14.5 Years Old

 

Ice skating in NYC

 As of today, Nadia is 14.5 years old! She loves having her first cell phone and can't wait until she has a phone number. She mainly uses her phone in connection with an ear bud while listening to Christian contemporary music via Amazon Music or listening to Adventures in Odyssey. Sometimes I have to ask her to take the ear bud out because she's using it at a time that I deem inappropriate such as when we are seated at a restaurant having dinner. Her favorite artists at the moment are For King and Country, Matthew West, Cain, and Anne Wilson. She saw the latter three in concert once this year and For King and Country twice. She wishes that I had gotten tickets so she could have attended a MercyMe concert in our area last month. Hopefully there will be another opportunity for her to see them in person sometime in the next few years. Initially, she said she would prefer to be a counselor at Camp Good News next summer, but she recently changed her mind and has decided to join us at the Kingdom Bound music festival at Darien Lake instead, which means she should see Matthew West at least twice in 2023 as he's planning to come to our church in March and Kingdom Bound in July. This year she has begun collecting t-shirts and sweatshirts from the artists. So far, she has a t-shirt from Casting Crowns, Matthew West, and For King and Country as well as sweatshirts from For King and Country and Matthew West. She listens to every single song an artist has sung before attending his/her concert. Nadia is usually able to quickly identify the artist when we are listening to a Christian radio station in our vehicle. 

Nadia also still loves to go ice skating. She has ice skated twice this month and is signed up for ten weeks of lessons that start the first week of January. She had a pair of ice skates on her Christmas wish list. She also still loves to read. Over the last six months she read at least 38 books of which 33 were written by Karen Kingsbury, who is currently her favorite author. She included many of Kingsbury's books on her wish list. 

As a ninth grader, she is receiving grades for the first time in her life. Her courses this year include Biology, Medieval History, New Testament Survey, Geometry, English, Personal Finance (1/2 credit), Spanish 1 (1/2 credit), Chorus (1/4 credit), and Physical Education (1/2 credit). Her highest grade is in history. She has the opportunity to earn money each marking period. Nadia really wants to have a job outside the home. I expect that will happen sometime in 2023. At the moment, her plan is to attend Liberty University and major in Zoo and Wildlife Biology.

Over the last six months she has been involved in a variety of activities including:

1. Beauty and the Beast theatre camp in Lewisburg
2. Youtheatre camp in Montoursville
3. Cousin swap in Maryland with Yvonne's family
4. Counselor at Camp Good News for six nights
5. Camper at Camp Susque for seven nights
6. Volunteer packing food and hygiene kits with Experience Missions and with Compassion at concerts
7. Singing in the Valley Singers (high school choir of the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale)
8. Youth service at 10:45 on Sunday mornings and small group on Wednesdays from 6:30-8:00
9. Member of our church's Bible quizzing team (book of Acts this year)

Traditions and Habits

I was thinking about the word "habit" lately as when I think of "goals," most goals involve establishing (or reestablishing) a habit of some sort. I haven't heard people refer to things like brushing their teeth every morning as a "tradition" yet aren't most traditions actually a habit albeit maybe one that is only practiced as infrequently as once a year? It seems the more mundane habits aren't labeled as traditions. Some traditions that we had for years have gone by the wayside as the kids have gotten older, but here are some of our current habits/traditions. There are others that I still need to work on doing better at such as drinking more water and flossing more regularly. 

African Burial Ground National Monument in NYC

1. The kids are required to eat a fruit or vegetable at lunch and at dinner almost every day.
2. We pray together before lunch and dinner.
3. We have a time for devotions and prayer together at 8:30pm almost every night. 
4. The kids' bedtimes are determined by their ages. Ian's bedtime just switched from 9:30 to 10:00pm because he turned thirteen this month. I've started allowing Nadia to stay up until 10:30pm on Friday nights. 
5. We listen to audiobooks together during many meals and during longer drives. I also listen to audiobooks when walking Milo and mowing the lawn. I anticipate we will hit our 1,000th book in 2023. We are thinking of celebrating with a trip to HersheyPark as we haven't been there for quite a few years. 
6. The kids and I each write a list of blessings in a special journal on Thanksgiving Day.
7. The kids write thank you notes for gifts they've received from people outside of our immediate family. 
8. We have donuts for breakfast as a birthday treat, and the birthday girl/boy gets the extra donut from the half dozen. 
9. We celebrate the kids' physical and spiritual birthdays.
10. Turns for screen time must be earned almost all the time, and there is a limit on how much time can be used in one day.
11. On Sundays we attend a worship service together at 9:00, and then we attend separate classes/groups at 10:45.
12. Ian and Nadia are also at church from 4:30-8:00 on Wednesdays. Some weeks of the year Oliver and I are there from 6:30-8:00.
13. We decorate the house for Christmas sometime after Thanksgiving and put most of it away by the end of December. I keep the snowman stuff up through the middle of March. I significantly expanded our Christmas decorations this year.
14. The kids each receive a gift for Valentine's Day.
15. The kids each go on 2-3 dates per year with a parent. This year Paul and I also managed to go on three dates so I'm hoping that will become an annual tradition for us to go on at least three dates together as a couple. 
16. I walk Milo three times a day (3-5 miles total). 
17. Ian and Oliver get at least one shower or bath a week, typically on Saturday.
18. I cut Ian, Paul, Milo, and Oliver's hair.
19. Nadia and Ian take turns every other week with cleaning the guinea pig cage and every other night in terms of having Milo sleep with them.
20. The kids earn Junior Ranger patches or badges at National Park sites.
21. We are working toward our goal of visiting all 50 states together.
22. The kids go skiing once or twice a year when it's free with our WVIA membership.
23. We go to DelGrosso's once a summer when it's 50% off.
24. We go to Knoebels and Montage Mountain water park once a year when it's free with our WVIA membership.
25. We spend two days at Great Wolf Lodge in December to celebrate Ian's birthday.
26. Some of us eat monkey bread in the morning on a few holidays each year.
27. We wear patriotic clothing on July 4th and Memorial Day.
28. I send out Christmas cards to friends and family.
29. We attend a candlelight service at our church on Christmas Eve.
30. The kids and I make Christmas cookies.
31. A weekly family fun night is something we've started more recently; each of us have had the opportunity to plan one this year. I think in 2023 we should each get to plan nine family fun nights. We haven't had a tradition for New Year's Day or New Year's Eve in the past, but this year I said that the three kids together should plan a longer than usual Family Fun Night for December 31. I think this will also become an annual tradition. 
32. We volunteer with Compassion at concerts, and I regularly write letters to the five kids we sponsor.
33. The kids and I help out with service projects at our church, First Baptist, and Experience Missions.
34. The kids each attend one week of overnight camp as a camper. This summer Nadia started a new tradition of also serving as a counselor for at least one week. Nadia is hoping to make it a tradition to attend a few days at winter camp every year (starting this month). COVID foiled those plans the last two years. 
35. I try new recipes every year. My goal for 2023 is to try at least twelve new recipes.
36. I invite at least twelve families (not counting relatives) over to our home for dinner each year.
37. Nadia and Ian take turns with Milo during the various school subjects each day.
38. The kids get candy at Trunk or Treat events and trick or treating in October and at Easter egg hunts in March or April. Oliver is the only one who hasn't aged out of the egg hunts yet. 
39. We do a cousin swap in the summer with Yvonne's family.
40. I use the MealBoard app to keep track of what we make for dinner and dessert so that we don't get in a rut of making the same few dishes all the time. I try to go 3-4 months before making the same dish for dinner. We typically have breakfast for dinner once a week.
41. We attend new productions at Sight and Sound (typically once every year or two) and also Christmas and Easter productions at a church in Camp Hill once or twice a year (sometimes with other family members). 
42. We take approximately 145 days to complete the curriculum each school year. The remaining 35 days are for field trips. We usually end up logging more than 180 days including field trips. 
43. I spend time learning Spanish on Duolingo every single day. Nadia is the most faithful of the kids, but all three attempt to do Duolingo every day. Ian sometimes completes lessons in other languages (such as German). 
44. Ian practices the piano about four days a week on average. He recently started working on some piano duets to play with me. I would love it if that became a new habit! 
45. Nadia has a great habit of reading for pleasure. Her current favorite author is Karen Kingsbury.
46. The kids take ten weeks of ice-skating lessons from January through March and attend a free Christmas ice skating party in December.
47. The kids attend three free homeschool roller skating parties each year in September, December, and February.
48. The kids and I have chores that we have divided up amongst the four of us. We typically do the weekly ones on Saturday.
49. We watch new episodes of The Chosen, Wingfeather Saga, and Tuttle Twins on the Angel app. We are currently enjoying the third season of The Chosen.
50. Nadia regularly chats with her cousin, Rachel, via Zoom. Ian regularly talks to his cousins Joel and Nathan via FaceTime. 
51. This year the kids and I fell in love with the homemade peanut butter Oreo ice cream at Old Mill Creamery, and the kids want buying a gallon of that ice cream to be something we do throughout the year for birthdays and other special occasions. 
52. The kids attended their first (touring) Broadway show in 2018 (Aladdin in Buffalo), and I thought we'd have a tradition of going to one show a year. We saw Lion King in Norfolk in 2019, and then we took a hiatus due to COVID. The kids saw their first show on Broadway last week - Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. We have tickets to see a touring Broadway performance of Wicked in St. Louis in April. So far Aladdin has been our favorite show. I've seen at least ten shows over the past 30 years, and my top three would be Phantom of the Opera, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, and Aladdin. 
53. In 2017 we started taking the kids to Corning Museum of Glass in December to do a make your own glass project. We took a hiatus the past two years due to COVID. We went this month, but it might be our last time as the experience wasn't as good as it was in 2017-2019. 
54. Typically, the only time we eat out is when we are on vacation. We use gift cards that we obtain through credit card points when we eat out. The exception to that is that we do buy pizza (to go) when we are at home, and we don't usually use gift cards for pizza. 
55. We give the kids money (the same amount of dollars as their age) for their birthday. In high school the kids receive grades after each marking period, and Nadia has been the first to receive money based on her grades. 
56. I buy a box of Hot Pockets for Nadia on her birthday and spiritual birthday, and for Christmas. 
57. Our kids get their first smart phone when they turn fourteen. Nadia doesn't have a phone number yet; she can only use her phone when she has access to Wi-Fi. We haven't decided yet when we'll get her a phone number.
58. I have been making photobooks a few times a year for many years and videos about the kids after each birthday. More recently I've been making additional videos such as recaps of our vacations. Hopefully these videos will be treasured years to come! 
59. Giving gifts to the kids' small group leaders at church (in the past this included choir directors and AWANA leaders). Some years we've given them a plate of assorted homemade cookies or a gift card. This year we gave out loaves of pumpkin bread that I made yesterday. 

Rockefeller tree in NYC

Another teenager!

Ian turned thirteen years old today, and today also marks the second anniversary of the day Milo joined our family! He's thankful that his bedtime has been moved to 10:00pm. In many ways he is the same as he has been for years such as enjoying playing the piano, giving lots of hugs, his favorite color is green, and eating a peanut butter and marmalade sandwich on honey wheat bread for lunch almost every day. Here are some things that are more recent developments. 

1. He's been chatting with some of his cousins in Ecuador (mostly Joel and Nathan) fairly often via FaceTime. Sometimes they play Brawl Stars together. 

2. If he has money to spend, he usually spends it on either Brawl Stars (via Apple) or for something on the Nintendo Switch. 

3. He frequently asks for us to play games together. His favorite game at the moment is Exploding Kittens.

4. Before he asks me a question, he almost always says "I have a question."

5. He often talks in a voice that he says is like Villager News from Minecraft. Previously, he had a habit of snapping his fingers many, many times during the day, but that habit has come to an end at least for now.

6. Ian enjoys doing Algebra I via Teaching Textbooks and is looking forward to making more progress with learning Python in a few months. His current aspiration is to be a computer programmer.

7. He usually remembers to give a tithe at church. 

8. Ian is getting new glasses this week. I'm waiting until we pick them up to take his 13th birthday portrait. 

9. His retainer has only ended up a garbage can once, but we were able to retrieve it from the trash at Panera Bread. Thankfully it's never been broken or lost. 

10. He has drastically improved his performance in Bible quizzing the last three months compared to during the last school year. 

11. If his small group is dismissed before I come down to get him, he plays pool with some other boys in the youth center. 

12. He sings and makes other noises rather frequently throughout the day. He was a member of the Camerata choir (middle school) of the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale for the first time this fall. 

13. The last few months Ian has been responsible for brushing Milo's fur and teeth every day.

Ian's birthday celebration began on December 8 when we drove to the Poconos for an overnight at Great Wolf Lodge. The kids enjoyed spending two days in the water park. We packed one lunch and used gift cards at Dunkin' Donuts and Red Robin over the two days. We saw the play "Miracle on 34th Street" in Williamsport on Friday night. Due to various people being sick, our plans for Saturday (dinner at the Seiberts' house) and Sunday (getting together with Al, Millie, and Pop Pop) were cancelled. When I realized Ian wouldn't be having a birthday cake from Aunt Millie, I asked him what dessert he wanted to have. He chose peanut butter cup cookies, which is something I haven't made for a few years. I don't think years will pass before I make them again! I also got him a two liter of Root Beer and a bag of Barbecue chips which are two treats he enjoys that I don't purchase very often. We let him open his birthday gifts yesterday afternoon, and it was my turn to plan a family fun night. We played Quiddler, watched the first episode of the third season of The Chosen, and ate soft pretzels. He enjoyed using his new Switch controllers, playing his new Switch game, and started reading a book I got him. Four boys were supposed to come over for a play date this afternoon, but that also will have to be rescheduled due to illness. Ian, Nadia, and I are going to have dinner at Bonanza before I take them to their choir rehearsal tonight. The only negative in my mind regarding the fact that two of my kids are now teenagers is that it means there aren't many years left until they are old enough to fly from the nest. I love Ian Alexander so very much and am so grateful for the privilege of being his mom and teacher! 

Grateful

It's already December! In just ten days I will be the mother of two teenagers.  We didn't have many things on the calendar in November, but that is not the case for December. For example, from November 21-29 the only time the kids left the house was to go to church. Although we're looking forward to the various special activities planned for the month, we also appreciate days (like today) when we just stay home all day. I had wanted to add a few more things to my gratitude list for November so I'm finishing that list today (two days late). 

43. Oliver still prefers to read out loud rather than silently. Although it would shorten the length of our school day if he could read silently, I do enjoy the time to snuggle with him and enjoy a good book together. He was very young when I read the Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle books aloud, so we are reading those aloud together. We take turns reading paragraphs for thirty minutes. In my opinion, if a children's book is well written, it can still be very enjoyable even to an adult in her fifties.

44. I have had three different "favorite" types of chewing gum this year. The first two were very rarely available at Surplus Outlet so it was more of a splurge to buy them, but thankfully my current favorite (Trident's Tropical Twist) has been available at Surplus Outlet, and I was able to stock up on it for Nadia and me. Similarly, they have had Paul's favorite (Juicy Fruit) available. Although many categories in our budget went up in 2022 due to inflation, thanks in part to shopping more at Surplus Outlet, our food budget only went up 4% this year despite the fact that the price for most of the items went up FAR more than that. 

45. I tend to be on the minimalist side when it comes to Christmas decorations. Last year I purchased a garland with lights for the banister. I'm really enjoying it again this year, and so I bought another garland with lights that I put on top of the kitchen cabinets on Tuesday. We are enjoying this new addition! 

46. Last week we got a few projects down outside. Paul painted the outside of the new front door to try to get it closer to the color of our siding. I painted the mailbox, two light fixtures, and one lamppost black and painted the wood that holds up the mailbox green. 

47. I'm thankful that I have the freedom to make changes during a school year to the curriculum. For most of the years I've been homeschooling, Nadia and Ian have done science together. Two years ago, Nadia studied General Science while the boys did science together. Last year I went back to having Nadia and Ian study Physical Science together. Nadia and Ian had been doing Biology together, but as of last week, all three kids are in a separate science curriculum for the first time as I moved Ian from 9th grade Biology to 7th grade General Science. Since he already completed the Physical Science course, I decided to spread the General Science curriculum over the rest of this school year and next school year which will give him more time to work on Python (coding), which is something he really enjoys. The *current* plan (which obviously could be changed) is that Nadia will study Marine Biology next year and then the two of them will have Chemistry and Physics together during her last two years of high school and his first two years of high school.

48. One of my favorite traditions from my childhood was "family fun night" which we tried to have once a week. We rotated between the family members as to who would plan what we did that night (play a game, do a puzzle, color in coloring books, etc.). I have attempted to begin that tradition in our family in the past, and it never really got off the ground so to speak. I recently made another attempt, and I think this time we will succeed in making it a tradition in our family. In addition to planning an activity, I said that person could also plan the menu for dinner for that night. Nadia is the least enthusiastic about this new tradition. Oliver had the first one. He asked for grilled hotdogs and macaroni and cheese for dinner and peanut butter bars for dessert. He had asked for us to play Lord of the Rings Monopoly, but then at the last minute he switched his plans and we played another (shorter) game so that we could also watch a new episode of The Mysterious Benedict Society together. We did play Lord of the Rings Monopoly the next week. When it was Nadia's turn, we had grilled ham steak and scalloped potatoes for dinner and s'mores pizza for dessert. We watched the movie Joni (from the late 70's) because Nadia had recently read the book. Ian picked breakfast bagels for dinner tonight and at 8pm we're watching the Wingfeather Saga premiere on the Angel app while eating caramel popcorn. I can't recall if I ever bought caramel popcorn before. I'm estimating that each family member will get to plan about nine family fun nights a year after subtracting the weeks the kids are at overnight camp or we are on vacation. Hopefully they will have fond memories of our family fun nights when they are adults! 

49. It took me more than two weeks, but my body finally adjusted to the time change. I'm so grateful to be getting 8-9 hours of sleep at night again. 

50. Last night we saw the movie "I heard the Bells" at the theater. It was the first time in 2022 that all five of us attended a movie together. I used credit card points to get an AMC gift card that I used to buy the tickets. It was very well done, although the kids wish they hadn't included the part of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's wife being burned to death. It was very timely for us because we visited two of his homes (Portland and Cambridge) in September. Much of the movie took place in his home in Cambridge. 

51. For years Compassion has allowed children as young as ten to participate with a parent as a volunteer at concerts. Oliver and Paul have only been volunteers once so far because Oliver just turned ten in August. Today I found out that Compassion is changing the minimum age to fourteen effective January 1. It's disappointing that it will be a year until Ian can volunteer again and about 3.5 years until Oliver can do so, but thankfully the five of us are signed up to volunteer tomorrow night at a Christmas concert in Hershey by For King and Country. 

Giving Thanks

As a child, we celebrated Thanksgiving with my Aunt Janet on Long Island many times. Since Paul and I got married, we typically celebrated Thanksgiving with Paul's family. Sometimes I hosted, sometimes it was Paul's sister-in-law who hosted, and other times it was Paul's mom who hosted. In the early years the kids at the meal were Paul's niece and nephew and the eldest family who joined us were Paul's grandparents. As various family members have either passed away or moved to Florida, the number of family celebrating Thanksgiving together has grown smaller and smaller. In 2020 we celebrated the holiday with just our immediate family because of COVID and the same thing happened in 2021. I prefer to celebrate the holiday with more than just our immediate family so when I realized we weren't going to be seeing any extended family on Thanksgiving again this year, I invited my friend Cheri (who is 65 and lives by herself) and her uncle who has Alzheimer's and diabetes. Cheri is his primary caregiver and has been doing some remodeling at his house before she moves in with him and puts her house on the market. One tradition that hasn't changed, is that the kids and I each write a list of things we are thankful for in our Thanksgiving journal. It's also fun to read lists that the kids wrote in past years. Paul's brother took this week off of work, which meant Paul worked longer hours than usual Monday through Wednesday, but Paul won't be going to work today or tomorrow. Because we are taking several days off of school in December for overnight trips, I only gave the kids a four-day weekend for Thanksgiving, which is a shorter break than usual in our area. 

28. Thinking of Veteran's Day which we celebrated earlier this month, I'm thankful for all of those in the past who have served in our country's military as well as those who are currently serving. 

29. Although I wasn't exactly happy with the results from the election earlier this month, I am very thankful for the freedoms we have in our country, including the right to vote. 

30. On Sunday afternoon Oliver, Paul, Paul's dad, and I had the privilege of attending Nadia and Ian's concert with the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale. There are three different choirs in the chorale. Nadia is a member of the Valley Singers (HS), and Ian is a member of the Camerata (MS). Some songs were sung by only one choir, and others were sung by all three choirs together. At their concert in 2019 they sang all patriotic songs in honor of Veteran's Day. This year the concert's theme was singing. They sang a wide variety of styles of music including traditional spirituals, a patriotic song, religious anthems, Do-Re-Mi from the Sound of Music, etc. Since they are not in a school choir, I am very grateful for this opportunity. I'm looking forward to their Christmas candlelight concerts in December! Nadia would like to participate in the next semester that starts in January, but I'm not signing them up because she has drama and art at the co-op on Mondays starting in January. I'm planning to sign all three kids up for the Chorale next fall, and since Nadia wants to switch to a different co-op, the kids might be able to participate in both sessions during the 2023-24 season. 

31. A homeschooling family I met at the swimming pool came to our home for dinner on November 5. Two of their three kids are very close in age to Nadia and Ian. Everyone had a nice time!

32. I enjoyed teaching a lesson on Habakkuk as a substitute in our Sunday School class on November 6. 

33. Nadia and Ian participated in a Bible quizzing competition over Acts 1-10 in Ohio earlier this month. Teams typically have four members. Because some team members were on a mission's trip and others were in a dramatic production that weekend, only five of our church's ten team members were able to attend. Ian and Ben came in second place even though they were a team of two! I am very thankful that both kids can participate, and I'm thrilled with how dramatically Ian has improved over the last year. 

34. Nadia and Paul really enjoyed attending a Matthew West concert at Lancaster Bible College on November 17. I had attended a Matthew West concert in 2017 with a friend at our church so I thought Paul should be the one to take Nadia to this concert. I'm thankful we've started this tradition of taking the kids on three dates a year. This was Nadia's second date. She used some of her money to buy a sweatshirt at the concert, and Paul paid for a t-shirt that she will receive as a Christmas gift. 

35. Nadia and Ian enjoyed the Outdoor Adventure Skills class which ended this month. Their final class session included a field trip from Camp Susque to Mansfield University where the eight students spent time rock climbing and bouldering in an indoor gym. Oliver, Milo, and I did some hiking every time they had class. 

36. Aside from our dinner today, the kids and I didn't have anything on our calendar from Monday through Saturday this week. I ran a few errands earlier this week (library, grocery store, and hardware store), but otherwise we have stayed/will be staying at home for six days. I wouldn't want that to be the case all of the time, but I am grateful that is the case sometimes. 

37. We are all healthy at the moment, and none of our relatives have passed away over the last 18 months. I still really miss my mom, my brother, and Paul's mom. I don't regularly communicate with any extended family members, but Nadia regularly talks with her cousin, Rachel, and Ian regularly communicates with two of his cousins (Nathan and Joel). I'm thankful that they can interact regularly even though they live many miles apart. I had a nice conversation with Yvonne this week which was a treat and also talked with Jenna on her 20th birthday. I remember she was an infant at my (doctoral) graduation. I've been Dr. Kennedy for 20 years already! Time flies as the saying goes. We're looking forward to spending time with Jenna and her boyfriend next weekend. 

38. After I picked Nadia and Ian up from their dress rehearsal last Saturday, I took the kids to Old Mill Creamery, which has recently become our favorite place to buy ice cream. The price of their ice cream is FAR more than what I am willing to pay at a grocery store, but it is SOOOOOOO delicious. I bought a gallon of peanut butter Oreo which cost about the same as if I had bought the four of us each a cone or dish, and the four of us were each able to eat the ice cream four times by purchasing a gallon. Nadia suggested we should make it a tradition to buy a gallon of this ice cream at every holiday. That sounds like a delicious tradition to me! 

39. We are making good use of the chest freezer that I was given two years ago. For example, I buy (expired) bread at Surplus Outlet and put it in the freezer to store until we are ready to use it. I am able to stock up on things when they are available or on sale for a good price.

40. We had enjoyed listening to the audiobooks on Lamplighter through a Christmas gift last year from dad and Margie. We finished listening to them a few months ago, and I intended to check to see if they added any more books before our membership expired at the end of this month. I completely forgot about that plan, but thankfully, we got a catalog in the mail from them last week which reminded me in the nick of time. This week we listened to the two books they had added since I last logged into their website. We listened to over 30 audiobooks through that membership! It was well worth the money spent, but it wouldn't make sense to renew the membership.

41. Speaking of memberships, we have listened to audiobooks from Audiobooks.now, Audible, Hoopla, and Overdrive over the years, but I just recently stumbled upon Scribd. I was trying to access a document on that site and found out that they have a lot of audiobooks. We have a one-month free trial, and I've started making a list of books either the kids and I or just I could listen to that we can't get for free through the library. Instead of paying per book as it is on Audible and Audiobooks.now, you pay per month with Scribd so I might pay for a month there from time to time if there are multiple audiobooks that we can access there that we can't borrow elsewhere for free. 

42. Last Saturday Oliver and I helped at an Operation Christmas Child shoebox packing party at our church. Last year our church only packed 224 shoeboxes, but this year we packed 828 shoeboxes! We are praying for the kids around the globe who will receive these gifts and also hear a presentation of the gospel. 

Thankful Thursday

12. This fall we've shifted the time that I wake the kids to come down for breakfast to 8:00am. I usually get up sometime between 6:30-7:00. Before waking the kids up, I get a shower, take Milo for a walk, and do at least one lesson on Duolingo. I enjoy the fact that usually our mornings aren't rushed. 

13. Although in general I'm not a fan of watching the news these days, the kids and I do enjoy watching a 10-minute news program each day (M-F) through World Watch News. In addition to keeping us abreast on what is happening around the world, we learn about other topics related to science, the origin of words or phrases, etc. 

14. Using resources from public libraries saves us a lot of money. Although I do purchase some of our audiobooks, we also access many for free including ones I listen to while I'm walking Milo. This week I checked out digital audiobooks, books, a DVD, and a STEM kit that contained boxes of rocks and minerals for Oliver to use in science. 

15. Now that our neighbor, Addi, has joined the Bible quizzing team in September, I am only taking Ian, Nadia, and Addi to church at 4:30 on Wednesday afternoons every other week as Addi's mom takes them every other week. Oliver and I arrive at church by 6:30pm, and the four of us ride home together a little after 8pm. 

16. Nadia and Ian have been able to rejoin the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale this semester after a two-year break. I'm looking forward to their concerts in November and December. 

17. So far, we've been able to visit 93 National Parks in person. Nadia has earned 154 Junior Ranger badges, Ian has earned 157, and Oliver has earned 150 so far. I think they should each be able to earn at least 225 total eventually. I told them that when they earn their 200th badge, I will give them $50.

18. I love seeing the leaves as they change colors in the fall. 

19. We've enjoyed 924 books together so far. I've read some of them to the kids, and others we've listened to together. I've told the kids that we will do something special to celebrate when we finish our 1,000th book, and I believe that will happen sometime in 2023. We're currently in the middle of a few books including The Giver and A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

20. We've been doing better at completing experiments and other hands-on activities in science so far this school year. It takes time and money to procure all the necessary supplies. For example, this week they needed an Elodea leaf (not easy to get!), Borax, distilled water, Karo syrup, an onion, Saltine crackers, a banana, etc. Oliver is studying earth science, and the other two are studying biology. I've had a goal of being more consistent with completing science experiments for more than one year, and this year we are finally achieving it! 

21. It's less common to include hands-on activities in history, but this week I had the kids try Origami for the first time in conjunction with learning about Japan in the early Middle Ages. We also listened to Gregorian chants after learning about Gregory the Great. 

22. I know that Dave Ramsey says that people shouldn't use credit cards even if they are paying off their balances in full each month, but we use them. One perk of credit cards is that we receive 1-5% back in points. We usually use the points for gift cards to restaurants to use on our vacations. In the last week I used some points for other purposes including two hotel nights for our vacation next April, an AMC gift card to pay for our tickets to see the movie I Heard the Bells in December, and a gift card to Lowe's to buy a new toilet for the kids' bathroom. We had previously replaced the other two toilets in our house. Theirs has been flooding very frequently so it became a priority to replace theirs. I bought the same exact toilet at exactly the same store, but the price had gone up 40%. I still don't buy the theory that inflation is only 8%. I think 25% would be a more accurate estimate if I look across the board. Anyhow, I am thankful we only paid $10 for the new toilet thanks to using gift cards to cover most of the cost. Now I'm just waiting for the plumber to come and install it. I'm also thankful for curbside pickup because the box weighs over 100 pounds, and I would have had a challenge getting that into the van by myself. 

23. I got a haircut yesterday for the first time since May. The woman took *forever* to cut my hair, but I think she did a good job as I got a compliment on my hair today. It certainly wasn't from Nadia because she thinks I should let my hair grow longer not get it cut shorter, ha ha! 

24. We visited a wolf sanctuary today. Given how long we had to drive to get there, it definitely wasn't my idea, but the weather was gorgeous, we had a very informative tour guide, and the wolves came up close, so we got good views of them, which isn't always the case. We went because my friend really wanted to go there. She's been caring for her uncle who has Alzheimer's and diabetes, and she really appreciated the reprieve from those duties and the ability to just be a passenger in our vehicle. 

25. Achieving goals or making progress towards them is a good feeling. I'm thankful that I lost 20 pounds this summer, that we've been able to visit 41 states so far with the kids, and that we've been inviting more families over to our home for dinner this year (our tenth for the year is scheduled to come over this Saturday). 

26. I put money in the parking meter before taking Oliver to his orthodontist appointment on Tuesday. Unfortunately, the appointment went 5 minutes longer than the time frame I paid for, and someone came through the lot and gave parking tickets at that time. I drove to the parking administration office, and thankfully they gave me a one-time forgiveness which meant I didn't have to pay the $10 ticket. The orthodontist moved to a new location a few months ago. They had a parking lot at their previous location. Now I know to err on the side of caution and put extra coins in the meter rather than risk a $10 ticket. I'm thankful that the vast majority of the time I park my car I don't need to pay to do so. 

27. The second season of the Mysterious Benedict Society has begun to air. We enjoyed the books and now are enjoying the show before our membership with Disney+ expires. 

New month

I haven't written a gratitude list since September 12, and for several years I've had a tradition of trying to include gratitude lists in every post in November. I'm not sure how many posts I'll write this month, but I am going to try to include a long list of blessings over the course of the month.

1. I'm eternally grateful for the gift of salvation made possible through Jesus Christ.

2. We live in a country where we can still worship Him freely. Given what has happened in recent years elsewhere (such as in Canada), I'm assuming that pastors won't always have freedom of speech in the pulpit in the future in our country, but so far, they still do. 

3. Although we haven't yet taken our kids on a mission trip to a third world country, we are able to participate in service projects locally that benefit those in need around the world. In the last several weeks we have been packing five shoeboxes for kids through Operation Christmas Child, on two occasions have packed meals for kids in Uganda, Dominican Republic, and Ecuador, and have also packed hygiene kits for refugees and persecuted Christians around the world. 

4. Although I've never forgotten our babies that went to Heaven before we could hold them in our arms here on earth, I'm eternally grateful for the three children I have had the privilege to parent for the past 10-14 years. 

5. I also treasure the opportunity to homeschool our children. Including field trip days, today was our 62nd day of school for this school year. We technically hit the 45th day on October 10, but in terms of completing our curriculum, today was the end of our first quarter. I am not actually going to give Nadia a report card until next week because Nadia and Ian are taking their first quarterly exam in Biology on November 8. It will be Nadia's very first report card. I think at this point her goal is to earn a B in Geometry and an A in everything else. 

6. Field trip opportunities are back to what they were prior to COVID. We've been on 21 field trips so far this school year. We are headed to the Wolf Sanctuary this Thursday, but we don't have many planned this month. However, in December (2022) and April (2023) our calendar contains many exciting plans!

7. I've fully recovered from my ankle surgery last fall. I typically walk 3-4 miles a day with Milo. 

8. I've been more specific in my expectations for what Ian and Nadia need to do each day in their preparation for Bible quizzing on the book of Acts this year. Ian's coach said he's a completely different quizzer this fall! I'm very pleased to hear how well he is doing and hoping that Nadia will also do better than she has in the past. Their first competition is in Ohio next week.

9. A few days ago, it was below freezing when I took Milo for his first walk in the morning. Thankfully, the weather has been much warmer since then. I didn't even need to wear any kind of coat on some of my walks with him today! I'll take unseasonably warm weather in November any day of the week! 

10. I raked the leaves at the right time this year so that they were able to be sucked up by a truck that went around our neighborhood on Monday. 

11. I never aspired to own a dog, but I love Milo very much. He's MUCH better behaved now, and it's such a blessing that our neighbors can usually watch him when we're gone too many hours in a day or are on a weekend getaway or a longer vacation. 

Rock walls, pond, stream, and more

Last Wednesday the kids and I spent 5+ hours at the Waterdale Environmental Education Center. During that time the kids collected macroinvertebrates in a stream and then worked together to identify what they had collected, toured a water treatment plant, went on a tree identification hike, did a chromatography experiment with leaves, and participated in other lessons that focused on watersheds and wildlife. There were five presenters, one of whom is a biology professor at Lycoming College. When I posted the field trip, there were fifteen kids who were signed up for it, which is a smaller group than they typically offer this program to. Thankfully, they were willing to conduct the program with a smaller group. Two days before the trip, four more kids were added to the roster. One day before the trip, one mom informed me that another mom wouldn't be bringing her three kids because one of them was sick. On the day of the field trip, I was expecting that we'd have sixteen kids participate, but only ten showed up. This meant we had five moms, ten kids, and five presenters. For four of the sessions, the kids were split into two groups of five. During the hike and tour of the water treatment plant we were altogether. This field trip was free and was located less than 30 minutes from our home. One perk of homeschooling is that we moms are given many opportunities to learn new things (or in some instances like helping Nadia with Geometry I am relearning things I haven't used for 36 years). I definitely learned some new things during our tour of the water treatment plant. 

In the afternoon on Thursday, we went to Camp Susque for another session of Nadia and Ian's Outdoor Adventure Skills class. They went on a 2+ hour hike up Lookout Mountain with the Camp Director and his dog, Sawyer. Nadia is not a fan of hiking, but she did admit the view was very beautiful at the top. The last three sessions of the class will be focused on climbing a rock wall and doing a ropes course, which is more her cup of tea. Oliver, Milo, and I did some hiking on our own, and Oliver also enjoyed playing on the playground and in the sandbox with two other boys who also have older siblings in the class. 

On Friday we drove to Messiah University, which is a little more than 90 minutes from our home. Unfortunately, Jenna was on fall break, so we weren't able to spend time with my niece, who is a sophomore there. We went on a hike, visited a room where they keep many of the specimens not currently on display in the natural history museum, participated in a lesson on skulls, and then took a guided tour of the museum. Natural history museums are not usually our favorite type of museum. We'd rather see live animals at a zoo or an aquarium than preserved ones, but having a guided tour made it far more interesting. They did have a few live animals on display from the biology department such as a shrew and bearded dragon. The last two activities were our favorites partially because the second activity was FAR too crowded whereas we were in a very small group for the third and fourth activities. I thought it was worthwhile to do once, but I don't think we'll return. I would consider some of the other classes that they offer homeschoolers if we lived a lot closer. We had packed our lunches and ate dinner once we were back at home. We stopped for a treat on the way home. Two of us opted to get ice cream at an ice cream shop we had never been to before that we passed on our way home. I had noticed on the way down that they were selling peanut butter and chocolate twist soft serve, which is one of my most favorite desserts. Oliver and Nadia opted to use a gift card for Auntie Anne's for some cinnamon sugar pretzel nuggets. 

This is the building where Jenna has many of her classes.

The weather was very nice on Friday and again on Saturday. This school year Nadia hasn't wanted to start her school day as early as she had in past years. Since I don't want to take Milo for his first walk in the dark, sometimes the kids sleep until 8:00am. Last Saturday I got the kids up at 7:00am because we were in the van at 7:35am to drive to a service project. We spent six hours at Experience Missions with about 30 other people where we packed 30,024 meals for kids in Uganda, Ecuador, and the Dominican Republic. We plan to return there again this Saturday morning. The goal is that over the course of seven packing sessions 150,000 meals will be packed. After our session last Saturday, there were about 62,000 left to be packed. After we got home from the meal packing session, I mowed the lawn and then took Milo, Ian, and Oliver to a trunk or treat event at a church very close to our home where the kids used to go on Wednesday nights for AWANA. Ian went as Spiderman, and Oliver went as Batman. Oliver asked me to take them to another trunk or treat event last night put on by our local school district. Ian was wearing a Lego Ninjago costume, and Oliver was Batman again. When we saw how LONG the line was, we just came back home. The kids and I are signed up to help out at our church's event this week on Friday night. Hopefully the weather won't be too cold.

On Sunday the only time we left our house was to go to church in the morning. I had invited one of our church's nine pastors and his wife over for dinner at our home. We shared a meal together and played Code Names and Uno. I had set a goal to have 12 different couples/families over for dinner at our house in 2022 (not counting any of our relatives), and I think we will achieve that goal as we've had 9 over so far and I have scheduled three more in November. On Monday morning the only "schoolwork" that the kids did at home was to watch the daily 10-minute World Watch News program and Nadia and Ian took a biology test. The kids and I then spent about 26 hours at our first ever homeschool retreat at Camp Susque, which included eating two lunches, one dinner, and one breakfast there. The kids painted rocks and played outdoors during the opportunities for free time. The classes included a nature hike, a bird walk, a pond study, rock climbing, and a class on reptiles and amphibians. We also participated in a devotional time around a campfire that concluded with roasting marshmallows to make s'mores. The kids found MANY animals in the pond - not as many macroinvertebrates as they had last week but many tadpoles, salamanders, newts, etc. They also found some red efts during the hike. 

Nadia and Ian first attempted the harder side of the rock-climbing wall. Ian made it farther than Nadia did, but he didn't make it to the top on that side. All three kids tried the easier side. Ian made it to the top, and Oliver stopped literally inches away from the top. When the kids camp there in the summer, they stay in a tent or cabin. We stayed in a room in a lodge. Ian was on the top bunk above me, which wasn't the best arrangement for me as when he would move it would move the bottom bunk which would wake me up. Ian and Nadia went up in the observatory to see the stars on Monday night. Oliver and I had already gone back to our room to go to sleep because it was past his bedtime. Paul put one of Ian's pillows on my side of the bed, and Milo slept there with Paul on Monday night. The one downside to us going on more field trips has been Milo has been at home by himself more than usual. Thankfully we no longer have to leave him in the crate when we're gone. We don't have as many field trips scheduled in November, but we do have quite a few planned for December. Hopefully in addition to learning, the kids are making fond memories along the way. 

Fall Field Trips

Some of our plans have fallen through due to the weather, but we've been able to enjoy a variety of field trips so far this school year. One that we backed out of at the last minute due to rain was a school program at the Renaissance Festival. On October 7 we went on a local history tour with the director of Camp Susque in what used to be a mining town in McIntyre. The changing leaves is my favorite part of fall, and they were very pretty at that location that day. Nadia and Ian attended an overnight retreat with the youth group that same weekend. This past Friday after doing some schoolwork and eating lunch at home, we left for an overnight getaway. Our neighbors were camping this weekend, so they were unable to care for Milo. Thankfully the friends who watched him for us in 2021 were able to watch him for about 33 hours this weekend. They had gotten a younger dog since the last time Milo was with them. Both of their female dogs are large, and Tab was concerned about whether the younger dog might be too rough with Milo, but thankfully he and Dublin got along very well. 

Our first stop was ZooAmerica, which is owned by HersheyPark. We were able to visit for free because of our AZA membership. At first, they were only going to let me in for free because my name was the only name on the membership card even though it said "household membership" on the card. We've never had that problem before, and hopefully we won't again. In the end, they let all of us in for free. Oliver had never been to this zoo before, and the other two were so young they had no memories of it. It had been decades since Paul had been there. The zoo isn't large, but it's also not as tiny as the one in Delaware. Ian was very happy to see two large bears, which is something we hadn't seen at the larger zoos we visited in the last couple of months. Oliver also wanted to visit Chocolate World, which is always free, but we didn't end up having enough time to do so. We had dinner at Applebee's and then went to the stadium for a concert. We only had to pay parking because the five of us were volunteers with Compassion. Ian, Nadia, and I have done so multiple times before, but it was the first time for Paul and Oliver to do so. The artists were Cain (two sisters and a brother), Ann Wilson, and Casting Crowns. We had all seen Casting Crowns in concert before. I am the only one who had previously seen Cain, and none of us had seen Ann Wilson before. During the meeting for the Compassion volunteers, we realized that Yami and her daughter, whom we know from church, were also volunteers. They sat with us during the concert. We all really enjoyed the concert although Oliver and I were both very ready for bed before it was over. Unfortunately, I didn't get a photo of the five of us wearing our blue Compassion vests. I did get a photo of Nadia wearing a t-shirt I bought her at the concert. 

Usually, the only time we'll stay at a hotel that is less than three hours away from our house is when we are at Great Wolf Lodge. Hershey is less than two hours from our home, but we spent the night at a hotel because the concert went past 10pm and we already had plans to travel farther south on Saturday morning. The hotel had some features that the kids would have enjoyed using such as an indoor miniature golf course and a heated indoor swimming pool with a large slide, but the only things we had time for at the hotel were sleeping and eating breakfast. In May we had planned to visit the C&O Canal National Park in Maryland and the Cedar Creek and Belle Grove National Park in Virginia, but they changed their hours and weren't open on Tuesdays or Wednesdays, which were the days we could have stopped on our way down or our way back from Florida. Paul loves visiting battlefields, and Cedar Creek was one he had never been to before. Once I realized we couldn't go in May, I had decided we'd go during the anniversary of the battle in October when they have a lot of special activities. The kids have now been to 93 National Park sites in person. They each earned three Junior Ranger badges this weekend which puts them at around 160 total (each). While we were driving, we listened to A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court. It will take us awhile to complete that book. We finished a biography about Ida Scudder before we began the book by Mark Twain. 

We spent four hours at Cedar Creek and Belle Grove, but Paul still wants to return some day to walk around more of the battlefield sites. There is a large range as far as how long it takes to complete a Junior Ranger badge. This one wasn't the hardest one ever, but it certainly wasn't the easiest. There also is a large range in terms of how carefully the books are inspected when they are completed. Some park rangers literally don't even open the booklets, and others pore over every response. They were stricter at this location. The kids had done enough of the activities, but it turned out they were supposed to do a certain number of particular activities, and they hadn't quite met that requirement. Thankfully, in the end the Ranger gave them their badges. We had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, which was a first for all of us. Ian selected a sauce for his wings that was too spicy, but in general we had a good meal. Milo was very, very excited when we picked him up. The poor guy was left at home alone for 6.5 hours today because we were at church for 6 hours straight due to the fact that we helped with a service project for Voice of the Martyrs after the second service. 

Field trip plans for next few weeks include: a five hour program at the Waterdale Environmental Education Center that includes a tour of a water treatment plant on October 19, two more three-hour session of Outdoor Adventure skills for Nadia and Ian at Camp Susque on October 20 and 27, a six-hour program at the Oakes Museum of Natural History at Messiah University on October 21, a two day homeschool retreat at Camp Susque on October 24-25, a tour of the Wolf Sanctuary on November 3, and service projects packing meals at Experience Missions on October 22 and 29. Attending the concert on Friday lead Nadia to ask us to attend a Matthew West concert. There weren't any volunteer slots available, but she has only had one of her three annual dates so far this year. Today I bought two tickets for the Matthew West concert at Lancaster Bible College next month. Probably Paul will take her. I did sign the five of us up to be Compassion volunteers at a For King and Country Christmas concert in early December in Hershey. We enjoy the concerts and also love to assist with getting more children sponsors through Compassion. 

Connecticut

In September 2016 we stopped in Connecticut on our way to and from Cape Cod. On our way to Cape Cod, we visited Mystic Seaport, and on our way home we spent time at the Discovery Museum and Planetarium. On our last day of this September 2022 vacation, we spent our last night in Connecticut, toured the PEZ factory, and visited Weir Farm National Historic Site, which is the only National Park site in Connecticut. On this trip we visited the only two National Park sites that are about artists - Saint Gaudens in New Hampshire (sculptor) and Weir in Connecticut (painter). At the PEZ factory we bought some candy for the kids (and Paul) and also for our neighbors who were watching our pets. Ian wanted to do a hike to a pond at Weir Farm, but we skipped it because Nadia really wanted to get to Bible quizzing that starts at 4:30pm. I drove straight from the Weir Farm to our church and dropped Nadia and Ian off at Bible quizzing about 15 minutes late. After dropping them off, I also ran into our local grocery store to buy milk, bananas, and eggs. Milo was THRILLED when I walked in the door although it was obvious that he was wondering where the rest of the family was. I started a load of laundry, helped unpack the van, delivered gifts to our neighbors, and made grilled cheese sandwiches for Oliver and I to eat before we headed back to church for Bible study at 6:30pm. Paul stayed home with Milo. Milo was very happy when the four of us came home from church as it was the first time that he had seen Ian and Nadia since we went on vacation. 

The kids have done something in 41 of the states, and they've visited at least one National Park site in 35 different states. The states they have been to but not been to a National Park in yet would include Idaho, Texas, Alabama, Wisconsin, Indiana, and Illinois. We plan to visit National Parks in Washington, Oregon, Alaska, Hawaii, Texas, Louisianna, Kansas, Nebraska, Iowa, Indiana, and Illinois over the next few years. At that point, the states that we wouldn't have yet visited a National Park in would include Nevada, Idaho, Wisconsin, and Alabama. Maybe by the time Oliver graduates from high school we will have visited at least one National Park site in every state plus the District of Columbia. There are also National Park sites in Guam, Puerto Rico, American Samoa, the Northern Mariana Islands, and the US Virgin Islands, but we haven't made it a goal to visit any of those locations. 

It would have been nice to stay at home all day today, but Nadia and Ian had a three-hour class at Camp Susque from 1-4pm. Because we had just come home from vacation, I decided we should take Milo with us. At first Milo, Oliver, and I went on a hike, but then Oliver played with some other boys whose siblings were in the class Nadia and Ian were in. Ironically, one of the other boys was also ten years old and named Oliver! Milo had a great time exploring the grounds of Camp Susque and meeting two other dogs. During their class, Nadia and Ian rode mountain bikes, built fires, and played a game that involved guiding other people who were blindfolded. At their next class in two weeks, they will be doing a ropes course and climbing a rock wall. They missed the first class (kayaking and canoeing) because the instructor rescheduled the date to one that fell during our vacation. This morning I homeschooled the kids, folded a load of laundry, and began making dinner. After lunch we stopped at the library on the way to Camp Susque. On the way home we stopped at a grocery store. I finished making dinner, the four of us ate, I unloaded the dishwasher, and then I mowed part of the lawn. I had to stop when it was too dark to see the grass. Hopefully I'll be able to finish mowing tomorrow as the grass is taller than I typically let it get which makes mowing more challenging. I would have been able to stay home all day tomorrow if I didn't need to take the van to have the rear passenger tire repaired. Tomorrow is Milo's second birthday! We bought him a few small toys at Surplus Outlet today, and Nadia is planning to make him a special cake tomorrow following a recipe made for dogs. We love Milo very much!