38 Hour Trip

Thursday morning the kids and I left our house at 8:00 to drive to Lancaster, which is two hours away. We then spent four hours at the Landis Valley Museum. None of us had been there before. I had chosen that day because they were having a Hands-on History Day, which it turns out is a popular field trip outing for public schools in that area, but the site is large enough that we were usually in groups of about twenty kids at any given time. We participated in four 30 minute workshops - one on wool processing, one on games and chores that kids did on the farm, one in a one room school house (it was 1892 according to the teacher), and one involved doing a craft called scherensnitte. We also watched a woman cooking in the tavern (making applesauce), and Nadia helped do a stitch in some leather under the guidance of a leatherworker in the Sexton's house. Four of the other buildings had costumed docents who gave us tours of that particular building - gun shop, country store, log house, and Landis Brother's House. There were also some self-guided buildings. The kids

also enjoyed a horse drawn wagon ride around the property. There was also a scavenger hunt throughout the whole day looking for pictures of "Wasser" (a dog). We found nine of the ten Wassers. Some of the site was similar to what we've seen in Williamsburg and Plimoth Plantation, but some of it was unique, such as the one room schoolhouse. The site included buildings and artifacts from as long ago as 1740 to as recent as 1940. I thought it was all very well done and was a very well spent $30 (cost for the four of us to attend).

After we were done we drove what "should" have been another two hours, but it took us a little longer due to traffic. My dad cooked some bacon while I made scrambled eggs and pancakes (while the kids played), and then the five of us had breakfast for dinner. After dinner I helped my dad with a little project and then we all played Racko, Bubble Talk, and Stay Alive (three board games). The next morning I worked on a project for my dad for about two hours before switching gears to pack our suitcase and pack our

lunches. I also brought home some photo albums so that I could work on dividing pictures between the five of us (my dad, myself, and my three siblings) back at our home.

Around 10:00 we drove to Baltimore in two vehicles. We spent about five hours in the Maryland Science Center during which time we watched a Planetarium show, explored the exhibits, watched some live demonstrations on topics such as liquid nitrogen, and ate our bagged lunch. It was a sunny day when we arrived at the museum, but around 3pm it started raining. We definitely got wet during our walk to another building in the Inner Harbor where we had dinner at Johnny Rockets before driving one vehicle to a parking garage close to Port Discovery, a children's museum. We spent two hours in that museum before we took Grandpa back to his car and then started our drive home to Pennyslvania. The drive "should" have taken three hours, but it took a little longer due to some traffic and one stop for gas and 3 cookies, 2 apple pies, and 3 cups of water at McD's (for a

grand total of $2.12). Oliver fell asleep before we even were out of Baltimore, and aside from a few coughing jags (one was so bad he threw up a little), he slept the whole way home. I let Nadia and Ian listen to a book on CD for the first two hours, and they slept the last 75 minutes of the trip. 99% of the time when I get home I unpack, etc. before going to bed, but I was exhausted last night. I emptied out the van (which involved making multiple trips), and then went to bed even though the suitcase had yet to be unpacked. This morning I made sure to unload the dishwasher (which had been waiting to be emptied for 50 hours), put away Paul's dirty dishes from the previous two days, and unpacked and put away the suitcase. It really was okay to wait until this morning to do those tasks. I do  not know why I always feel like I *must* get it all taken care of the same day I come home.

The kids must have been tired because I woke up at 7:45 to the realization that I almost overslept. Paul went to bed at 8:30 last night (while we were driving home) as he was planning to get up at 1:45am. The boys almost always have me up by 7:15 at the latest so I was very discombobulated to see that the clock said 7:45 as I was supposed to get Nadia to her teammates house sometime between 8:15-8:30 so she could ride with them to the soccer game. When I opened Oliver's bedroom door I discovered he was awake in his bed (makes sense since he had fallen asleep more than 12 hours earlier), but I had to wake Nadia and Ian up, which I very rarely do. They quickly got dressed, and I showered while they ate, and we managed to get Nadia there on time. We had a rude awakening when we went outside. We had been spoiled by temps in the 80's for several days, but it was in the low 50's this morning. Paul worked a very short shift today so he could be home in time for the boys' games. He hadn't seen any soccer games yet this season, and the season ends next Saturday, and there's no way to see all three kids next week. So he said he'd see the boys today and Nadia's game next week. Paul's parents came up to see the boys today for the same reason, as they also hadn't

seen any games this season.
planning to go in at 2am this morning (but actually I don't think he left until 4:00 am). The boys

Thankfully Oliver kicked the ball a little more than he had the rest of the games (although he still has a LONG way to go to actually being helpful to his team in any way, shape, or form). Oliver played the first three quarters, and since he was not playing the fourth quarter we took him home early because it was so cold and rainy out. Ian played defense in the second quarter and offense in the third quarter. He is also showing improvement (particularly on offense). He had one assist. We didn't see Nadia's game, but she said she played defense two quarters, sat out one quarter, and played goalie one quarter. It was her first time playing goalie, and she had really wanted to do that sometime. She said the other team only scored one goal while she was goalie.

Paul's parents spent most of the day with us, which was nice. Nadia didn't get back home until after 3:00. She had lunch with

her friend, and they went grocery shopping with her mom and such. Since Paul was home on a Saturday (a rare thing) I thought we could at least tackle one thing on the "honey do list" that I made in early August (as we haven't made any progress on that list for 2 months). I thought it would be easy to put the screen back in the screen door (he took the screen out in May). It took longer than I thought, but it's done (well the door is on the dining room table but once it's put in the track we can check that off the list). Paul fell asleep several times throughout the day while sitting in a chair, and he went to bed around 6:40. Normally I would have been shocked by that, but on last Saturday and Sunday nights he went to bed really early. He woke up at 9:00 and was surprised I hadn't woken him up. I had no idea I was to wake him up. I thought he was just going to bed early again. He had gotten up for work at 1:45 am on Sunday and Monday. I thought maybe he was doing the same tomorrow. So over the past eight nights he only tucked the kids into bed three nights as he was asleep before them four of

the nights and we were in Maryland the other night. I had said to him before I don't care how early he goes into work (meaning I don't mind if he leaves at 3:00 am because we're asleep) because I care far more what time he comes home at night, but now I am rethinking that statement because when he leaves crazy early he is going to bed so early at night that it's still diminishing how much time he has with the kids.

As for our 38 hour trip, I think a good time was had by all. It was our first time at the Landis Valley Museum and our third trip to the two museums in Baltimore. I don't think it will be our last trip to any of them. We paid $2 each for Port Discovery (they do that once a month from 4-8pm), and four of us got in for free at the science museum thanks to our membership (which saved us about $78). The biggest expense for Baltimore is the parking and gas getting there and back, but it's well worth it especially considering we got to spend time with Grandpa. The next time we plan to see him is in Lancaster on November 15 when we plan to see "Samson" at Sight and Sound.

Thankful Thursday

1. It was SO wonderful going to the Sandi Patty concert on Friday night with Nadia (for free!). It was also amazing to hear the group Veritas. I bought one of their CDs for Nadia, and she has played it for  hours in her bedroom over the past week. I am happy to buy quality, uplifting music like that for her.

2. It was a delight to go to Donna's surprise 70th birthday party on Saturday afternoon. Her children and grandchildren put on a very special party for her, and it was wonderful to see people I hadn't seen in years.

3. I saw some improvement in Ian's soccer playing on Saturday afternoon.

4.  All three kids sang a song with the Soul Patrol kids' choir on the platform at both services on Sunday morning. I'm grateful they can be in the choir.

5. The Steelers lost on Sunday, but the Giants helped us out by beating the Ravens, which means we are still at the top of our division.

6. We are enjoying another novel about ancient Egypt called Mara: Daughter of the Nile. The book is full of suspense!

7. In the first five days of my diet, I lost four pounds. Yahoo!

8. We've been having "Indian Summer" weather lately. It has been gorgeous!

9. Today we are headed to the Landis Valley Village Farm & Museum in Lancaster for their Hands-on History day. Then after that we are heading to Maryland. Ian keeps talking about how it's sad that Grandma isn't there any more. It's an adjustment for all of us. Tomorrow we are planning to go to the Maryland Science Center (for free because of our ASTC membership) and Port Discovery (because on the 3rd Friday of the month it's only $2 to get in after 4pm). The last time we were at those two museums was September 2015, and that time both of my parents joined as at the museums. My kids and I miss my mom very much.

10. I am finally making progress with refinancing the house. I paid for a home appraisal a few days ago. Why on earth it costs so much money I have no idea. We are only trying to borrow 1/4 of the value of the house. I understand why it would be necessary for the bank if you are trying to borrow say 80% of the value of the house, but when you're trying to borrow less than half, it doesn't make any sense to me, but then a lot of government regulations don't make sense to me. Closing costs when you buy a house aren't fun to pay, but paying those costs a second time just to lower your interest rate is really not an exciting way to spend money. But our interest rate is going to be dropping 3% (we should have refinanced years ago!), and we are going from a 30 year to a 15 year mortgage. Our mortgage payment will drop $200 a month, and we are cutting seven years off our mortgage, which means we'll be paying a lot less interest. I had hoped by 2016 we wouldn't have a mortgage. That would have been true if we hadn't moved here as our first two mortgages were 15 year mortgages, and then I thought if we moved this year that we'd not need a mortgage (due to down sizing plus borrowing some money from my retirement accounts). I used a mortgage broker the three times I bought a house, but this time we weren't borrowing enough money for him to be interested in helping us. So this is my first time navigating the process on my own. I called around to different banks, and hopefully I made a good choice. I will be glad to check this off my to do list when it's all completed!

Memory Lane

Throughout the year I hit different times when I remember things from the past. In the future years there will certainly be dates when I will be thinking about things that happened in December 2015 (my mom's diagnosis) and July 2016 (her death). Around each of my children's birthdays I reflect upon their birth stories and NICU stays. There are two events that I recall each October. The happy one is that Oliver was take off of oxygen and his apnea monitor on October 17, 2012. It was such a relief to be able to carry my infant without also carrying an oxygen tank and monitor. It was such a relief to not have any tubes and wires attached to my precious five pound two month old boy. The other one is far more painful. I remember my sixth and final pregnancy which resulted in my third miscarriage. At the time it happened my first two miscarriages were much harder to take emotionally because my arms were empty at the time. I grieved the second one the shortest amount of time because a few months later I found out I was pregnant with Nadia.

The first loss and last loss are the two that I still remember the most often. I think about the first one the most in June (when I found out I was pregnant) and July (when the ectopic pregnancy was ended). Sometimes when I am interacting with a child who would be the same age (he/she would be 10.5 years old now) I again feel some grief over the child we lost in 2005. Over the past three years I have shed many tears for the baby we lost in October 2013. That little one would be two years old now, and sometimes when I am interacting with another two year old I think about how the little one we lost would be the same age. A little part of me wishes we hadn't had any frozen embryos from the third egg retrieval. It would have been nice to end the trying to conceive journey on a positive note (Oliver's birth) rather than a miscarriage. I still have a couple of the positive hpts in my pajama drawer from October 2013. It's all I have to remember that little life. If we were younger and had more money, I'd have wanted to try again (via IVF) for a fourth child (maybe just maybe the sister that Nadia has wanted for years). I am eternally grateful for the three precious miracles whom I get to hug and kiss every day, but that doesn't mean I have forgotten the babies who went straight to heaven without ever having been in my arms.

Oliver's debut

Oliver joined the kids' choir at church last month. The kids' choir usually sings the third Sunday of every month from October through May. They usually do a musical in December and May and sing one song the other months. They are not doing a musical this year in December unfortunately. This morning they sang the song "Alive" in both services. I videotaped both services and uploaded both so Paul's mom could see them since they weren't able to come to see them in person today. I embedded the video from the first service and a link to the second service is included below as well.

 I think considering he is four years old Oliver did pretty well for his first time on the platform at our church (which has an average attendance of 1,600 between the two services). Comparing the three four-year-olds, Nadia did the best singing in a choir when she was that age in terms of singing out really well, smiling, and doing the motions. Ian was terrified at first and wouldn't even actually go on the platform (even though when he had turned four we were going to a church with an average attendance of about 180). Then when Ian joined this choir (a couple of months before he turned 5) he had the courage to be up there but definitely was clueless about the motions. As you can see below, Oliver did sing some and do some of the motions. I think it was a good start for him, with of course room for improvement. Ian and Nadia both were definitely singing and doing the motions. Nadia did a better job of smiling during the second service. Oliver added some marching, which amused some people sitting near us. I am always amazed how small the kids' choir is given the size of the church, but I am very thankful the kids have this opportunity to sing in a choir each week since they don't get that chance at school.

My day got off to a great start as I weighed myself and discovered I had lost 3 pounds in 2 days! I know the weight comes off the fastest in the beginning and will be much slower most of the time, but still it was very encouraging. I knew I had been good at the birthday party (only had fresh fruit), but I had some treats at the fall festival yesterday afternoon. I was very relieved to know those sweets hadn't meant I deviated from my diet overall. After watching the yucky football game, I ran 3.5 miles. The day had a strange ending because at 6:45 pm Paul asked the kids to hug him good night. He crawled into bed at 7:25, even earlier than Oliver! This is a new record. I don't think he's ever gone to bed that early in our 15 years of marriage. Last night he went to bed at 8:00 and left for work at 2:00 am. He only worked for four hours (plus the two hour commute round trip) so that he would be at church to see Oliver's debut.

Soccer and celebrations

Today was a hectic but fun day. The kids and I were out the door at 8:45 and didn't come back home until 2:00. I had snack shack duty from 9-10:00 at the soccer field. I had to keep reminding the boys not to run into the customers. It's challenging to supervise three kids (who are not allowed in the snack shack) while selling people food and drinks. It was FREEZING cold this morning (as in literally in the 30's), but thankfully by noon it was in the high 60's. I watched 10 minutes of Oliver's soccer game, five minutes of Nadia's soccer game, and then left them at their field to drop Ian off at his field. Unfortunately there was an accident on the road which made the trip take longer than usual so by the time I returned Oliver's game was done. Thankfully he followed my instructions and walked down to Nadia's field and was sitting on one of our chairs watching her game when I returned 45 minutes later. I watched the last 12.5 minutes of Nadia's game, and then drove back to Ian's game, where I was able to see about the last five minutes of his game. So the bottom line was that between

the three games I watched a grand total of about 30 minutes of soccer today. Nadia had to play the entire game (she usually only plays 2 or 3 quarters) because there were only 7 girls there today (and they play 7 on 7). I was very encouraged during the 5 minutes I saw of Ian's game. He was playing more aggressively. Next week won't be as crazy for me because someone else is giving Nadia a ride, and the boys are playing on the same field. Whew.

After Ian's soccer game we made a quick stop at the library and the grocery store before going to the fall festival that was held in our town's park (put on by a local church). The kids enjoyed eating popcorn, hotdogs, cookies, s'mores (they had a fire and were roasting marshmallows), etc. They also enjoyed decorating pumpkins (Nadia made hers look like a Minion) and playing some games outdoors (ladderball was their favorite). I started a diet yesterday. It was much easier to follow it yesterday than today. I still tried to stay on target as

much as possible, but it was challenging with all the yummy foods laid out at the fall festival. After we got back I was home for one hour before Paul got home at 3:00. He came home earlier than normal so I could go to a party. I dashed out the door as soon as he came home. It was so nice to be invited to a 70th birthday party for a dear friend. I saw her a lot from 2004-2008 when we attended the same church and played in the same handbell choir. She accompanied me when I played flute solos also. She is an extraordinary woman, and I really miss her now that I can go years without seeing her. Ironically I saw her last night at the Sandy Patti Concert. Her children (I had one of her daughters as a student when I was a professor) put on a wonderful party for her. They sang several songs, and her grandchildren also sang two songs for all the guests. And they actually succeeded in surprising her, which I think was a small miracle given how many people were at the party. It was so nice to see so many people I haven't seen as regularly over

the past 8 years. Plus I can go years without going to a party of any kind so it was nice to actually have a social activity on my calendar. My social life is pretty much nonexistent. Usually just about everything on my calendar relates to my children - the exceptions being choir rehearsals and an occasional Bible study. It was nice to have something on my calendar that related specifically to me. So although the day was more hectic than I would choose (involved far more driving than I would prefer), it was a really nice day overall.

I also kept reminding myself that there are only two more weeks of soccer. The end is in sight! Nadia's coach cancelled the last two Monday practices, and I am taking the kids on a field trip next Thursday (so they'll all miss their practice that night). This means there are only three more nights of practice over the next two weeks. Woohoo! That is very exciting to me because it is so difficult to get them all fed and out the door by 5:00 three nights a week. Ian went on a hunger

strike on Thursday night. I gave the kids a choice between two meals. He picked one and then didn't even take one bite of it. He didn't even sit at the table the next day for breakfast or lunch. After he had gone 27 hours without eating anything he finally sat down and ate his dinner from the night before. It was not pleasant. I did remind myself to be thankful that this now happens very rarely (it used to happen very frequently). I have never found myself inclined to use the expression "it takes a village," but now that I am a single parent for most of the week, I definitely have been appreciating the help others in the soccer community have given me in supervising my kids when I can't be two places at once, giving them rides, doing my snack duty for me (once - I did it the other two times), etc.

Paul went to bed at 8pm because he's planning to get up in the middle of the night to go to work. It's still mind boggling to me that a man who was a night owl for a few decades now goes to bed before me many times.

Gift from God

I had heard announcements for an upcoming Sandi Patti concert for months, but once I saw that the tickets were $25 each, I  felt it was too much for me to spend. I had toyed with taking the kids on a field trip to a different farm today after gym class so they could do a corn maze, but the hayride plus corn maze would have cost a little more than $20 for the four of us, so I said no thank you to the invitation I had been given. Similarly, we had planned to go to Knoebels on October 30, but we're going to skip that. We are trying to live within our new, smaller budget.

I don't listen to the radio very often these days because we have been listening to books on CD while we're in the van, which is when I used to listen to the radio. Many days the only time I listen to the radio now is through my alarm clock/radio while I am brushing my teeth and such in the morning. Well it just so "happened" that I was listening at just the right time this morning as they announced that someone had made it possible for them to give away some tickets to the Sandi Patti concert. They frequently do giveaways where you have to be the certain caller to "win" the tickets. This was different. There was a link on their website, and all you had to do was click on it and enter your information and they would email you two tickets to the concert. They said it was "first come, first served" so I dashed downstairs to the computer and was thrilled when I succeeded in getting two free tickets. I can't tell you what an encouragement it was to me to receive those tickets. I just kept saying over and over "thank you, Lord" as it felt like a gift straight from His hands when I think of the "odds" of me hearing that announcement on the radio and that the concert didn't conflict with a soccer practice or anything else. It meant so much to me to be reminded of His love for me in a tangible way like that.

Paul got home from work at 6:15, and as soon as he walked in the door Nadia and I left for the concert. It was AMAZING. Sometimes when I go to a concert I think that the artist doesn't sound as good in person as he/she does on the radio/on a CD. Well it was quite the opposite tonight. When I was in middle school I started buying tapes of Christian music - Sandi Patty, Amy Grant, Steve Green, Michael W. Smith, Steven Curtis Chapman, Larnelle Harris etc. I am by nature a saver not a spender when it comes to money, but if I was to spend money on myself when I was a teenager, I almost always was buying a cassette tape. I started babysitting in 1984 (I was paid less than $1/hr back then), and some of that money went toward buying music that I could listen to on the boombox in my bedroom. I haven't listened to Sandi Patty that much over the past 20 years, but I was amazed at how I still remembered almost every word to all the songs she sang this evening that were the ones I listened to in the 80's and early 90's. Music is such a powerful way to memorize. Yvonne has been putting whole books of the Bible to music to help her kids memorize it. This is a brilliant idea. I memorized so many verses over the years but have forgotten many of them, sadly. I think if I had memorized them to a tune I'd still remember them. My niece, Jenna, sang Proverbs 3 (the whole chapter) to us a couple of weeks ago. Anyhow it felt like it was just yesterday that I was listening to those tapes when I heard her singing tonight, and yet in reality it was in some instances more than 30 years ago. She is sixty years old, and this is her farewell (final) tour. I told Nadia that she could sing really high before we went to the concert, and after Sandi sang "How Great Thou Art" up in the stratosphere, Nadia turned to me and said "she really can sing very high." It was just an utterly amazing concert. She sounds even better in person than on the radio or on a cd or cassette tape. I am so very thankful we were able to go, and it was nice having Nadia with me even though it meant she didn't get to bed until 10:00 (her bed time is 8:30).

Sandi is touring with her husband, one of her sons, one of her daughters, and one of her daughter-in-laws. They all have gorgeous voices. She also invited another group to tour with her called Veritas. I had never heard of them before, but they were wonderful. I have included two of their videos below from YouTube. What I think is really amazing is that this Sunday morning our choir is singing a Sandi Patti song. When we first started rehearsing it I said to myself  - I know this song (although it's a new arrangement) and then remembered eventually it was an 80's song by Sandi Patty. I think it's so ironic that we are singing it just two days after she was here close by in concert. I would love to sing even more of her songs in the future!

Contemplating the concert led me down two different rabbit trails - first what a picture her life is now of grace, restoration, and forgiveness. I remember the big scandal when she divorced in the mid 90's. Her music career took a huge dive because of that, but in time there has been restoration. Second I was thinking about how 20 years seems like such a short period of time to me now that I am 44 years old, and that led me to be reminded of how short our lives are in the span of eternity. I am on the downward side of the slope (meaning I've lived more than half of my life most likely). If I were to have the same lifespan as my mom did, it would mean I only have about 26 more years left to live. That sounds so short to me (although as a child 26 years sounded like *forever*). My life is just a breath. I pray I will live each day with eternity on my mind.

Thankful Thursday

1. Oliver's soccer game was cancelled last Saturday, which made it easier for me to juggle getting Nadia and Ian to two different fields on time for their games.

2. I got a lot of exercise last week. Last week I ran on Sunday, Tuesday, and Thursday, mowed the lawn on Monday, and walked to the playground on Wednesday and Friday. That means I walked or ran 2-3 miles six out of seven days. Woohoo! So far this week I ran on Sunday, walked to the playground and mowed the lawn yesterday, and I plan to run this evening. I wasn't able to run this Tuesday because Oliver had a soccer game during Ian's practice.

3. A neighbor watched Ian at the soccer field after his soccer practice was over  until I could get there 45 minutes later to pick him up since Oliver's game was at a different field at the same time. I was thankful he could help me out. I have needed a lot of help from different folks in light of having three soccer kids and one chauffeur.

4. The Steelers had a nice win on Sunday! We are currently 3-1 for the season. I was able to watch the game because the Giants were on at night, and the Steelers were on at 1:00.

5. We had a great trip to Corning on Monday. It was wonderful to have a day together as a family of five, as Paul took the day off of work to join us (his idea).

6. The kids enjoyed a program about owls at a state park this morning (picture above is of the craft they made). I always learn something from the naturalist. Did you know that if our eyeballs were as proportionally big as an owl's eyeballs that our eyes would be the size of oranges (instead of ping pong balls). What big eyes you have, my dear!

7. It's the time of year to enjoy pumpkin foods! So far I made pumpkin pancakes and pumpkin french toast.

8. Yesterday we finished reading The Cat of Bubastes. I would say this is the most advanced book I have ever read to the kids in terms of vocabulary, etc. Sometimes I read the book word for words, and other times I paraphrased it because it was a little too advanced for their level (and the descriptions were too verbose at times), but it was an excellent book, especially as we are studying Egypt. As much as I love rereading books I loved as a child (like Secret Garden), I also love reading children's books that I have never read before (like this one).

9. I had never been to Chipotle, but when I saw they were building one near us, I asked for a gift card to that restaurant for Christmas, and Paul's parents gave me one. The first time I went, I was a little taken aback at how much one burrito costs considering it's a "fast food" type restaurant. I recently found a Buy one, get one free coupon and took advantage of it today so I felt better about getting two burritos for the price of one. Some of us will eat those tonight at dinner while others have a chicken and stuffing casserole I made yesterday. I have enough money on the gift card for one more trip there, and I am going to wait until I have another BOGOF coupon now that I know they have those deals. I love Mexican food, and it's especially nice when I don't have to cook it. :)

Castles

One of the kids' favorite toys lately has been a Melissa and Doug wooden medieval castle that Paul's parents gave Nadia years ago. They also have been getting a lot of use out of the Melissa and Doug wood block sets that I got them years ago. They have turned the blocks into a village around the castle. Nadia and Ian play with it fairly peacefully unless Oliver becomes involved. They always feel like he is wrecking what they have built, but all three kids have been spending a lot of time playing with it, which has mean it has been difficult to walk around the family room floor lately. It is quite obvious that kids live here! I make them put away all the blocks and the castle at least once a week so I can vacuum, but otherwise I have been letting them keep it out, whereas usually I want all toys put away every day. The other Castle I have been thinking about the last few days is a man running for President. If my political views offend you, please just stop reading this post. I have tried to keep my mouth shut, but I feel like I need to write one post. I wouldn't dare share my views on Facebook. I'm not trying to start an argument. I try not to write about politics on my blog, but I guess once every four years I feel the need to get it out of my system.

Growing up I was aware of the tension between either voting your conscience even if you know your candidate has no chance of winning OR voting for the candidate you deem to be the "lesser of two evils". One of my parents espoused one belief, and one espoused the other. I had leaned toward the lesser of two evil side of things, but then 19 years ago I met Paul who was a die hard "vote your conscience" guy, and he swung me that direction. I actually didn't vote for George W. Bush because I opposed the war in Iraq and in some other ways didn't view him as being conservative enough (too big of a government - I wanted someone more like Ronald Reagan). I voted for the Constitution Party candidate instead. Ironically both Paul and I went the "lesser of two evils" theory and voted for Romney and McCain the last two elections. I say ironically because actually if I had to pick between McCain and Bush I would absolutely have picked Bush. It turns my stomach to think I voted for McCain, but I knew that Obama was far more radical than Bill Clinton. If the Republicans had picked just about anyone else beside Trump this year, I would have done the same thing three times in a row and voted "lesser of two evils" if I didn't actually like the candidate. I would have loved to see Rubio or Cruz win the nomination, for example. Then I would have actually had a candidate to vote for that I really could support. I wonder if that will ever happen in my lifetime? I wasn't old enough to vote for Reagan, ha ha!

So even though I think Hillary is just as radical as Obama plus has as many moral flaws as Trump, I am not voting Republican. I have had friends tell me "well Pence is conservative so just pick the VP you like the best". I would vote for the Republican ticket if Pence was the Presidential candidate, but he's not. Having a conservative VP is not enough to sway me. And to be honest, I have said for the past year that I was confident in the end that Hillary would become the President so really even if I voted for Trump I don't think I'll be voting for the winning candidate. So I am going to vote my conscience this time around and vote for Darrell Castle - Constitution Party. If the Libertarian were more conservative, I would vote for him. There are some Libertarians I could support, but not Johnson. It's hard to get excited about voting for a candidate that probably 99% of the population has never even heard of (Castle), but that's how Paul and I are voting.

I think there are several factors that led to Trump winning the nomination - a man who is not conservative, has given money toward Hillary's campaigns in the past, and has many, many character flaws and serious moral issues to put it mildly. One is that most of the Republicans in Congress have been so incredibly wishy washy. They say one thing to get elected and then get to DC and do the very opposite. So I think many wanted an "outsider" because of their dissatisfaction with politicians. As an aside, people like Rand Paul, Mike Lee, and Ted Cruz certainly should be considered outsiders even though they are Republicans. They have been by no means been a part of the Republican mainstream.

A second factor is that the Republicans allow "open elections" in the primary process. I think they should all be closed elections. In the beginning Cruz was winning the primaries that were closed and Trump was winning the ones where it was open. I can easily picture Democrats voting for Trump because they knew he would be the easiest candidate for Clinton to beat. A third factor (probably the biggest one) is the media. During the primaries they had kid gloves on when it came to Trump.

These recent videos that were leaked, did they just recently stumble across them from 10+ years ago? Absolutely not. They could have released them a year ago when he announced his candidacy or in the spring during the primary process. They purposefully saved them so they could help Hillary get elected. Paul and I both predicted this would happen many months ago. We figured they had really damaging audio or video recordings of Trump. Knowing the kind of man he is, it was easy to guess he had said really awful things about women. We both figured those would not be released until after he had been nominated, and we were right. I won't be surprised if more are released in the next few weeks. The producer of Apprentice (Bill Pruitt) insinuated the same last week on Twitter when he said. "As a producer on seasons 1 & 2 of #theapprentice I assure you: when it comes to the #trumptapes there are far worse. #justthebegininng."

Also, it is apparent there is a double standard with the media. Hillary has done things a million times worse than what Nixon did, but she will be elected instead of impeached. Similarly, she has defended her husband many times when confronted about his rape victims. How is what Trump has said any worse than her defending her husband over these victims??? Bill Clinton is a womanizer just like Trump, but she has stood by his side for political reasons, and of course Bill has more control of his tongue than Trump does. The media is exceedingly biased and has the power it seems to significantly influence (possibly control?) the outcome of elections. I only wish a LOT more people were willing to vote for a third party. Over the course of our history political parties have emerged and some have gone by the wayside. I wish some other party would rise up and replace the Republicans, if they are going to nominate people like Donald Trump for President. In the end, I have to remind myself of three things - #1 my job (aside from voting) is to pray for whomever is in power, #2 God is sovereign and in control no matter who is President, and #3 as our society continues to turn farther and farther away from the Lord and the teachings found in His Word, it is only to be expected to end up with choices like Clinton and Trump for President. Sad but true. I need to pray for a revival in our country. Okay I will try to wait four years before discussing politics on my blog again. :) I just want America to be a great country for my children and grandchildren. In my wildest dreams that would mean a country where we follow the constitution, where babies are not allowed to be killed, and where men and women use separate public bathrooms, but that's probably asking way too much....

Corning, New York

Paul worked yesterday morning at the plant so he could join us on our field trip to Corning today. As you can see from the first few pictures, the boys were looking pretty sharp yesterday at church! In general I vastly prefer girl's clothing to boys' clothing (more fun to shop for, etc.), but I will say I do love seeinng my boys all dressed up for church.

This morning we left around 8:00 for Corning, NY. It's about 90 minutes due north of our home. Our first stop was the Rockwell Museum. We did a scavenger hunt on the third floor first. When the kids found one of the things they were looking for, they were supposed to put a sticker on the appropriate square. At the end they each received a prize of a small plastic animal. Then we went to the second floor and signed up for the dream catcher craft (there was a waiting list). While we were waiting for out turn we looked at the art work on the first and second floor and the kids also did some art activities. One was based on Andy Wharhol's works (they had many of his on display in the museum). Another was based on the Day of the Dead (as celebrated in South America). There were three art activities plus an artwork memory game, picture books, and a large magnetic puzzle of a masterpiece. Oliver did the puzzle.

After we made our dream catchers, we left the museum to have lunch and then drive to the Corning Museum of Glass. The kids got in free to both museums. I had purchased combination tickets for Paul and I to get into both museums. We spent about 2.5 hours at the Rockwell Museum. It was the kids first time visiting an art museum. I think these scavenger hunts make all the difference in the world for young children visiting a museum. We spent about 3.5 hours at the Corning Museum of Glass. This included visiting many exhibits, doing a scavenger hunt in the historical exhibit (which dated back to the Egyptians), and attending four demonstrations (glass breaking, glass blowing, etc.). Although in some ways the glass museum also felt like an art museum, we learned some history and even more science throughout the afternoon. One of the demonstrations was on fiber optics, and this evening when there was a little glitch on the tv while Oliver watched 15 minutes of Sesame Street during a breathing treatment, Nadia said "there must be a bandwidth problem" - which proved she was listening during that demonstration!

Similarly, yesterday when Paul was talking about how the Cowboys are an arch-nemesis of the Giants, she was confused and said "you mean like in the squirrel book?". I laughed over that one, but again it proves she was listening as they used that term to describe the squirrel's main "villain" in Nuts to You. After the museum we went to an OIP and shared a large cheese pizza for dinner before driving home. While we were waiting for our pizza to cook in the oven, I drilled Ian and Nadia on the three times table. They have almost mastered it! On the way up we had listened to one of the A to Z mystery books on cd (they are really enjoying that series). On the way back we started a Roald Dahl book on cd, and then I let them watch a Veggie Tale dvd for the last part of our drive. Oliver slept for most of the ride home.

The drive was very beautiful as the leaves are definitely turned more farther north than around our home. I love seeing the red, orange, and yellow leaves mixed in with the green. Gorgeous!

The kids wanted to a "make your own glass" experience, but they cost at the very least $21 per person, which would add up very quickly with three kids. I said it was something we might do in the future - maybe someone might give them money toward such a class for one of their birthdays or for Christmas. They do have some really neat things you can create out of glass yourself!

Going on many field trips is one of my favorite parts of homeschooling, although since today was Columbus Day we could have gone on this outing as a family today even if our kids were enrolled in a school. Our next scheduled trip is this Thursday to learn about owls at a state park.

P.S. I doubt the museum had four-year-olds in mind when they created the scavenger hunt, but Oliver did very well with it and actually was on more than one occasion the first person to find one of the things we were to be looking for. Way to go, Oliver!