Three weeks

Today is January 21st which is my sister Yvonne's birthday, the day we celebrate Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday, my last day off (school resumes tomorrow), and the end of the first three weeks of 2019. I thought it would be good to look at the goals I wrote for the year.

House - I had ten goals related to the house. In December I put a lot of effort into the house so I haven't really done much the past three weeks. Of the ten goals the only one I've made any progress toward thus far is #4 - making additional payments on the retirement loan. The end is in sight!

Oliver - He's been doing much better with how long it takes to eat breakfast (#3), and he's making great progress in his ice skating skills (#8). He's making great progress with reading and spelling an a little bit of progress with math (#4-5). We've been working on the books of the OT (#6); I think he can say from Genesis to Proverbs at this point. We haven't had any big bathroom messes thus far this year (#10). I'm going to sign him up for Camp Susque (#13)

as soon as we know when we're going on vacation. Yesterday I added more resorts to our exchange request. We are up to 39! Hoping that's more than enough to get us a match in the near future. We're hoping to go to NC or SC in early June.

Ian - We've been doing 5 "sword drills" each school day. He's getting faster at finding the verses (#3); he beat Nadia for the first time today (albeit that included a handicap). He's started helping to clean the guinea pig cage once a week (#8), and he's working on Typing.com about four times a week on average. He's typing about 10wpm right now (#9). His sneakers that had Velcro had to be tossed recently, which means he really needs to remaster the skill of tying his shoes (#4).

Nadia - She recently learned how to make meatloaf (#2), has begun to mop the kitchen floor once a week (#4), and participated in a science fair for the first time (#3). She's making progress with her typing skills (#7); she's currently typing about 15wpm. One of her goals

(not one I listed) was to be picked for a lead role in the spring musical at church. She was thrilled to receive the part of the gym teacher. Ian also received a significant role, but that's not as exciting to him as it is to her.

Myself - I've exercised a few times, but there is still room for a lot of improvement with that. I bought some ice cream sandwiches so that I could still enjoy ice cream but have an easier time with portion control. Similarly, I am trying to switch back to eating oatmeal for breakfast rather than cold cereal. I tried a new recipe a few days ago - made snickerdoodle cookies for the first time. Paul doesn't like cinnamon (at all) so he won't touch them, but the kids and I have been enjoying them so I'm sure it won't be the last time I make them! We've been playing a lot of games lately! For example, yesterday we played three rounds of Uno. I've been doing sword drills more regularly with Nadia and Ian. Nadia is quick to remind me if I forget because she loves them. We haven't focused on grammar much over the past

Oliver (#2) attempting a to make a basket on Saturday. 

three weeks, but we HAVE been spending a lot more time on writing. We're using curriculum from IEW. I spent $12 to rejoin a photography class, but I have not really invested much time in it thus far so I'll probably be cancelling the membership. I have been taking more pictures over the past few weeks, and practice is certainly a good thing! I've been taking pictures of not just our kids but also Isaiah and Micah during the basketball games, and emailing Tab some pictures each weekend. It's nice to be able to bring a smile to another mom via my camera!

This week is the first of the 16 week semester. Week 8 is spring break on campus (the student teachers follow their school district's calendars), and week 16 is when final exams are given, which means there are just 14 weeks of class. My voice hasn't totally come back to normal yet. When I read Goldilocks and the 3 Bears tonight, I couldn't produce a "baby bear" type voice. I'm a bit concerned about how my voice will hold up tomorrow as I'll be in a meeting from 10:00-11:00 with other supervisors before I meet with my student teachers, and then I'll teach from 2:00-8:00pm (my "dinner break" is from 4:45-5:00). I haven't been reading chapter books to the kids; we've been listening to books on Audible to spare my voice, and I don't have my usual singing voice back yet either. Hoping my voice returns to normal soon!

Although today was a  holiday for most students, my three kids had a usual day of schoolwork today. Due to how cold it has been today (when Paul left for work it was 2 degrees out), we stayed inside aside from Ian retrieving a package from Amazon from the front porch. As you can see from the pictures below, he received a Lego set he ordered last week using money he got back when he returned Lego sets at Walmart from Christmas. Today the boys were both wearing the shirts they got from Aunt Debbie for Christmas (I didn't prompt them to wear matching clothes).

Snow Day!

Yesterday we had our first significant snowfall of 2019. It wasn't quite as much as we got this past November. The snow didn't start until late afternoon, which meant we didn't have any trouble driving to and from the kids' three basketball games yesterday. Our church rarely cancels the services on Sunday morning, but they did today. We've been going to this church for 4.5 years, and this was the first time they cancelled due to the snow since we've gone there. I think they did so because the Governor declared a state of emergency prior to the storm due to how much snow was predicted to fall and how cold the temperatures are supposed to be tomorrow.

Today is Ian's 5th spiritual birthday. In light of the snow, on Friday I asked him to let me know what he wanted for breakfast and dinner because I didn't think we'd be going to Dunkin Donuts this weekend. Instead of donuts, he asked for bacon, egg and cheese croissant sandwiches. I improvised and used crescent rolls. Ian wanted pizza for dinner; we got two larges yesterday and will eat the

second one for dinner tonight. I always get cheese pizza, but I keep pepperoni in the refrigerator, which Ian always adds to his slice of pizza. I let  him pick one drink. Usually they pick apple juice or chocolate milk, but he picked Hawaiian punch. I got him a peanut butter pie at the Surplus Outlet on Tuesday, and we had that for dessert tonight. It was very yummy! I had planned to let him pick a gift at the bookstore at our church on Friday in conjunction with homeschool gym class, but that was cancelled due to snow. Since church was also cancelled today, he'll have to wait until Friday to pick something out. Grandpa and Gubba got him a membership to the Adventures in Odyssey club, which includes a magazine subscription and the ability to listen to any of the 700+ episodes for a full year. Nadia was thrilled to hear this, and I think the boys will also enjoy the membership. This was a great idea for a spiritual birthday gift!

None of our kids scored any points in their games yesterday. Ian's team won by a landslide. Nadia's team lost by one point. They don't keep score in the K/1st games.

First Science Fair

The Children's Museum in Bloomsburg hosts a science fair each year for students in grades 4-8. The winners in grades 7-8 then progress on to a regional science fair competition. They give cash prizes to three children per grade level. This year the majority of the participants were in 7th or 8th grade. There were only ten students who participated from grades 4-6, which meant that 80% of the kids in grades 4-6 received a cash prize. The first prize for fourth grade went to a homeschooler we know from gym class. The majority of the participants came from public schools, but there were also kids from private schools and homeschoolers. There were three fifth graders who participated, and Nadia received second place. She got a red ribbon, a certificate, and $25.00. We were at the Children's Museum for almost 3 hours from the time she set up her project until they announced the winners. The judges circulated around the projects and asked the children questions about their projects. Three judges evaluated each project. The kids were each given a voucher that

they could redeem for a donut, chips, bottle of water, and either a hotdog or sandwich. Next year I'd like Nadia and Ian to each complete a science fair project, and I want us to start it sooner so we aren't scrambling at the last minute to get it together. We circulated around the museum to see the other projects. Nadia says she wants hers to involve food next year. One of my science fair projects when I was in middle school was about the amount of baking powder or baking soda used in baking bread. Nadia spent $22.50 of her prize money by purchasing two Adventure in Odyssey CDs on Amazon last night.

I usually take the boys to their basketball practice on Thursday nights, but Paul came home earlier than usual from work so he could take them in light of my taking Nadia to the science fair. After basketball practice, he and the boys went to Walmart so Ian could return a Lego set he received that he already had and also to the library.

We got a little snow last night, but thankfully we didn't have trouble driving home from the

science fair. Today there was a two hour delay so gym class was rescheduled, and I also shifted the start of the Bible study to next Friday instead of today. I wasn't sure what would happen to the 5th grade art class in light of a two hour delay, so we didn't go today. I did email the art teacher so I can know for future reference what happens with a two hour delay. The only time we are leaving the house today is for my hair appointment (less than 2 miles from our house) and the grocery store (which is very close to the hair salon). Because the kids didn't have gym, I let them watch three episodes of Magic School Bus that related to human anatomy (which is what we're studying in science). We're supposed to get more snow tomorrow, which means their basketball games might be cancelled tomorrow.

I found out I will have 6 student teachers, which represents 5% overload (overtime). I had 10 student teachers last semester which was 25% overload. All of my student teachers are VERY close to home this time, which is a big improvement.

Ian said he was giving Patches armor. 

Thankful Tuesday

1. Oliver was brave and cooperative yesterday at the dentist with the extraction of two baby teeth!

2. Being able to shop online is a blessing. This evening I ordered food and hay for the guinea pigs,  four human anatomy models (ex. of the heart), and agar, Petri dishes, bromothymol blue, iodine, and hydrochloric acid for a few upcoming science activities. I considered purchasing a pig's heart (to dissect), but I know the kids aren't big on dissections so I passed on that. 3. The kids and I enjoyed seeing an approximately one hour production of James and the Giant Peach on Sunday afternoon. Even Nadia enjoyed it more than she thought she would. She usually says the only Roald Dahl books she likes are Matilda (which she loves) and BFG. 4. We have been doing a great job of playing games regularly thus far this month! 5. The kids are making progress with their ice skating skills! Today they had their third lesson. 6. I have been working on lesson

plans for homeschooling. I have typed up the plans for math, spelling, writing, and science through the end of our school year (May 3). I've written the plans for reading and history through the end of February. 7. I thought my first day back would be January 21, but today I found out that the student teaching meetings will be on January 22nd. That means I don't need to make a special trip to campus just to meet my 5 student teachers, as I'll already be on campus on Tuesday for my classes.

8. All three kids are really enjoying the Magformers. When my mom got a gift that someone really liked, she called it a "winner." It's a good feeling to see that a gift is a "winner". I have already ordered the kids' Valentine's Day gifts, and one of those is more Magformers to add to their collection.

9. I'm really thankful for Audible. My throat is still not 100% back to normal. I can't read out loud to the kids for very long without being in pain. We're currently listening to a trilogy about three slaves during the Revolutionary War. We finished Chains, and we are nearing the end of Forge.

10. Our toilets are working properly thanks to a plumber and Paul.

11. I enjoyed teaching the four-year-old Sunday School class on Sunday.

12. Nadia's science fair project is almost done, which is good because the fair is in two days.

13. We were thinking that we were done opening Christmas gifts, but a package arrived in the mail last week from one of Paul's aunts. The kids each got a shirt, and Paul and I received a gift card to Friendly's. They have already worn their new shirts, and we're looking forward to eating at Friendly's at some point!

Lost his first two teeth!

Oliver was a model patient when they were stitching up his forehead last February. This was proven to be due to the fact he had just had a concussion because when the pediatrician went to snip the threads to remove the stitches, I had to help hold him down. He had a wart on one of his toes recently, and again it was sometimes an effort to get him to cooperate with putting the medicine on that each day. These experiences are what caused me to be concerned that he might not cooperate when the dentist gave him injections in his gum. I have definitely been fervently praying about this, and thankfully it went smoothly, which was a big relief to me. I hope that the rest of his baby teeth come out the usual way, as this method is a lot more expensive since it involved paying a dentist. These two were not loose, and this was confirmed after they were extracted, as the roots were still very long. Now to see how long it will take for the two permanent teeth (which have already erupted) to shift forward into the proper location! I'm very grateful we didn't have to see an oral surgeon and put

Oliver under general anesthesia. Every Sunday there is one point in the service when they ask people to either stand or raise their hand in recognition of answered prayer. I'll definitely be raising my hand on Sunday in regards to this successful dentist appointment!

I usually give the kids $5 for their first tooth and $1 for each tooth after that. I remember giving Nadia more than $1 per tooth when she had two teeth extracted at the dentist (it wasn't her first two teeth). I decided to give Oliver $10, and I told him that ahead of time in the hopes that might motivate him to cooperate. I also promised him that he could pick what we watched on tv today (usually the kids take turns). Lately the kids have been choosing either Odd Squad or Spiderman and His Amazing Friends (from the '80s).

6th season of basketball

Nadia has been using this for a month to measure her vital lung capacity for her science fair project.

This is Nadia's sixth year of being on an Upward basketball team, Ian's fourth year, and Oliver's second year (although he only completed half of his first season last year due to his fractured skull). Yesterday they had their first games for 2019. Nadia's game was at 9am. Although her team is definitely not as dominant as last year's team, the Suns had a decisive win. Nadia *almost* got a basket. The basketball rolled around the rim, but then it bounced out. Their game had more jump balls than I think any game I've ever watched before. We came home for an early lunch and then returned for Oliver's 12pm game and Ian's 1pm game. They don't keep score in the K/1st grade games, but it seemed to me that his team (Cheetahs) didn't win. His friend, Isaiah, who is 5 years old scored more than one basket. Oliver has a long way to go (such as even being able to dribble the ball down the court), but he definitely was more "in the game" than he was last year. Ian's team (Cyclones) won their game; theirs was the highest scoring game (by far) of the three games our kids played in that day. Ian was fouled once, and he had his first free throw attempts. He missed the first one, but he made the second one, which means he's our first child to score at least one point for his team this year. Way to go, Ian! He did a great job of playing defense.

Paul's parents came back to our house after Ian's game. We played three different games - Suspend (I won and Grandma came in second), Blokus (the team that included Pop Pop and Nadia won), and Rummikub (Nadia won). Pop Pop and Ian also played a Mario game on the Wii. Grandma treated us to pizza for dinner, and I made chocolate peanut butter chip cookies.

I had called a plumber on December 31 asking him to fix two toilets. He came on January 11th and fixed one and partially fixed the other. He said Paul needed to install a new fill valve. We picked one up after Ian's game. As of Saturday afternoon we now have three functioning toilets. The kids and I got a little extra exercise for 12 days as we couldn't use the toilet on the main floor of the house. I was thinking of asking for an estimate on finishing the repair of the bathroom floor (so that we could resume the usage of the shower in our master bathroom), but Paul says he's almost done with the repair. 

We had our cable turned off a few days ago, so we aren't watching any of the playoffs this year. Going into the playoffs I said I didn't really care who won the Super Bowl as long as it was NOT the Cowboys or the Patriots because the Steelers are currently the only team to have won 6 Super Bowls, and the Cowboys and Patriots have both won 5 Super Bowls. My wish came true in that the Cowboys lost yesterday, but the Patriots won today. I'll be rooting for Kansas City next weekend! 

This is my last week off. My semester resumes next Monday. Even though I've had five weeks off, I honestly don't feel ready to go back in the sense that I've been so busy it feels overwhelming to think I'll be adding a FT job to my load in a week. I've been working to prepare for the spring semester so it's not as if the job was completely removed from my load all of the past 4 weeks. The two biggest events on our schedule this week would be Oliver getting two teeth pulled at the dentist tomorrow afternoon and Nadia participating in the science fair at the Children's Museum in Bloomsburg on Thursday night. The director told us that only three fifth graders entered the competition (it's for grades 4-8) and they give 3 cash prizes per grade level, which means Nadia is guaranteed to win a prize (presuming we succeed in completing her project between now and then!). We didn't see Paul at all Monday through Friday, but he was at home for two days this weekend, which was wonderful. This afternoon I took the kids to see a musical about James and Giant Peach. When the cast came out to take their bows, Oliver gave everyone a thumbs up except for the two aunts. He gave Spiker and Sponge a big thumbs down. It cracked me up! They are certainly very repulsive characters! 

Dollars and Cents

Growing up I knew that my dad would enter all the expenditures into a budget (spreadsheet). My mom would give him the receipts from her purchases. I have followed suit for the past 20+ years. I am not sure if I saved the older documents, but the Excel file I'm currently using is the one I've been using since 2005, which makes it very easy for me to analyze how the different categories in the budget have changed over the years. Of course some categories in the budget were present some years and not other years such as adoption, school loan payments, or a gym membership. Naturally over the past 14 years the amount spent has gone up in most of the categories due to inflation plus the growth in the size of our family. One of two categories that have gone drastically down is our clothing budget. We spent quite a bit more on clothing before we had kids. We spent around $500 for clothes and shoes for all five of us in 2016 and 2018 (and about $600 in 2017). This is one number that I think will be increasing because since I went back to work I have done far less shopping at yard sales or consignment shops, and also during that time the Sears and JCPenney stores closed in our area. I used to shop their clearance racks (with a coupon in hand). I really need to buy myself some new clothes as I've discarded some that had holes in them but haven't replaced them; I have been hoping to wait until I lose some weight. This is the first year that Nadia doesn't have many dresses that fit her. She's been wearing some that are a bit too big (loaned from her cousin, Jenna). For years I've had a rule of never spending more than $5 on a dress for Nadia (most of them were under $2). One exception was the dress I bought her for my dad's wedding. Recently I bought her a dress for $9 at Walmart. I don't usually buy clothes at Walmart, and that was more than I usually spend, but it was the color she loves and still a reasonable price. The other category that's gone down significantly is "phone." We used to have a landline. We gave that up in 2008. Paul's cell phone is paid for by his company, and I only pay around $250 a year for my cell phone plan.




I lump a lot of things into the "food" budget. That is where I also put cleaning supplies, toilet paper, facial tissues, shampoo, etc. The food budget was pretty steady the first few years, but then there was a jump several years ago. We are now spending about $1,500 more per year compared to 2005-2008. The weird thing is that in 2018 and 2016 we spent almost the exact same amount (only $1.27 difference between those two years!!), and the 2017 total was also very similar to 2016/2018 - only a difference of $20!




One of the categories that has gone up the most over the years (by percentage not $ amount) would be internet. In 2004 we finally made the leap from dial-up to high speed internet. The first several years it cost us less than $400 a year for high speed internet. Now we spend more than $800 a year. I'm glad most categories in our budget haven't doubled! We used to have cable tv all year long, and we've cut back to only having it for 4-6 months a year, which has helped offset the cost increase to having internet access. Another category that has greatly increased is gas. We've always had two cars, but the cost of fueling those two vehicles has more than doubled over the past 14 years. 2017 was the year we spent the most of gas. It's not a totally fair comparison as I received reimbursements for mileage in 2018, and I put those in the gas category so it made it seem like we spent less on gas in 2018 than we actually did due to reimbursements from the university when observing student teachers.

Considering we were both working FT in all of 2018, we could afford to splurge a bit more in some categories. One that we drastically increased was "entertainment." I put many different things in this category - anything purchased at a restaurant, tickets to see a performance of some sort, field trips, etc. We did the same in 2018 with the "kids" budget which is where I put their gym classes, ice skating lessons, gymnastics, camps, art class, etc. Childcare hadn't been in our budget for several years but reappeared in 2017 and continued in 2018. I haven't included that category in our 2019 budget now that Paul is staying home on the days I go to the university or visit student teachers. Today was one of those days I spent money in both of those categories as we got Vennari's pizza (take-out) for dinner and I paid for two hours of ice skating lessons (40 minutes per child). In addition to taking some pictures of the kids (and tying and untying their laces), I also finished reading a fabulous book - A Fall of Marigolds by Susan Meissner while they skated. We made it home in time for the cable guy to disconnect our tv from cable, but that appointment meant we had to skip the Spanish class at the library. Originally the cable appointment was to be on Monday, but I had to reschedule due to the WNEP tv interview. I'm not sure how many ice skating lessons we'll pay for this year, but I'm committed to at least four. It seems like at least three of those will take place before my spring semester starts.

Thankful Tuesday

1. When I first announced that I would be starting a Bible study during the homeschool gym class, I didn't get much of a response. In the first week I heard back from just one mom, but as of last week there are now six of us who are signed up for the study. Three of us already paid for our book. I am grateful! We are going to be studying 2 Timothy using Beth Moore's study entitled "Entrusted." This session of gym classes lasts 10 weeks, but our study only lasts 6 weeks. We're starting the Bible study next Friday, and we're taking off one week when I plan to take the kids to Gettysburg on a Friday. I haven't done a Beth Moore study in awhile. I'm looking forward to it! Also, I'm hoping to get to know the moms better and possibly make at least one friend whom I might talk to or get together with outside of the study. This means we are not finishing the BSF study this year.

2. The homeschool gym class resumed last Friday. The kids really enjoy it, and I was able to get some work done during their class. Nadia's art class also resumed. Unfortunately the same can't be said for the homeschool art class. I guess I should have kept Ian in the 5th grade art class with Nadia. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say!

3. My interview on tv is over. As I watched myself on the 5pm WNEP news yesterday it seemed like when I blinked my eyes were closed for a really long time. They also posted a brief article about it on their website - https://wnep.com/2019/01/07/book-donations-benefit-elementary-school-plagued-by-mold/. The video clip was about 90 seconds long, but I had to be at the school for 50 minutes while they took various pictures and such and waited for them to interview me. I wasn't predicting it to take that long. Shows how little I know about making the evening news.

4. A neighbor watched the kids for 75 minutes while I was doing the interview. I offered to pay her, but she declined, which was very kind of her. Two of our neighbors are stay-at-home moms. Since Paul is in Baltimore this week, I am not sure what I would have done without a neighbor coming to my rescue. Oliver was hoping that her eldest daughter would be there, but she's in Kindergarten this year.

5. On Sunday our pastor started a ten week sermon series on I and II Timothy, which seems like perfect timing since we also will be studying II Timothy in our Bible study.

6. My body has adjusted to waking up sometime between 6-7 instead of by 5:30am. I actually have slept as late as 7:15 upon occasion. Usually Oliver and/or Ian climb in bed with  me sometime between 6:45-7:15. I've been going to bed around 9pm, which means I've been sleeping for 9-10 hours each night. Hopefully in time I won't need quite that much sleep so can stay up a little later and enjoy time for things like leisure reading or learning more about photography.

7. I am making good progress toward my preparations for the spring semester. I have written my three syllabi, finished setting up the learning management system for one course, created the sign-up sheets for both classes, revised a couple of PowerPoint presentations, and made a couple of new quizzes and polls on Kahoot and Quizizz. I have 13 more days (including today) to finish my preparations.

8. Paul had a safe trip to Baltimore on Monday. He'll be down there until Friday night. December 11 was the last day I was on campus or visited a student teacher. From December 12 through January 11, he will have gone to work 29 of the last 31 days. He had off on December 16 (a Sunday) and December 25. Most of the other days he also worked longer hours than usual (with the exception of December 24). He has gone in for work as early as 3am. I'm not crazy about the timing of the annual show in terms of how it limits our ability to celebrate Christmas, New Year's, and Paul's birthday with Paul, but the upside is that it takes place during my 5+ week break at the university. I think he will be staying home from work on Saturday so that he can see the kids' first basketball games of the season.

9. I did the Life of Fred (first book only) with Nadia several years ago. Someone gave me the 2nd and 3rd books last year. I decided this spring we'd do the first four books of Life of Fred together in addition to their other math textbooks. The boys are enjoying the humorous stories and illustrations! Also, as for their keyboarding skills I decided to try a different program. Nadia and Ian are now using Typing.com (which is free). We had been alternating between Spanish and keyboarding throughout the week, but I decided for the next at least couple of months to just focus on typing. It's such a useful skill these days.

10. Right now our bedtime routine begins with a devotional that shares the history of a hymn. We read that at the piano because then we sing all the verses of that hymn (however many verses are included in the book). Then after they brush their teeth, put on their pajamas, and use the bathroom, we read a bedtime math story (and they each solve one problem). Lastly we read two devotionals from a book about the names of God, and then we pray together. After reading many different Bible story books over the years, I'm enjoying the change of pace by studying the names of God.

11. We've continued to make extra payments on the principal of the loan from my retirement account. It will be exciting when it's totally paid off. The end is already in sight!!

12.  I love that my day usually begins with hugs, kisses, and cuddling. All three kids really enjoy physical affection, but the boys have a very strong desire for it. If I had to guess I'd say that "physical touch" is the primary love language for both of my boys. As someone who also loves hugs, I am very grateful!

Happy 49th Birthday!

I met Paul at a ballroom dancing class a few weeks after he had turned 27 years old, and today he turned 49 years old. The average life expectancy in the US for men is 76, and if that proved to be about how long he lives, then he's lived about 2/3 of his life thus far. Of course one never knows how long one's life will be. The average life expectancy for women is currently 81, but my mom passed away when she was 71, yet Paul's Gram just died a few months ago having lived almost 96 years. The last two years I thought we'd go skiing twice because we receive four free lift tickets and four free ski rentals twice each winter. The last two years the plans for the first week of January were scrapped due to Paul's work schedule in preparing for the trade show. Nadia was so disappointed that this year I never mentioned the first possible ski date. I assume as long as he works at Kennedy Concrete we won't be able to go skiing the first week of January. The first time around I thought it would be a special birthday celebration. Today is actually the day this year that we could have gone skiing for free at Elk Mountain. Nadia is looking forward to going skiing in late February at Ski Sawmill, which is where she and Ian went skiing the last two years in February.

I used to buy Paul cashews at Christmas and his birthday, but his digestive system doesn't allow him to eat those any longer. This year I got him a big bag of Middlesworth Sour Cream and Onion chips instead. I also got him a pair of sneakers and two new hoodies. Yesterday on the way home from ice skating lessons we stopped at KFC and bought a bucket of chicken. I made some macaroni and cheese to go with it. I bought enough chicken so he could have it for two nights. We also got 6 donuts yesterday afternoon so he could have a special birthday breakfast today. Considering I made rigatoni and meatballs on Sunday, bought pizza on Monday, and there are still leftovers (turkey, mashed potatoes, etc.) from our Christmas dinner last Thursday, he's been eating all his favorite foods this week! I thought of my mom when I stopped at KFC because that was something she also really enjoyed. The only thing I cooked in the past week that isn't one of his favorites was the white chicken chili I made on Friday, but there were enough other choices in the refrigerator that he never ate any of the chili. Today I made him M&M cookies as his birthday dessert. Nadia and Ian made him birthday cards yesterday, and Oliver made him one today. Aside from the fact he's exhausted from working long hours at work, I hope he has a special birthday today! Hopefully his last year in his 40's will be a good one!

Today I'm giving thanks...

1. That the kids were able to help the AWANA commander with shopping for the Christmas store, and that all three kids were able to buy things at the store in the evening on December 19 with their AWANA shares. As usual Nadia bought gifts not only for her immediate family but also for her four cousins from Chicago.

2. The flooding on December 21 didn't cause any damage to any of our belongings. 

3. I was able to take the kids to paint ceramic nativity figurines on December 22 as well as a free ice skating party.

4. My voice returned in time for me to be able to sing in church on December 23 and 24. 

5. Oliver received a big hippo that he adores at church on December 24.

6. The kids seemed to like the gifts we gave them on December 24.

7. We enjoyed spending the day with Paul's family on Christmas Day. We received many lovely presents and ate some delicious food!

8. My Dad and Margie treated the kids and I to dinner at Bonanza on December 26. 

9. I have been able to cross a variety of things off my to do list - some spackling, touch-up painting, reupholstering one dining room chair (three done and three to go), repainting the basement floor, rescheduling my dentist appointment, scheduling Nadia's 11 year physical, scheduling the cable tv to be turned off (since our teams aren't in the playoffs this year), etc. 

10. We enjoyed spending time with my side of the family December 27-30. Wendy had the smoothest (shortest) trip back to Chicago EVER on December 31, which was a blessing as it's a long haul from here to there! The last two years Dad and Margie have visited some of Margie's relatives in West Virginia before celebrating with our side of the family. Both times the twins in WVA were sick and Dad and Margie caught their respiratory bug. Last year pretty much all of the Benners and Kennedys eventually came down with the bug (the germs traveled from WVA to MD and then we brought them to IL and PA). Yesterday Wendy told me that she thought she got the bug Dad and Margie had, but thus far we (Kennedys) seemed to have dodged the bullet, for which I am grateful.

11. We enjoyed going bowling on Friday (even if Wendy and I bowled probably our worst games EVER) and seeing a movie on Saturday. If the kids had seen Mary Poppins, they would have seen Ralph Wrecks the Internet last night with Paul while I was at choir because Nadia won two free tickets to the movie by having the closest guess as to how many pieces of candy were in a jar at the library on December 15, but they chose to see Ralph with their cousins. Wendy and I ended up being the only ones who saw Mary Poppins Returns. The seven kids watched Ralph together. Since Susie is 14 years old we thought it was safe to let the seven kids watch it without an adult. Since they live in Chicago, it's a rare treat to spend time with them. I love my sister dearly and treasure the time spent with her!

12. We played Rummikub together (after Oliver was in bed) on January 1. That means we are off to a good start with the goal of playing a game together at least once a week. 

13. The kids had their first ice skating lesson yesterday. The group classes cost $6 a week for a 45 minute lesson (skate rental included), and that includes free pizza during the last class. Since they couldn't take the ten week class due to it interfering with basketball practice, I have decided to pay for 4 private lessons. Yesterday Oliver had a lesson from 12-1, and Nadia and Ian had a lesson together from 1-2. I brought my laptop and worked on a syllabus for the spring semester. I will spend more for 4 private lessons than for ten weeks of group classes, but they can skate for up to 2.5 hours each time we go for lessons if they want. They skated for 2 hours yesterday. I had hoped that Oliver would learn how to ice skate and how to ride a bike without training wheels last year, but neither goal was accomplished. I can say that we already achieved one goal on the list I posted on Tuesday because for the first time in his life Oliver can skate without holding on to anyone or anything! The instructor suggested I put Ian and Oliver together next time because she said Nadia is much more advanced than Ian. I think what I might do is pay for three private 40 minute lessons, which will actually be $5 cheaper than paying for one hour of private lessons plus one hour of two kids doing it together. I'll have to take some pictures or videos at one of the future lessons. 

14. Yesterday we also stopped at Walmart. For some reason the items Margie bought on Amazon off our wish lists didn't actually show up on the wish lists as having been purchased. In some cases it wasn't a problem because no one else bought the same item, but in other cases it led to duplicates. Ian received two of the same Lego set, and Walmart gave him a gift card for one of them. Also the two games they received at the ice skating party were ones we already had, and Walmart again gave us gift cards for those games. The kids each picked out a Lego set yesterday at Walmart, and Ian still has some money left to order something online as he picked out a very tiny set at Walmart. Oliver and I each received a duplicate item from Amazon that I haven't looked into yet. I love shopping on Amazon, but it's definitely easier to return items in person. 

15. After today I still have 17 days left of winter break. I've been plenty busy with housework and homeschooling. I did check out two fiction books for myself at the library yesterday in the hopes I will have some time for leisure reading before the spring semester begins.

Happy New Year!

2019 is here! I've now lived almost 2 1/2 years of my life without my mom. In almost exactly one year Paul will be turning 50 years old, and he's only 2 years older than me. When I started dating him in 1997, we were both in our twenties. Before you know it, we'll be eligible for some "senior" discounts. Nadia thinks I'm crazy when I tell her the years are just flying by, but that's one of the differences between a child and an adult who has most likely already lived more than half of her life. After their cousins left yesterday (around 7:30am), the kids asked me what schoolwork we were doing. They were pleasantly surprised to learn we weren't "going back to school" until Wednesday. Their cousins don't go back to school until next Monday. Including weekends they get 16 days off! Susie will actually have an even longer break as she'll still be in Hawaii when school resumes. I used most of yesterday to clean - a huge pile of dishes, 4 loads of laundry (did another today), putting away all of the air mattresses, sofa bed, and Christmas decorations,

vacuuming (more than usual due to pine needles), cleaning up the basement (where the kids had been building forts with their cousins), etc.

Originally I had planned to spend most of today working on getting ready for the spring semester (revising syllabi and such), but thus far I've spent most of my time doing homeschooling planning as I realized my lesson plans only went through December 21. My classes begin at the university three weeks from today. Because the kids had stayed up later than usual playing with their cousins, they went to bed at their usual bedtimes last night even though it was New Years Eve. I bought pizza and Hawaiian punch for dinner and let them have the night off from eating a fruit or a vegetable with their meal. They thought that was the BEST! I love it that they are generally easy to please. This morning the kids and I had cinnamon rolls for breakfast as a special way to start the New Year. We don't generally do anything special for New Year's Eve or New Year's Day. The traditional meal to eat around here on January 1st is pork and sauerkraut, which is not something we enjoy eating. Paul's way of

celebrating the holidays is to work more hours than usual. I'm not joking. It's because the trade show in Baltimore always takes place the week after New Year's Day. He worked shorter hours than usual on Christmas Eve and stayed home on Christmas Day, but otherwise he's been going to work seven days a week (including the past two Sundays). He's been going in to work earlier than usual (sometimes before 4am) and getting home sometime between 7-8pm each night. This was part of the reason I offered to host Christmas for my side of the family. If our family gathered in MD or VA, we would have gone without Paul. If we want to see Paul at all, we can't travel during the Christmas vacation.

All throughout the year I find myself at least mentally setting goals for myself and the kids, but each January I usually take the time to write some of those down. Some of them are not new goals. I know we won't achieve all of them, but hopefully we'll make progress with many of them!

House
1. New deck (should be installed in May - we already signed a contract and paid a deposit)
2. Finish repairing the floor in the master bathroom so we can resume using that shower
3. Pay off the retirement loan used to pay off the mortgage (trying to do so by June)
4. Replace broken window pane
5. Stain some of the windowsills
6. Replace the window well covers and paint the basement walls with Drylok (hoping doing those two things might keep our basement dryer in 2019 than it was in 2018)
7. Organize tool shelves
8. Repaint the basement steps

Oliver
1. Learn to ride a bike without training wheels
2. Improve his table manners (not talking with his mouth full, using utensils instead of his fingers)
3. Eat breakfast in a more timely manner
4. Continue to make progress in reading, spelling, and handwriting
5. Improve his skills in math - reading an analog clock, using coins, place value to the hundreds place, adding, and subtracting
6. Recite the names of the books of the Old Testament (he learned the NT last year)
7. Learn how to swim well enough that he could go off the diving board into the deep end
8. Learn how to ice skate
9. Learn how to tie his shoes
10. Not make messes when he uses the bathroom
11. Improve his listening comprehension (also includes being quiet when I'm reading chapter books)
12. Start piano lessons in the fall
13. Spend 3 nights at Camp Susque (will be his first experience with an overnight camp)
14. Improve his pronunciation of words (those with a "th" sound and also not dropping the first syllable of other words). Some examples would include animal (he says "aminal"), remember (he says "member"), something instead of "someping," three instead of "free," remote instead of "mote", etc.

Paul gave me an onyx ring for Christmas to match my Mom's bracelet that I received after she passed away.

Ian
1. Improve his skills with solving word problems
2. Eat dinner in a more timely manner and stay seated when eating
3. Learn how to find a verse in the Bible more quickly
4. Relearn how to tie his shoes
5. Learn how to use a knife to cut his food
6. Prompt (first time) obedience
7. Less complaining and arguing
8. Begin cleaning the guinea pig cage once a week
9. Type at least 20 wpm by the end of the year

I thought I'd take a pic of the basement as this past year I finished hanging curtains all around and repainted the floor.

Nadia
1. More careful about the tone of her voice
2. Learn how to cook and bake a wider variety of foods
3. Participate in a science fair for the first time
4. Begin mopping the kitchen floor once a week
5. Less complaining and demonstrate more flexibility (including being able to gracefully defer to the wishes of others at times)
6. Demonstrate perseverance with a good attitude
7. Type at least 30 wpm by the end of the year

Ruth
1. Lose weight  (drink more water, eat fewer calories, and exercise more)
2. Try new recipes on a regular basis and put more time and effort into teaching Nadia how to cook
3. Play board games with the kids at least once a week
4. Read more picture books to the kids (not related to what we're studying in science and history)
5. Do more sword drills with Nadia and Ian
6. Assist all three kids in preparing their wax museum presentations due in February
7. Continue to develop the habit of reading poetry to the kids more regularly
8. Help the kids get in the habit of tithing
9. Spend a lot more time teaching the kids grammar and writing skills