Wonderful Wednesday

This morning the five of us left our house at 9AM to head to Knoebels. Since Paul isn't able to join us on either of our vacations this year (one week in Chicago/Ohio in April and one week on Long Island in July), I am very glad he can at least take off a day here and there this summer to go with us to amusement parks and such. He had been planning to go into work at his usual time this morning (he usually leaves our house sometime between 2-3AM) and then meet us at the park at 10AM, but he was tired (who wouldn't be considering his work day plus commute often exceeds 15 hours a day) and decided to stay home this morning. My dad had bought us tickets to Knoebels one day in September last fall when they were having a special that if you bought a handstamp that day, you got a voucher for a free handstamp in May. We used those four vouchers today. In September it was my dad plus the three kids who got handstamps. Today it was Paul plus the three kids.

In September my dad and Nadia had handstamps (over 48 inches) that included roller coasters, Ian had an under 48 inch pass with rollercoasters, and Oliver had an under 48 inch one without roller coasters. Two things changed over the past eight months. First, Ian now is 48 inches tall with shoes on, and Oliver is now tall enough to ride the roller coasters (42 inches is the magic number for four of the five big roller coasters at Knoebels). Knoebels was generous and gave Ian the 48 inch tall handstamp today even though my Dad had paid for the under 48 inch one last fall (and there's a big price difference). The ticket lady said they know that kids grow and take that into account. As for Oliver, we just didn't let him ride any of the big rollercoasters even though he is technically tall enough. I should add that we didn't let Nadia or Ian ride those at the age of four either. I would have let him try them a couple of weeks ago if we hadn't been rained out of using the free handstamps from WVIA. At least he was riding rides today, Oliver had to sit out of all the rides on April 30.

I didn't ride any rides today. I was the photographer and person in charge of carrying the water bottles, lunches, etc. Parking is always free, so our only costs today were the gas to get there and  back plus two sodas for Paul and one large pizza that we all shared for dinner. We spent 8 hours at the park. We left a little before it closed so that we could get the kids to the Alliance church on time. Unfortunately Oliver screamed his little head off when I left him (and was clutching me with all his might), but someone there helped pry him off of me, and he settled down soon after I left. Have I mentioned I will be ever so grateful when we are out of this phase? I was a little late for choir this evening. It was an absolutely wonderful day. The weather was perfect. It wasn't hot, but we didn't need to wear jackets. It was warm enough to ride the flume, but not quite warm enough for anyone to want to be soaked on the Skloosh. Many times the lines were non-existent. You could just walk right on to a roller coaster or other ride.

Many times Oliver was the ONLY child on a ride when he was riding it. Many times the kids just stayed on a ride multiple times without getting off. Oliver rode the kiddie rollercoaster about thirty times in a row without getting off at one point just because no one was in line to ride it. The kids rode a few rides they often skip because of longer lines such as the motor boats, big bumper cars (Paul took each child separately), and the skyway ride. Paul rode the Phoenix and Twister with Nadia and Ian multiple times (two big rollercoasters), and Nadia rode the Impulse by herself. In some cases it was the first time a child had ridden a particular ride such as Oliver and Ian on the Cosmotron. I took over 200 pictures. Of course many are blurry and will be deleted because taking pictures of people on a ride is not an easy thing to do, but I will share a few here tonight and post more in the coming days when I have time to go through them more thoroughly. I used my 50mm and 135mm lenses, and those seemed like very good choices for today. Bottom line is that it was a great day. The five of us were together, the weather was perfect, and we enjoyed the rides at Knoebels. Thanks, Dad, for the tickets! Next up will be Idlewild in a couple of weeks, weather permitting. We've never been that that park before, but I got our tickets a few months ago on Black Friday.

Thankful Tuesday

1. It's watermelon time of year again. My boys really like to have watermelon. Ian just wants one piece a day, but Oliver can easily eat 1/4 of an entire watermelon each day, if I would let him. When we were talking about going to the birthday party on Saturday, he kept saying that he hoped they'd have watermelon. He even asked if there was watermelon cake!

2. Oliver did a much better job participating in gym class on Friday and in soccer practice on Monday evening.

3. Nadia's softball game and Oliver's soccer game were cancelled and Ian's soccer game was pushed back three hours on Saturday which meant they were all able to attend the entire dress rehearsal on Saturday morning, and it also meant that Nadia and Oliver were able to go to the birthday pool party on Saturday afternoon.

4. Paul's parents came up on Sunday. They attended the second worship service and then hung out at our house in the afternoon until it was time to return for the kids' musical. The

kids always love to have time with Grandma and Pop Pop! They also got us pizza from Ciro's, which was greatly appreciated. Also, because they were here I was able to go for an almost four mile walk while Paul was napping. I haven't done much walking (or any running) so any chance I get is greatly appreciated. I am planning on swimming laps when we go to the pool this summer, and when the kids go to VBS I also hope to get some exercise. I am really out of shape.

5. Ian's soccer practice was cancelled today. I always enjoy having a night off of going to the soccer field. I used to be able to walk or run during soccer practices, but Oliver is too clingy now for me to do that during his rehearsals. Last night Oliver had a soccer practice and Nadia had a softball game.

6. Nadia didn't get to run to first base last night, but she did have one foul ball which was progress as at least her bat did connect with the ball once. She also scooped up the ball in the outfield four times last night, which was a lot more than usual.

There have been many games when she hasn't had any contact with a ball during the whole game. Her team *almost* won their first game last night. They were behind 9-3 at one point, but the game ended with a score of 10-9.

7. Paul glued the broken leg of one of our kitchen chairs on Sunday morning. Now we have six chairs around the table, which will come in handy the next time Paul's parents are here. That meant one more thing was crossed off the honey do list! Unfortunately the length of the list hasn't gotten smaller because naturally new things come on the list from time to time. The most recent addition was the red battery operated vehicle the kids drive from time to time. It doesn't work even if you have the battery plugged in for a long time.

8. In July Paul is going to have his cell phone taken off our plan and put on the company's plan. He doesn't have a smart phone, but with the way Verizon has changed their plans over the last two years, I think our bill will drop at least $55 a month if my phone is the only one on our plan. I'm hoping this means we'll be able to afford an eye doctor appointment for me plus a new pair of glasses. I cannot wear my glasses at all any more because they give me a horrible headache. My choices the last few months have been to either wear my contacts all the time

OR walk around somewhat blind. We don't have any vision insurance right now - first time that has been true for me in more than 20 years. I'm thinking by December we should have saved enough money from the lower cell phone bill that I can make an appointment with an eye doctor. I'm definitely at the age where my ability to read things is going away, and prior to this I only had trouble with seeing things far away.

9. I'm thankful we have two showers. A little over a year ago Paul discovered a problem in the floor near our shower. He hasn't gotten to that item on the to do list over the last year, and the problem has gotten worse during that time. I wish I had thought of this a year ago, but better late than never. A few days ago I took the shower curtain down and removed the bath rug from our bathroom to help remind us not to use that shower any more until Paul fixes the problem. Knowing it might take months or years, I ordered another towel bar today for the kids' bathroom so Paul and I can also have our towels in that room. This extra towel bar will come in handy

when we have guests even if Paul and I are able to resume using our master bathroom shower at some point in the future.

10. Nadia and Ian did well in their musical at our church on Sunday night. Their choir sang one song from the musical in the two worship services that morning. Oliver did fine in the first service, but he was definitely a distraction in the second service. I decided it wasn't fair to all the other children in the choir or to the directors to allow him to be in the program that night, even though he knew the songs and had just participated in almost 6 hours of dress rehearsals the previous two days. Well at least he has a head start on learning the songs for the musical at the Alliance Church in August. It was Ian's first time having a speaking part. He played the part of a boy named Noah, and Nadia was the voice of the GPS. They both did a great job, and Nadia also had a small solo in the song "You are a treasure" by Steven Curtis Chapman. Nadia is anxious to find out if she'll be given a solo or a speaking part

in the same musical at the Alliance Church this summer.

11. I joined a Sports Photography course for parents (online) recently. I am finding it very helpful and hope to put into practice what I am learning in the future.

12. Paul took Nadia to Grandma's house today. That meant she had to get up before 3AM. Hopefully she went back to sleep!!! The kids always look forward to having a day at Grandma's house. Paul left for work at 2AM yesterday and didn't get home until almost 8PM. We are planning to go to Knoebels tomorrow. At one point the weather forecast didn't look very good, but now the forecast looks great for tomorrow. We are using tickets my dad got us last September. This means the kids will get a lot more time than they usually do with Daddy tomorrow.

13. The boys and I enjoyed the pretty weather and went to the playground today. Oliver rode his bike there for the first time, and Ian pushed the umbrella stroller to give a small stuffed animal a ride there and back. We also used a gift card to have dinner at Cracker Barrel as I knew Grandma would be taking Nadia out for lunch.

Splish, Splash

Tuesday through Friday it was unseasonably hot around here - meaning temps were in the low 90's. Today the high was thirty degrees cooler. It was also raining this morning. Oliver's soccer game was cancelled because of the rain. The kids had a dress rehearsal at church last night from 3:30-7:15pm and again this morning from 8:30-11:15. The kids in the choir range in age from four years old to third graders. Oliver definitely has SO much room for improvement with his behavior. It was rather vexing to watch the rehearsals. The upside was I brought my Bible lessons and got six lessons done between the two dress rehearsals. Paul arrived at the church at 11:15 to pick Ian up so he could take him later to his 1:00 soccer game.  Nadia, Oliver, and I stopped at the library, and then we went to a birthday party. Most of the kids at the party still went swimming even though it was chilly out (in the 50's when we arrived at noon and 61 when we left at 4:00). The pool was heated, and the water temperature was 84. Oliver swam a little, got back into his dry clothes, ate lunch, played a little t-ball, and then got back in his bathing suit and swam some more. Nadia went off the "diving rock" and also went down the slide multiple times. Aside from when she ate her lunch around 1:00, she was in the pool the whole time we

were there. It didn't seem like a good day for a pool party, but since the pool was heated, the kids had a blast!

Originally my Dad and Margie were going to come up this weekend for the GPS musical. Margie was the first to back out because she has been sick ever since she went to Turkey to meet my sister and her family. My dad also probably isn't going to make it because he's also not feeling well. My mom used to come up for all their programs, and my dad often joined her. 2016 was a very different year because neither of my parents made it up to any of their three musicals first because my mom was sick and unable to travel and then because my Dad was in Indiana for their August musical last year. I am sure in time I will get accustomed to the fact that my mom won't be coming, but it still is emotional for me. I remember calling my Aunt Janet on the phone outside of the church in August and crying on the phone to her about how badly I missed my mom's presence at their musical. I'm very thankful that Paul's parents are able to join us tomorrow. Ian

Nadia coming down the waterslide

is playing the part of a boy named Noah, and Nadia is the voice of the GPS. Nadia also has a small solo. I'll be praying my heart out that Oliver will be on his best behavior tomorrow night. I think the choir is rather small considering the size of the church, but I'm very grateful the kids can be in a choir at church, especially since they are homeschooled.

My morning started earlier than usual today for a humorous reason. At 2:15 this morning Paul used my phone to call his phone so he could find his phone before he left for work. At 4:13am while he was at work, he noticed he had missed two calls from me and so he called me. I woke up at 4:13 because I heard my cell phone ringing downstairs and thought it must be something very horrible if someone was calling me at that hour of day. I was puzzled when I saw it was at 4:15. I saw my phone had been used at 2:15 to call Paul's phone. I called Paul back a few times, but he didn't answer. I figured he hadn't intentionally called me (sometimes phones seem to have a mind of their own). I kept the phone with me in bed for the next couple of hours. He called me back again at 7:00 and asked me why I called him at 2:15. I told him I had been sound asleep at 2:15 and certainly hadn't called him or anyone else on the phone. Then he remembered he had used my phone to locate his phone. Oops! I think he needs a little bit more sleep than he's been getting lately! I also think it's partially the aging process, at least speaking for myself I can definitely tell that my memory is not as good as it used to be.

Thankful Thursday

1. All three kids got a good report at the dentist on May 11.

2. Paul's parents have been married for 50 years as of May 13!

3. The choir sang a beautiful anthem (It is well) on May 14. The choir director has decided to continue the choir for another year (whew), although he said he's not going to purchase any new music.

4. I have been blessed with three beautiful children!

5. We were able to spend several hours with Paul's parents, brother, and sister-in-law on Sunday.

6. The kids and I enjoyed our time at Daniel Boone's Homestead on Tuesday and also our visit with my friend, Kay on our way back.

7. Oliver has been going out on the soccer field without crying or cajoling. Hopefully that will also be true at the Alliance Church on Wednesday nights in future weeks.

I'm thankful a woman helped to make him to stay in the room when I left.

8. Ian played better at his soccer game on Saturday. He still isn't as aggressive  in going for the ball as he was last year, but he *almost* got a goal several times, which was encouraging.

9. We shopped at a discount grocery store after the game on Saturday and got some good bargains.

10. The pastor was really encouraged by my story of what Ian told me regarding the sermon. He posted what I shared (without revealing any names) and 193 people clicked like (and several posted comments).

11. We own a weed whacker that I can start on my own! I have never really wanted to use a weed whacker. I always felt intimidated by them, but my desire to have the weeds trimmed became greater than my aversion to using that device. Maybe someday I'll become brave enough to use the gas powered clippers. Thus far I still just use the simple kind.

12. Ian had lost the wire that held the water bottle onto the guinea pig cage. Last week Pop Pop used a wire coat hanger to create a better holder. Unfortunately Ian messed with it this week so it's not quite as good as how Pop Pop had it, but it's still much better than what I had come up with. I never professed to be an engineer!

13. Whenever I ask Ian to help teach Oliver something, he does a great job at giving encouragement and celebrating correct answers.

14. We enjoyed seeing a production of Little Red Riding Hood at the Millbrook Playhouse today. It's been more than a year since we saw a production at the Community Theatre League. We used to go there several times a year, but I stopped in attempt to save some money. Ironically they were also doing Little Red Riding Hood this month, but I picked the Millbrook Playhouse even though it's a longer drive because #1 the tickets were cheaper ($15 for the four of us compared to $32 at CTL) and #2 this production was put on by

adults (kids at the other one). Everyone else that was there was from a public school. The woman in charge of seating people told me to wait at the end, and she gave us a private tour of the place - the costume room, dressing room, passageways in the backstage, etc. It's been more than a year since we went to a show at BTE or PSU, again because we can't afford to see as many shows as we used to attend. I had wanted to take the kids to see BFG at PSU in the 2016 but skipped it due to our shrinking budget. They are doing BFG at BTE this summer. I hope the tickets are reasonably priced because I'd really like to take them.

15. I noticed that the Kmart near the theatre had a "store closing" sign on it; I decided to make a quick stop. I was looking for sandals for Nadia. We struck out on that, but I got myself a pair of snow boots! I don't have any. Ideally I would have preferred a taller pair, but the taller ones they had left didn't come in any sizes bigger than 8 (and I need 8.5 or 9). Typically though when we get snow we don't get a massive amount, so the ones I

got will work most of the time. They only cost me $9.50! Yay!

16. I planted two blueberry bushes today and a bunch of strawberry plants earlier this week. Hopefully we will get fruit from these in future years! Since I bought these plants and mulch, I only bought two hosta plants this spring. I usually buy at least one flat of annuals, but I'm going to skip those this year to save some money in light of what I spent on strawberry plants and blueberry bushes and the fertilizer, peat moss, and top soil necessary to plant those properly.

17. Yesterday I received the first item from the Shutterfly order I placed on Sunday. It was my first time ordering a blanket for myself from Shutterfly. I had ordered two woven blankets in 2015 for my mom and mother-in-law. I had never bought a fleece blanket, but I had a coupon for a free one and got it for myself. It has 8 pictures on it. I love it, and the kids do also. They keep wanting to use it even though it's stinking hot and no blankets are really needed today. I love Shutterfly!!

18. Today we attended an Emergency Preparedness Day on the grounds of a prison about 5 minutes from our home. They had different demos throughout the day. We attended a K-9 Drug Unit demo, and a breaching demo by a PA State Police Disturbance Control Team. We watched them chainsaw through a metal door and use guns with rubber balls in them and such to show how they would handle a prison riot. We also watched a Puppet Show about safety tips for kids. Other demos we didn't see included a bear trap demo by the

game commission, self-defense demo, class about identity theft, mounted unit demo, etc. This was the 11th year this event was held, and I had never heard about it until a few days ago. I think we will return if they continue to hold this event.

19. Ian's soccer practice was cancelled for today. I can't tell you how nice it was not to feel so rushed at dinner and be able to stay home after dinner. I truly am thinking of skipping soccer and softball for all three kids next year. It's just been TOO much this spring. If I did it for

only one child, I would pick Ian because he seems to have the most talent. If it wasn't so expensive, I'd sign them all up for gymnastics because that would be a once a week commitment rather than 5 days a week, which is what it ends up being with two or more children in soccer and/or Little League. Basketball is definitely less hectic. We've already paid for the three kids to do that next year, and I'm planning to sign all three up for ice skating lessons  and homeschool gym class.  If the kids were interested in flag football, that would be less hectic in the fall as it's also an Upward program that only entails one practice a week and one game a week for eight weeks. We're on target with the "kids" section of the budget at this point, and I've already

paid for all their camps and such with the exception of swimming and diving lessons. Whew.

20. Paul has been working shorter hours on Saturdays! He napped for several hours last Saturday, but that didn't stop the kids from climbing on his lap while he was sleeping. He was so tired that didn't even wake him up! He also helped me out recently by making some changes to our router to make it more secure. We had been having trouble using our ($65/month!) internet. Hopefully what he did will cause those issues

to go away, if the problem was because someone was stealing our bandwidth.

21. I'm thankful for gift cards to restaurants. We still have a few on hand (mostly for Friendly's), and I'm going to get some more through credit card points. I scratched our trip to Knoebels in June from our calendar (we were going to go on a buy one get one free day) because we will be maxing out our entertainment budget for the year soon and it's only May. We need to go back to only buying food from a

restaurant if we have a gift card. Recently we had been getting takeout pizza once a week, but we just can't afford to keep doing that because we don't have gift cards to the places where we usually get pizza. I'll have to experiment again with homemade pizza recipes. I would like to buy tickets to see the Titanic musical at our church, BFG (depending on the ticket prices), and have enough money to go to DelGrosso's once as we didn't go there last year. I already paid for our tickets to Dutch Wonderland and Idlewild. We weren't planning on going to Sight and Sound this year, and trips to things like Disney on Ice and the circus had already been scratched out ever since I ceased to be our primary breadwinner. I'm thankful for the many events that are free, which we can do even on a more limited budget. I also want to take the kids to Ephrata Cloister in October. I'll have to increase the entertainment budget a bit, but I can't do that too much because I already had to increase the medical expenses and the car repair categories. Thankfully we have barely spent any money on clothes this year, and we're also a little under budget in the gasoline category thus far. We're right on track with the food budget. It's nice to have some categories on track or under budget. Usually the activities at the children's museum are free, which is wonderful. I had a shock when I signed them up for the eye dissection and bakers in training programs there. The eye dissection program will be free (as usual), but when I found out it was $26 per child for a one hour baking program put on by Panera at the museum, I quickly cancelled our reservations! There is no way I'm going to pay $78 for three kids to make a baguette and decorate a cookie!!! We can do that at home for less than $5.

22. Paul and his dad got back safely from Canada today. They ended up going up and back in one day!

Daniel Boone's first home

On Tuesday the kids and I pulled out of the driveway at 6:40am, and I didn't return until 9:30pm. Our first stop was the Daniel Boone Homestead. It was supposed to take 2hr 20 minutes to get there, but it took more like 2hr 40 minutes because I needed to get gas and I accidently took a route that took a little longer. The program had already started when we arrived, but after paying and taking a bathroom break, we joined some homeschoolers at the blacksmith station. There were twelve stations. We did eleven of them. The "hearth and kitchen" station was already packed up when we got to it. Many stations had things the kids could touch. Some of them had things the kids could do such as dipping candles, writing with a quill pen and sealing it with a wax seal at the end, and helping make butter. Daniel Boone was born and lived the first fifteen years of his life at this house. His family moved to North Carolina when he was fifteen because the family was excommunicated from their church because two of his older sisters had married men who weren't Quakers. The other reasons for moving included wanting to live in an area with fewer people and lower taxes. One station included a tour of the Boone House. We passed by the sawmill, but that wasn't one of the stations.

At each station there was at least one costumed interpreter. We stayed there for about four hours. Nadia said her favorite part was the militia station. The kids practiced following commands when marching such as right face, left face about face, forward march, etc. After we left we drove one hour and stopped at my friend Kay's house. She is 77 years old, and her husband is 80. He wasn't there because he's still a self-employed electrician. Kay was the principal of the school before I was the principal. I met her in Indiana in graduate school in the summer of 1993, and we became friends when I moved to Pennsylvania in the summer of 1996. I've only seen her a couple of times over the past nine years. Unfortunately I didn't zoom in close enough on the back of my camera screen to notice that she was blinking when I took the picture of her with my kids. Oops! She gave the kids pretzels, brownies, juice, and peanut butter M&Ms. We stayed at her house for about 90 minutes, and then we needed to continue our drive home. We stopped at a Dunkin Donuts and used a gift card to get breakfast sandwiches for our dinner. I dropped Ian off at his soccer practice, and then drove to another town where Oliver was having a soccer game. Nadia and I watched the first three quarters of his game. He played in three of the four quarters. The good news is that he didn't cry or object to going out there and playing. The bad news is that he is the least enthusiastic player on the field. He moves slower than molasses, and the coach has to plead with him umpteen times when it's his turn to do a thrown in or corner kick. It's just plain torture for me to watch Oliver's soccer games. I cannot wait until the season is over. Paul picked Ian up at 6:30 from his practice and brought him over to Oliver's game at the start of the fourth quarter. I left to go to my two hour Bible study on the Kinsman Redeemer (book of Ruth). After Oliver's game was over he made a stop at the library for me, and then took the kids home and put them to bed. When I got home I got the garbage ready, put away the dirty dishes, cleaned up a little bit, and then went to bed. I was exhausted.

Originally we had planned to go to the Ephrata Cloister on my birthday, but because Oliver and I were sick that day, we rescheduled for April 19. Yesterday I decided we'll wait until October. It's a similar although not identical type program, and it's also two hours away. Yesterday in the van the kids listened to a book on CD (Saving Shiloh), each had a 30 minute iPad turn, and watched two DVDs. Nadia threw up on the way down there (car sickness). She used the trash can we keep in the car for that purpose which was awesome, but then she forgot to keep it vertical so there was still a mess to be cleaned up when we got home. Yuck. Oliver also made a mess with a bag of pretzels I had brought for our snack. I decided last night I wasn't game for another four hours in the van on Friday, which is why we're waiting until October to visit the Ephrata Cloister. I had never been to the Daniel Boone Homestead. Paul said he was there when he was young. None of us have ever been to the Ephrata Cloister. Paul and his dad will be driving to Canada tomorrow morning and returning Friday night. It's a business trip. I had asked that they schedule it on a Thursday/Friday as I need his help on Tuesday nights so I can go to Bible study and Wednesday nights so I can go to choir. The kids have a three hour dress rehearsal at church on Friday and gym class there in the morning. Tomorrow we're going to see a play about Little Red Riding Hood and then go to an Emergency Preparedness Carnival at a federal correction center that is about five minutes from our house. I had planned to take them to a fish hatchery before I learned about the carnival. We'll save the fish hatchery tour for another time.

My mother's day gift was delivered today - a battery operated weed whacker. Now I need to sell the gas powered one. I succeeded in assembling it myself and used it today. I also spread stuff to kill the ants around our house. That was a first for me. It's been Paul's job the rest of our marriage. I am taking over as many of his duties around our house as possible because he just doesn't have time to do them. I kept waiting and waiting and the number of ants in our kitchen were multiplying so I went with the "if you want something done do it yourself" adage today. Sometimes I feel like I am in over my head as I'm not nearly as good with my hands as he is, but I am probably capable of doing more than I think I am. It was really hot today. I hate to complain about the heat because I'm not a fan of winter weather, but I couldn't do the weed whacking and mow the whole lawn without taking breaks. I also finished up the strawberry bed. Let me say gardening is NOT my thing. We shall see how this turns out.  While I was doing it I was questioning my sanity in attempting this task. Tomorrow I hope to finally get those blueberry plants in the ground that I bought weeks ago.

I also finished Nadia's GPS costume today. I completely used two cans of spray paint (black) and part of another one (silver). I am not happy with how it turned out, but I have never professed to be very artsy/ craftsy. The lesson I have learned is to say "no thank you" the next time someone asks me to do a task like that. I'd be happy to help in other ways, but making things out of cardboard is not my specialty. Tonight they had their first GPS rehearsal at the Alliance Church. Oliver started up again with crying and carrying on and not wanting to be separated from me. Thankfully one of the women just picked him up and put him in the room. She said it took less than 2 minutes for him to settle down, and he was fine the rest of the night. Soccer practice was right before that, and he was fine until I walked away to locate Ian. He came running off the field crying for me. Soccer will be done in 3 weeks (plus 3 days). What a relief. I am seriously thinking of skipping soccer for all the kids next year. Rushing through dinner to get them up there for practice four nights a week plus games on Saturdays is just too much for me. Paul was planning to meet me there at 6:15 so I could get to choir, but he hit traffic and didn't make it, so I was 30 minutes late to choir rehearsal. We aren't singing this Sunday because the kids are singing, and then May 28 will be our last time singing on a Sunday until September. I am grateful he has decided to continue the choir next year even though our numbers are down.

Sentimental

Most of my life I didn't consider myself to be very sentimental. My dad's mom used to give my mom a hard time for getting rid of things (my grandma was positively a pack rat), but honestly I have been even more prone to purging than my mom. My mom certainly was sentimental about certain things, which was proven when we went through her belongings last August. For example, we discovered boxes full of napkins and placemats on which her dad had written her notes over the years. Becoming a mom definitely lead me to become sentimentally attached to more things. Paul, who dubbed me the chucker years ago (he also leans toward the pack rat side of things), was amazed when I wanted to hold on to SO many of the kids baby clothes. I saved a few of their toys, but I really didn't feel sentimentally attached to any of their toys. In the past year I have now become very sentimental toward things from my mom. I think of her when I see them, and it's hard for me to part with them (example selling Nadia's bike from my parents that she had outgrown). When I wear her jewelry or clothes, I feel more connected with her. That probably is an illogical statement, but it's true for me emotionally. Yesterday on Mother's Day I purposefully wanted to wear several of her things. The top I wore yesterday as well as the onyx bracelet and onyx pendant (that I put on one of my own necklaces) had been hers. I didn't think of it when I was getting dressed, but the skirt I was wearing was one she had bought for me several years ago for Easter. We had shopped for it together in Bowie. I think it was probably the last outfit she bought me. Anyhow I am amazed I am becoming a more sentimental person. I don't predict though that I'm going to become a pack rat. I still find great delight in taking things to a thrift store or selling them on Facebook. I still have a very strong dislike of clutter.

I cried a few times yesterday, but in general it was a happy day. I cringed when they asked all the moms to stand up in church. I wish churches wouldn't do that. I cried a little when singing the choir anthem "It is well," but honestly that is one of my favorite hymns and I often getting a little weepy in that one it's just so emotional for me to think about the words. Someone made a joke during a rehearsal that our President made it into the hymn ("the trump shall resound"), and our director said if it was about Donald Trump it should say "The Trump shall retweet"). We were at Paul's parents house for about 5 1/2 hours, and his brother and sister-in-law were also there. The kids came to me at one point and said - you and Grandma are the only adults awake as Daddy, Uncle Al, Aunt Millie, and Pop Pop were all asleep. Pop Pop and Uncle Al took shorter naps than Paul and Millie. Paul had slept most of the afternoon on Saturday also. I had brought my laptop to their house and spent a lot of time trying to finish a big Shutterfly order I had been working on for a few days that I submitted last night. The total before coupons would have been $634.15, but I actually paid $2.89. I doubt I'll have one as big as that again in the future because a couple of the reward programs where I earned codes have gone away recently.

I gave Grandma a photobook for Mother's Day. The kids had each made her a Mother's Day/ 50th anniversary card. Ian and Nadia also gave her their cardinals (artwork), and each child also filled out a paper about Grandma. I was the scribe for Oliver. He said Grandma was 5 years old. The other two were closer (they said 70/71 but she's actually 72). Oliver said she weighs 60 pounds. Ian said her favorite game is chess (nope!), but they did get some things right. Nadia asked me to print out one so she could fill out one for me. She said I weigh 80 pounds. I hope SOME year the kids get the idea to make me cards or write me a note or pick me some dandelions or something for Mother's Day. I would really appreciate it. I haven't had my picture taken with the kids in a year so I was hoping that would happen also, but we didn't get around to that yesterday. Hopefully some time in the next several weeks we can do that. We haven't had a family photo taken in two years (of all five of us in the same photo), but our church is getting a photo directory next month so our picture will be taken then. Yay!

Paul stopped at the hardware store and bought some strawberry roots on Saturday. I planted most of them today and gave some of them to a neighbor. I haven't totally finished the project. I bought some fertilizer this evening, and I need to spread the dirt out some more and put some mulch on top. I do not profess to be a farmer or gardener; hopefully next year we will get some strawberries. On Wednesday I want to plant the blueberry plants. I started to paint Nadia's GPS box today, as it's her costume for the musical next weekend. They have dress rehearsals on Friday night and Saturday morning. I ran out of black paint, but I got some more tonight while Nadia was warming up with her softball team. My lack of "craft" skills are probably going to be very obvious when this is done. I will give it my best shot, but my best isn't very good when it comes to making things with cardboard and paint. It didn't help that I couldn't find Paul's box cutter.

The weather was beautiful today; on Saturday it was miserable while Nadia, Oliver, and I were at Ian's soccer game. It rained the whole time and the temperature was about 49 degrees. Oliver's game was rescheduled for tomorrow night. We had planned to go to Knoebels on Saturday. We had six free handstamps good for that day only, but given it was cool and raining, we decided to stay home. Hopefully we'll make it to Knoebels at least one more time, especially since Oliver didn't ride any rides the last time we went due to his poor behavior.

Paul came home early today so he could take his car to the dealer. The bill was over $600. Ouch. We have spent over $1,200 on his car thus far this year. Thankfully we haven't spent any money on repair bills for the van yet this year. Hopefully his car won't need anything else aside from oil changes the rest of the year. We're trying to save up enough money to trade his vehicle in before it hits 200,000 miles, which we figure will happen in about 24 months. We've had that Prius for seven years. It's only been in one accident (when Paul collided with the dead deer). It was my car for the first two years, and then in September 2012 when we bought the van and traded in Paul's Civic, it became Paul's car. I'm thankful it gets great gas mileage considering Paul drives 100 miles a day six days a week.

First Mother's Day in Heaven

My mom had her first Mother's Day exactly 45 years ago on May 14, 1972; I was just a little over three weeks old. As a child I remember enjoying celebrating my parents on Mother's Day and Father's Day each year. Then in my twenties, the holiday became painful for me. I still enjoyed honoring my mom, but I had already longed for the day I would be a mom for years, and it felt like that day might never come as the years passed and I hadn't even had a boyfriend. I got married at the age of 29, and it didn't take long to figure out that becoming parents wasn't going to be easy for us. As we battled infertility and hit roadblocks with domestic and international adoption efforts, Mother's Day became incredibly painful for me. I was still extremely grateful for my mom and would call her and buy her a Mother's Day gift, but I wanted to skip the holiday. I often didn't go to church on Mother's Day because I knew I would just become a weepy mess. Technically I have been a mom since 2005 as I experienced my first (ectopic) pregnancy that year, but it wasn't until 2008 that I really felt like a mom.

My mom and Nadia in the NICU - June 2008

Mother's Day 2008 was a very happy day for me as Nadia was kicking me within my womb. I was so very grateful that the Lord had enabled me at the age of 36 to experience that moment I had longed for since I was a teenager - of holding my own baby in my arms. Nadia means "hope" and Renee (my middle name and also her middle name) means "reborn." Mother's Day 2007 was the hardest of them all as I really was losing hope of ever becoming a mom through giving birth or adoption, but my hope was reborn during Nadia's pregnancy. Although my arms have been full the past almost nine years, I have to admit Mother's Day has still been a bit bittersweet for me because every year I can't help but think of women who are still in a position of either being single and longing to be married and have children as well as those who are married and struggling with infertility. My mom was a huge help to me in the hospital while Nadia was in the NICU. When Ian was born in December 2009, she was a huge help by taking care of Nadia at our house while Ian and I were in the hospital. She wasn't able to help me after I had Oliver because the Towfighis were in Maryland, but she did drive up right away to see me for a couple of hours after I gave birth to Oliver.

My mom and Ian in the NICU - December 2009

Mother's Day 2016 was very different for me. I really didn't think as much about those facing infertility. I didn't even think about my children as much that day. My entire focus on Mother's Day went back to my dear, beloved Mom who was battling cancer. Although she was undergoing chemo, my gut told me this was going to be her last Mother's Day here on earth and so I made plans to go down to Maryland to be with her. My in-laws had agreed to watch my kids because my kids hadn't been allowed to come to my parents' house for four months at that point. My mom kept insisting that she didn't need my help and that I should be with my own kids on Mother's Day. On more than one occasion my sister, Wendy, wisely just showed up even when she was told not to come. I wish I had followed her example and came anyway. When I think of my mom my three regrets are #1 that I don't have any pictures of my mom and I (other than big group shots) from the past 25 years, #2 I didn't take pictures of her at Christmas in 2015 (what turned out to be the last chance to get a "healthy" picture before chemo started), and #3 that I wasn't there with her on her final Mother's Day here on earth. I had given her a robe as an early Mother's Day present (when I gave it to her I wasn't certain she'd be alive on Mother's Day so I gave it to her really early), and then I sent her a photo book around Mother's Day. I talked to her on the phone, but I would much rather have been there in person and given her a big hug. I did make a lot of trips to Maryland from January through July last year, and I was there with her on Valentine's Day and her birthday. I'm thankful for every trip I made.

My mom with Oliver in the NICU - August 2012

Mother's Day 2017 is another first for me. My first 44 Mother's Days my mom was alive. This is my 45th and my first in which my mom is in Heaven. As much as my mom loved being a wife, mother, and grandmother, I know this is her best Mother's Day ever as she is with her Savior and has been reunited with her mom and also the babies my parents lost along the way. My mom has been gone for 10 months. I still miss her very, very, very, very much. On many days she was the adult I talked to the most. I miss her hugs, her voice, her emails, her listening ear, her advice on a range of topics from teaching the piano to decorating the house, her love, her generosity, and so much more. My mom and I talked on the phone almost every day (sometimes multiple times a day), and she emailed my siblings and I almost every day (sometimes multiple times a day). Through her emails I knew more of what was going on in my dad's life and my siblings' lives. Although I've talked directly with my Dad and siblings more the past 10 months than I did most of the time the past 20+ years, I definitely feel like I know far less about what is going on in their lives. It's just another adjustment to my mother's absence. She comes to my mind in such a wide variety of instances. I hear a song and think, "my mom would have loved this song," I'm trimming the shrubs and think "my mom would say this bush needs a haircut," I get a new kitchen faucet and wish I could show my mom, the kids make progress on the piano and I wish she could hear them, I long to show her a picture I've taken of one of my children, etc. I am very grateful for the 44 years I had with my mom, and I can't wait to see her again in Heaven some day. She gives the BEST hugs.

I also am very thankful for the privilege of being a mom. It has been as wonderful as I thought it would be and also much harder and more exhausting at times than I anticipated. I loved being a teacher and then a principal and then a professor, but being a homeschooling mother is definitely the best "job" I've ever had. Admittedly, I still have the baby itch. There's a part of me that still longs for one more baby, and Nadia still would love to have a sister, but I realize our family is complete. I am eternally grateful for my three precious gifts. It wasn't that many years ago I thought I might never have even one child, and the Lord graciously gave me three beautiful children. I am so grateful for the past almost nine years of motherhood, and I look forward to the years to come.