Thankful Thursday

1. Ian had his physical last Friday. I'm thankful that the only time I take the kids to the Pediatrician is for their annual physicals. Ian was thankful that he didn't get any shots. He'll be getting a few immunizations a year from now. The doctor gave me an order so we can get his cholesterol checked. After I get the same form for Nadia I'm going to take all three kids to get them checked next summer in light of the cause of my brother's death. Ian has been growing about 2 inches a year the last few years, and his height has typically been somewhere between the 24th and 30th percentile. He is currently 53 inches tall (27th percentile). Ian weighed 32 pounds in 2012, 35 pounds in 2013, 39 pounds in 2014 (45th percentile), 41 pounds in 2015 (20th percentile), 48 pounds in 2016 (25th percentile), 51 pounds last year (25th percentile), 60 pounds last year (38th percentile), and last week he weighed 63.8 pounds (27th percentile). His weight and height are currently at the exact same percentile (27th), which means there aren't any

concerns about his BMI.

2. Oliver had his first basketball practice last Friday. I'm thankful for all of the volunteers who make the Upward program possible. Ian is scheduled to have his first practice this Saturday, and Nadia is supposed to have her second practice that same morning. I hope all three have a great season of basketball! Of my three kids, I think Ian has the most talent when it comes to basketball. This is Nadia's seventh year of playing on a basketball team!

3. Yesterday we finished reading Ishtar's Odyssey. Three years ago we started a tradition of reading a devotional togerher by Arnold Ytreeide. We've read his four that relate to Christmas as well as the one he wrote for Easter. I think next December we will start over and reread Jotham's Journey. I forgot to mention this when I wrote the post about our Christmas traditions. Speaking of Christmas traditions, the kids opted not to visit the Santa at our local grocery store this year. I guess they have

The Legos the kids received on Tuesday! The set w/o a box was from a yard sale.

outgrown that tradition already. Oliver had visited a Santa at the hardware store on Black Friday this year.

4. We attended the first hour of a Christmas program at our church last Friday night. The kids' choir that the boys are in sang two songs that night. One of my former student teachers who is currently in his second year of teaching Spanish at a local high school was there. I wasn't expecting to have any greet me as "Dr. Kennedy" that night. He sang in a men's quartet. 

5. Last Saturday the kids enjoyed seeing the new Star Wars movie, and I enjoyed seeing most of a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. The popcorn, drinks, and tickets were all totally free thanks to Coke's program. 

6. The kids enjoyed ice skating last Saturday night. The ice skating party which included food, drinks, and gifts for the kids was also totally free. Micah and Isaiah were also there which

made it even more special.

7. The boys enjoyed singing at a nursing home on Sunday morning. Ian said he wants to return. I am going to try to schedule another trip there as I have been wanting to give the kids more experience with community service.

8. We all enjoyed having dinner at Dave and Marla's house on Sunday evening. She is quite the hostess! She prepares appetizers, a delicious main course, dessert, and gifts for everyone! The kids each received a stocking that contained a variety of things such as a drawing book, candy, markers, etc. 
9. The kids went home with Grandma and Pop Pop on Sunday night and spent the day with them on Monday. The boys fell asleep on the way home even though they left their grandparents' house around 6:15pm! When Oliver arrived home, he wanted to go straight to bed. I tucked him in at 7:30, which is an hour earlier than usual. His siblings woke him up the next morning around 7:00am, which meant he had slept more than 12 hours if you count the time he slept in Paul's car. Even Nadia chose to go to bed an hour earlier than usual that night (she went down at 8:30). They were tuckered out from their day at their grandparents' house!

10. Since the kids were not at home, I scheduled a lunch date with my friend, Cheri, which is a very, very rare treat for me. I also enjoyed watching the movie Overcomer on DVD albeit we had a tricky time returning it on Christmas Eve after the candlelight service. I also did a little shopping that day at a consignment shop I rarely visit. I got some pants for the future for Ian. Ian already wore the Minion Christmas shirt I got him, and Nadia already wore the red cardigan sweater I got her. 

11. In the morning on Christmas Eve we opened our gifts from Aunt Wendy, Grandpa and Gubba, and within our immediate family. The new toy Oliver played with the most that day (by far) was the little green scooter that Aunt Wendy got him. I remember using scooters like that in both AWANA and gym class when I was a child. Ian and Nadia started assembling Legos. On Christmas Eve the kids received a total of 2,623 Legos (526 for Oliver, 356 for Nadia, and 1,741 for Ian). This month the kids received more than 8,000 MORE Legos over the tens of thousands we already own. I think we could open a Legoland in our home! Last year I didn't buy Ian any Legos because I thought we already owned MORE than enough Legos, but I bought him two big sets this year - one for his birthday and one for Christmas plus a couple of smaller sets. I didn't only buy Ian Legos. For example, he received four books - the only Larryboy chapter book he didn't already own plus three books by Michael Bond (author of Paddington Bear) that are about a guinea pig named Olga de Polga. I hope he likes those books!

12. Since we have been married I have been in charge of buying gifts for his family, my family, and our kids. Usually the only person he shops for is me, but this year he didn't do any Christmas shopping. The last few years when he has asked me what I wanted for Christmas I have said - my shower! I have wanted him to finish repairing our master bathroom shower, which was a project he started in May 2016. This year having a working shower has become a much bigger deal as he tore apart the kids' tub/shower the end of September. The last few years he bought me a gift instead of finishing the master bathroom, but this year he told me my gift will be the completion of the kids' tub/shower. It isn't done yet, but hopefully he can complete it before he leaves for Baltimore in January. Nadia and I each had a shower on December 11 at Tab's house, and yesterday we both took showers at Grandma's house. The shower yesterday was SO heavenly. I love a REALLY hot shower, and that is definitely possible at their house. You appreciate something like a shower even more when you have very few of them for 3

months. Honestly, I would be thrilled if I never took a bath again the rest of my life. I REALLY prefer showers. I am not sure how long it's going to take for the master bathroom to be completed. Last January I had contacted someone to give us an estimate, but Paul asked me not to get an estimate because he was "almost done." His definition of "almost done" and mine are very different. But once the kids' bathroom is done we will at least be back to having one shower working, and one is definitely better than none.

13. The five of us attended the Christmas Eve candlelight service together on Tuesday night. I am so, so very thankful for the love God showed us in sending His Son to be born here on earth more than 2,000 years ago!

14. I've been doing better with exercising on the elliptical on a more regular basis. Last week I exercised on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday. This week I have exercised four days in a row so far (Monday through today).

15. The kids and I enjoyed eating monkey bread for breakfast yesterday morning. Ian and Oliver polished it off this morning.

16. Yesterday we were at Paul's parents house for about 9 hours. We played games together, ate yummy food, opened presents, built Legos, etc. Grandma made her delicious baked beans and baked macaroni and cheese. Aunt Millie made twice baked potatoes, ham, chicken, rolls, an apple pie, cream puffs, chocolate eclairs, and a cheesecake. I brought sugar cookies the kids had decorated and cherry dump cake. Millie and Grandma were very kind, and we came home with some leftover ham, baked beans, cheesecake, apple pie, and twice baked potatoes. We have leftover tuna noodle casserole in the frig from Tuesday night, which means I'm not cooking today. Yahoo for leftovers!

17. The kids received many wonderful gifts from their extended family members. The kids received a total of 5,287 Legos this week as Nadia and Ian received 2,664 more Legos

yesterday on top of what they received on Tuesday. I took pictures yesterday but accidentally left my camera at their house last night. Paul will be brining my camera back home today. I feel like I'm missing a limb without it, ha ha! You can tell my family knows I am often cold as Ian gave me a heated travel blanket that plugs into the "cigarette lighter" in the van, and Wendy gave me two hand warmers. I am certain I will be getting a LOT of use out of the hand warmers. I can keep one in each pocket! Oliver's big present yesterday was a drum set from his grandparents. Paul (with a little help from me) set it up in the basement last night. I received a Steelers umbrella, which will also come in very handy. Almost all of Nadia's gifts yesterday related to Harry Potter. The exception was a Frozen 2 Lego set. She received Harry Potter socks, doll, journal, pen, charm bracelet, minifigure, and Lego set.

18. The kids are enjoying the break from school. They keep asking me if today is a school day. I did read them a biography about Andrew Carnegie while they were building Legos this morning, but yes today is still part of Christmas break! Although I love teaching them, I am also enjoying the break.

19. I am getting a new kitchen table and six chairs today! Paul and I carried the old table downstairs. He had to take off two legs so we could get it down to the basement. I hope the table is useful down there for building Legos, playing games, doing crafts, etc. When the cousins are here if they have a Monopoly game going on the dining room table they have to move it if we're going to eat, but now they could have the game set up in the basement and they won't have to move the game when it's time to eat. The kitchen looks really empty today without a table in it. Oliver has enjoyed the extra room to play. The light is good in the kitchen, which makes me wish I had my camera today so I could take pictures of him playing in there while the room is empty, which reminds me that I am very thankful for my camera and lenses. I'll have to wait to upload the pictures I took yesterday, but today's post contains pictures from Christmas Eve plus a couple I took with Paul's cell phone this morning before he left for work.

20. Today is a "stay at home all day" kind of day! Ian and Oliver decided to make it a pajama day. Nadia and I got dressed, and Paul is at work. The only thing on my calendar today is the delivery of the kitchen table set.

11.5 years old!

Six months from today our daughter will turn twelve years old! She hasn't hit the big growth spurt yet that many others her age have already gone through in terms of her height, but her shoe size has certainly been changing rapidly. She's been growing her hair longer. If she would do something with her hair, I wouldn't mind, but since she doesn't, I personally would rather her have a shorter hair style because her hair looks messy very soon after she brushes it. But it's her hair not mine, so I am letting her grow it out. One of these days I assume I won't have to encourage her to brush and/or shampoo her hair. I know she misses taking showers. I don't think I'll have to encourage her to take a shower at Grandma's house tomorrow! She's very happy that she has a few years off until she gets another shot. She just asked the pediatrician about that last Friday when Ian had his annual physical.

Here are a few of her favorites at 11.5 years old...

1. Spending time with her cousins. She and Rachel talk at night via FaceTime several times a week most of the time. The cousins she most enjoys interacting with include Joshua, Andrew, Jenna, Susie, Rachel, and Adam.

2. Holding either of our guinea pigs. A woman in our church who owns a pet boarding and grooming center about five minutes from our house already knows that Nadia wants to work there once she turns sixteen years old. Nadia would love it if we got a rabbit, cat, and/or a dog.

3. Listening to radio dramas. In the past she enjoyed listening to all the episodes of Jonathan Park; we only borrowed those from a library so she can't listen to them again. My dad got her a membership that enables her to listen to ANY episode of Adventures in Odyssey. She loves those, and I also purchased all the Brinkman adventures CDs. She has listened to those missionary adventures more than once. One of her gifts today was the latest season of the Brinkman Adventures.

4. Listening to Christian contemporary music. She listens to CDs, our local Christian radio station, and also uses her Echo Dot. If you want to play "name the artist" while listening to a Christian radio station, Nadia can do an excellent job of identifying an artist and the name of the song once she hears a small part of the song.

5. Watching the Cosby Show, Full House, and Brady Bunch. Those are her top three favorite shows at the moment. Recently she enjoyed watching the three Santa Clause movies for the first time on Disney+. She's bummed that we recently cancelled our membership with Hulu because she hadn't quite finished seeing all the episodes of Full House. We had been getting it for 99 cents a month for the past twelve months. I promised her that at some point we will get Hulu again, but this year we have Disney+. As a side note, it's rather sad to think that Bill Cosby is in jail and that will also probably be true for Lori Loughlin in the not so distant future. The DVD I gave her for Christmas was The Odd Life of Timothy Green. I got it at a yard sale before I had any knowledge of Disney+.

6. Playing on the iPad. Her favorite apps at the moment include Homescapes, Matchington, and Disney Crossyroad.

7. Reading the Mother Daughter Book club series. She's read a variety of books over the past six months including A Little Princess, Little Women, all seven Harry Potter books, all fourteen of the Whatever After books, and three Betsy-Tacy books, but the books she has reread the most often the past six months have been the ones from the Mother Daughter Book Club. Some of her gifts today included a large Mad Lib book (that I got for free from Kellogg's), the newest Cilla Lee-Jenkins book, newest Young Whit book, Shouting at the Rain, a Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle book, and the Great Gilly Hopkins. I love the fact that she loves to read!! Her love of things related to Harry Potter was evident in the gifts she received. I gave her a Hogwarts nightgown, water botte, and Hermione doll.
 Aunt Wendy gave her a map from Harry Potter.

8. Helping out at church. She operates the sound board during the youth service at 10:45 on Sunday mornings. She helps serve drinks or food in the youth group café before that service. She wants to resume helping in Kidzway periodically. She's excited about being a member of the Bible Bowl team starting in a couple of weeks, which will culminate in a competition in Oklahoma in July. She's been diligently working on memorizing the book of Hebrews! She says she's going to join the adult choir at church once she's in ninth grade. I'm looking forward to that!

9. Ice skating, roller skating, skiing, swimming, zip lining, rock climbing, and playing on a basketball team are some of her favorite physical activities. She had been borrowing Oliver's scooter this summer, but today she and Ian each got a scooter from Grandpa and Gubba. Now we have three scooters for our three kids.

10. Singing and acting. She enjoyed being in Lion King in August and singing in the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale this fall. She eagerly awaits the day she can be in a musical at our church or Christian school. I signed her up for an audition to be in Annie and then cancelled it as it seemed the rehearsals would conflict with ice skating lessons and Upward basketball. She's already planning on auditioning to be in Tuck Everlasting in November 2020 and hopes to be in Meadowbrook's musical in March 2021.

11. Going to camp. She enjoyed horseback riding camp, history camp, and Camp Good News this summer, but her favorite week of camp is definitely the week of overnight camp at Camp Susque! It seems no matter where we go, Nadia usually knows at least one of the kids whether it's from Meadowbrook, church, the homeschool group, Upward basketball, Camp Susque, etc. Earlier this month when we were aGreat Wolf Lodge, which is 90 minutes from our house, she recognized one family from the homeschool group and another girl from her Upward basketball team last year. 

12. Playing games. Her favorites include Bubble Talk, Apples to Apples, Racko, Suspend, Spot it, and Guesstures. I didn't give her a game this year, but I gave Oliver "Pickles to Penguins," and I believe that will also be right up her alley!

13. Eating ham and cheese hot pockets for lunch. Some of her other favorite foods include pizza, goulash, meatloaf, rigatoni and meatballs, tuna noodle casserole, deviled eggs, scrambled eggs, fried egg on a bagel, chips, cookies, candy, ice cream, cheesecake, apple pie, grapes, strawberries, cherries, plums, peaches, raspberries,

cheese crackers, soft pretzels, pretzel sticks, blueberries, clementines, hot chocolate, apple juice, macaroni and cheese, string cheese, fish sticks, meatball sub, cranberry sauce, mozarella sticks, and popcorn. The list wouldn't be complete if I didn't include KETCHUP. She puts ketchup on a WIDE variety of foods - many that most people would not put ketchup on such as her turkey on Thanksgiving Day. Yuck! 

14. Corresponding with her pen pal from Illinois. If she receives a letter from Stella, she usually writes a reply and has it in the mailbox before the mail is picked up the next day. 

15. Stuffed animals, Legos, and almost anything related to Star Wars. She was thrilled to see the new Star Wars movie on Saturday. I got her a plush penguin and Ian got her two stuffed animals covered with sequins (the kind you can change the color if you reverse the sequins). I gave her a Rey doll (character from Star Wars) which was not something she had on her wish list, but she liked it just as much as the

Hermione doll, which was very high on her wish list. Grandpa and Gubba got her an Ariel Lego set, and Oliver gave her a Lego Friends set. 


We were told not to take any pictures or recordings during the Susquehanna Valley Chorale's Candlelight service. I wish I had a recording of some of that program! I also didn't record anything during their concert to honor Veterans, but we did record part of MCS's Christmas program (see videos below). We accidentally stopped recording Charlie Brown Christmas before the song was over, and the memory card became full before Somewhere in My Memory was done. Oops!

For many years we've had a tradition of opening gifts as a family in the morning on Christmas Eve. This means Nadia opens gifts on her half birthday and her birthday since her half-birthday is on Christmas Eve. We started this tradition because we'd usually head to Paul's parents house in the morning on Christmas Day and then drive to Maryland that same day or the next day. I didn't want the kids to open their gifts at our house in the evening on Christmas Eve or in the morning on Christmas Day and then not have any chance to play with them until we returned from Maryland. Since Paul goes to work on Christmas Eve and we aren't traveling to Maryland this year, in hind sight I wish we had waited until tomorrow morning to do our family gift exchange before going to Paul's parents' house. We had to open the gifts before the sun rose so we could do it before Paul went to work (which meant I didn't take any pictures while they opened their gifts), and then he left so I was the one doing all the unpacking of toys, putting in batteries, helping with Legos, etc. Some years I have taken the kids to the candlelight service alone, but Paul will be joining us for that this evening. It's been hard for me to adjust to the change of Paul having one month off for Christmas (which was true when he was in graduate school and when he was a professor) to having one day off for Christmas. At least he does take one day off. I know some people will have to go to work tomorrow.

Christmas Adam

The size box that Henry Box Brown used to escape slavery

The kids spent the day with their grandparents, which is always a very special treat. Paul went to work, but he had pizza for dinner at his parents' house, and Paul loves pizza so I'm sure he appreciated that. He's been downsized to two slices of pizza when we get a large pizza because Nadia now eats two slices, but I imagine he wasn't limited to two slices at his mom's house. Ian has started to request two slices, which means at some point one large pizza isn't going to be enough for one meal for all five of us. Although I really, really love being with my kids on a daily basis, every once in a blue moon I appreciate having a day to myself. Many times I try to get as many things accomplished as possible. I toyed with painting the basement walls with Drylok as that has been on my to do list for many months, but I opted to go for a pleasurable day instead of a "get lots of work done around the house" type of day. After I exercised on the elliptical, I met my friend, Cheri, for brunch at the Pine Barn Inn at 10:30; it's about 30 minutes from our house. I usually love to have a stay at home day, but it's a much rarer treat for me to have one-on-one time with a friend. Usually I only purchase food at a restaurant if we have a gift card, with the exception of a large take-out pizza, but I let her pick where we ate, and I "splurged" and paid about $9 including tip and tax for my delicious meal. There is a consignment shop near that restaurant, so I bought the kids some clothes for the future after brunch. Other errands included the bank, CVS, grocery

store, and picking up a Christmas gift Oliver left at AWANA on Wednesday night at the AWANA commander's house. The best part of my day was spending 2.5 hours talking with my friend.

It had been six months since I had nail polish on my fingernails, but I decided to buy myself a new bottle of nail polish at CVS with extra care bucks. I bought a Christmasy shade of green, which is a color I've never worn on my nails before, but I like it! I also used a coupon code for a free DVD rental from Redbox. I rented the movie "Overcomer" which I had heard many positive things about when it was in the theaters earlier this year. I love that they continue to make high quality Christian movies. I literally can go months without watching anything on a screen, but I watched two movies within three days! I enjoyed both "A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood" (about Fred Rogers) at the theater on Saturday and "Overcomer" on DVD today.  I've turned into such an emotional sap that I actually cried happy tears during the movie.

I took this picture to show how Oliver has two rows of teeth like a shark. The baby teeth aren't the slightest bit loose!

I did the lion share of my Christmas shopping months ago, but today I made the last purchase as I realized I hadn't yet purchased a gift card for one nephew. We've been praying that the four kids we sponsor and their families will have a special Christmas, and we've also been praying for the three kids we sent boxes to with Operation Christmas Child. Our boxes this year went to Togo and Honduras.

I ate my dinner alone, which is certainly unusual. I had some leftover white chicken chili and pumpkin bread. We gave away nine loaves of pumpkin bread and two plates of sugar cookies from Wednesday through Sunday. Since it's Christmas this week, I am going to try to cook only foods that everyone likes such as rigatoni and meatballs, tuna noodle casserole, and bacon, egg, and cheese bagels. Last week Ian, Paul, and I enjoyed the chicken Caesar wraps, but Oliver and Nadia don't like them. Everyone but Ian liked the stuffed shells I made (similar to manicotti). The biggest fail recently as far as a new recipe was when I made sweet and sour meatballs with rice. I had to eat almost all of it myself. I hadn't eaten that dish in years, and I did think it turned out quite nicely, but I didn't exactly want to eat it for so many days in a row. My sister and her family will be joining us for dinner on Friday, Lord willing, but they also like pasta and meatballs so everyone should be happy with that choice. Since I made baked ziti when they were here for Jenna's birthday last month, I have a pretty good idea of how much pasta I should make for the fifteen of us. Because this Christmas is a bit of an emotional landmine as it's the first since my brother passed away, I am grateful for days like today when there are opportunities to take a little time for "pampering" type activities like lunch with a friend, painting my nails, and watching a good movie. I contemplated asking a friend if I could take a shower today at her house. That would have been the icing on the cake if I could have taken a shower today, but I opted to just wash my hair in the kitchen sink instead. I will probably take a shower at Paul's parents house on Wednesday. Now I'm ready for my kiddos to come home as my day is not complete with hugs from Ian and Oliver!!!

Christmas Break

Friday was our last day of school for 2019. Yesterday we started our Christmas break in what felt like a spectacular fashion to my three. The kids played at home in the morning. I baked five more loaves of pumpkin bread and used the elliptical for 30 minutes. After lunch we headed to the movie theater. I had accumulated four free movie tickets, two free drinks, and two free popcorns through Coke's website. Usually we see movies at the AMC in Williamsport because the tickets are $4.99 all day on Tuesdays and prior to 3pm every day, but since I was using coupons for free tickets, it didn't really matter that this other theater charges more for tickets. They give one free refill on the popcorns so that meant we actually got free bags of popcorn. I watched most of A Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood. I missed the first 20 minutes. The kids watched the new Star Wars movie. My movie finished 85 minutes before theirs did. I brought my Kindle and sat on a bench reading while waiting for the kids. We went straight from the movie theater to the ice skating

rink; this was the reason I chose that movie theater was because it is much closer to the ice skating rink. We attended the free Christmas party at the ice skating rink - free skating, free ice skate rentals, free food, and the kids each received a small Christmas gift. Because the party was from 4-6pm, we didn't really have a proper dinner last night. Our final "meal" included things like donuts, popcorn, cookies, candy, cheese, bologna, crackers, etc. Micah and Isaiah were also at the ice skating party.

This morning Nadia and I went to church for two services as usual. My Sunday School class had a Christmas party during the second service that included eating lots of yummy food, sharing testimonies, and singing Christmas carols together. The choir sang "Mary did you know" in both services, which is one of my favorite Christmas songs. Paul and the boys were at a nursing home today as the kids' choir presented their Christmas musical there. They could have gone to the second service, but Paul wanted to come home and work on the bathroom. I washed my hair in the sink this morning because we still are still without access to a shower. Next we are headed to have dinner at Dave and Marla's house. They live 90 minutes from us. Dave is the office manager/salesman/ receptionist, etc. for Kennedy Concrete. The kids are going home with Paul's parents when they leave Dave's house so they can spend the day with Grandma and Pop Pop tomorrow. Pop Pop had his 78th birthday two days ago. Grandma wanted the kids to decorate their Christmas tree. A day at their grandparent's house is also a great way to begin their Christmas break!

Thankful Thursday

1. Although it was a very painful way to receive a second iPad, my brother's iPad was much newer than ours. Ours is at the point where the software can no longer be updated, and this means that some apps can't be installed on our iPad. If they kids want to use Hulu or Disney +, they use what we've dubbed the blue iPad because Maurice had a blue cover on his iPad.

2. Nadia and Ian's basketball practices will be from 5-7pm on Tuesdays, and Oliver's will be from 5-6 on Fridays. Last year their practices were on Thursdays, which meant they couldn't take the group ice skating lessons. This week I mailed in the registration form and payment for the three of them to take ten weeks of ice skating lessons from January through March. I also had been waiting to find out the basketball practice schedule before signing the three kids up for a four week computer hardware class on Fridays from 2:30-4:00, but we should also be able to do that in January.

3. It was wonderful to see my friend, Joyce, on Saturday in Camp Hill. I wish we lived closer, but thankfully we can keep in touch in other ways since we see each other very infrequently in person.

4. We were also able to visit the National Civil War Museum and see a wonderful Christmas musical on Saturday.

5. The Christmas candlelight service was outstanding! I really, really, really enjoyed it. I'm thankful Nadia and Ian had the privilege of singing in these concerts and that Paul's parents were able to come to the performance on Sunday afternoon.

6. The kids enjoyed playing with Micah, Isaiah, and their dogs. Ruby, the long haired dachshund, was actually on my lap for quite awhile. I'm typically a cat (not a dog) person, but I enjoyed Ruby last Wednesday. Nadia and I also enjoyed being able to take a shower at their house.

7. Last Wednesday the kids and I were able to go caroling at Warrior Run Manor with the AWANA club. Yesterday the kids were able to buy  and wrap many Christmas gifts with their AWANA shares. Even though Nadia bought gifts for 7 of her cousins, her parents, two grandparents, and two brothers, she still had enough to buy herself one Calico Critter toy. Ian had enough left over after buying gifts for his immediate family to buy himself a Lego set.

8. I pulled one of Oliver's teeth out on Monday morning! This was the first tooth he lost the "usual" way. I thought I'd just wiggle it a little, and it came out when I wiggled it. He has an appointment to have the dentist pull his top two front teeth in January because those permanent ones are in but the baby teeth aren't the slightest bit loose. Nadia was the tooth fairy on Monday night.

9. I bought myself a new umbrella recently on Amazon that has a lifetime warranty. The last few years we have broken several umbrellas. I'm hopeful this one will last a lot longer, and if it doesn't, they will send me a replacement!

10. Last week I started working on a photobook in the hopes that there would be an unlimited pages code, and that code came through on Saturday. I was able to finish and order the book on Sunday a few hours before the code expired. I used to buy 20 page photobooks. I don't go that route any longer with the exception of the books I made to remember my Mom and Maurice.

11. The kids enjoyed the homeschool Christmas party at the bounce place. I was thankful that they planned the event #1 on Ian's birthday (perfect timing!) at a location only 15 minutes from our home whereas typically they schedule things in a location that is at least 30 minutes from our house.

12. Paul worked through the night on Monday night. Aside from a one hour nap at work during the night, he was at the plant for more than 30 hours straight. I'm thankful he was able to comehome on Tuesday night in time to attend the Christmas program at MCS.

13. The choir I'm in sang an anthem on Sunday that contained several different Christmas carols including my most favorite "O Holy Night." I love Christmas music!

14. I got a good report from the mammogram I had earlier this month.

15. It has been super easy to find Coke or Pepsi 2 liters for 99 cents each lately, which hadn't been the case for much of the year.

16. Nadia sang in the Christmas program at MCS on Tuesday night. All of the kids in grades 1-5 sang three songs, then the middle school chorus (only those students in grades 6-8 who CHOSE to take chorus) sang three songs, then those who chose to be in the high school chorus sang three songs, and then all 200 of the students who sang previously that night all sang "Somewhere in my Memory" together. The elementary children especially enjoyed singing "Mele Kalikimaka" as they wore leis and some wore sunglasses while they sang that one. The whole program lasted about 45 minutes.

17. When I wrote the lesson plans for this week, I had given Nadia and Ian the week off from writing, and Ian also got the week off from spelling and math. This has been greatly appreciated and has made it easier to find time to bake gifts for their teachers, for me to use the elliptical a little bit, not feel as rushed trying to be done before a 2pm dentist appointment yesterday, etc. Hopefully I'll remember to make the last week of school in December a lighter week next year also! I don't really have to make adjustments for Nadia because she is generally Miss Speedy Gonzales when it comes to completing her schoolwork each day.

Christmas Traditions

Although traditions are not as important to me as they were to my brother, I know that family traditions are important. As the years pass by specific memories become blurry. I can't recall all of the exact places that we went on family vacation when I was a child, but I know that I loved our family vacations (the ones with scads of driving were my least favorite). Traditions seem to create strong memories. When you do the same thing every year, it's easier to recall. I remember growing up we didn't decorate our house for Christmas until after my dad's birthday as my mom didn't want his birthday to get lost in the shuffle of Christmas. I've been the kind to usually decorate for Christmas the first weekend after Thanksgiving. The first several years of our marriage we got a live Christmas tree each year, but we switched to an artificial one about 11 years ago. In 2016 it was really, really hard for me to decorate for Christmas because I so strongly associated that with my mom. It's still a bit painful for me, but the kids' excitement helps me power through the grief that comes over me in those moments. They

LOVE the Christmas decorations. I do enjoy the lights on the tree, but n general my dislike of clutter makes me not a very big fan of decorations. I'm the one who gets excited to put them away a few days after Christmas. There are so many different kinds of Christmas traditions out there. Many people hide that little elf all over the house. We own one of those elves, but if he gets hidden it's because one of the kids hid him. I have never had an interest into that particular tradition. Some people put a LOT of time, energy, and creativity into that tradition! Many people buy matching Christmas pajamas for everyone in their family. I attempted this one time (minus Paul who I don't think will ever wear a pair of pajamas of any kind much less Christmas ones), but through pictures on Facebook and also seeing how many people were walking around Great Wolf Lodge wearing matching Christmas pajamas, I can see this is quite a wide spread tradition. The photographer in me would like to buy the kids matching pajamas, but the frugal side of me wins out in this instance. The

kids have no need for another pair of pajamas.

Here are some of our Christmas traditions... it's a list that is constantly evolving. I imagine we will have traditions five years from now that we don't have right now, but here's what we've been doing lately...

1. Decorating a tree and putting out other Christmas decorations including the stockings that Paul's Gram made for each of us. I put the presents under the tree as soon as we put the tree up. I asked the kids if they had the self-control to not peek. Oliver said he wasn't sure so his wrapped gifts are still up high on top of a bookshelf, but Nadia and Ian's gifts are under the tree. Paul sometimes puts lights outside our house, but some years we skip that. In light of our bathroom projects, I believe we'll be skipping the outdoor lights this year. Last year the kids also decorate Grandma and Pop Pop's pre-lit Christmas tree, and they are planning to do the same next Monday.

2. Going to Purity Candy on a Saturday in December for a free demonstration of the candy maker making candy canes, which concludes with each child being able to shape a candy cane to enjoy.

3. Going to the Museum of Glass and Rockwell Museum in Corning, NY the first Saturday of December which includes decorating Christmas cookies and making a piece of glass such as a hand blown ornament, fused glass, flamework, etc. The snowmen the kids made on December 7 arrived by UPS today. The kids are holding them in the pictures in today's post.

4. Going Christmas caroling with the AWANA club at the Warrior Run Manor on a Wednesday night in December.

5. Eating monkey bread for breakfast on Christmas morning. Oliver, Ian, and I enjoy this tradition!

6. Going to Paul's parents house on Christmas day for a gift exchange and a delicious meal mostly prepared by Aunt Millie.

7. Attending a Christmas Eve candlelight service at our church.

8. Exclusively listening to Christmas music from Thanksgiving through the end of December.

9. Doing our gift exchange with our children in the morning on Christmas Eve.

10. Typically I send out a Christmas card that contains pictures and text (or a card plus a letter), but this year in light of losing my brother and my job, I've decided to take an at least one year hiatus on that tradition.

11. Making cut out cookies that the kids decorate with sprinkles and such. Sometimes we make both gingerbread and sugar cookies, but at the very minimum we do a big batch of sugar cookies. To be honest this is my least favorite Christmas tradition, but I do it for the kids and also because we share some of those cookies with others.

12. Giving gifts to the kids' Sunday School teachers, AWANA leaders, and Soul Patrol directors. Usually we make plates of homemade cookies. Last year due to my exhaustion from working FT while juggling homeschooling, etc. I opted to give them gift cards instead. This year we are going back to homemade gifts. I am baking at least 9 loaves of pumpkin bread in addition to the sugar cookies we made earlier this week and letting the kids decide which they want to give to their leaders/teachers. The kids will given their AWANA leaders their cookies or bread this evening.

13. The kids shop for their immediate and extended family at AWANA. Tonight will be Nadia's last year with this tradition. Next year if she wants to give gifts she'll have to use real money not AWANA shares.

14. We usually visit the Santa that is beside our local grocery store. It doesn't cost anything. Nadia has outgrown this tradition. Some years we have attended a breakfast with Santa such as the free breakfast our local fire department hosts each December, but many times we have schedule conflicts and can't do any of the breakfasts. It didn't work out to do a breakfast this year.

15. Attend a Christmas musical at a large church in Camp Hill or the Christmas show at Sight and Sound. One of these years I want to take the kids to see the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall, but it costs a small fortune to buy four tickets to that 90 minute show!

16. Bringing up a box of Christmas picture books that are kept in the basement most of the year but are up in our family room during the same time of year that we are listening to Christmas music. We also own a nice variety of Christmas DVDs that come up at that same time, but this year since we recently paid for a year of Disney +, the kids are not watching as many Christmas DVDs although they did watch the three Santa Clause movies on Disney + the week we paid for that service.

17. Getting together with extended family is usually a big part of Christmas. Some years we get together with some of Paul's mom's extended family at her sister's house in the Harrisburg area. The number of people who gather at Paul's parents' house has gotten smaller as Paul's three grandparents passed away and Brandi moved to Florida. Many years Yvonne's family was in Turkey over Christmas so it hasn't been as typical for us to spend Christmas with them, but we have usually spent Christmas with my parents, Wendy's family, and my brother. We used to celebrate with them in Maryland. Since my mom passed away we celebrated Christmas at our house twice (2016 and 2018) and in Maryland once (2017). My dad now lives in Lynchburg, Virginia. Paul can't travel at this time of year due to his preparations at work for a trade show that takes place in Baltimore in early January. We will probably see the Towfighis sometime next week in conjunction with when they come up to Pennsylvania to visit Joe's family, but we will have to wait until April to see Wendy's family again as, Lord willing, the kids and I are planning to go out to Chicago the week before Easter. Part of the reason we're not traveling is because I'm wanting more time to adjust to the new normal of celebrating Christmas with my side of the family without my brother. I know spending time with their cousins is VERY, VERY important to my kids. This made it a really hard decision to make. I know that Christmas break will definitely be more relaxing for me if it doesn't involve a round trip drive to Maryland or Virginia.

18. Making a gingerbread house. Lately we've been doing it at a public library, but that wasn't possible this year. I am planning to buy a kit a day or two after Christmas after they are on clearance.

19. Attending a Christmas party at the ice skating rink. The party includes free ice skating, free food, and Christmas gifts for the kids. How wonderful is that! We plan to be there this Saturday.

20. Attending two or three Friday night Christmas events at our church each December. This year two of those included my boys singing in the Soul Patrol choir. The other featured a variety of Christmas music including some by the Tran Siberian Orchestra. This year Nadia and Ian also sang in two Christmas candlelight services with the Susquehanna Valley Chorale for the first time; that might become an annual tradition. Last night Nadia sang in Meadowbrook Christian School's Christmas program for the first time; I have a feeling she will want to continue to sing in their chorus in the future.

Hopefully our kids will have positive memories in the future related to our Christmas traditions!

Oliver lost a tooth on Monday; it was the first one that came out without the aid of a dentist!

Birth Order

Much has been written over the years about the personality traits often associated with an oldest child compared to a middle child or the youngest child in a family. Although in some cases my three might exhibit the behavior that would be "expected" based on their birth order, that certainly isn't always the case. I frankly don't give a lot of thought to that, but what I do find myself contemplating is how things are different in some ways based on birth order.

Nadia had the experience of being the only child for almost 18 months. She didn't comprehend that a sibling was coming, and she was not happy at all about his arrival. Thankfully the temper tantrums didn't last too long, and she grew to love her brother. Ten years later, she and Ian are good friends and playmates. If she had remained an only child, then she would have a lot more freedom in pursuing things that interest her like trying out for various plays and musicals. Since she has two brothers, I also need to take that into consideration. When Ian was a baby, as long as it didn't

interfere with his nap schedule, I would just carry him around while she was in gymnastics class. 

I didn't have to teach Ian to identify the letters of the alphabet. Unknown to me, he had been paying attention when I taught Nadia. Because of this, I decided to teach him his multiplication facts when he was in first grade because Nadia was learning them in third grade. In many instances, Ian has been pushed ahead academically because in several subjects (grammar, composition, history, and science) I have Ian and Nadia doing the same thing. For example, the writing curriculum we are using this year is for grades 6-8, and he's doing it in the 4th grade. I started him on the piano two years after I started Nadia, but because he has practiced more than her, he has actually surpassed where she is in piano. I wanted Nadia to sing in the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale because she had outgrown the kids' choir at church, and so Ian also joined the chorale even though he's still in the kids' choir at church. 

Oliver has had the opposite experience of Ian academically. It's partially due to the timing of his birthday. I probably should have delayed his "entrance" into school by one year, but it's also because he's the youngest. I have given as much attention to handwriting, spelling, math, and reading with Oliver as I did with his siblings, but they definitely spent more time learning about social studies and science when they were his age. Oliver's in second grade, and I'm just hoping he learns his addition and subtraction facts this year knowing we will work on multiplication next year when he's in third grade. I have decided to wait a bit longer with starting his piano lessons than I did his siblings. On the other hand, what he watched on TV has been a different experience than his siblings. Nadia mostly watched Veggie Tales when she was young. Oliver hasn't watched Veggie Tales anywhere near as often as they did because his siblings were already showing preference for other shows or DVDS by the time he was old enough to enjoy them. He also has been in some instances able to watch things at an earlier age although sometimes we still have him go into another room and watch something else if Nadia and Ian are watching something I think is too scary for him. He began listening to chapter books at an earlier age than his siblings, but I know I read FAR more picture books to his siblings than I did to him. It's easy for me to pick chapter books that are geared more towards Ian and Nadia, but I try to also periodically pick ones that are more geared toward Oliver. The same goes for what we watch. If the other two don't want to watch something they deem too "babyish," then they can go play with Legos or whatever else interests them. Oliver might have the experience of being the only child at home his last two years of high school depending on what Nadia and Ian do after high school.

The bottom line is that it's a juggling act as a parent when you have more than one child! The kids are not at exactly the same stage in life and don't have the same interests. So sometimes Nadia has to "suffer" through a game of Candyland because Oliver enjoys the game. Sometimes the boys have to deal with long commutes so that we can take Nadia to and from theater camp, and other times I say "no" to Nadia doing something just because I think it's asking too much of her brothers. Although the thought of my kids driving is terrifying on the one hand, it will make decisions like that easier if Nadia is able to drive herself to the theater rehearsals, for example. Time will tell how all that unfolds in the future. I know I am a very imperfect parent, but I love all three of my children oh so very much and try my best to juggle their varying needs, interests, and abilities.

I videoed Ian's 10th birthday interview today. The battery died part way through the interview so I uploaded it as two separate videos rather than asking him to redo the first part of the interview. I was going to do his birthday interview yesterday, but because we stayed home all day yesterday he asked if it could be a pajama day. He was the only one who chose to stay in his pajamas; I didn't mind saying "yes" because to me that's one small perk of homeschooling. You can do your work in your comfy pajamas sometimes if you so desire! However, I didn't want to record his annual birthday interview in his jammies. :) I also finally got around to uploading one of the videos from the kids' spring musical at church. Here was Oliver's debut with having a small speaking/singing part in the song "Three Blind Guys."

Half-way point

Today is our 90th day of school for this school year, which means my kids are half-way through grades 2, 4, and 6! This Friday will be our last day of school for 2019 as our Christmas break will begin on December 21.

Math - By the end of this week we will have completed 4 of the Life of Fred Books - from Edgewood through Honey. Nadia has completed 55 of 116 lessons. I haven't actually calculated her average, but I would estimate it is around 90%. Math is typically the subject Nadia does first each morning. On Friday Ian completed Beast Academy 4B. This week I'm just having him use the Alcumus website to solve a few problems each day. He'll start 4C in January. Oliver says he likes math (which is good!) but honestly it doesn't come easily for him at all thus far. Recently we've been working on time, money, fractions, and measurements of capacity. I like the Beast Academy so much I am thinking of having Oliver use that in third grade instead of the Purposeful Design text that his siblings completed in third grade. I'm actually considering having him complete half of Beast Academy's 2nd grade curriculum during the second half of this school year.

Reading - Ian has been primarily been reading titles from the Treasure Chest series. He is currently reading one about Harry Houdini. From July 1 to the present he's read at least 3,160 pages (26 books). Nadia will be finishing Little Women in the very near future. She reads far, far more than I require her to for school. Not including Little Women, from July 1 to the today she read at least 10,381 pages (38 books). This Friday Oliver will be finishing Level 4 of All About Reading! Starting January I will have him read books like Frog and Toad, Little Bear, Amelia Bedelia, etc. I'm hoping by the end of second grade he will have progressed to easy chapter books.

Bible - The boys have made progress in working through their AWANA books. Nadia completed hers on December 4. Now Nadia is working on memorizing Hebrews. She has memorized chapter 1 and next she is going to work on memorizing chapters 11-12.  She wants to compete in the national quizzing event in Oklahoma in July. Together we completed The Young Peacemaker curriculum. Recently we have been reading Ishtar's Odyssey as well as Then Sings my Soul. We read a little about the author of the hymn and then sing four verses of the hymn together. I have been trying to help Nadia and Ian to sing the melody while I sing harmony (alto).

Music - Nadia and Ian continue to make progress in Alfred Level 3 on the piano; they also sang in the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale this fall. They performed a concert to honor Veterans on November 17 and two candlelight services on December 14 and 15. Oliver and Ian sing in the Soul Patrol choir at church. They sang in two Sunday morning services in October. This month they presented a Christmas musical on a Friday night at our church and will present the same musical at a nursing home on December 22. Nadia also attends chorus at Meadowbrook once a week. She will be singing in the school's Christmas program tomorrow night.

Art - I include a little bit of drawing in our social studies curriculum. For example, recently we've been drawing pictures related to the Titanic. Nadia and Ian take an art class for grades 6-12 at Meadowbrook once a week.

Handwriting - At least once a week I have Nadia write something in cursive such as a Bible verse in science. Ian and Oliver have both completed the vast majority of their handwriting textbooks. They should finish them by the end of January. I love seeing what Ian has written in cursive. Writing is still a challenge for Oliver. Maybe cursive will come more easily to him next year? Oliver has written some journal entries this fall, but once he finishes his handwriting textbook I will have him do that on a daily basis.

Grammar - Nadia and Ian are on page 33 out of their 59 page grammar book. They have been working on identifying clauses, subjects, verbs, adjectives, conjunctions, prepositions, etc. as well as punctuation used in quotations.

Composition - I am very, very pleased with the progress Ian and Nadia have made in their writing skills over the past 12 months. They are including more ly words, prepositional phrases, dependent clauses, strong adjectives, and strong verbs in their writing.

Keyboarding - Nadia and Ian have spent some time playing games on Typing.com, but lately they have been typing some of their writing compositions.

History - We have studied from Abraham Lincoln through Warren Harding. By this Friday we will have completed chapters 1-21 (out of 42) of volume 4 of Story of the World. This week we are focusing on the Titanic and WWI.

Science - This fall we studied chemistry and physics. By this Friday we will have completed it aside from the final review. In January we will begin our study of botany. Oliver participates in a little bit of our science. For example, last week when we were studying magnets, I read him a book about magnets from the library and he participated in the activity when we went around the house trying to determine what items were magnetic or nonmagnetic.

Spelling - Oliver finished Level 2 this fall and began Level 3. Ian and Nadia are making good progress through levels 5 and 7.

Physical Education - We haven't done very much this fall with the exception that Oliver participated in an eight week session of gymnastics. Basketball practices start this week, and weekly ice skating lessons will begin on Thursday nights in early January. Ian and Nadia will have their basketball practices on Tuesday nights, and Oliver's practices will be on Fridays. Ian will miss his first practice tomorrow because it's at the same time as the Christmas program at Meadowbrook. The kids are also hoping to go skiing twice this winter. Nadia goes roller skating once a month.