Happy Halloween!

One difference between myself (age 43) and my kids is that at the end of a really jam packed day, Nadia and/or Ian will say something like "thanks, mom, this was a really fun day." It's really good that they give me that encouragement because many times after a day like that I am thinking "that was too much for one day." The past two days were jam packed for the kids and I, but aside from church tomorrow and gymnastics on Monday we should be at home sweet home the next two days. In fact today was so busy I forgot to go for my run during Oliver's nap. Oops! I will have to go tomorrow afternoon instead. At least we walked for 90 minutes this evening while trick or treating.

Yesterday our day started with a program about vultures at a state park. The naturalist read two books to the kids, showed pictures, and discussed many interesting facts about different kinds of old world and new world vultures. Then the kids went outside and pretended to be vultures and also played a game of identifying scents (Ian's was vinegar) that she had placed in different locations (since vultures use their sense of smell to locate dead animals). Then they went back inside to do a craft and eat a snack (she made a red Rice Krispie treat dessert that looked like a rabbit which was supposed to resemble roadkill). In the early evening I took the kids to a Halloween party at the library and then after that we went to our church's trunk or treat. We had skipped it last year because I had heard that the line was really long (about 2,000 people attended it last year), but this year I thought we should give it a whirl one time. It was no exaggeration that the line is really long. We were in line for 90 minutes before we got to the part that involved getting candy. It took about 30 minutes to go through the path collecting candy outside and inside the church. There was a large maze of cardboard boxes (tunnels) in the youth group room, but it was already 9:00 at that point (an hour past the boy's bedtime) so we skipped that part and came home. The kids weren't in bed until 9:30, and I went right to bed as soon as we got them in bed and put on an extra blanket to try to warm myself up. It was COLD while we were standing outside for almost two hours. Oliver was warm in his lion costume. Nadia was cold in her peacock costume, but she didn't complain. Ian was cold in his pirate costume, and he wanted to throw in the towel after we had waited for 80 minutes. I was happy to turn around and leave when we first got there, but I wasn't going to give up when we were in sight of the start of the line.

This morning the boys and I were out the door at 8:15 for Ian's last soccer game of the season. Thankfully this season most of their games were at home, and this was the first game that either of them had that was located more than 15 minutes from our house. Only seven of the ten kids on the team showed up so Ian played all four quarters. Actually when the game started there were only five kids there which meant a child from the other team was playing on our side at first. Paul took Nadia to her home game, which was also at 9:00. The team surprised Paul (assistant coach) and the head coach each with a card and a gift card to a restaurant which was very nice and unexpected. Paul coached Ian's team in the spring, and was Nadia's assistant coach this fall. The plan had been for him to be Ian's assistant coach next spring, but we might move before or during that season, and even if we don't, his schedule probably won't make it possible for him to coach a team so he's not going to sign up this time. We will keep the kids signed up, as we might still be living here through the end of the spring season. Considering how cold it was this morning, I am very glad that today was the last game of the season.

After we ate lunch we headed to Bucknell to see Mermaid Theatre of Nova Scotia's production of "Goodnight Moon" and "Runaway Bunny." All three kids enjoyed it. I am trying to take advantage of things like this while we can because if it wasn't for the faculty/staff discount on the tickets, we wouldn't have gone. After Oliver woke up from his nap, we headed to the trunk or treat at the church we attended from 2008-2014. It was really well done, and it didn't involve any long lines. If we are still living here next fall, I will vote for skipping the one we went to last night and doing the one we did today again. In addition to candy and games, they gave everyone a hotdog and glass of cider or cup of coffee. Ian said his highlight was seeing "Miss Kathy" (a former babysitter who spent the last 18 months as a missionary in Guatemala). After the trunk or treat we made a brief stop at home to dress more warmly. I wish I had been wearing my ski jacket last night. What a difference that made! We went trick or treating for about 90 minutes, and the kids came home with a lot of candy. That one house was still giving out FULL size candy bars just like last year. Wow. Oliver was very talkative at each stop. He kept telling people about different things he had seen along the way. He is an extrovert just like his big sister. When we got home, we let the kids stay up a little bit later than usual (although not as late as they stayed up last night!) since the clocks go back an hour tonight. Paul hopes it means the kids will sleep in later tomorrow morning. He has far more optimism than I do! I expect the boys to be up by 6:00 (new time) since they are usually up by 7:00. The whole "extra hour" thing doesn't really happen for parents of young kids in my experience, but I'd love to be wrong! This evening Nadia was a peacock, Oliver was a lion, and Ian was Sully. He picked Sully because he thought it was the warmest costume he had. I had already taken pictures of them in their costumes, so I didn't take any yesterday or today.  I might be the first mom of young children to write a Halloween blog post and not include any pictures. Oops!

My kids like to wear costumes all year round, but we can now say our Halloween celebrations for 2015 are officially done. All three kids had a good time, and we will be enjoying the candy for many days to come. Ian is very excited that tomorrow is November 1 because it means we are that much closer to his birthday in December.

Fun with pumkins!

In an attempt to save money for our move next year, we are skipping some of the things we usually do at this time of year such as going to the pumpkin patch, Hershey Park, and Knoebels. We came home with three free small pumpkins on Saturday afternoon from the Fall Festival, but a few days before that I had let Nadia pick out a pumpkin ($3,99) at the grocery store because she really wanted to carve a pumpkin. In the past we've carved three pumpkins because we usually came home with five pumpkins from the hayride to the pumpkin patch, but the kids were completely satisfied with just carving one pumpkin this year. Ian actually wouldn't mind if we skipped the activity altogether as it's too messy for his liking. I required him to take two scoops of seeds and pulp out with the spoon. I promised him it wasn't messy if he just held on to the handle of the spoon. Nadia and Oliver both enjoyed scooping pulp out with a spoon. Oliver was not interested in touching it directly with his hands. Nadia used her hands once or twice and then decided the spoon was the better way to go. It always cracks me up that messes bother my boys much more than they bother my daughter - defying the traditional gender stereotype in that regard. I helped the kids cut off the top and scoop out the insides, and Paul helped them with the carving and putting in the candle while I was out for a run. I think next year I'd like to try growing our own pumpkins if that is feasible at our new home.

This morning I gave Oliver two of the free pumpkins to decorate sort of like a Mr. Potato Head. He had a lot of fun and then because he loves to cook, he fed the pumpkins play food.

Thankful Tuesday

1. Friday morning I met a mom from our previous church at our church's playland (where Oliver and I hang out each Friday from 10:00-11:30 while Nadia and Ian are in gym class) because she wanted to talk about homeschooling. Her oldest will be turning five in the spring, and they are trying to decide what path they will choose for their boys. Up until she gave birth to her first, she was a public school elementary teacher. It was really nice to be able to chat with another mom for 90 minutes. She and I taught a Sunday School class together for a few years.

2. Paul often works at Kennedy Concrete on Fridays, but he stayed home last Friday to grade papers. This meant #1 that we saw more of him at mealtimes than we usually do and #2 that I was able to run. Nadia's soccer practices were both cancelled last week, so I actually ran three times over the course of four days. It felt great! I was rained on during my run on Thursday, and that led to my fastest pace every for running a mile, ha ha!

3. I just LOVE the beautiful trees this time of year. I really enjoy looking at them while I run.

4. Oliver has really gotten into giving kisses. His kisses even include a sound effect. The other two kids never did this at this age.

5. I redeemed Coke points and used coupons and such and ordered four photo calendars from Shutterfly without paying one penny. That was a first for me! I always paid s/h in the past.

6. Paul's parents came up for the kids' soccer games on Saturday. Both of them played at 9:00. The downside is we couldn't watch all of both games, but the upside was we only had to stay out in the cold weather for one hour instead of two. The girls on Nadia's team were told to take off their coats, but Ian's coach let them keep their coats on if they wanted. Ian did have his uniform on under that coat. Ian scored three goals - two for his team and one for the other team. I believe he has scored seven goals for his team this fall (plus a couple for the

other teams, ha ha). Their last games are scheduled for next Saturday. Nadia didn't score any goals, but she did have one corner kick that enabled one of her teammates to score a goal.

7. Paul's parents came over to the house after the games which meant that #1 the kids got to play with them for about four hours and #2 during part of that time I was able to go to the mall and get a haircut and do a little bit of shopping. Yay! They also treated us to pizza for lunch. Yum! I usually get my hair cut four times a year so I should be set for another three months.

8. Saturday afternoon we attended a Fall Festival that a local church put on for our community at the town's park. It was free and included hot dogs, chips, cookies, apple cider, s'mores, games, a professional balloon artist, and three crafts. Nadia did all three crafts. Ian did two of the crafts, and Oliver did one of the crafts. He spent the least time at the festival because he was napping at home during part of the time I had the other two there. Nadia picked an Elsa balloon, Oliver picked an Olaf, and Ian picked a pirate hat. Oliver had a hard time deciding between a penguin or Olaf. I
thought the tiaras the man made were rather impressive. We all had a good time. My kids were the only ones wearing costumes. Oops! If we are still living in this town next fall, I will remember not to dress them up in costumes for the fall festival. They got lots of compliments, but they were a little embarrassed.

9. On Sunday afternoon we went to a local church's trunk or treat. Oliver was a bee, Nadia was a peacock, and Ian was Wolverine. The church had snacks, crafts, games, etc inside the church in addition to the candy in the trunks outside. Nadia ate a donut off of a string without using her hands. Oliver's favorite part was playing a "drum" (a bucket turned upside down). After I brought the kids back from that event, I went for a run while Paul watched his Giants win.

10. I really loved the anthem the choir sang (with a cello accompanying us) on Sunday. It was a beautiful arrangement of "Near to the heart of God."

11. All three kids saw the dentist yesterday morning, and they all did well. It was Oliver's very first dentist appointment. He told me the dentist said his teeth were "sparkling," and he was very proud of that. Nadia was told to improve her brushing a little on a few teeth down near the gums, but the boys got good reports. Thus far we haven't had to deal with any cavities. Oliver doesn't brush his own teeth yet, but Nadia and Ian brush their own teeth.

12. Nadia has learned to identify all the South American countries on a map, and she has started working on Europe. Ian has learned to say the books of the New Testament.

13. Although I miss being a college professor (and the paycheck associated with having a job), I do absolutely love being able to homeschool my three precious children.

Thankful Thursday

1. Saturday I took the kids to a free Lego build at Toys R Us for the first time. Some stores have this event every month, but the store closest to us usually doesn't have it, but they do in October, and I finally remembered to take them. Each of my three kids came away with a kayak made of Legos. Ian is hoping our store will be participating next month also because it will be a Star Wars themed Lego event.

2. Last week Nadia and Ian got their progress reports in gymnastics. It was Ian's first time receiving one. Nadia was disappointed because hers said she needs to stay in Level 2, but I was very pleased because her scores were much higher than at the end of the previous session. Her highest scores were for the beam (had a few 9's with 10 being the highest score). Her weakest area is the bars, which ironically was my favorite apparatus when I was her age.

3. Ian had a make-up soccer game last night, and he scored another goal! We shivered during Nadia's game on Saturday morning, but it was very pleasant out last night (in the low 70's at the start of the game and high 60's at the end of the game). The kids each have two more games and the season will be over.

4. Nadia's soccer coach cancelled their practice on Tuesday night (and also has already cancelled next Tuesday's practice as well). I was thrilled when I got that text because it meant I could run for the first time in six days! I ran for five glorious miles. I should have only run for four because I got back after it was dark, but it was heavenly enjoying the beautiful day and pretty scenery along the way.

5. Nadia and Ian both did a great job saying more than five sections at AWANA last night. Ian has started working on learning the books of the New Testament. He told his leader the first nine books last night (that was one section). I think by next Wednesday he will be able to say all 27 books without any errors or help. I took a little video last night during one of his practice sessions.

6. I took the kids to the children's museum yesterday. The homeschool hangout activities focused on insects. I almost always let them stay for two hours, and they always wish we could stay longer. After that I took them to the playground near the museum, which Nadia dubbed a few weeks ago as her most favorite playground. At the playground I took a brief video of Oliver singing, I have heard him do a better job other times, but some recording is better than nothing, right?

7. The weather has been GLORIOUS the past couple of days. Ironically it was cold enough to snow on Sunday, and now a few days later in the 70's.

8. Nadia and Ian are going on a field trip with Daddy this afternoon. That is a very special treat! He is taking them up to Camp Susque for a two hour class on animal tracking. I am staying home with Oliver. When they get back, I believe I will be able to get a run in before he takes Nadia to soccer practice. Yay! The weather should be great today for their hike outdoors and my run!

9, I have continued to sell some things, but I have switched lately to selling on eBay, which I hadn't used in years in part because of the fees and postage involved. Because I hadn't used it in years, eBay offered me a special where they wouldn't charge me any fees (it's typically 10% of whatever you collect) for five listings. Awesome! I've sold things like Oliver's preemie baby carrier, the kit lens that came with my DSLR, etc. Between Facebook and eBay, I have brought in almost $800 so far over the past few weeks. I'll have that loan paid off in the near future I think. I also used $49 of what I got toward a five week art class for Nadia that starts on November 10 and am going to use part of it to have the piano tuned. I haven't had it tuned in a few years.

10. After our field trip to the fire station on Tuesday, the kids and I stopped at the garage door store and bought an $80 spring so Paul can fix my garage door. I definitely miss being able to park in the garage so I was happy to get the part as another step toward it getting fixed!

Thankful Tuesday

1. The boys enjoyed a program on flying (building airplanes) at the library on Thursday night after gymnastics while Nadia was at soccer practice.

2. My mom had the excellent idea to post about FREE apples on the FB yardsale pages I have been selling things on lately, and some people did come and take some apples. Progress.

3. Ian had it in his mind that he could only read his textbook, but last week he discovered he really enjoys reading Frog and Toad books. I am very pleased with his progress! We got more Frog and Toad books from the library last night for him to read along with Boxcar Children and American Girl books for Nadia. I need to take a video of Ian reading this week. He's also cruising through the first grade math book and first grade spelling book. I'm proud of my five-year-old! School work takes on average 90 minutes for him each day and includes math, science, reading, handwriting, spelling, and drawing (now that he's finished the cutting book we have switched to drawing).

4. Oliver really has turned a corner with potty training. I rarely have to remind him to go these days. Usually he is the one saying he has to go, and many times he wipes himself after he goes #2. I can even let him have a TINY drink before bed because he's been staying dry for 11-11.5 hours even when he takes a little drink. Whew. What a relief! Now to work on not using an absurd amount of toilet paper....

5. Nadia was able to Skype with Uncle Maurice last week when she was studying Brazil since he had recently lived there for three years. She asked him a lot of questions. We told him we were making brigadeiros and he suggested we also make pao de queijo (cheese puffs) but first I need to buy some tapioca flour. Nadia absolutely LOVED the brigadeiros (chocolate fudge truffles). She has asked that I make those again in the future.

6. I picked up pizza on the way home from church on Sunday. We hadn't bought pizza in more than six weeks, as we are trying to only eat out or get take-out once a month. It was very tasty!

7. Nadia sang a duet in both services on Sunday morning with the kids' choir. She needs to work on smiling more when singing (like she used to when she was four years old), but I was proud of her because there are many seven year olds who would be too nervous to sing in front of 1,500 people.

8. Oliver didn't take a nap on Saturday, but this was the first time in a few weeks that I put him in his room and he didn't fall asleep. I am grateful that almost every day he sleeps from 1-3pm.

9. On Sunday I asked Paul to bring up the Wii from the basement. We had never let the kids use it, and I thought it was time to introduce it to them and let them choose each day either to have an iPad turn or to use the Wii. We only have three Wii games right now, but I thought it might be a good idea to put Wii games and two more remotes on their Christmas wish lists. Can you believe it's only two months until Christmas? If you have any suggestions for Wii games that are good for 6-8 year olds, I am all ears!

10. The Steelers won on Sunday even though we were down to our third string quarterback who had never played one minute in the NFL before. He did a great job! We also are on our fourth kicker for the season, and our new kicker is MUCH better than the one we had the first few weeks. Our starting QB will hopefully be back soon. Yay!

11. On Thursday one of the springs on my garage door broke. The van was trapped in the garage. Paul was able to come home earlier than usual from work so I could get the boys to their make-up

gymnastics class (Nadia and Ian had make-up soccer games last Monday and Tuesday which meant we had to make-up their gymnastics classes). I am thankful that Paul was able to get the door open once to get the van out (took him about an hour to accomplish that). I am thankful for his mechanical skills. He is hoping to order the part this week from a dealer. Since the weather was really cold the last few days there has even been ice on the windshield in the morning. This has made me really appreciate that normally the van is in the garage and never gets that cold. I am also thankful that it's supposed to get up to the 70's this week. Hopefully the garage door will be fixed before the next cold snap.

12. I'm thankful that for 3 months (plus 2 weeks) I was able to run 3-4 times a week. I haven't run since Wednesday, and that day I only had 30 minutes to run so I couldn't do my usual 4-6 miles. I miss it, but this week and next week the only days I can run are on Saturday or Sunday. I know I will be taking off a few months during the winter, but I'm

hoping to still run some through November. I'd like to run seven miles once before I take a break until the weather starts to warm back up again.

13. Nadia has been doing really well with her math lately - rounding to the nearest ten and regrouping with two digit addition. She also has made a lot of progress with learning to identify 17 of the North American countries on a map and all of the countries of South America (fewer number to learn for that continent). I took a little video today of her working on North America.

14. This morning we are going on a field trip put on cooperatively by three fire departments that will include showing water rescue equipment (we live near the Susquehanna River). We have three field trips planned for this week, which pleases Nadia immensely.

15. The leaves are starting to turn and are looking so beautiful! I always love to get my camera out and take pics of the kids when the leaves are turning.

16. Paul's dad started driving to Georgia last Tuesday, and he made it back safely on Sunday.

17. Nadia finished her third Sparks AWANA book last week. She has started the extra credit book. I am not sure what they are going to have her do after she finishes that as AWANA goes through May and this is only October! Ian said five verses last Wednesday night which was a record for him. He now is trying to do five sections a week (Nadia's speed is motivating him to step it up a notch). I'm grateful that three-year-olds only need to learn one verse a week to finish their book because that is enough of a challenge for Oliver.

18. Oliver has really developed with his prayers lately. He used to say the same thing almost every time. Now he says different things each time and is praying longer prayers. Sometimes the other two kids take issue with what he thanks God for (ex. "my feet"), but then I am quick to defend Oliver because I am very thankful we each have two feet!

Foto Friday

Thankful Tuesday

1. We enjoyed our Mystery tour at Weis grocery on Friday afternoon. There were about 20 kids from our homeschool group on the tour. It was basically a 75 minute health lesson on food groups, portions, whole grain, sugar, calcium, etc. The kids were able to taste some foods along the way (kiwi, cheese stick, mini-wheat cereal, etc.) and were given a gift bag at the end.

2. The kids and I met my parents at 4:30 at Bonanza on Friday; they treated us to dinner, which was greatly appreciated. They also bough donuts for us to have at breakfast on Saturday and Sunday. It was great to

be able to spend some time with them Friday night. They spent the night and watched two soccer games on Saturday morning before they drove back home. Although it wasn't Ian's best game of the season, he did score two goals - one for the other team and one for his team.

3. Paul took Nadia to see a musical about Rapunzel on Sunday afternoon. She really enjoyed it. I stayed home with the boys.

4. Bucknell didn't have any classes yesterday or today (they take two days to celebrate Columbus Day, ha ha). Paul worked at his dad's plant both days. He's been working their sporadically (averaging about one day every two weeks) trying to finish building the machine he started to build in the summer of 2014. On Monday Paul took the kids down with him so they could spend the day with Paul's parents. This meant I had ten hours to myself. I used the time to do some freezer cooking, go for a 5.5 mile run, have a Mary Kay makeover, and post some more things for sale on FB yard sale pages. I love my kids dearly but it is nice to have a day to do

other things every now and then. If they spend a day with Paul's parents in November, my friend Cheri is going to ask for that day off of work so that we can do something together. Sounds great!

5. Nadia scored her first goal in May 2014 on a U6 team, and on Monday night she scored her first goal on a U8 team! Way to go, Nadia!

6. The Giants played during the Sunday night game, and the Steelers played in the Monday night game this week. I prefer earlier games, but both our teams won at the VERY last second. Thrilling (aka nerve wracking) and happy endings!

7. On Saturday when I went for my run, I broke my personal record in terms of length of run as I ran for 6 miles. Don't ask me how long it took, ha ha! I am trying to run more in the afternoon or evening when possible since it's a bit chilly and dark in the morning.