Birthday Video

Although I haven't been making progress in terms of improving the quality of the videos that I've made over the past year as I had hoped to, I still think my videos from the past 13 months are much better than the all the videos I made in previous years. So far in 2022 I've made three videos, one for Nadia's 14th birthday, one for Oliver's 10th birthday, and one about our vacation that we took in May. The kids have asked if I would make one about Milo. I am not sure if that will happen or not, but I do plan on making at least three more videos this year - one about this summer (June through August), one for Ian's 13th birthday, and one about our vacation in September. I'm hoping that these videos will be enjoyed by our family for decades to come. I finished Oliver's 10th birthday video this morning (see below).

I also took Oliver to his annual physical this afternoon. Last year he was 54 inches tall (74th percentile) and weighed 60 pounds (40th percentile) which put his BMI at the 13th percentile. As of today, he is 56.75 inches tall (80th percentile) and weighs 67 pounds (40th percentile) which puts his BMI at the 11th percentile. The pediatrician's office last year had said they only considered a child to be underweight if they were below the 5th percentile, but we switched to a Family Practice Center this year because they only charge self-pay patients $50 a visit, and she said he was underweight. I'm not concerned about his weight. When Ian turned ten, he weighed 63.8 pounds and was 53 inches tall, which means Oliver is currently about 4 inches taller and about 3 pounds heavier than Ian was when he turned ten. The kids and I had dinner at Bonanza using a gift card Pop Pop had given us for Christmas last year. That was the final celebration of Oliver's tenth birthday! Today we began the process of gradually easing into the next school year. All three kids did math today. I'm hoping that Oliver makes a lot of academic progress this year during his second year in fourth grade. 

Double Digits!

We have had at least one child who was in single digits for fourteen years, but that is no longer the case as Oliver turned ten years old today! Although Nadia is more of an extrovert than Ian, Oliver is the most extroverted member of our family. We have had a play date with the Schrecks around Ian's birthday, but he's never invited any friends to a birthday party. Since 2018 (except for 2020) we have celebrated his birthday by going on an overnight trip to Great Wolf Lodge. Nadia has invited at least two girls over for her birthday for the past seven birthday parties which have either been at a swimming pool or a sleepover at our house. Last year Oliver had two birthday outings with a total of four friends. 

This year for his tenth birthday he invited ten friends to go bowling for two hours. Nine of the ten we invited were planning to go, but yesterday Maddox came down with a stomach bug, and Xandir's mom came down with COVID. I had rented two lanes at a bowling alley for two hours, which meant up to twelve people were allowed to bowl. I hadn't brought any socks because I didn't think I'd be bowling so ten kids plus Paul bowled for two hours last night. We had a bit of a scare when we arrived at the bowling alley because the doors were locked. I called and stated that I had booked a birthday party from 5-7pm. The bowling alley didn't open for the general public until 6pm. Thankfully, after the employee made a phone call, he let us in. Whew! We brought in four large pizzas, a gallon of Hawaiian Punch, some bottles of water, pretzels, a pan of brownies, and a pan of Rice Krispie treats. Aunt Millie usually makes him a cake, but they have been on vacation in Tennessee for the past week. The entire pan of Rice Krispie treats was consumed in addition to 3.5 of the 4 pizzas and the whole gallon of punch. We brought home most of the pretzels and a little bit of the brownies. The paper products featured Baby Yoda (Grogu). Bumpers were used on one lane. Ian, Ean, Micah, Nadia, and Paul didn't use bumpers the first game, and Paul won on that side, and Nadia was in second place. Isaiah switched to the non-bumper lane for the second game, and Ian won the second game. Of the group that used bumpers, Karyss won the second game, and I can't recall if it was Westyn or Oliver who won the first game. It was definitely the most expensive birthday party that Paul and I have thrown over our 21 years of marriage, but compared to the parties that many others have, it was still a simple affair. Oliver received $20, a $25 gift card to Amazon, some candy, some chips, water balloons, and a gallon of iced tea from his friends. 

I let the boys stay at home yesterday morning when I went to get Nadia from Camp Susque. On the way back home we picked up donuts for today's breakfast. Since Oliver is the birthday boy, he gets to eat two of the six donuts. He'll have leftover pizza for lunch, and he requested grilled hot dogs and macaroni and cheese for dinner. We started watching the new movie "Luck" on Apple tv yesterday, and we're planning to finish watching that movie together as a family today. It's rare to find a movie that just came out that is rated G, but that is true for this one. We are ever so grateful that Oliver joined our family ten years ago, and I look forward to seeing how he will grow and develop in the years to come! 

Oliver's birthday celebration began on Wednesday evening when I took the boys to Knoebels. On Thursday he selected, and I bought two birthday balloons at Dollar Tree. On Friday night we attended Aunt Debbie's 70th birthday party. The bowling party yesterday was the second part of Oliver's celebration. Today he's opening his birthday gifts from his parents and also from my dad and Margie, eating his birthday donuts, and eating the food he requested for dinner. The last part of his celebration will be tomorrow when we have dinner at Bonanza. He also will have his ten-year-old doctor appointment tomorrow morning. Every child is a miracle, but when I was pregnant, many people referred to Nadia as a miracle considering how many years that we waited to become parents. Nadia's pregnancy was very smooth aside from the fact she came four weeks early and the delivery didn't go smoothly. Oliver's pregnancy was extremely precarious for both he and I once I reached about 21 weeks. I will never forget lying in the hospital and begging the doctors not to take him by c-section because at that point he was too early to be deemed "viable." They thought they needed to do so to save my life. Thankfully I didn't bleed to death, and Oliver stayed in the womb long enough that he could be cared for in a NICU after he was born. We love our ten-year-old very much! 

Thankful Thursday

1. Paul took off work on July 15 so that he could attend the kids' performance at Greenview Alliance Church with me. I'm thankful the kids were able to participate in that theatre camp put on by Family Life Network (radio station in NY).

2. The kids had a blast during the cousin swap from July 16-22. Nadia and Ian had fun with Yvonne's eldest five kids (and Toby) doing things like swimming, bowling, ice skating, playing tennis, playing games, etc. Oliver had fun playing with Yvonne's youngest three kids at our house and also a trip to DelGrosso's Amusement Park with them. 

3. Thankfully, I was the only person in our family who caught the bug that some of the Towfighis had. I'm grateful that Paul took off work on July 21 to go to DelGrosso's and also took off on the 22nd to meet Yvonne half-way to end the cousin swap a day early as I was in bed almost all the time on the 22nd and 23rd.  Thankfully, my energy came back on July 30, my eyes cleared up after I started the medication on July 25, and my ear pain drastically decreased on August 1. I'm still praying for my hearing in my left ear to return. It had been seven years since I last had an ear infection and five years since I last had pink eye. Hoping I go at least seven more years before I go through this again. 

4. The kids had a great time at Camp Good News. Nadia enjoyed being a counselor for the first time, and it was the boys first time to be campers at that overnight camp. An illness was passed around the camp. Thankfully Nadia escaped it, and the boys recovered very quickly from it.

5. Oliver got a good report at the orthodontist on Monday. I'm turning his expander once a day until his next appointment on the fifteenth. Thankfully it has gone smoothly so far, which wasn't always the case when Ian had an expander. The orthodontist said we might be done on the fifteenth! 

6. Our new front door was installed on July 29. We are very thankful that my dad and Margie gave us a new front door for my 50th birthday. Paul and I painted the exterior trim green. We haven't decided what color we will paint the exterior portion of the door (which is currently white). We also need to stain the trim on the inside of the house. The door STAYS closed, is easy to lock, and is in much better shape than our 23-year-old door was. Now we are praying that we can find an electric range to replace ours (which is a fire hazard) without redoing the cabinets or countertop in the kitchen as our twenty-three-year-old range is smaller than most (hopefully not all) ranges that are sold in 2022. 

7. I took the boys and Milo to Knoebels last night. Oliver had picked it as his birthday date with me, and since Nadia is at camp and Paul was at work, Ian was also able to join us. The boys rode fourteen rides in a little over 3 hours. I bought them bargain night handstamps that cost $15 each. I also said they could each have one snack. Oliver chose cotton candy, and Ian had a root beer float. 

8. If I had to choose between buying my kids more "stuff" or spending money on memorable experiences, I'd choose the experiences option the vast majority of the time. Yes, some purchases prove to be very worthwhile. Milo wasn't cheap, but he's well loved. I thought the Oculus would be a hit and so splurged on that as a Christmas gift for the kids last year, but nope it's hardly been used. I am thankful that we can afford to pay for some experiences that aren't frugal. Recently I purchased tickets for a Harry Potter Exhibition, a tour of Battleship New Jersey, made reservations for one night at a hotel in Philadelphia, and paid for tickets for a three-day Christian music festival in New York that will be taking place in July 2023. I'm grateful that we have the resources for those "splurges." The thought that Nadia will be graduating in four years motivates me to keep making plans as I know these years will just fly by. 

9. Looking at the pictures that Camp Susque has posted, it seems that Nadia is having a good week of camp! I can't wait to hear all about it on Saturday morning. 

10. Paul has been working crazy hours this week. He's at home for less than eight hours a day as he's leaving the house at 3:45am and getting home after 8pm. I am thankful this is no longer normal for him. It's only true this week because his brother is on vacation. 

11. Our neighbor took Milo for a walk one time the day we were at DelGrosso's. I feel like they deserve the best neighbor of the year award!

12. Mowing is usually my responsibility, but Paul mowed for me last weekend because mowing has been too much for my allergies lately. I also appreciated that he installed Nadia's new ceiling fan the week of the cousin swap. 

13. Ian has been wanting to buy the Miitopia game for his Nintendo Switch. He was able to do so today because Oliver gave him money toward the purchase and a woman from our church gave him $15 in exchange for one of Ian's Lego sets. 

14. We haven't gone to Kids' Cafe that many times this summer, but we went on Wednesday this week because it was Water Day. The kids played a game with water balloons, a game with buckets of water, and then the fire department used their tanker truck to spray the kids with water. The boys enjoyed getting SOAKED. 

15. The boys enjoyed attending the National Night Out event at our town's Fire Department on Tuesday night. 

Boys are back!

On Friday I had a few brief spurts of energy, which were greatly appreciated after not having any energy for the previous seven days. Thankfully I had even more energy yesterday. I still have a little bit of a cough, but aside from my left ear, I mostly feel back to normal. My left ear is still painful, and my hearing in that ear is still pitiful. On Friday morning the contractors came back to install our front door. The first time they showed up to do that was in June, but due to some complications they couldn't install it that day. My PCP sent a prescription to CVS for ear drops for me on Friday morning, but I waited until the contractors were done to go to CVS. Since I was home alone most of the week and also lacked energy, it was a boring and lonely week for me. The first few days I kept myself occupied with reading books, watching a movie, doing Duolingo, and working on vacation plans, but as the week progressed, I struggled with loneliness and boredom. The last time I remember feeling either of those feelings was when I was hospitalized for many weeks in 2012. One of the significant things I learned while planning future vacations last week was that I needed to make a specific reservation for what time we wanted to drive on the road that takes you up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. I hadn't planned on being that specific with our itinerary that day. Hopefully my choice of 2:00pm will work out. Another was that they have a rodeo in Puyallup (near Seattle) in early September. I had tried to include a rodeo in our trip last fall, but in those states, I couldn't find any that took place after Labor Day. I thought the only chance we'd have to take the kids to a rodeo would be in Houston in March 2025. If we go to the rodeo in September 2023 in Washington and the kids don't want to go to another rodeo, then we can be more flexible about when we go to Texas/Louisianna in 2025. 

Saturday morning, I drove to Mountain View Bible Camp to pick up all three kids. In 2019 at Camp Good News (day camp), Ian was chosen to receive a cooperation award and Nadia was chosen to receive a leadership award. Yesterday at Camp Good News overnight camp, Ian was chosen to receive a sportsmanship award. Those are the three awards for character traits that they give out each year. Nadia was a junior counselor for a group of eleven-year-old girls. For the morning activity she and Macey led a group of girls who chose macrame as their activity. In the afternoons she helped with crafts on Monday and then helped with a group of girls who chose chess as their afternoon activity the rest of the week. They didn't have Wi-Fi, so she didn't actually use her phone at all at camp. The kids each received one letter from me in the mail, and Ian sent me a postcard from camp which arrived in our mailbox on Saturday afternoon after I picked them up. Oliver really wanted to pick riflery as his morning activity, but he missed the minimum age by 8 days, so he chose tie-dye because that is what his friend, Xandir, chose. He is proud of the things they made at camp. In the afternoons both boys chose outdoor games. The other afternoon choices were crafts or chess. In the morning Ian chose archery. He received an award for winning third place in his age group. Unfortunately, the boys came down with an illness the last couple of days at camp. We stayed home from church today and aside from an orthodontist appointment tomorrow morning for Oliver, we don't have any plans for the next several days so we can just stay at home sweet home. We haven't decided if we're going to give them COVID tests or not.

Nadia wants to be a junior counselor at Camp Good News again next year. She would be old enough to be a full-fledged counselor in 2024, but she'd rather be on staff at Camp Susque in 2024 because that's a paid position whereas the counselors at Camp Good News are volunteers. Ian wants to be a junior counselor at Camp Good News in 2024. Of the three camps where the kids have gone for overnight camp, Nadia ranks Camp Susque #1 and Camp Good News #2. Oliver ranks PMBC #1 and Camp Good News #2. Ian ranks Camp Good News #1 and PMBC #2. Next year I plan to send the boys to PMBC as campers, and Nadia to Camp Good News as a junior counselor and Camp Susque as a camper. The last year Nadia could be a camper at Camp Susque would be 2024, but she has decided that next year will be her last because she wants to be in their "staff in training" program for four weeks in 2024 which means she can be a counselor there for 5-8 weeks each summer starting in 2025. Nadia fell in love with Camp Susque in 2015. She only attended PMBC in 2020 because Camp Susque didn't have camp that summer. They do take pictures at Camp Good News and show them during the closing program, but they don't provide access to any of them so I don't have any pictures from last week. I'll receive pictures this week from Camp Susque, and I can send Nadia an email every day this week that they will print out and deliver to her. 

After we got home, I started a load of laundry so that Nadia could have clean clothes to pack. We had lunch and then the boys both fell asleep. They can go years without taking a nap. They are sick! Nadia is in the Apache tent this week. A friend whom she made at camp last year is in her tent again this year. I am thankful that my energy had returned because I drove for more than 2.5 hours yesterday. Nadia was home for a whopping 3.5 hours yesterday, but I appreciated getting a little bit caught up on what she had been up to at camp. I'm thankful that when I pick her this Saturday morning, she'll be home a lot longer than 3.5 hours! Hopefully she will have an awesome week this week! If she wasn't at camp this week, I'd have signed Nadia and Ian up for a choral workshop that's taking place next Saturday. I did sign them up for auditions on August 18 to be in the youth chorale. Nadia wants to move up to the Valley Singers (high school group), and Ian wants to move up to Camarata (middle school group that Nadia was in back before COVID). Oliver is old enough to be in the youngest choir, but he chose instead to be in a Ninjastics class on Monday nights.

Philadelphia

We live in a rural area. The main crops grown around here are Christmas trees, soybean, and corn. However, we don't live in the middle of nowhere. We can get to many of the national chain restaurants, big box stores, hardware stores, etc. in about twenty minutes. Pittsburgh, New York City, Baltimore, and Philadelphia are about three hours from our home. Paul and I enjoy visiting the museums and other sites that are available in the larger cities, but we'd never want to live in any of them, whereas my sister, who lives in Chicago, enjoys visiting a rural area but would never want to live in one. Of the four cities I mentioned, the one we live the closest to is Philadelphia. We have taken the kids to Philadelphia a few times in the past. For example, in March 2018 we went to Christ Church, US Mint, Franklin Museum, Franklin Institute, Adventure Aquarium, and Academy of Natural Sciences, and in November of that same year my brother and I took them to Independence Hall, Congress Hall, and the Museum of the American Revolution. I think our first trips there with the kids that weren't in conjunction with appointments at the Children's Hospital were in 2016 when we took them to the Franklin Institute, Please Touch Museum, Independence Seaport Museum, Franklin Museum, Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall. The last time I was in the city of brotherly love was to empty my brother's apartment with Wendy in March 2019 following his very unexpected passing. Because of COVID, we had no desire to visit there in 2020. 2021, or even the beginning part of 2022. 

We do have plans to spend two days there this September. Prior to yesterday, the only reservation I had made for the trip was to secure (free) tickets to the Constitution Center. I picked the dates of the trip because it is National Constitution Day and therefore free to visit. We've never been there before. Yesterday I also made a one-night reservation for a hotel, got tickets for a 90-minute guided tour of the Battleship New Jersey, and got tickets for a Harry Potter Exhibition at the Franklin Institute - each of those were definitely not free. We plan to visit five other sites for free over those two days - the Fireman's Hall Museum, Franklin Institute (free because of our ASTC membership), Philadelphia Museum of Art (free on Friday evenings), Thaddeus Kosciusko National Memorial, and the Edgar Allen Poe National Historic Site. The kids should be able to earn two junior ranger badges on the trip. The other two sites we plan to visit that won't be free are the Betsy Ross House and the Eastern State Penitentiary. When I taught middle school in the early 90's, I took my students on field trips to Philadelphia, and that was the last time I was at the Betsy Ross House or the Fireman's Hall Museum. Unfortunately, the time when they offer guided tours of the Penitentiary conflicts with the guided tour of the Battleship New Jersey. Ssince they have an audio tour at the Penitentiary, I opted to choose the guided tour of the Battleship. If we had more time, it would have been nice to return to the Independence Seaport Museum and/or the Philadelphia Zoo as it's been at least six years since they've been to either place. I imagine we'll make at least one more trip to Philadelphia sometime in the next four years as I want my kids to visit the Penn Museum where Maurice was a tour guide for several months prior to his passing. Although I'm emotionally ready to return to the city now that three years have passed, I don't think I'm quite ready to visit that museum yet.

Yesterday I mailed a card to each of the kids and a birthday card to my aunt. When the kids have been at overnight camp at PMBC and Camp Susque, I have been able to email the kids, as the camp would print out the emails and deliver them to the campers once a day. That isn't possible at this camp. My mom was very dedicated about keeping in touch with her children. When we were at camp, we would receive a letter every day. She started mailing them out before we even left for camp so that we would receive them even in the early part of our stay. As an adult, I definitely received more email from my mom than any other person. Even though the camp is about 40 minutes from our home, I think the mail will likely take 2-3 days to get there so my kids are only getting one card from me at camp this summer. In the past I slipped notes into their suitcase. Nadia first started attending overnight camp in 2015, and this is the first year I didn't do that for any of the kids. Unfortunately, I was totally out of commission on Friday and Saturday, and they left for camp on Sunday after church. Because she is a junior counselor, Nadia was allowed to bring her phone to camp this week although there is only one brief time in the day when she has permission to use it. So, I can send her a message every day to her phone. Next week, she will be at Camp Susque. She won't be allowed to have her phone at camp next week, but I can send her daily emails that the camp will print out for her. 

I'm writing this post at 3 am, which is a time when I am almost always in bed. I'm calling the doctor's office once they open this morning. I know they can't do anything for my cough, because it's just a cold, but I'm hoping to get relief for my eyes and my left ear. I haven't had pink eye since August 2017, and I haven't had this much ear trouble since 2015. My eardrum might have ruptured. I've had a lot of drainage from that ear, but I haven't seen any blood. However, the pillowcase I'm using right now is black (it was from Maurice's apartment) so it's possible I just didn't see the blood. I have very little hearing in my left ear at the moment. Thankfully my right ear is fine. I avoid the doctor's offices whenever possible, especially when we don't have insurance or a prescription drug plan, but I'm feeling miserable enough that I want to try to get some relief. I know those eye drops work wonders for conjunctivitis (also known as an eye cold). This is the second time in the last 14 years that I've had five consecutive days without any kids at home. The first time it happened (2020) I got a lot done around the house including painting Nadia's bedroom. I had grand visions for this week - spending time with Paul each evening after he came home from work, doing some painting around the house, having lunch with Tab, going on a walk with Cheri, etc. Since I'm sick, all the plans have gone out the window. I've been spending some time with Paul, but I'm trying not to share my germs with him which is why he's sleeping in our bed right now and I'm in the family room. I doubt the walk with Cheri will be rescheduled, but I am determined to take Tab out to lunch for her birthday sometime in the coming weeks as she and I have never eaten in a restaurant together. I certainly lack the energy to do any big projects around the house. I'm just grateful I have the energy to take Milo for walks, albeit much shorter walks than I usually take him on. The cold hasn't interfered with my weight loss goal. I've lost twelve pounds so far, which means I have eleven to go. I can't wait until Saturday morning when I will, Lord willing, be able to hear about the kids' week at camp. It's the last time the three of them will be at the same camp the same week as Ian will be too old to attend the camp in the future and too young to be a counselor next year. Next year I'm planning on sending the boys to PMBC and Nadia to Camp Susque. PMBC is Oliver's favorite camp, and I like the fact that it is much cheaper than Camp Good News (where they are now) or Camp Susque, which is Nadia's favorite camp.

 I'm grateful we have the resources to be able to pay for the kids to attend a week of overnight camp (Nadia is free this week) and also a new range for our kitchen. We weren't planning on buying a new range this year, but when smoke started coming out in multiple places from under the cookstove (not from the burner), we knew it was time to replace the 23-year-old range before we ended up with a house fire. Unfortunately, the builder installed a Kenmore drop-in style range. Between Lowe's and Home Depot they only sell ONE drop-in style range, and it's the wrong size. The vast majority are slide-in or freestanding. Paul is trying to find a slide-in model that will fit in our space if he cuts out some of the cabinet. It seems like things constantly need replaced in a home. Nadia's twelve-year-old light fixture died recently so Paul replaced her ceiling fan last week. That was a MUCH cheaper project than buying a new range. Unfortunately, the more inexpensive models won't fit in out space, and we don't want to have to replace our kitchen counter just because we're getting a new oven. Here's to hoping it won't take too long to find, purchase, and install a new range in our kitchen! Although I am thankful, we haven't had a monthly rent or mortgage payment for three years, there are times I wish we had a landlord who could handle these problems!

Germ Swap

We love spending time with our extended family, but one downside over the years has been that we often end up catching a bug. A majority of the time it's been a respiratory bug, but I do recall when I came back with a stomach bug after I was in Chicago in 2007, and we also got a stomach bug from the Towfighis when they visited us at our home right before Dad and Margie's wedding in August 2017. Thankfully, Oliver's lungs have improved because when he was younger, some visits to Maryland resulted in a hospitalization. I can't recall if we swapped germs in 2019, but I am pretty sure it never happened in 2020 or 2021. Our streak ended this week. I'm not sure how many of the Towfighis came down with the cold, but Yvonne and Wesley were definitely sick when we met in Hershey last Saturday. Julianna was healthy. Micah had a little bit of a cough this week. Wesley was coughing a lot, and he didn't attempt to cover his cough. I spent the most time with him - we went on walks, I read him picture books, we played games together, etc. I stayed home from church with him last Sunday because I didn't want him to spread germs at church. We also didn't go swimming this week because of his cough. I had to take him to the grocery store, and he accidentally wrapped his arms around another woman (thinking it was me) and coughed on her, but at least he coughed on her legs. I washed my hands frequently, used essential oils that are supposed to help, and prayed fervently that we wouldn't catch his cold. I also asked my friend to pray that we could escape the cold. Thankfully, Oliver and Paul seem to have escaped it. I'm particularly glad that Oliver escaped it because the kids are heading to overnight camp tomorrow. 

I've had a runny nose and a constant headache for more than a month because of allergies. I had told Paul several days ago that I need to take a break from mowing the lawn because I suffer for too many days afterward. I like getting exercise through mowing, but it's just not worth it. On Wednesday morning I had a slight sore throat and a slight fever. Those are usually my first two symptoms when I'm coming down with a cold. Sometimes if I take it very easy and get a lot of sleep, I can nip it in the bud, and it never becomes a full-blown cold. I tried to take it as easy as possible on Wednesday in the hopes that would happen this time. However, I wasn't able to take it easy on Thursday because we had plans to go to DelGrosso's amusement park. We hadn't been since 2019. The park was closed in 2020, and last year our trip was cancelled because Oliver got stitches on his chin the day before we planned to go. Oliver has really, really been looking forward to this trip so I didn't feel like we could cancel it. It was way too much for me. As we drove home Paul was contemplating taking me to the hospital. When we got home my temperature was 101.2. I took two ibuprofens. An hour later, my temperature was 102.0 so I took two acetaminophens. It's very rare for my temperature to be that high so I took a COVID test even though Yvonne had said what they had was a cold not COVID. Thankfully, I also got a negative result. I didn't want the kids to not be able to go to camp because I had COVID. Nadia had to skip snow camp in January because Paul had COVID.

Paul had only planned to take Thursday off of work, but he ended up taking Friday off also because I wasn't up to taking care of the kids. The plan had been for me to meet Yvonne in Towson, Maryland today, but I knew I wasn't going to be up to driving for five hours, and I knew Paul wouldn't want to take three days off of work. He and Yvonne started driving toward each other yesterday morning. Oliver opted to stay home with me rather than spend four hours in the van. I felt badly to end the cousin swap a day earlier than planned, but I have hardly left my bed the last two days. I have really missed Ian's hugs, but I've tried to keep some distance because I don't want him to catch the cold from me. I'm very thankful that Paul was able to do the drive for me. On Wednesday I had prepared a lesson on Nahum for our Sunday School class as our teacher is on vacation. Yesterday morning someone volunteered to be a sub for me. I'm now rescheduled to teach in the middle of August. I will end up attending church online two weeks in a row - last week because Wesley was sick and tomorrow because I'm sick. I also won't be taking the kids to camp tomorrow afternoon. Paul is taking four kids. Macey and Nadia will be counselors, and Ian and Oliver will be campers. I'm assuming I'll be healthy again by the time I go to pick the kids up next Saturday morning. 

Even though they wish they could have stayed in Maryland one more day, Ian and Nadia had a great time. They went bowling, went ice skating, swam, played games, played tennis, played with Legos, etc. I think that Oliver, Micah, Julianna, and Wesley also had a good week. They all had a good time at DelGrosso's yesterday. They also enjoyed Milo and the guinea pigs. Cousin swaps would be easier for me if we didn't have a dog. Unfortunately, he loves to eat toilet paper. The cousins are accustomed to putting used toilet paper in a trash can because in Turkey and Ecuador you can't flush toilet paper. Naturally, they aren't accustomed to keeping the bathroom doors closed so several times a day I needed to clean up pieces of used toilet paper that Milo had strewn in two of the bathrooms and the foyer. I need to buy some rubber gloves. I started emptying the trash cans far more often than I usually do to decrease the size of the messes that Milo would make. I really wish our dog wasn't so enamored with toilet paper!! Lately I've been taking Milo out for almost all of his walks, but I didn't take him out at all yesterday or today. I'll be on my own with taking him out while the kids are at camp. He slept with Ian last night, and he'll sleep with Nadia tonight. Then he'll be back to sleeping his crate until next Saturday.

Cousin Crew

On Saturday afternoon the kids and I drove to Hershey to meet Yvonne who was driving there with four of her kids. Joshua played tennis with his Aunt Joyce while the rest of us hung out in a Subway. The drive there was difficult because of torrential rain. Nadia and Ian left with Aunt Yvonne and Joshua. I came back home with Oliver, Wesley (age 5), Micah (age 7), and Julianna (age 9). I had planned to have Micah and Oliver sleep in Ian's room, but Oliver ended up on the floor in our room that night. The second night Micah and Wesley slept in Ian's room which worked out better, but the third time was the charm as Micah wanted to sleep on an air mattress rather than Ian's topp bunk. Julianna is sleeping in Nadia's room, which is also where we keep our guinea pigs. At night, Milo misses Ian and Nadia because he has to sleep in a crate in our bedroom. I love Milo, but I am not a fan of him sleeping in our room as sometimes he cries and other times he barks because of something he hears outside. He'll sleep in our room for seven nights, sleep one night with Nadia or Ian, and then sleep another six nights in our room while they are all at overnight Camp Good News. He can sleep with Ian the seven nights after that while Nadia is at Camp Susque.

I served the kids tuna noodle casserole for dinenr, and that was definitely the most successful thing I served them so far this week. I need to make a list somewhere of what they do and don't like for future reference. They also really liked the blueberry muffins I made this morning using some of the blueberries we picked yesterday. They had lunch at Kids' Cafe the last two days although Julianna didn't eat lunch there today because she didn't like what they were serving. These kids REALLY like fruit. I took them to Aldi and Surplus Outlet today, and we came home with red grapes, strawberries, peaches, pears, a watermelon, cherries, bananas, and a pineapple. We already had apples, clementines, and blueberries at home. We are very well stocked with fruit at the moment! Nadia will be jealous about the cherries as it's the first time I bought cherries this year. I also let the kids each pick out a candy at Surplus Outlet. Wesley picked sour gummy worms, Micah picked candy corn, and Julianna picked a Kit Kat bar. We're planning on having pizza for dinner at DelGrosso's amusement park on Thursday, and I believe they all like pizza.

On Friday Nadia, Ian, and Oliver were all in a thirty-minute musical. Nadia played the part of a bully, and Ian was the Apostle Paul. All three kids sang in the chorus. Most (or all?) of the other kids seemed to have a pew or two filled with family/friends who came. Paul and I were the only ones there who came to see our kids. My kids would love it if they had cousins who lived a lot closer, but we are grateful for the times we can be together. The cousins we have here at our house will head back to Ecuador next month and most likely won't be back in the USA again until next summer. I could tell that these three had learned some Spanish over the last year because they understood what I was saying when I only used Spanish to refer to the colors and numbers when we were playing Uno. We are hoping to visit them in Ecuador in about 18 months. Hopefully we will be more fluent in Spanish by then. 

Thankful Thursday

1. I'm very, very thankful that Nadia joined our family on June 24, 2008. The kids enjoyed eating some frozen yogurt from Sweet Frog on her 14th birthday.

2. The kids enjoyed kayaking and playing four-square in the air at Isaiah's birthday party at Montour Preserve on June 25. 

3. The five of us made use of a gift card to have dinner at Bonanza on June 27. Ian and Oliver received a free meal and a free drink because it was kids' night. 

4. Nadia and Ian enjoyed painting portraits of Milo and Nadia's two guinea pigs on June 28. 

5. We enjoyed watching Nadia and Ian's performance of Beauty and the Beast on July 1. 

6. Even though Paul lost a game of chess for the first time in 20+ years, we enjoyed having the Seiberts over for dinner on July 2.

7. Wendy and Grace spent four days with us, and Rachel spent three days with us the first week of July. They played games, had lunch at Kids' Cafe, went roller skating, went swimming, saw fireworks, attended a parade, picked blueberries, watched movies, bowled, played arcade games, jumped on trampolines, and played laser tag with us. I'm very grateful that Wendy was willing to make the 9-hour drive to our home! 

8. Nine of the Towfighis spent seven hours with us on July 4. It was the first time since March 2019 that we three sisters had been together. 

9. We enjoyed Colton Dixon's concert at our church on July 9 and the combined outdoor worship service the next day. Over 1,500 attended the service that day, and our sanctuary isn't large enough for that many to attend at one time. 

10. Dave and Marla joined us at church, played Codenames with us, and ate with us at church and at our home. They gave us flowers, chocolates, and some flavored water. 

11. I lost 9 pounds over the last 6 weeks. I'm hoping to lose another 14 pounds by sometime in September.

12. Nadia was given a larger part in the musical "You're Not Alone" that the kids will be presenting tomorrow at noon. It was Ian's first time to be given a speaking part at this camp. I'm also thankful that tomorrow will be my last day of driving them to a non-overnight camp this year. Fourteen days done and one day to go!

Grandpa and Gubba's kitten - Ollie (May 2022)

13. I bought myself new sandals on Tuesday. The ones I had purchased at a yard sale several years ago were very worn out. I value comfort over appearance, but I think these are also prettier than the ones I had been wearing the last few years. 

14. I cannot remember the last time I paid for a carwash. It's been at least 14 years, and it could have been over 26 years. I "splurged" and paid $7 for the van to be washed on Tuesday. I think our white van looks much nicer now!

15. In the middle of May Nadia and I got manicures. It was Nadia's second time to have a professional manicure in her life. Her first was in June 2019. This was the first time either of us had a manicure with gel nail polish. The upside is that it lasted FAR more weeks than usual, but we then learned it's much harder to get it off. Nadia managed to pick hers off a couple of weeks ago. I wasn't as successful so on Tuesday I went to a nail salon while the kids were in theatre camp and paid $5 to have my nails returned back to normal. If I ever get another manicure with gel polish, I now know how to get it off at home. 

16. In general I feel that our town is a safe place to live. We don't hear gun shots like my sister does in Chicago. On Tuesday night when I drove Oliver to VBS I was perplexed to see many, many cars including police vehicles next to a home less than a mile from our house. When I saw a tv station recording a video there on Wednesday night, I looked online and discovered that this week someone had informed the police that a man had been beaten to death in that home and buried on the property in January of 2020. I'm thankful that murder is very rare around here. 

17. Oliver has really been enjoying VBS this week. 

18. Addi, our neighbor, just joined our church's youth group in June because she will be entering sixth grade next month. We carpooled to youth group last night. I took Ian, Nadia, and Addi, and one of her parents picked the three kids up at 8pm and brought them home. With the price of gas these days, I'm always thankful when carpooling is an option!

19. Today I took the kids to see the new Minions movie. We didn't see any movies in the theatre from January 2020 to November 2021. The Minions: Rise of Gru movie was the first time Nadia, Oliver, and I were in a movie theatre in 2022. I used money I had earned through the Upside app (mostly for gasoline purchases) to pay for our tickets. This was the 66th item that we accomplished off our 2022 Bucket List, which currently has 130 first time activities on it. 

20. Unfortunately, our CVS is closing next month. We've known the very kind manager there for almost fourteen years. I probably won't coupon at CVS as often after it closes, but I did manage to pay less than $1 total for a box of Gushers plus six boxes of cereal this week. 

21. Oliver got his first expander on Monday. Thankfully I haven't had any trouble turning it so far!

Photo Credit: All of the photos in this post were taken by Nadia over the last three months.

Here we go again!

I've had an approximately 13-month break from turning an expander. Ian had two expanders last year, but he has been wearing a retainer since then. There were some challenging moments along the way in terms of turning Ian's expander. I don't recall having those difficulties when I turned my own expander 41 years ago. Oliver's first expander was put in his mouth today. I'm hoping turning his expander will go more smoothly. Being an "orthodontist" isn't exactly my favorite job title as a mom!

Today the kids had their first day of a theatre camp put on by a Christian radio station based in Bath, New York. This is Ian and Nadia's third consecutive year to participate in this camp, and it's Oliver's second time. Ian and Nadia both were given speaking parts today. Ian is playing the part of the apostle Paul. Nadia is playing the part of a bully named Jamie. Tomorrow they will be auditioning for solos. Some days I plan to stay up in that area instead of coming home during their four-hour rehearsal because the church where it is being held is almost 30 minutes from our home, but I came home this morning for Milo's sake because I knew we wouldn't be coming home right after I picked them up at 12:30 because of Oliver's orthodontist appointment. I treated the kids to lunch (used a gift card for Oliver at Taco Bell and used some reward points at McDonald's to reduce the cost of Ian and Nadia's meal), and I let Oliver pick out some paper plates and such for his upcoming birthday party at a bowling alley. I am thankful this is the last week of a non-overnight camp because it means less driving for me. There have been summers in the past when I signed the kids up for more weeks of camp - art camp, horseback riding camp, etc., but I wasn't tempted to do so this year.

We haven't been locking Milo in his crate when we leave. We hadn't been doing that if we were going to be gone for much more than four hours, but on Saturday he was alone out of his crate for about six hours, and it went fine. Yesterday morning he was fine when we went to church in the morning, but when we went swimming for an hour in the evening, he pooped in the house. I put the responsibility for that on the child who took him out for a walk before we left. When I take him out for a walk, I give him enough time to poop, but the kids are often prone to taking him out for short periods of time. I've been trying to walk for at least three miles a day, and Milo joins me for most of my walks.

On Sunday Dave (who also works at Kennedy Concrete) and his wife joined us at our church. We worshipped outside. The upside is that we could combine both services which isn't possible indoors. The downside was we don't usually get sunburned during church. The service was a bit longer than usual as it included communion plus fourteen baptisms, and each person shares a testimony before being baptized. After the service the church provided hotdogs, bottles of water, and ice cream. I hadn't realized our church would be providing food that day when I invited them to our home. We ate our main meal a little earlier than usual because we knew it would take Dave and Marla about 90 minutes to get home. I served tuna melt pie, focaccia bread, apple crisp, Jell-O, and a tossed salad. My goal is to have twelve couples or families come to our home for a meal in 2022 (not counting relatives), and they were the fifth. I already have two families scheduled to come in August and have extended an invitation to a third family. On Sunday we played a game of Codenames before we ate our meal. They had never played the game before. 

Nadia started going to VBS in 2011, and Ian began participating in 2013. They both attended every year through 2021 with the exception of 2020 when VBS wasn't held because of COVID. I didn't know it at the time, but 2021 ended up being their last year of VBS because the Methodist church closed (their VSB used to go from age 3 to 12th grade) and the Baptist church lowered the maximum grade from 8th to 5th. Oliver participated in our church's VBS last month. He opted not to participate in the one at the Alliance Church this summer (which at least one my kids attended every year from 2011-2019 and again in 2021), but he did ask me to sign up for the VBS at the Wesleyan church in our town. That is taking place this week starting this evening. Hopefully it won't be too much for him to have theatre camp from 8:15am - 12:30pm and then VBS from 6:00-8:30pm this week. 

Cousin time!

My kids really, really love to spend time with their cousins. 2020 was a rough year in that department. Thankfully 2022 has been much better in that regard. At least some of the Benners have traveled out to our home from Chicago four times over the last eleven months and we went to their home once in that time span, which is in contrast to not seeing them at all for the 24 months prior to that. We were able to spend four days with Wendy and Grace and three of those days also with Rachel. Nadia and Rachel were pretty much inseparable, but they did join us for a few activities like playing Codenames, eating meals, swimming, roller skating, bowling, and a trampoline park. They created a brand new, very non-traditional cookie recipe. They called them "apple lime cookies." Their recipe included marshmallow fluff, apple pop tarts, key lime pie yogurt, whipped cream, etc. A few were eaten but no one was crazy about the final product so most of them ended up in the trash can. The girls laughed their heads off through the baking process. We weren't told what was in the "mystery" cookies until we each ate one. On Wednesday night they had a "sleepover." They always plan out their night ahead of time. They managed to stay up until 4:15am! I was soundly asleep LONG before that. Grace, Ian, and Oliver enjoyed playing together both inside and outside the house. They opted to play arcades instead of bowling on Thursday. They chose to eat at Kid's Cafe on Tuesday and Wednesday. On Tuesday they had grilled ham and cheese sandwiches, and on Wednesday they had pancakes and bacon. We had macaroni and cheese in honor of Grace on Monday and Tuesday, spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread at Rachel's request on Wednesday, and Wendy requested white chicken chili and cornbread on Tuesday as an early birthday dinner. On Thursday we had pizza after the kids spent two hours at Kaos (laser tag, trampoline, bowling, and arcades). On Tuesday night Aunt Wendy, Grace, Ian, and Oliver watched the first Sonic movie for free through Hulu. On Thursday I splurged and paid for a rental of Sonic 2 on Amazon because it hasn't come out on DVD yet. Paul and Ian had already seen it at the theatre, but it was the first time that Oliver, Wendy, and Grace saw the movie. We might get to see them in December, and we are planning to go to their home next April. Susie is headed to college in California in September! When Ian went up this evening at 6:50pm to ask Oliver if he wanted to play Quirkle with us, he discovered Oliver was already fast asleep! Even though he didn’t stay up nearly as late as Nadia and Rachel, he was definitely tuckered out!

The Benners started driving back to Chicago early this morning. Nadia, Oliver, and I spent a few hours yard sale shopping this morning. I spent over $100, and most items were $1-2 each. We mostly purchased clothing and shoes for the kids. I also bought myself one dress for $3, six books for the kids (50 cents each), and rollerblades for Ian. Since we plan to be away during our town's community yard sales in September, I imagine I am now done with yard sale shopping for 2022. Although I often take the kids to the pool, today was the first time this summer that I got in the water as it was very hot out today. Tomorrow we're signed up as volunteers to help run the inflatables for an hour at our church, and then we'll be attending concerts and fireworks at our church. On Sunday we're having a combined outdoor service at 10:00am (combining two services into one and also two campuses into one) and then Dave and Marla (Dave works for Paul) are coming to our house for a meal.