elena's sister. When she had enough money it was $15 at JCPenney, but since our local store closed she would have had to pay about $7 for shipping. I convinced her to wait until early November to buy it. This was hard for her at first (she actually cried about it), but her patience was rewarded because the dolls were on sale and we picked them up at the JCP in Wilkes Barre (no shipping fees). She got two dolls (Moana was the second) for $21 including tax, which is less than what one doll would have cost if

Praying mantis on our swing set!

she hadn't waited.

14. On Saturday when we stopped at JCP to get Nadia's two dolls, I also bought the boys 16 pairs of socks for $4 each (after taking off $20 using coupons). Since the JCP stores near us closed in the summer, it was the first time I had been in a JCP since July. Lately I have been shopping at Sears instead, and I got the sad news recently that our Sears is also closing in less than 2 months. I guess shopping on clearance racks will be a thing of the past. Thankfully I get most of the kids' clothes at yard sales (and a little bit at consignment stores). While we were at that mall in Wilkes Barre I also used a $35 off coupon to get Paul a new pair of sneakers for $15.

15. I recently purchased a Bluetooth speaker. What an improvement! We use it when listening to the Bible or an audio book.

16. I mowed the lawn on Friday. I believe that will be our last time for 2017. Although normally I enjoy the exercise, any reduction in my workload at this point is a blessing. I will have an eleven day break (Nov 17-27), and I am hoping to get ahead during that time so that the last three weeks of the semester won't be as hectic for me.

17. I chipped one of my back molars on October 25. When I called the dentist the first available appointment was November 1, but that didn't work for me because of the kids' field trip. The next available appointment was November 13. I am grateful that I haven't experienced any pain in that tooth.

18. I got my first free shipping code for Shutterfly today. This means I need to start putting in some time making ornaments, calendars, etc. on Shutterfly. I am usually almost done with my Christmas shopping at this point, but this year I haven't even started yet. I also need to put some thought into Ian's birthday which will be here before I know it (12/12). We need more Legos like we need a hole in the head. Trying to come up with some other ideas for him....

19. My brother has been calling me about once a week. I miss my mom something fierce, but one upside is that it's forced my siblings and I to make more efforts to keep in touch with each other.