Our school year by the numbers

Here is some of what I came up with when I prepared the documentation for our reviewer yesterday:

1. From July 1, 2018 through May 5, 2019, Nadia read 52 chapter books. Five of those were Rush Revere books that she read in conjunction with what we were studying in history. Many of the other books were from one of the following series: Mr. Lemoncello, Boxcar Children, Young Whit, and the Blackgaard Chronicles. I recorded how many pages each of those books were, but I didn't take the time to total it all up. Maybe I will do so at the end of June.
2. During that same time span, Ian read 40 chapter books, the majority of which were from the Magic Tree House or Imagination Station series or authored by Dick King-Smith.
3. As for books I read them (or we listened to via CD or Audible), we have finished 91 chapter books thus far (in that same time span). I have a list of ten more I'm hoping to finish by the end of June. 
4. We’ve gone on 53 field trips thus far, and by June 15 we should have gone on 17 more.
5. Of the three tests they took, both Nadia and Ian did the best in Reading, Language was in the middle, and their lowest scores were in Math. Next year none of them need to take a test. In two years Ian and Oliver will need to be tested. 
6. Today was our 168th day of school. I anticipate by June 15 we'll have hit 186 days. We are required to have at least 180 days per year.
7. Ian finished the 4th grade spelling book (he's in 3rd grade), Nadia finished the 6th grade spelling book (she's in 5th grade), and Oliver finished the first half of the 2nd grade spelling book (he's in 1st grade).
8. Nadia and Oliver finished the math textbook for their grade level. Ian completed half of the fourth grade textbook in addition to finishing the third grade text this year. We also completed the first four Life of Fred books together. 
9. Nadia completed her last handwriting textbook this year. Ian learned to write in cursive this year.
10. Nadia improved her typing speed to 25 WPM over the past several months. Ian has improved to 17 WPM.
11. Last year Nadia said that reading was her favorite subject and math was her least favorite. This year reading is still her favorite, but writing is now her least favorite. Her attitude toward math improved this year by using the Teaching Textbooks online curriculum although it went south when she heard what her math score was on the test last week. Although she said writing is her least favorite, she showed dramatic improvement over the past few months in terms of using more adverbs, phrases, alliteration, and strong verbs in her writing (as well as avoiding the use of words like go, went, said, and say). Ian said that science is his most favorite and math is his least favorite. In science we covered land animals in the fall and human anatomy and physiology in the spring. 
12. Our progression in history has been that we studied Creation to the Greeks (2016-17), Rome to the Reformation (2017-18), and Exploration to the 1850's this year. Next year we plan to study from the Civil War to the present. We studied our first 15 Presidents this year. We already visited Mount Vernon this school year. Over the next five weeks we plan to visit four more Presidential homes - Wheatland (Buchanan), Monticello (Jefferson), Highland (Monroe), and Montpelier (Madison). Nadia and Ian used Stack the States app to learn the capital and location on a map for each of the 50 states.

Weekend in Review

My goal had been to be done with grading (aside from final exams) by Thursday night. I achieved that goal. At that point I had four rubrics left to still submit online because those can only be submitted after I conduct my final three-way conference with each student teacher. On Friday the only school work I did for the university was talk to a student teacher on the phone, conference with a teacher from 8-9am, and complete one rubric online. Yesterday and today the only schoolwork I've done for the university has been to respond to a few emails from students. The end is in sight.

Friday morning I visited the student teacher, did a little homeschooling, and then dropped the kids off at gym class at 10:00. While they were in their gym class, I went to multiple yard sales as the community where the church is located was having many, many, many yard sales. Last year I skipped these due to lack of energy so I took this as a positive thing that I actually took part in it again. At one yard sale they had multiple Lego sets. I bought two of them, and when gym class was over I took the boys back to that yard sale (and a few others) while Nadia was in art class. After we picked Nadia up from art at 12:25, we came home for lunch and then I worked on reading with Oliver while Nadia and Ian took their final standardized test (Language). When they finished the test, I drove Ian to Micah's house as he had been invited to go there for a sleepover. Micah and Isaiah had a sleepover at our house in February. This was Ian's first time being invited to a friend's house for a sleepover. After we dropped Ian off, Oliver Nadia, and I drove to Lewisburg to go to the library and get pizza from our favorite pizza place (Venarris). After we ate the pizza, I mowed the lawn, which was no easy task as I tackled the area where the grass was SUPER high from the ground being turned to a swamp. The mower stopped many times, and it took just about every last bit of my strength to push that mower up the hill through VERY tall grass. Some parts there was still a lot of standing water, and I had to wait until the next day to tackle that part with a weed whacker.

I'm not sure whether I just pushed myself too hard on Friday or I didn't eat enough given the number of calories I burned mowing the lawn, but I was a mess on Saturday. I was dizzy and felt completely wiped out. I had planned to take the kids to the Maker Faire at the Children's Museum in Bloomsburg, but that plan went out the door. Nadia was disappointed, but she could tell that I was not feeling well. After picking Ian up, we hit some more yard sales. As proof of how exhausted I was, I didn't bring enough cash. I had stopped at the ATM at our bank on my way home from work on Thursday night so I'd have money for the yard sales, but the Lego purchases (which were great bargains - I paid $10 for a set that currently sells for $80 at Walmart, for example) meant I had spent more than I expected to spend. I generally charge almost everything and rarely use cash, but yard sales are one of those times when I still use cash. I looked on my phone that it was a 2 mile drive (one way) to the nearest ATM owned by our bank, and I was unwilling to drive that far. It has been more than a decade since I've paid an ATM fee. To be honest, I do believe the only time I've ever paid an ATM fee was when I was in a foreign country. I was so tired I just didn't care. I had found a wonderful yard sale where the clothes were super reasonably priced. It's a yard sale I've been to many times over the years. It's my second favorite yard sale of all the places I typically go in a year (our neighbor's is my most favorite). I like it because everything is very well organized by gender and size and hanging on hangars and the prices are very reasonable, and they have a huge selection of sizes. I am the one who pinches pennies, but at that moment I cared far more about energy exertion that spending a few extra dollars to get money at an ATM.

I also had been thinking a lot about my brother as I knew on Friday it was the 2nd month anniversary of his passing, and tomorrow will be the two month mark since I received that awful phone call from the police. I think my emotions played a part as well in how weak I was feeling physically. Speaking of which, we sang a song that I had to make sure I did NOT think about Maurice when we sang it if I wanted to make it through without crying. Sometimes I really like a song because of the words, and other times I really like a song because of musical reasons. The words in this song are very nice, but I chose to focus just on the music this morning so I didn't cry over missing my brother. If you like sacred choral music, I highly recommend you listen to another choir singing the song we sang this morning. It's one of my top three favorite songs that our choir has sung this school year. It's about six minutes long. If you only have time for part of it, listen to the last half. Just beautiful!

In case I hadn't eaten enough, I ate more on Saturday and also tried to take it easy once from lunch onward. The only exceptions would be that I did some weed whacking and also helped Paul load some boards from the deck onto his Dad's pick-up truck. I also went to bed at 8:30pm on Saturday night. I felt better this morning, but I was a bit concerned about having enough energy for an amusement park today. We planned to use six free handstamps to Knoebels this afternoon. Unfortunately the weather forecast grew worse, and this morning we decided to skip those plans as it was calling for 100% chance of rain multiple hours in a row. The kids were disappointed. They didn't know that last Sunday I also had Knoebels on the calendar (when it was BOGO for opening weekend), but the weather was very similar last Sunday. The cost of a handstamp has sky rocketed at Knoebels so I don't anticipate we'll be buying any handstamps there this year. You can use ride tickets for rides, so we are planning on giving the kids each a book of tickets once this summer and they can ride a few rollercoasters. It's a shame as we used to go to Knoebels multiple times each summer. The upside of our trip to Knoebels being cancelled was that Paul was able to keep working on removing the deck today. The contractor is scheduled to start on Tuesday although we were thrown a curve ball on Friday when our township notified him that we need a zoning permit even though this house has had a deck for 20 years, and the newer deck will be smaller than the one that was falling apart. Oi vey.

Two years ago only Nadia and I attended the church dinner as it's supposed to be for ages 9+. Last year I brought Ian and Nadia even though Ian wasn't quite nine years old. I knew he would be well behaved for the almost 3 hour program. This year they offered childcare in another room for ages 5-8. Oliver participated in that so all five of us could have gone if Paul hadn't still been working on removing the deck. Since today is May the 5th, they had a Mexican theme (Cinco de Mayo)  for the event this year. Since I was home this afternoon instead of at Knoebels, I worked on the documentation for the woman doing our homeschool review. That's one more thing crossed off my to do list. Her review is due to the school district by the end of June. I gave her one Word document that was 9 pages long - answering some questions she asked plus lists of chapter books Nadia and Ian read independently and I read to them plus a list of the textbooks we used and the field trips we went on this  year. I also sent her a 47 page document that contained my lesson plans for the school year. Next I need to work on typing up the goals for Ian and Nadia for next year. If I submit those to the school district by the end of June, it means I can start counting days for the next school year as early as July 1.

When I reflect on shopping at yard sales, I realize that two desires of mine are in a bit of conflict. First, I like to save money. Secondly, I dislike clutter. Yard sales can be a great way to save money. Nadia had put the Narnia dvds on her wish list for her birthday, and I purchased the first dvd for $1.50 at one yard sale and set it aside for her birthday. I discovered this spring that Ian's neck ties were almost all too short for him, and I bought him two nice neckties for 50 cents each. Bargains like that put a smile on my face. However when the kids are along it means they see things they want to buy with their money. Nadia bought a BIG plush Hershey bar for example. Honestly the last thing we need in our house are any more stuffed animals much less a BIG one. I feel like we own enough stuffed animals for at least 15 children. And when clothes are super cheap I am not as selective about quantity. I typically go into these community yard sales with a wish list of what I'm hoping to find - ex. winter coat size 10/12 etc. I did have a couple of things in mind like the neck ties for Ian and a grey t-shirt for Nadia, but I hadn't taken the time to do an inventory to discover what exactly I should be looking for. Some years I have done a lot of yard sale shopping. Last year I did almost none. I think this year the only other ones I'll likely do this year are our neighbor's (hopefully we won't be away when she has hers!) and our community one in September. My energy level is better than last summer, but it's definitely not back to normal. If the rain lets up some tomorrow, I would like to attempt a walk tomorrow afternoon while Oliver rides his bike. Tomorrow is our last day for grammar and writing (for Nadia and Ian). The school year is definitely winding down!

First test done

In 2017 Nadia took her first standardized test at Camp Susque. I did it to fulfill a requirement for homeschooling in Pennsylvania. You have to have your children take a test in grades 3, 5, and 8. The score report couldn't have been more brief. In other words it wasn't the slightest bit informative for me. This year I decided to have the kids take the MAP instead. It wasn't cheaper than taking the test at Camp Susque, but it seems the score report will be a lot more detailed. I also liked that the test is untimed and taken on a computer. The test is set up that if your child is answering questions correctly, they will start receiving more difficult questions. You receive a partial score report immediately at the end of the test, and in a few days we'll receive a detailed report. Our appointment was for 10:00 this morning. Nadia used my laptop, and Ian used the iPad. I gave the kids a break so they could eat a snack. I didn't realize Nadia was almost done. Including the break it took Nadia 47 minutes to finish her test. Ian took 1 hour and 22 minutes including the break. Nadia's Lexile Range was 990L-1140L and Ian's was 810L-960L, which puts them both above grade level in terms of Lexile. I was pleased with where they landed in terms of percentile as well. Tomorrow they'll take the math test, and on Friday they'll take the language usage test.

I observed a student teacher on Monday. A neighbor graciously watched the kids for about 90 minutes while I accomplished that task. It was possible to only be gone for that short period of time because the school is only 7 minutes from our home. I found out when talking to the coop that I couldn't meet with the cooperating teacher and student teacher on Thursday as planned (this student teacher has trouble keeping me informed). So today is actually the only day this week I'm not visiting a student teacher this week as I rescheduled her meeting for Friday morning at 8:00. Paul is just going to go to work a bit later than usual that day. Yesterday was my last "long" day of the semester. My night class is done. I entered the participation grades for that course today, which means the only thing left to enter in that course is the final exam. A few students need to submit their tutoring logs to me for my two math classes, but my grading is 99% done in those courses as well aside from the final exam that they'll take next week. I also am almost done completing evaluations for the student teachers although I still need to write a few more letters of recommendation. My to do list is shrinking! I also made hotel reservations this week for our 3 day/2 night trip to Pennsbury Manor, Washington Crossing Park, Old Barracks Museum, Statue of Liberty, and Ellis Island. Tomorrow will be my last day on campus this semester aside from commencement next week. I plan to visit student teachers three more days - tomorrow, Friday, and next Tuesday. Paul will be home with the kids next Tuesday; the kids were going to spend the day with Grandma, but that won't work since the guy who is replacing our deck plans to be working here that day and needs access to our bathroom. I haven't had a haircut since January. Usually the kids come with me, but I decided to take advantage of the fact Paul will be home next Tuesday, and I scheduled a hair appointment for myself after my student teacher visits.

Ian's solo!

The kids' choir sang in both services today, and Ian had a longer solo at the very beginning of the song, and Nadia had a brief solo at the end of the song. It was a medley of two songs - the second being "Holy, Holy, Holy." Singing a solo wasn't his idea, but he did volunteer after we prompted him to do so. I know I'm biased, but I thought he did a great job! I think he has a beautiful voice. Nadia doesn't need any prompting to request solos. Now if I could just get her to SMILE when she sings. Paul's parents came to the second service today to hear the kids. Last Sunday they came up after attending their church because Paul's dad had been doing a lot of work fixing up the nursery, and last Sunday was the big unveiling. Paul and his brother also helped out with the nursery project. Paul attended the first service and made a ham and cheese quiche while the rest of us were at church during the second service. After lunch we played a game that Amazon delivered yesterday called Quiddler. The kids and I had played it last night, and we played it again today with Paul's

parents. I think it's a great game! I like it just as much as Boggle and Scrabble, and it's just a card game. I'm planning on packing it for our vacation. It's a fun way to develop vocabulary and work on spelling. Ian, Nadia, and Grandma also played Life. Oliver read to Grandma. The kids saw their Grandparents 6 of the last 8 days!

Today is my 44th spiritual birthday. Our Pastor's sermon series lately has been titled "I AM." Today's sermon title was "I am the vine," and part of the sermon he talked about how pruning can bring about greater quantity and quality of fruit in our lives, which is always a good reminder. In Sunday School we've been going through the book of Revelation, and today we studied Revelation 21 which includes a glorious description of the New Jerusalem. 

Four more days!

I wasn't able to see a student teacher on Thursday morning, and I couldn't see her this coming Tuesday due to the state testing. So I asked a neighbor to watch my kids for a little more than an hour so I can go complete my final observation of the semester on Monday afternoon. I also will be participating via Zoom (from home) in a faculty meeting on Monday afternoon. Tuesday I'll have a conference with one student teacher and teach my three classes on campus. Thursday I'll conference with two different student teachers (in two different districts) and then teach two classes on campus. The following Tuesday (May 7) I'm planning to have conferences with three student teachers and also will be giving two final exams online. This means that May 2nd should be my last day on campus (not counting commencement) and May 7th should be my last day in a public school this semester. May 8th I'm giving one last final exam online. The man who is replacing our deck is planning to start on May 6 or May 7. I am hoping to finish my grading on May 8th. That means just four more days to be on campus or in a public school, and May 8th is only 11 calendar days from now.

Paul has had a zany week at work. He has been leaving for work as early as 3am (more than once) and gotten home as late as 9:15pm. Monday night he was only home for one hour and then spent the rest of the night at the plant. He came home after 7pm this evening, which meant he worked at least 88 hours in six days. If you add in the 12 hours he spends commuting to and from work in six days, that puts him at 100 hours in six days. Oi vey! The downside of his crazy week for me was that two times in the week I went a full 24 hours (or more) without seeing my kids. That is HARD for me. The upside is that the kids got to spend two days at Grandma's house. The other downside was that we had to spend extra time doing schoolwork on the other three days, and actually we've still been getting caught up today, whereas typically they don't do schoolwork on a Saturday. All three kids were also up past their bedtime three nights this week due to Paul's work schedule. They really slept in yesterday morning. This coming week Paul will need to finish removing the deck that was built 20 years ago so the contractor can begin installing the new one on May 6. Today I asked him to give us an estimate on what he would charge to replace the shingles on our shed.

Since we didn't go anywhere today I had time to mow the lawn, spread some grass seed, do a few loads of laundry, clean the guinea pig cage, vacuum, grade some units that my student teachers submitted online on Thursday, etc. Oliver played with a girl his age while I mowed. They jumped on the trampoline, went on the spinning seesaw, used the swings, etc. I remember the days when I mowed the lawn while Ian was strapped to my chest. Nadia and Ian are now old enough that I can leave them in the house unsupervised while I mow the lawn.

Coupons and Memberships

I still do a little bit of couponing but not nearly as much as I used to - partially because some of the stores where I used to use a lot of coupons are no longer in our area (ex. JCPenney) and partially due to lack of time and/or energy. I used to go to CVS every other week. I still do some couponing there very sporadically, but months can pass in between my visits. I still use coupons with everything I order on Shutterfly. For a couple of years I was able to get things totally free on that site. In 2018 (and thus far in 2019) the best I've been able to do is get the item for free and only pay shipping. Their shipping rates are a bit high, but considering that's all I'm paying for everything I order on their site, it's still a good deal. I also use coupons for AMC - either for free movie tickets, free popcorn, or a free drink. Usually around my birthday I'd use several coupons for free meals. One restaurant in our town gives you a free meal (up to $20 value) if you go on your actual birthday. I have used that one several times, but it's been a few years since I've been there. I have typically ignored the ones from TGIF (free dessert) and Texas Roadhouse (free appetizer). Most years I have used the ones for Perkins (free breakfast meal) and Red Robin (free burger meal). I'd go with the kids and just pay for their meals. The cost of doing that increased once it got to the point I needed to also order a kid's meal for Oliver. This year was the first I didn't use any of the birthday coupons I received, and I received a few new ones such as a free popcorn at the movie theater. There were three reasons I didn't use any of them this year #1 my diet (although I did find I could have a bowl of soup at Red Robin), #2 lack of time and/or energy, and #3 not feeling like celebrating due to my sorrow over the passing of my brother. I do still take the time to figure out which credit cards to use each quarter. Last quarter we were getting 10% back at grocery stores from Discover and 5% back at gas stations from a Visa. This quarter we are getting 10% back at gas stations from Discover and 5% back from grocery store and home improvement stores from the Visa. I used a $20 off coupon at Lowe's on Tuesday plus will get 5% more back from the credit card. If I hadn't been so rushed at Lowe's (stopping there after seeing a student teacher and before I needed to be on campus), I would have broken my purchases into two orders and could have saved another $7 by using a second coupon (I had three in my purse). I received those coupons because of having my brother's mail forwarded to me from Philadelphia and Maryland. I am getting some mail that was meant for my brother, but more of the mail I am getting is actually mail intended for my dad. The postal service doesn't distinguish between George Maurice Harton IV and George Maurice Harton V. My friend shared a $25 off a $50 purchase at a grocery store with me today. I will definitely be using that one! I didn't shop at yard sales much the last two years. I'm hoping to do more of that this spring and summer because my days of shopping from clearance racks came to an end when the Sears and JCPenneys left our area.

Although it's not exactly "couponing" per se, I look for other ways to save money. I am looking forward to two more years of having a fourth grader to take advantage of the National Park program where our family will get in free those two years (Ian will be eligible starting in September 2019 and Oliver will be eligible beginning in September 2021).  We have joined Owensboro for $40 a year for several years, and because they are a member of ASTC this has saved us hundreds of dollars per year as we've gotten into science museums and some children's museum for free. Back when I joined ASTC, I looked into joining AZA (zoo membership) and/or ACM (children's museum membership). At that time I thought ASTC was the best because you get in FREE at all the other museums whereas with the other two memberships  most of the time you "only" get a 50% discount. Plus there are many children's museums that are members of both ASTC and ACM.

After talking with a friend on Wednesday afternoon, I decided to research the membership options again because ours will be expiring next month, and I need to renew it before we go on vacation because we're planning on visiting several places for free via our ASTC membership. This one (in NC) was the cheapest ($69 for a family) I found that gives you ASTC membership plus AZA (zoo membership). Some places that give you AZA membership the most you can get is 50% off at the others who participate in the reciprocity agreement, but others you can get 100% off at some zoos (and 50% off at the rest). Even though this one has such a low price, it actually is at the 100% rate at some zoos. I also researched NARM, ROAM, Time Travelers, AHS (botanical gardens), and a few others. I saw several museums listed with Time Travelers that we plan to visit within the next twelve months such as the Mercer Museum and National Civil War Museum. NARM offers free admission just like ASTC. Had I joined that previously, I would have saved a lot of money as I paid full price for 5 tickets to the Museum of the American Revolution in November when visiting Maurice in Philadelphia. Time Travelers is very vague though in that it says "discounted admission" and doesn't state how much the discount is - hopefully more than say $1. Another museum that seems to offer a good deal if you are looking for multiple memberships is the Kern County Museum which charges $125 a year for a family to receive ASTC, ACM, NARM, and Time Travelers.

Since we were studying animals for the past two years, we visited quite a few zoos in that time period. Unfortunately, Nadia is not a big fan of zoos (she has a better attitude toward aquariums). She enjoys Reptiland (a zoo located less than 10 minutes from our house) because she loves feeding the birds. We go there once a year for free through our PBS membership. I also am planning to take the kids to Lake Tobias because Oliver was so small the last time we went he doesn't even remember it. Neither of those are members of AZA but the kids get in free to both through the PBS membership. So at this moment I'm leaning towards either renewing with Owensboro again for $40 or joining Kern County, if I can determine how much we'd save at the ones listed as "discounted admission" so I can determine if we would actually save money by spending an extra $85 on our annual membership.

Physically I have bounced back from the shock/grief of losing my brother. By that I mean that I am sleeping normally and the nausea has gone away. I can still have moments where I feel like bursting into tears, but I have been crying far less often than I did at first. One of my students used Starbursts in her math lesson yesterday, and that was a trigger for me as Starbursts were one of his two most favorite types of candy. Thankfully I managed to keep it together. Emotionally it's a whole different story. I feel numb and have this strong urge to just stay home All. The. Time. That doesn't actually happen very often. I ventured out of the house once today (took Nadia to art class), have no plans to leave our property tomorrow (unless I need to buy gas for the lawn mower), and only plan to go to church on Sunday, but that's not typical. I still find pleasure in physical affection. I crave it more than usual. I also still find pleasure in taking a walk outside, but other than that it's virtually impossible for me to look forward to something or feel excited. For most things my general feeling is "I couldn't give a rip." I keep doing most things even if my heart is not in them at the moment. Paul mentioned something about the NFL draft. I could care less about football right now. Maybe by the time the season begins I'll be interested in watching the Steelers play, but at the moment I haven't the slightest interest. It would be awesome if by some miracle this "numbness" would go away within a month, but I am dubious. I say that because I'd love to enjoy the vacation this year. I remember how I felt in San Diego last year, and it wasn't pleasant. Prior to Maurice's passing, I had really been looking forward to our vacation. When you have a cold or something like that you have an idea of  when you will probably be feeling back to normal (ex. 10-14 days). I wish it was possible to know when I will bounce back emotionally and feel normal again, but I have no idea what the time frame will be for this.

Grand Prix #7

Yesterday Nadia completed her eighth year of AWANA. During the 2014-15 year the kids attended AWANA at our church, and our church didn't have a Grand Prix. The other seven years she attended AWANA at the Alliance Church that is about one mile from our house. All three kids received awards for finishing their books. Nadia received a trophy for completing her 3rd book in T and T (the program for grades 3-6). She wants to earn the Timothy Award that is given for completing all four books, which means she's decided to attend AWANA next year instead of the middle school youth group at our church (which also meets from 6:30-8:00 on Wednesday nights). One of our neighbors (Madeline) earned the Timothy Award last night. Various Christian colleges offer scholarships (some greater than $10K) depending on what award you earn from AWANA. Ian received a medallion for completing his first book in T and T. Altogether Nadia has completed 8 books and Ian has completed 6 books thus far in AWANA. Nadia and Ian started

in Cubbies when they were three-years-old. Oliver started in Puggles when he was two-years-old so he technically has completed five years of AWANA thus far. Nadia and Ian completed the silver level of their books, but no mention was made of that last night. The first two years Nadia was in T&T she only completed the bronze level. Neither of them attempted the gold level. That would have involved learning FAR more verses per week. When Nadia and Ian were in the 1st grade Sparks program they went through the book twice and completed the extra credit book. Oliver just finished the book one time, but they all finished! The kids have been entering cars in the Grand Prix for seven years, and we have been consistent in that none of our kids have ever won an award for design or speed. They give out 9 trophies - 3 for design and 6 for speed (the preschoolers earn 3 for speed and K-6 earn 3 for speed). Madeline won 1st place for design. Her car looked like a hot dog with ketchup on it. She or her brother usually win at least one trophy each year for either speed and/or design. Nadia plays with a girl in our neighborhood who is two years younger than her. I have been encouraging Nadia to also spend time with Madeline and Ellie. Madeline is one year older than Nadia, and Ellie is two years older than Nadia. Nadia knows both girls from AWANA and also from when the Alliance Church used to have a summer musical program.

Paul's parents joined us last night, and then they took the kids home with them once the program was over. On Monday night Paul never went to bed. Aside from driving home to bring our kids back to his parent's house, he was at work from early Monday morning through Tuesday night. I can't imagine working that many hours straight without sleep. Last night he got a few hours of sleep before leaving for work at 3am. I had thought the kids would have five days of school this week, but they are only having three days of school this week due to Paul not being able to homeschool them this week. He has two more days with them next week, and that will be the end of his involvement for this school year. Tomorrow will be day #162. We are required to complete 180 days in Pennsylvania. We are allowed to count days from July 1 through June 30. We should hit #168 on May 6, which will be our last day. Field trips to places like Jamestown, Williamsburg, Yorktown, Valley Forge, etc. will account for days #169-186. I think the last day that will count will be June 15 when the kids are registered to participate in a 5 hour program at Fort Frederick. I gave our next homeschool affidavit to the AWANA commander last night because she is a notary public. I will submit that along with our documentation from the woman who will be doing our homeschool review by the end of June. Nadia and Ian are taking their standardized tests next week.

Yesterday I took the kids to the children's museum. They had one hour program on code breaking for homeschoolers in grades 3-5. Nadia and Ian enjoyed the program while Oliver enjoyed playing in the museum, and I had the pleasure of talking to another homeschooling mom I've known for several years. It's rare for me to have a conversation with another mom. Most days the only people I have personal conversations with are my kids (and Paul if he is home when I'm awake). I am hoping the museum will continue to offer more programs for homeschoolers. This museum is much closer to our house than the other one that has offered programs for homeschoolers for years. Also, at the moment we are members of this museum and not the other one.

I was scheduled to visit a student teacher this morning but had to reschedule due to their testing schedule. So I am home alone - blogging and grading. The kids and I have NOTHING on our calendar for Saturday which means I should have time to mow the lawn and also get caught up on grading. I really miss my morning hugs and snuggles today, but I'm going to take advantage of this rare time of being home alone by going on a walk before I leave for work at 11:15. Yesterday I had my interview with the search and screen committee. I think it went well. I found out that a professor I have been friends with since 2004 is on the committee this year. At this point we are hoping that the professor who has been on leave for the last year will officially retire and I can continue to teach two sections of the math methods course each semester (which would mean I would be 50% of full-time).

Home Alone

A few months ago the kids watched a couple of the Home Alone movies. I had forgotten that Trump was in one of the movies, but they spotted him and asked "isn't that President Trump?" Tonight I am home alone. Paul called me as I was making dinner to say that he was going to come home around 7:30pm and then leave shortly after that to take the kids to his parents' house. Earlier he had said that he would be taking the kids to his parents when he went to work on Tuesday and Thursday this week. Normally Paul stays home from work those two days to homeschool the kids while I'm at work. His brother and sister-in-law are on vacation this week, and this is a busy time of year for the plant. When the weather warms up people are more likely to shop at a lawn and garden store. He didn't think he could stay away from the plant while his brother was away. I readjusted the lesson plans somewhat, and I also had the kids do twice as much work in some subjects today to try and make up for the fact they won't be doing any schoolwork tomorrow. Instead of my kids being outside playing while the neighbors are in school, today it was the opposite. The kids in the neighborhood didn't have school today (due to Easter break), and my kids were inside doing schoolwork. I did make sure they had some time to play outside before we had to leave for their gymnastics classes. This means Paul just has three more days of helping with homeschooling the kids for this school year (April 30, May 2, and May 6). Whether he continues to help some next school year will depend on whether I continue teaching at BU or not. My interview has been scheduled for this Wednesday morning. Math, science, and history are the three subjects he enjoys teaching the most although zoology is not his favorite aspect of science. One of our topics recently has been the Erie Canal. It's so much easier to talk about canals and locks considering they actually experienced them last August when we boarded an Erie canal cruise in Lockport, NY. We've also been talking about the Mexican American War, but a field trip to the Alamo is out of the question at the moment. I'm thankful though that it's possible to drive to many different historical sites given where we live.

Today was the last gymnastics class for this session. It might be the last one ever for our kids. Nadia has been in Bolts (level 2) for many years. Ian only joined that level this past fall. For awhile now she has really wanted to be promoted to Surge (level 3), but she hasn't mastered all the skills that are required for that promotion. It's been hard for her to watch children as young as six years old be promoted when she is told she still has to stay in Bolts at the age of almost eleven years old. I feel badly that she wasn't able to achieve her goal of making it to level 3. One upside is the gymnastic classes are not cheap so we will definitely save money by eliminating that expense from the budget. The other upside is it gives us another day that we can just stay home each week. We haven't done gymnastics year round. We always take a break in the summer (sometimes we've done it until the end of June but that's the longest we've gone), and we haven't done it while they've been doing a team sport (whether that was soccer, basketball, softball, or flag football). If we bring an end to gymnastics and tennis lessons, that means the athletic things the kids will be involved in will be as follows: homeschool gym class (90 minutes on Fridays), Upward basketball (one game a week for eight weeks plus a few more weeks than that of one night a week practices), and ice skating lessons. I wasn't as impressed with the swimming lessons this year at Bucknell so I'm not certain if I'd splurge on that again next year or not.

It's going to be strange to wake up tomorrow without anyone else in the house. Usually Oliver is the first one up, and he usually snuggles with me before we go downstairs. This morning Ian was the first one up (about 6:45), and we snuggled for awhile. Oliver and Nadia didn't actually get up until 8:30 this morning, which meant we started schoolwork later than usual, which wasn't the ideal scenario since we were trying to do more work than usual today, but I hate to wake the kids up so I usually let them sleep whenever possible. Typically we start breakfast by 7:30. I will miss the hugs and snuggles tomorrow morning. I'll be observing a student teacher at 9:00 and then heading to the university. I'll get home around 8:15pm. I will have a little time to shop at Lowe's on my way to the university tomorrow as my office hours don't start until 12:00. I have some coupons that expire the end of this month so I'm planning to buy a few things like new window well covers and Drylok (for the basement walls). Paul suggested getting a new grill. Ours was broken last week when a tornado went through the area. Our grill was flipped upside down. We don't use the grill very often, and frankly the thing terrifies me after the fire I experienced on the deck when using it once a few years ago. He also suggested I could get a storm door as I've wanted one of those for several years, but until he finishes the master bathroom floor (which has been on the to do list for almost exactly 3 years), I don't want to buy something else that will be added to his to do list.

The good news is that I only have FIVE more days of being separated from the kids due to being at work  - two days this week, two days next week, and one the week after that. The end is in sight. Usually if I see a student teacher and have a little gap I come home to help with homeschooling and eat an early lunch before leaving the house at 11:15, but since the kids won't be at home I decided to see if my friend, Cheri, could meet me at Lowe's tomorrow. I haven't seen her in many months. It will be great to see her, plus she worked at Lowe's for several years so that is right up her alley.

Happy Birthday/Easter!

My birthday has sometimes been very close to Easter (the day before or after Easter), but it took 47 years for my birthday to be on the same day as Easter. I always liked it when my birthday was near Easter when I was a child as that often meant my birthday fell during spring break. April 21 will be Easter again on 2030; if I'm still alive at that point I'll be celebrating my 58th birthday on Easter Sunday. I am in NO rush for the next eleven years to fly by because at that point my youngest will be almost 18 years old. The thought of an empty nest is VERY unappealing to me at the moment. As I was about to walk backstage to join the choir last night, Ian ran up and asked if he could give me a hug first. Oh how I savor those moments.

Since the kids were dressed up and it was nice outside, I took pictures. Ian normally wears glasses, but I was getting an awful glare with his glasses so I took his pictures without glasses on.

He is RISEN!

Two chocolate cakes

The weather forecast for the day, even when I checked it this morning, did not look promising for egg hunts. The librarians hid the eggs inside the library because of the weather forecast. They had two eggs which contained a "gold" coin. Nadia found one of them, which meant she received a chocolate cake. Each plastic egg contained a penny, piece of candy (or a sticker), and a letter. At the end the kids would spell out the words candy or basket. For every time they spelled out the words, they received a ticket for the drawing. There were supposedly four "p's" along with MANY h's and o's. If you spelled "pop" you could receive a prize basket. Only two "p's" were actually found (we didn't have any), so they used the tickets for drawing two of the prize baskets also. They had three total cakes to give away. Ian's ticket was drawn, and he received a smaller cake. We've gone to this egg hunt at the library for many years, and this was the first time we won a cake - and we won two cakes! I had planned to make an apple crisp for Easter dinner tomorrow, but in light of us bringing home two cakes, I might pass on making the apple crisp. Although I actually prefer an apple crisp to a chocolate cake, and since tomorrow is my birthday I might end up making the apple crisp anyhow.

I should have brought the cakes in as soon as we got home, but I didn't bring them in until a few hours later. Oops! Nadia's cake fared just fine, but Ian's cake had some melting issues. I put it in the refrigerator for a bit. I'm sure it didn't affect the taste, but it definitely doesn't look as pretty as it did when we first received it. We went directly from the library to the second egg hunt. It sprinkled a little at that one (I got out my umbrella for a little bit), but it was warm enough the kids didn't mind. All three kids were in the same division at the library as they only split the kids in half. At the 11:00 egg hunt Oliver was in the second division (ages 4-8) and the other two were in the oldest division (ages 9-12). Most of the eggs were plastic eggs with a prize ticket or candy inside. There were also a few hard boiled eggs. The kids collected a fair amount of eggs, but none of them had a prize egg. The kids each got a hot dog as we left. We came home and ate a bit more lunch, and then I went out and started mowing the lawn. The third "egg" hunt actually is just candy strewn over the park with only 10 total eggs (all prize eggs).

That one is divided into five divisions. Oliver was with 1st/2nd grade, Ian with 3rd/4th grade, and Nadia with 5th/6th grade. Most of the egg hunts are for 0-12 years old, which means she can participate two more years, but next year will be her last at that egg hunt since she'll be in 6th grade next year. The church where she goes to youth group on Sunday nights has an egg hunt for grades 7-12 that's done in the dark; she thinks that sounds like fun. After the third egg hunt, I finished mowing the lawn just before it was time to head to the last egg hunt, which was the one held at the playground we go to the most often. We could have walked there, but given I needed more time to finish mowing, we drove. They divide the kids into four divisions. Nadia didn't get many eggs, but the boys did. All three of my kids were in different divisions at that egg hunt. None of them got any prize eggs. So this year Nadia found two prize eggs (April 14 and April 20), and Ian found one prize egg (April 13) and won one drawing (April 20). Oliver struck out this year, but we brought home more than 3 dozen hardboiled eggs, a bunch of pennies (haven't counted them yet), and a LOT of candy.

It poured yesterday, but we were very fortunate today. At the third egg hunt, the MC even said at the end (in reference to the weather) "God is good" which surprised me as it was not an egg hunt sponsored by a church but by a Lions Club. Including driving time it was about 4hr 45 minutes from the time we left for the first egg hunt and got home from the last one, which meant in the span of less than five hours we attended four egg hunts, I mowed the lawn (which takes a little more than an hour), and we ate lunch (while I read a chapter book to them about the California Gold Rush). Whew! After that it was time for Saturday chores (vacuuming, dusting, cleaning the bathrooms, etc.), dinner, and then we headed to church. I had to be there by 5:15 as the choir warms up 45 minutes before the service. The first four pictures are from earlier this month. The last three are from today.