2023 Bucket List

Last year instead of creating a list of goals on January 1, I created a list of first-time experiences for the year, and I decided to do the same this year. Last year's list changed throughout the year, but it ended up including 147 first-time experiences.

1. Nadia and Ian take an art class at the co-op - done!
2. Watch season three of All Creatures Great and Small on PBS - done!
3. Watch new episodes of The Chosen - done!
4. Watch new episodes of the Wingfeather Saga - done!
5. Watch the movie The Magician's Elephant - done!
6. Watch the movie The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind - done!
7. Watch the movie Matilda the Musical - done!
8. Watch the movie Dog Gone - done!
9. A Horse and His Boy at the Museum of the Bible - done!
10. Memorials in DC (Lincoln, Korean War, Vietnam, and WWII) - done!
11. Attend Freedom Bound show at the Community Arts Center - done!
12. Attend Julius Caesar at the Community Arts Center - done!
13. See the movie His Only Son at AMC - done!
14. Pullman Memorial - done!
15. Herbert Hoover National Historical Park - done!
16. Homestead National Historic Park - done!
17. Henry Doorly Zoo - done!
18. Brown v. Board of Education - done!
19. Kansas City Zoo - done!
20. Wilstem Wildlife Park - done!
21. National WW1 Museum and Memorial - done!
22. Science City - done!
23. Eat at Culver's - done!
24. Eat at On the Border - done!
25. Meramec Caverns - done!
26. Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site - done!
27. Herbaria tour - done!
28. See Broadway performance of Wicked - done!
29. Gateway Arch National Park - done!
30. Benjamin Harrison Presidential Site - done!
31. Children's Museum of Indianapolis - done!
32. Hopewell Culture National Historical Park - done!
33. COSI - done!
34. Hampton National Historic Site - done!
35. Harriet Tubman Underground Railroad NHP - done!
36. Eat at Cheddar's Scratch Kitchen - done!
37. Assateague Island National Seashore kayak tour - done!
38. Oxon Cove Park and Oxon Hill Farm - done!
39. Fort Washington Park - done!
40. Thomas Stone National Historic Site-done!
41. Nadia and Ian camp for two days at Camp Susque in May - done!
42. Eckley Miner's Village - done!
43. Historic Warrior Run Church - done!
44. Nadia participates in two performances of Mary Poppins - done!
45. Nadia starts her first job (Reptiland) - done!
46. Kids attend an Airmen of Note concert - done!
47. Spend 3 nights at Great Wolf Lodge with the Towfighis - done!
48. Great Pocono Air Show - done!
49. Attend a concert by the Williamsport Symphony Orchestra - done!
50. Four-hour kayaking/fishing trip with HERYN - done!
51. Young Eagles Rally at Bloomsburg Municipal Airport - done!
52. Rodale Institute - done!
53. Crystal Cave - done!
54. Boys participate in a 5 day foam sword fighting camp - done!
55.  Eisenhower National Historic Site - done!
56. Eat at Primanti Bros - done!
57. Kingdom Bound festival at Darien Lake - done!
58. Bushy Run Battlefield - done!
59. Pittsburgh Zoo and PPG Aquarium - done!
60. Kennywood - done!
61. Lake Tahoe with Aunt Janet and meet Ziggy and Robin - done!
62. Redwood National Park - done!
63. Museum of Flight - done!
64. Oregon Zoo - done!
65. Wildlife Safari - done!
66. Oregon Museum of Science and Industry - done!
67. Oakland Zoo - done!
68. Exploratorium - done!
69. Jelly Belly Factory - done!
70. San Fransisco Maritime - done!
71. Pier 39 - done!
72. Crater Lake - done!
73. Multnomah Falls - done!
74. Mount St. Helens- done!
75. Fort Vancouver- done!
76. Olympic National Park - done!
77. I participate in Sound of Music - done!
78. Get ice cream from Ghirardelli Square - done!
79. Attend an Unspoken/ JJ Weeks/ Cade Thompson concert - done!
80. Attend a concert featuring Katy Nicole/ Consumed by Fire, Stephen Stanley, etc. - done!
81. Arlington Cemetery - done! 
82. Curtin Village - done! 
83. John Muir - done! 
84. Fort Point- done! 
85. Marin Headlands- done! 
86. Alcatraz Island - done! 
87. Muir Woods - done! 
88. Rosie the Riveter - done! 
89. California Academy of Sciences - done! 
90. PA Lumber Museum - done! 
91. Kenilworth Aquatic Gardens - done! 
92. Belmont-Paul Women's Equality - done!
93. Library of Congress - done!
94. Tour the US Capitol - done!
95. See a performance of Twelfth Night - done!
96. See a Hershey Bears game - done!
97. Attend Beethoven's 9th Symphony - done!
98. See a performance of Cheaper by the Dozen - done!
99. Attend a Micah Tyler concert - done!
100. Attend a concert featuring MercyMe, Crowder, and Andrew Ripp (just Nadia) - done!
101. Ian's first duet piano recital - done!
102. See the movie Journey to Bethlehem - done!
103. Help at the Baltimore distribution center for Operation Christmas Child - done!
104. Spend a night at a Kalahari resort/ water park - done!
105. Participated in an escape room for the first time - done!
106. See a performance of the Broadway show Charlie and the Chocolate Factory in Chicago - done!
107. Visit Google's office in Chicago - done!
108. Visit the Toledo Museum of Art - done!
109. Boys climb with Rachel, Adam, and Susie at Brooklyn Boulders - done!
110. See the movie The Shift - done!

2022 by the numbers

At the conclusion of 2018, 2020, and 2021, I posted a synopsis of the year using the alphabet. This year I thought I'd do a numerical one instead. 

1 - We went skiing once this year at Elk Mountain in January, and Oliver had sutures once this year. We spent one day in Pittsburgh during which we spent time at the Carnegie Science Center and saw a Stars on Ice show for the first time. We swam with manatees in Florida one morning in May. We replaced our front door thanks to a birthday gift from my dad and Margie and replaced one toilet using credit card points. I won the annual family Boggle game in Virginia earlier this week by one point. We got one picture that included all five of us. The last time we got good one was 2019. We didn't take any photos that included all five of us in 2020, and we did get one last year in front of the Grand Canyon with me wearing a boot. I'm hoping we can get at least one good one in 2023, and we also need to take one that includes Milo as we've never gotten one with him before. As of May, it has been one year since Paul's mom passed away. Holidays and the celebration of birthdays have been very different following my mom passing away (2016), my dad moving to Virginia (2017), and my mother-in-law passing away (2021). I used to talk on the phone on an almost daily basis with my mom and Ellie, but now I often go weeks without talking to anyone on the phone. I know Ellie is in a better place, but Paul, the kids, and I really miss her.

2 - The kids and I participated in two homeschool classes at Rickets Glen State Park. The five of us also spent two days in New York City, two days at Great Wolf Lodge in the Poconos, and two days in Philadelphia. Oliver, Ian, and I went to Knoebels twice. Paul and Nadia joined us one of those times.  Milo turned two years old on September 30, and as of December 12 he has been in our family for two years! I got him a Christmas gift this year, and I count it a success because *so far* he hasn't succeeded in destroying it despite having chewed it for many hours. The kids and I spent two days at Camp Susque for a homeschool retreat. I had two mammograms in December because they thought they saw something suspicious in the first one. Thankfully, the second one was all clear. The national statistics are that 10% of the time women are called back for a second mammogram. This was the first time it happened to me. In my forties I had one almost every year but didn't pay a dime for them. I am not planning to continue doing that considering this one cost us $476 and the fact that screening mammograms only detect cancer in fewer than 5 women for every 1,000 women who have one in the US. 

3 - Nadia, Ian, and I assisted with Compassion at three concerts this year - two For King and Country Concerts and one Casting Crowns concert. Paul and Oliver also participated in two of those concerts. Nadia and Ian sang in three concerts with the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale. The kids each had 2-3 dates with a parent this year, and Paul and I also went on three dates, which was a drastic improvement after going several years without any dates. Our dates were to see a touring Broadway performance of Fiddler on the Roof in Hershey, ballroom dancing at a Methodist Church, and seeing the movie Lifemark at a theater. We learned about Henry Wadsworth Longfellow three times this year - toured his home in Portland, toured his home in Cambridge, and saw the movie "I Heard the Bells" in the theatre, which was the first movie ever created by Sight and Sound. Three of us got a new pair of eyeglasses this year - Oliver, Ian, and me. Nadia is the only member of our family who doesn't need glasses. I got three new pairs of boots this month! I received snow boots and hiking boots for Christmas and then got myself a new pair of rain boots at Walmart. I have never owned hiking boots before, but I believe it will be safer for me to hike in those. I will be VERY grateful for the snow boots the next time it snows as I've been without any snow boots for a few years. 

4 - We visited four different beaches this year - Tybee Island, Daytona Beach, Canaveral National Seashore, and Cape Henlopen State Park (Delaware). At least some of us saw four different movies in the theatre, Paul and Ian saw Sonic 2, the kids and I saw the new Minions movie, Paul and I saw Lifemark, and all five of us saw I Heard the Bells. Nadia was involved in a theatrical performance four times this year - Forgotten (twice), Beauty and the Beast, and You're Not Alone. Ian was in the stage crew for Forgotten and also performed in the other three. Oliver only participated in You're Not Alone. I walk Milo at least four miles almost every day; I've had other years when I walked or ran regularly when the weather was nice, but this is the first time in my life I've continued to exercise regularly outdoors when it's cold. We went to four amusement parks that some (or all) of us had never been to before - Busch Gardens Tampa, Carowinds, Islands of Adventure, and Universal Studios Orlando. Four times this year we attended something related to Harry Potter - two days at Universal Studios, seeing the Broadway show Harry Potter and the Cursed Child, and visiting the Harry Potter Exhibition at the Franklin Science Institute. It's now been four years since I last saw my brother in person, and in about three months it will also be four years since he passed away. 

5 - The kids (and in some cases Paul) visited five states for the first time this year - Georgia, Delaware, New Hampshire, Maine, and Vermont. The kids all participated in five ninety-minute homeschool gym classes at our church. Nadia and Ian participated in five three-hour Outdoor Adventure Skills classes at Camp Susque. Oliver and I helped pack shoeboxes at a packing party at our church, and our family personally packed five shoeboxes that were sent to kids in South Africa and Columbia. I bought five half-gallons of homemade Peanut Butter Oreo ice cream at Old Mill Creamery this year even though it costs more than double what I am usually willing to pay for ice cream. The kids and I love it! 

Milo loved his Christmas present!

6 - The kids roller skated at Trout Pond Park six times this year. As of this year, Paul has been back at Kennedy Concrete for six years following his seven years in graduate school and three years as a college professor. Oliver, Paul, and I went to six different amusement parks this year. Ian and Nadia joined us for five of those. The boys spent six nights at overnight Camp Good News. As of this year I've lived over six years without my mom. In general, I have adjusted to her absence, but there are still moments every once in a while, where I miss her so much that I shed a few tears. The two most recent times this happened were when I was thinking about how much she would have enjoyed attending the Candlelight Christmas concert that Ian and Nadia sang in with the chorale and then when we sang Happy Birthday to Jesus with a white cake in Virginia earlier this week as that's a tradition that I strongly associate with her. 

Ian wearing his new glasses

7 - We visited seven zoos or aquariums this year. Not counting his siblings, seven kids came to Oliver's tenth birthday party which we held at a bowling alley. We saw the license plates of seven Canadian provinces from May through September. 

8 - The boys had eight one-hour sessions of Ninjastics. 

9 - The kids had nine weeks of ice-skating lessons in the winter.

10 - Oliver turned ten on August 7.

12 - Not counting relatives, we had families over to our home for dinner twelve times this year. Most of the time when we had company this year (including relatives), we played the game Code Names. 

13 - I helped with a service project (packing food or other humanitarian aid) thirteen times this year. Oliver participated twelve times, and Nadia and Ian joined us eleven of those times. Ian and Nadia participated in thirteen rehearsals with the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale.  Ian turned thirteen on December 12. For the last 13 years his bedroom walls have been painted light green with a wallpaper border that featured various kinds of vehicles. The last two days I removed the border and painted the walls dark grey, which was Ian's choice. A few years ago, I had started changing his room to a Mario theme. I've ordered a second Mario comforter for the bottom bunk, a Mario light switch cover, and a Mario waste basket for his room. The only transportation themed item left in his room is a small bookshelf. We also reorganized his closet to accommodate his Legos. 

14 - Nadia turned fourteen on June 24. 

15 - Nadia and Ian had a half-day theatre camp on fifteen days in the summer. Oliver joined them for five of those.

16 - Nadia spent sixteen nights at overnight camp this year - six as a counselor at Camp Good News and ten as a camper at Camp Susque (seven in the summer and three at Freeze Camp in December). As of this month, I have been blogging for sixteen years. I wrote the fewest posts this year (78) compared to a high of 332 in both 2009 and 2010. I contemplated ending the blog in 2016 after my mom passed away, and I contemplated quitting again last year after my mother-in-law passed away. I started the blog in part as my way of updating my mom, whom I used to email every day. In the beginning, I received a LOT of comments on my blog plus some friends and family would email me in response to something I said on the blog, so it felt like more of a two-way form of communication than it has the last six years. This year I received a grand total of six comments (five from one woman). In the early years of blogging, I had many individual posts that received more comments than that as I've received over 1,800 comments altogether over the years. The lack of comments or any other form of interaction in response to the posts is part of the reason I have contemplated quitting the blog over the last few years, but for now I'm at peace with writing fewer posts but not quitting altogether in part because it gives me an outlet for sharing pictures that I have taken as I very rarely post on Facebook. 

18 - Nadia had drama rehearsals at the co-op on eighteen different days. For most of the weeks they only met for 75 minutes, but the week of the performance they put in long hours (sometimes more than 10 hours in a day) for five days. 

20 - I lost twenty pounds this summer and have kept them off thus far. As of this month, it has been twenty years since I became Dr. Kennedy. 

21 - Paul and I have been married for twenty-one years as of August 11. Oliver read 21 chapter books this year.

26 - As of this year, I've been sponsoring kids through Compassion for 26 years. I've sponsored nine different kids over the years. Five of those we currently sponsor. Two kids aged out of the program, one lived in India (and the government of India no longer allows child sponsorship to take place), and one child moved out of the reach of a Compassion center. 

27 - Number of books Ian read this year

30 - As of this spring, it has been thirty years since I graduated from college. 

36 - The kids each earned at least thirty-six Junior Ranger badges this year. Almost all of those were earned when we visited a National Park site in person. 

41 - As of September, all five of us have spent time in least forty-one states. Milo had only been in Pennsylvania for the first 27 months of his life, but we took him with us to Virginia earlier this week. He acted like a very fidgety, fussy toddler the whole way down there (which was exhausting!), but thankfully on the way home he slept in my arms or on my lap for most of the six-hour drive. Prior to that trip the longest he had been in a vehicle was 40 minutes (the length of time it takes to get to Knoebels and Camp Susque). 

48 - From May through September we spotted the license plates for 47 states (plus DC), and then I spotted one from Alaska on our way down to Virginia earlier this week. We didn't see North Dakota or Hawaii.

50 - I turned fifty on April 21.

51 - We went on fifty-one field trips this year. Our first was to see a performance of Secret Garden on February 20, and our last was a day in NYC on December 15 during which we visited three national park sites, the National September 11 Memorial, and saw the Christmas show at the Radio City Music Hall. 

52 - Paul turned fifty-two on January 3. 

67 - Number of books Nadia read this year

69 - Number of books that I read or listened to this year

96 - As of December 15, we have visited ninety-five National Park sites to date.

Oliver loves his new Nerf gun

113 - Number of audiobooks the kids and I (and in some cases Paul) listened to together (a small minority were books I read aloud to them)

365 - Number of days I completed at least one lesson the Duolingo app as I currently have a 590-day streak. I am on pace to finish the entire Spanish program within the next 18 months. 

30,786 - The number of dollars we spent on medical bills this year. Yikes! Hopefully we'll never come anywhere close to that number again in the future!! As a point of comparison, the least we've spent on medical expenses over the last nineteen years was $305 (in 2019) and previously the highest amount was $14,104 (in 2011). The only years our medical expenses exceeded $5K in a year were the four years we paid for IVF (2007, 2009, 2011, and 2012) plus the last two years. We started paying for my ankle surgery last year, and we paid $2,655 last year and $2,655 again this year for Ian and Oliver's orthodontics. 

Building a new Lego set with Pop Pop

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.