Fables, Trains, and Trampolines!

Yesterday the kids and I enjoyed a lovely day together. We left the house around 8:30. Our first stop was the FM Kirby Center in Wilkes Barre where we saw a one hour production that featured several of Aesop's Fables. Sometimes we go to things that are more geared for Ian and/or Nadia; the average age in the audience of this production was closer to Oliver's age. They all enjoyed it. We ate our packed lunches in the van as we drove for about 25 minutes to Steamtown National Historic Site. We spent about 2.5 hours there, and all three kids earned their Junior Ranger Badges and also got their National Park Passports stamped. I skipped having them stamped at Ellis Island/Statue of Liberty on Tuesday because no bags are allowed when going up to the crown. In addition to badges, they also received nice patches and certificates today. We had taken the kids there once before when Nadia was seven years old. It was our first time attempting a Junior Ranger badge, but she didn't complete the whole booklet in 2015. This year all three kids completed their booklets with some help from Mom. I must say I really like the Junior Ranger program. It makes tackling a museum manageable for children ages 6-10. It forces us to read SOME of the informational signs, but we don't have to read every word of every sign. I want to buy something that I can use to display all of their Junior Ranger badges in each of their bedrooms. I'm hoping by the time they graduate from high school they have amassed a nice collection of them! Next up should be Valley Forge.

Steamtown is right next to a mall. We walked on an elevated walkway (walking above the trains) up to the mall. As we were walking Oliver said that he had prayed this morning and asked God to give us a pretty, sunny day. Oliver's prayer was answered! After spending three days touring sites in cold, rainy weather it was nice to be out in such pretty weather (70's and sunny). The kids played in Bee's Backyard (indoor playland) for about one hour. We can go there once a year for free because of our WVIA membership. On our way to our last stop for the day, we got breakfast sandwiches at Dunkin' Donuts (using a gift card the kids got at Easter) for an early dinner. Our last stop was at Sky Zone, which is a trampoline park where the kids are allowed to bounce for one hour for free each year again thanks to our WVIA membership. After they bounced, we stopped and got some treats at McDonald's before driving home. During our drives we listened to a little more than one hour of Elijah of Buxton, part of the CD for their musical, the radio, and about 45 minutes of No Talking. They each were allowed to have one 20 minute iPad turn, but they didn't watch any DVDs during our time in the van yesterday. Our entire adventure lasted ten hours, and we didn't pay a dime for any of the activities, and I used gift cards for dinner. The only costs involved were parking ($2.50 in the meter so we could see Aesop's Fables) and whatever amount of gas we used today while I drove us there and back. Not bad, eh? Field trips don't have to cost a lot of money.

If you can't tell, I am so grateful to be able to JUST focus on my kids and housework and not also trying to juggle a job on the side, although I did receive a reference request from a school district today. But generally speaking BU hasn't been taking any of my time for the past week. Our new deck is the same length as our old deck, but it's not as wide as our old deck. There was a forsythia bush at the one corner of the old deck. It's placement looked really strange once the deck became smaller. So I cut it down this evening. I started digging up the roots but haven't finished that part of the project yet. There is still a little bit of lumber from the old deck in our yard plus now this bush I removed. So Paul will need to bring home the pick-up truck from work one more time. I feel like I've hardly seen Paul over the past two weeks. He's been going to bed even before me. Tonight he was home for a little more than an hour before he went to bed, and during that time he was awake he was showering, eating dinner, etc. while we were doing other things, so our paths barely crossed. We did move the broken grill together this evening so I can mow the lawn tomorrow. If it wasn't broken, I could have moved it myself.

Thankful Thursday

Somehow I let almost a full month pass without writing a gratitude list. Oops! Here are some things I've been thankful for over the past 4 weeks:

1. We had beautiful weather for the four Easter egg hunts the kids attended on April 20. They didn't end up with any prize eggs at three of the egg hunts, but we came home with two cakes from the one at the library. Plus we came home with many pennies and lots of candy.

2. Paul's parents joined us for Easter dinner at our house.

3. I really loved two of the songs my choir sang in the past four weeks.

4. The Lewisburg Children's Museum offered a program for homeschoolers for the first time on April 24.

5. Aside from Ian, we've all been healthy for two months. Ian came down with a cold last Thursday, and I'm thankful that thus far it doesn't seem like any of us caught his bug.

6. Ian did a great job with his solo at church on April 28.

7. Ian and Nadia both did really well on their reading test on May 1.

8. I got some great bargains at Milton's yard sales on May 3-4.

9. Ian had a blast at his first sleepover at Micah's house.

10. The kids and I enjoyed the church's annual dinner on May 5.

11. I was able to get my haircut without any children present. I can't remember the last time that happened (years ago).

12. I finished all my work for the spring semester on May 8. I am still plenty busy with caring for three kids and doing housework. It's lovely to not also be juggling a FT job.

13. Nadia and Oliver loved the zip lining. All three kids enjoyed the nature scavenger hunt, reptiles/amphibians program, and rock wall climbing at Refreshing Mountain. I believe we will be returning there again in the future!

14. We enjoyed having dinner with Kay and Allen Artz on our way home from Refreshing Mountain. It's very rare for me to have a meal with friends so I don't take it for granted when the opportunity arises!

15. Despite the icky weather and the fire alarm waking us up during the night once, the kids and I had a nice three day getaway. We were able to visit Pennsbury Manor (William Penn's home), Washington Crossing Historic Park, the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton, Statue of Liberty, Ellis Island, and Liberty Science Center. The kids and I love field trip days! Probably not too many people document Mother's Day as one of their days of school, but since we had an educational field trip and also listened to a chapter book about slaves who escaped to freedom in Canada, I counted it!

16. Although I wasn't in the mood to celebrate my birthday this year, I am grateful for the 47 years of life He has granted me thus far. Knowing my brother only made it to 35, I am not taking these years for

granted. I received flowers from Paul, a gift card, and money from Paul's parents and my Dad. I purchased one item thus far with my birthday money. I spent about $20 on Bluetooth earbuds, which meant the last two times I mowed the lawn I was able to listen to music while I did so.

17. I've lost 23 pounds so far. The weight has come off a lot more slowly over the past month, but at least I'm still going in the right direction. My goal is to lose 12 more pounds. I'm thankful I've been getting more exercise now that my semester is over. Hopefully I can continue to get exercise more regularly which is good for a variety of reasons but also will hopefully help me shed the last 12 pounds. It's nice to be able to wear clothes again that hadn't fit for awhile. If I lose 12 more all my clothes will definitely fit.

18. I'm eternally grateful that Jesus died for my sins. I am thankful for that every single day, but I thought about it even more than usual in light of celebrating Easter and also my 43rd spiritual birthday over the past four weeks. I can't imagine

 how much worse the grieving process would be if I didn't have the assurance that I'd see my mom and brother again some day and that they are together now.

19. We have a new deck! I view it as a very expensive set of stairs since that's the only reason we really got the deck. We needed a way to get from the kitchen to the ground. The deck wasn't in good shape when we bought the house in 2008, and we didn't do a good job of maintaining it. Then it became even more of an eyesore when Paul started ripping some of it out in 2017. I'm very grateful that has been crossed off the to do list.

20. It was nice to have a few days off of cooking over the weekend and to only need to pay for one meal thanks to gift cards and hotels that offered a free breakfast. I love to eat at Olive Garden and can go years in between visits there so that was a treat. It has also been years since I had a smoothie so that was a treat at Red Robin.

21. Mother's Day is a bit sad as I

miss my mom, but I'm thankful that for many years we kept in close contact through almost daily phone calls, emails, etc. Her hugs were the best! I'm also very, very, very thankful for my three kids. Celebrating birthdays, Mother's Day, Father's Day, etc. is not their forte in life. I keep hoping some day they'll get the idea to make me something for Mother's Day or my birthday, but thus far that hasn't crossed their minds. The only time I ever got a handmade gift from them for a holiday was last year. The babysitter helped them make me something for Valentine's Day (it's on my kitchen wall and I adore it) and for Mother's Day. Of course I'm not exactly the most artsy craftsy person in the world (to put it mildly) so that might be why it doesn't cross their minds. I love them to pieces, and they give the best hugs. Snuggling with Oliver and/or Ian in the morning is the best way to start my day.

22. I'm thankful for books we can listen to in the van. It really helps to pass the time. I'm thankful that a friend recently told me about accessing Hoopla

via the Philadelphia Free Library as we can get audiobooks there for free - even better than Audible!

23. Oliver continues to make great progress with his reading skills. He should finish Level 3 this month.

24. Although we had a few cold days recently, in general the temperatures have been warming up, which is great news for me as I'm not a fan of winter weather.

We made it to the top!

Nadia has been wanting to go to the Statue of Liberty for at least three years. She might have made the request earlier than that, but the farthest back I can recall her asking was 2016. She wanted to go to the crown. I was waiting until Oliver was tall enough (48 inch height requirement) and Ian was brave enough. Ian has had a fear of heights since he was a toddler. It was a major accomplishment to teach him how to climb the stairs in our home. There have been times on vacations when he's started up something (such as a lighthouse) and turned around in terror without making it anywhere near the top. He enjoys riding roller coasters but is scared of climbing steps when the flights of stairs are more narrow than usual. No one measured Oliver's height so I'm thinking they are not actually very strict about that. Our last stop of the three day trip was the Liberty Science Center, and there was an activity (walking an I-beam) that had a 48 inch height requirement, and they did measure him for that and deemed him tall enough. When Ian refused to try the zip lining last week, I was a little concerned about the climbing to the crown of the statue. On the way up I decided we'd take the elevator to the top of the pedestal and just walk from the top of the pedestal to the crown. On the way down we took the stairs the entire way. On the way up I had Nadia take the lead followed by Oliver and Ian, and I took up the rear. When Ian wanted to quit out of fear, I didn't give him the option, and I reminded him of the verse "I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me." When we got to the top, he had no desire to look out and wanted to start heading back down ASAP. I took the lead on the way down. Oliver was behind me, then Ian, and Nadia took up the rear. He was very relieved once we got to the pedestal and the stairway became much wider.

Here's a recap of our three day adventure. We left from church on Sunday and ate our packed lunches as we drove to Pennsbury Manor, the home of William Penn. It was raining cats and dogs that day, and the path from the visitor center to his home seemed like one giant puddle. The four of us had a private tour of the house, and then our family plus another family enjoyed a living history theatre presentation of a reenactment of a women's meeting (Quakers). At the end we were asked to sign a document (with a quill pen) promising we would not become drowsy during worship or the meetings. The other family had one child with them, and would you believe her name was also Nadia? I was stunned when I looked at the paper to think there were only two girls in the room (not counting the adult females) and both were named Nadia? Speaking of names, they had baby dedications at Church on Sunday - 17 total (not all babies as some were older children who had recently been adopted from the foster care system), and one of the babies dedicated on Sunday was named Oliver. When we picked his name, it wasn't very common. That has changed in the past 7 years! Nadia however is still a name we don't encounter that often. After touring Pennsbury Manor we drove to an Olive Garden that was en route to our hotel. I can't recall the last time I ate at an Olive Garden. I used a gift card that Wendy had given me for my birthday to pay for most of the cost of our meals. I had breadsticks, soup, and salad. Yum! We checked into our hotel, the kids watched The Secret Life of Pets on tv from 7-9pm, and then we all went to bed. Both nights I had selected a room with two queen beds. The boys shared one bed, and I shared a bed with Nadia. The beds came with four pillows each. We each used one pillow for our heads, and the other four pillows we used to form barriers in the beds so we'd each keep to our own side of the bed.

I thought I had selected a hotel that was fairly close to the Washington Crossing Park, but it turns out there are multiple Washington Crossing Parks (both in PA and NJ). If I could go back in time I'd have picked a hotel closer to Pennsbury Manor. I hadn't expected to get a free breakfast that morning, but it turned out the Holiday Inn was offering a nice (free) hot buffet to hotel guests. I had planned to go to Subway to get our lunches to take to Washington Crossing Park. It turned out to be a blessing that the kids ate a bigger than usual breakfast (I ate my usual oatmeal to try to stick with my diet) because for awhile I wasn't finding any Subway restaurants. Then I stopped at a grocery store thinking I'd pick up some ready made sandwiches there. No dice. I only got a box of Caprisun drinks for the kids. Then I found a Subway only to discover at 9:45 they hadn't started baking their bread for the day yet.  I didn't think my kids wanted to eat wraps. Then I turned off the GPS a little prematurely and went into the wrong Washington Crossing Park. Thankfully we got to the correct one before the school group did. During the two hour program the kids rotated between stations where they played colonial games, learned about the musket used by Washington's army, wrote with quills and learned about the spy code used by the Continental Army, saw replicas of the four boats used to carry the army across the Delaware, etc. It was another VERY cold and rainy day. Sunday and Monday the highs were in the 40's and it was pouring a large portion of the day. When we got back to the hotel that night, our socks were all soaked and our feet were wrinkled. After the school program was done, my kids and I watched a 15 minute video about the battle. We snacked on some fruit that I had brought from home and drove 3-4 miles to two other parts of the historic park - Bowman's Hill tower and the Thompson-Neely House. Two famous guests at that house included James Monroe and a cousin of George Washington. The house was used as a hospital during Washington's winter campaign.

Our next stop was the Old Barracks Museum in Trenton. If you are ever in Trenton, I recommend you visit! It's the only remaining military barracks in North America. The British built it during the French and Indian War, and the vast majority of the structure has not needed to be reconstructed (original roof dating to the 1750s). It was also used during the Revolutionary War. Since our lunch had only consisted of some fruit, we were all very hungry. Because of that we skipped watching the movie after our hour long guided tour. We stopped for dinner at a Red Robin a little before 4pm. It was the perfect place to go because they serve many things "bottomless" (free refills). Nadia had two servings of French fries, three servings of macaroni and cheese, and two apple juices. Oliver only had seconds on the macaroni and cheese. Ian just ate one serving of what was included in his meal. I ordered a bowl of chili, and because I had so few calories for lunch, I was able to finish my meal with a fruit smoothie. Yum! We drove to Jersey City so that we'd have a short drive on Tuesday morning. The traffic made the drive longer than expected, but we were checked into our room before 7pm that night. The kids watched shows on PBS and then we went to bed at 9pm. The kids did some reading every day so they could earn turns on the iPad. Ian finished two chapter books during out getaway, and Oliver made progress in his level 3 reader that I'm hoping he'll finish over the next two weeks (before we head on vacation). This motel wasn't as nice as the Holiday Inn in Princeton, but it was fine for one night. I knew that it included a (simpler) free breakfast. The biggest negative of our stay at this Inn was that the fire alarms went off at 11:15. It woke Nadia and I up, but somehow the boys managed to sleep through the ear splitting sirens. I kept opening the door and trying to decide if I should wake them up, gather our belongings, and get in our vehicle. The fire department showed up and shortly after their arrival the alarms finally went off. Whew. My adrenaline was pumping though so it took me a long time to fall back asleep even though I was exhausted from driving in the torrential rain so close to NYC.

I brought my camera and lens bag on our trip, but I didn't use it at all on Sunday due to the torrential rain. On Monday I took it out once (at the tower). I took a few pictures with my cell phone. I know some people get some amazing cell phone pictures. I am not one of them. I REALLY, REALLY, REALLY prefer to use my DSLR camera. But not so great cell phone pictures are better than none at all. When I checked the weather forecast for Tuesday, it again showed showers throughout the day so I left my camera in the van when we parked to board the ferry to Ellis Island. I know I made the right decision because it wouldn't have been worth the risk, but it turned out it didn't start raining until just as we walked back to our van from the ferry at the end. I was bummed not to be able to use my camera on that adventure; it was a little warmer on Tuesday (got up into the mid 50's) which we also appreciated. We spent about two hours at Ellis Island and another two at the Statue of Liberty. Including our ferry rides the adventure lasted about five hours. The kids earned Junior Ranger Badges at Ellis Island. I was going to have them do the same at the Statue of Liberty, but the badge they earned at Ellis Island listed both places. Plus they said they'd rather visit the Liberty Science Center than earn a second badge. So we drove less than a mile, paid another $7 parking (which is cheap considering it's practically in NYC) and spent about 90 minutes in the science museum. The parking was our only cost as we got in free with our ASTC membership. It rained some on the way home but it wasn't raining as hard which I appreciated. Naturally there was a lot of traffic for the first part of the drive. In general Oliver has come a long way in terms of his behavior on long drives. It used to be a complete nightmare to drive much more than an hour with him. Our longest drive of this getaway was the one home yesterday, and the last part he was miserable. He cried about Everything - even what song they were playing the radio. I kid you not. Ian helped some by letting Oliver hold one of his stuffed animals. During our drives we alternated between listening to a book on CD (Elijah of Buxton) and watching Veggie Tales DVDs. We also listened to the kids' musical on CD and the book, Lost and Found via Hoopla by using my phone and a portable Bluetooth speaker.

Today we are staying home sweet home aside from a trip to the grocery store, and I have choir rehearsal this evening. Micah and Isaiah are spending about five hours at our house today. Tomorrow is another field trip day, and then Friday through Monday we will be at home aside from trips to church and also a birthday party. Next Tuesday through Thursday will be field trip days again although we won't be staying at any hotels. We are planning on spending one night at a friend's house after we tour Valley Forge. The last few days we were wearing winter coats, and today the kids are wearing shorts and asking me if they can use water balloons. The weather was far from ideal on our trip, but we visited interesting places and made it back home safely. Thanks to gift cards, a packed lunch, and two free breakfasts at the hotels, the only meal we had to pay for was lunch at Ellis Island. It was a very overpriced lunch. Packing that day would have been a wise move, but considering we took a three day trip and only paid for one meal, we did pretty well I think. The food on Ellis Island wasn't cheap, but at least it wasn't nearly as overpriced at Disney.

Mother's Day Weekend

When I was a child, Mother's Day was a chance to honor my beloved mom. During my twenties it became a holiday I dreaded. I usually didn't go to church on Mother's Day. First because I was single and wondering if I'd ever get married and become a mom. We got married when I was 29 years old, and it wasn't long into our marriage that we realized we were dealing with infertility. Mother's Day was even more difficult during the years we were trying unsuccessfully to grow our family through pregnancy or adoption. I think the hardest one of all was 2007 when I was 35 and we realized we were coming to a dead end with our efforts to adopt both within the US and Ukraine. Mother's Day was completely different in 2008 when I was in my third trimester with Nadia. I am so very, very grateful for my three miracles. I absolutely love being a mother! Every Mother's Day, I still find myself thinking of women whose arms are empty either due to pregnancy loss, infertility, or singleness. In May 2016 I knew that it would be my mom's last Mother's Day on earth. I had planned to go to

Maryland and visit her that weekend. She talked me out of it. If I could go back in time, I would have come down anyway. Mother's Day in 2017 and 2018 was hard for a totally different reason. I couldn't talk to my mom or give her a hug. I still miss my mom very much, but life without a mom here on earth has become the new "normal" given in two months she'll have been gone for three years. My grief over losing my brother has far overshadowed any grief related to missing my mom on Mother's Day. Also, my brother's passing has helped me see a positive of my mom's homegoing. I am very, very grateful she didn't have to experience losing Maurice while she was alive on earth. To wish that she was still here with us would be to wish that she would walk this painful road. Instead, she has been reunited with him in Glory. Similarly, it helps me emotionally to think that Maurice has able to hug mom again. I am very thankful for my mom and look forward to being reunited with her some day. Speaking of my children, she loved them dearly, and that meant the world to me. I wish

they had been able to enjoy more years with her here on earth, but again I have the hope that they will spend eternity with their grandma.

Tomorrow morning Paul will be going to work and then he'll be sharing a meal at his parent's house. Millie is cooking the meal. I had the kids each make her something yesterday, and I bought her a few things for Mother's Day. We love Grandma Kennedy very much also and hope she has a special Mother's Day with her two sons! I'm taking the kids to church, and then we're leaving right from church to drive to Pennsbury Manor, which was the home of William Penn. Originally I had planned to take them there this month when they were having a special program for school children, but it turns out you have to make arrangements more than four months in advance as they were already booked when I got around to making our reservation. We're staying at a hotel near Princeton, NJ tomorrow night as we do have reservations to participate in a program for school children at

Washington Crossing Park on Monday. I also plan to take the kids to the Old Barracks Museum (also from the Revolutionary War) in Trenton that afternoon before we drive to Jersey City for our second night at a hotel. Tuesday we plan to walk to the top of the Statue of Liberty and also visit Ellis Island before returning home. I have packed our lunches to eat in the van after we leave church tomorrow, but we will be eating out the next seven meals. Breakfast is included at the second hotel. I am bringing gift cards for McDonald's, Subway, Red Robin, Dunkin Donuts, etc. and hope that several of those meals will be covered by gift cards. I have packed some fruit and granola bars. We've been wearing short sleeved shirts, but we packed long sleeve shirts for the trip. The weather was pretty today, but the forecast doesn't look as great for the next three days. Thankfully thus far none of us are showing signs of catching Ian's cold, and Ian was doing a bit better today. 

Originally I had planned to go to commencement today, but Paul needed to go to work and the

kids couldn't go to Grandma's house as we didn't want to expose Grandma to Ian's germs as she just had a chemo treatment this week. Awhile ago I had scheduled a history event on our calendar for today that I was hoping Paul would take the kids to while I was at commencement, but for the kids and I today was a low key day at home. One thing I did was get a library card with the library in Philadelphia because that enabled us to have free access to Hoopla which is quite the gold mine when it comes to audiobooks, movies, etc. I was thrilled to find some books I can access digitally through that library which our local libraries don't have. I will be spending less money on Audible in the future thanks to Hoopla. Today I also renewed our $40 a year membership with the Owensboro museum, which is the best $40 I spend each year as it gives our whole family free access to MANY science museums, children's museums, and even some historic sites. We plan on using the membership quite a few times during our vacation which starts in 17 days!  I have a list of spring cleaning type tasks that I want to tackle over the next three months. Today I vacuumed and cleaned inside the van. That was long overdue! My exercise yesterday was mowing the lawn. I considered walking to a playground today, but I ended up just driving Oliver and Nadia to one instead of walking. The contractor continued to work on our new deck today. He built the steps and installed the privacy lattice around the bottom. Who knows, it might be complete by the time we get home on Tuesday night!

Ziplines and towers and snakes, oh my!

Since I knew I'd be giving my last final exam on Wednesday, I scheduled an all day field trip for Thursday. Last summer Nadia participated in a five day Adventure camp at Bloomsburg University that included ziplining, rock climbing, hiking, and kayaking. She would have liked to do that camp again this year, but I decided instead to sign all three kids up for a one day event at Refreshing Mountain, which is located two hours from our house. We left a little before 8:00am. The kids were divided into four groups (1st/2nd, 3rd/4th, 5th/6th, and 7th-12th) and spent one hour at each of four stations - reptiles and amphibians, a team nature scavenger hunt, climbing a 34 foot tower, and zip lining. Ian started on the ziplining. He got suited up, but every time he was hooked up on the platform, he lacked the courage to step off. Oliver and Nadia went zip lining later in the day, and they both had a blast and did the course twice. They would have taken a third turn if they had been allowed to do so! The climbing tower had different paths - very easy, easy, racing, medium, hard, and very hard. Ian went up part of the very easy side two times. Oliver went part of the way up the racing side twice and part way up the easy side once. Oliver made it to the top of the very easy path! Nadia went part of the way up the racing side and the medium side. She didn't go on the very easy side, and she made it to the top on the easy side. You had to get to the top of medium to attempt hard or very hard so none of my three attempted either of those. I thought Nadia would say the zip lining was her favorite part, but she said the rock climbing was her favorite. Oliver liked the zip lining the best. Since Ian chickened out of the zipline, I was afraid he'd do the same on the climbing tower. I was happy he attempted that activity twice as it hadn't gone very well when he had another rock climbing opportunity two years ago. On our way home, we stopped and had dinner with Kay and Allen. We hadn't seen them in two years. I first met Kay in 1993 when we were in graduate school together in Indiana. Then I got to know her much better in July 1996 as she had been the previous administrator at the school where I was the principal from 1996-2003. Kay will be turning 80 this summer, and her husband is still an electrician at the age of 82! They became great grandparents last year. It was great to see them. 

Ian started coughing a little yesterday. Today he sounds much worse. He wasn't up to participating in gym class today even though they were doing glow in the dark dodgeball, which is a favorite activity. He chose to stay with me as I ran errands instead. We went to the library, eye doctor, produce market, and bought a birthday gift for Aunt Millie while Nadia and Oliver were in gym class. Oliver broke his glasses a week ago. I was hoping it just needed a screw or something. Nope. However, the frames were still under warranty so they put Oliver's lenses into a new frame at no charge. Here's to hoping he takes better care of this second pair of glasses. Oliver played in the indoor playland while Nadia had art class. Ian read a book. The kids had been healthy for almost two months. Paul and I have been healthy for longer than that. I'm praying fervently that none of us catch Ian's cold. I'm encouraging a lot of hand washing and hand sanitizer usage!! The kids and I are leaving on Sunday for a three day trip to New Jersey. We had planned on going to Reptiland today, but due to the weather (had some rain today), my exhaustion from yesterday's adventure, and Ian's cold, we postponed that for two weeks. Since I was bopping back and forth between the climbing tower and ziplines yesterday to take pictures, I ended up walking for three miles yesterday, which meant it was the third time thus far this week I had walked that much in a day. My latest weight loss plateau has ended.

All Done!!

I have finished all my grading and submitted my final mileage report and all the course grades for the semester! WOOHOO! I asked my department chair about the next semester, and she said first it depends on Frank (the man who has been on leave for the last year), overloads (how many faculty want them and how many the Dean approves), and the search committee. Frank has to give word as to whether he is retiring or returning by this Friday. He told me during the fall 2017 semester that he wasn't coming back, which leads me to assume he is retiring, but until it's official, they can't offer me a contract. Another professor did make it official that he's retiring this summer, which means it seems they WILL need adjuncts, but that's the answer I got. At this time last year I knew I was returning. This time around I am still in suspense.

In addition to grading, cooking dinner, and working with Oliver on reading, I also took a 3 mile walk and spent hours working on what books I want to read related to history each week of our school year next year. I am not done with that project, but I made a lot of progress. On Monday all three kids left the house on their bikes while I walked. This time Ian walked with me and the other two rode their bikes. Nadia didn't go the full way. She turned around and went home and played in the backyard until we got back. Ian and I walked three miles total today. I'm not sure why Ian prefers to walk, but he was able to keep up just fine so it wasn't a problem. I've hit a plateau with my weight loss. I'm hoping that adding more exercise to my weekly schedule will help me see the number start going down again.

One more day!

Yesterday was an incredibly beautiful day. It crossed my mind that yesterday's weather would have been perfect for a day at Knoebels, but that was not to be. It also hit me that I'm not sure how Paul would have finished removing the deck if we had gone to Knoebels on Sunday afternoon. He didn't go to church on Sunday morning because of the deck project, and he was still working on it when the kids and I left around 4:20pm to go to the church dinner that night. He worked a really long day at the plant yesterday (left at 4am and got home at 7pm) so there wouldn't have been time for him to work on it yesterday. He did the last little bit this morning before the contractor arrived. He is exhausted!

Yesterday my agenda included some homeschooling, taking a walk while the kids rode their bikes (a little shy of 3 miles round trip),  typing up the list of goals to submit to the school district for Ian and Nadia for the next school year, and weeding and mulching the flower beds. I had purchased the mulch on April 23. I was glad to finally have time to spread it. Now to see when Paul will have time to install the two window well covers I purchased that day. If I knew how to use a drill, I'd do it myself.

I was bopping back and forth today. I left at 7:45 to go meet with a student teacher. Then I was at home for a few hours before I went to meet with two other student teachers. Next, I was grading at home for about 40 minutes before I left for my haircut appointment. When I got home it was time to get dinner on the table. After dinner I turned my attention to grading for a few hours. I completed the final student teaching rubrics and submitted the course grades for my student teachers. I graded one section of math methods final exams and submitted their course grades. I graded one section of assessment final exams and submitted their courses grades. Throughout the day I also responded to emails from students. My last exam this semester is at 12:30 tomorrow, and it's my smallest section (21 students compared to 35 and 30 in the courses that had exams today). I still have no idea if BU will be offering me a contract for next year. It would be nice if I found out (at least informally) over the next few days because if I'm not returning then I'll turn in my key on Saturday and take a few personal belongings home from my office when I'm on campus for commencement. One thing I didn't do today was take any pictures.

Grading is not my favorite activity in life. I hope I feel a sense of relief after I complete that activity tomorrow as I should have at least a four month break from grading. As far as homeschooling, at this point we're down to two subjects a day - reading and piano. The newest Lemoncello book came out today so we had to switch to that from what we had been reading because Nadia *adores* the Mr. Lemoncello books.

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.