Christmas in July

Next Thursday they will be having Christmas in July at Kid's Café. From past experience I know this entails a turkey dinner, Christmas decorations, Christmas music, and the kids each picking out some toys to take home with them. Kid's Café lasts from 11:00-12:30, and three days next week my kids will be in a history camp from 9-12 that is located about 20 minutes from the park. So we shall see if we get there in time or not. This week I bought some Christmas presents. Amazon's Prime Days have become contagious so to speak as other businesses have begun offering great deals on those days as well. It feels very similar to Black Friday in November. I bought some books for Nadia for Christmas and spiritual birthday gifts on Amazon and Target using coupon codes. Legos very rarely are on sale, but Amazon even had some Lego sets marked down 30% or more. I got two big Lego sets for Ian for his birthday and Christmas gifts. I always feel like we are drowning in Legos so last year I didn't buy him Legos, but Legos are his favorite toy so I bought more of something I think we need as much as a hole in the head. I also got two games which I will give as a Christmas gifts to nieces and nephews from Walmart.

Last week I put time into working on our budget in light of the fact our income will be less than 50% of what it has been for the past two years. I tried to figure out where we could cut back. Our clothing budget is already very tiny so I'm not cutting there! In terms of housing expenses I'm thinking for the foreseeable future we should only spend money on the house if it's really necessary (ex. if we need to replace the air compressor because it's broken). If I could go back in time, I wouldn't have gotten the deck replaced, but it's water under the bridge at this point. The category where I'm cutting the most was vacations. We spent very little on vacations in 2017 as I took the kids to Chicago for a week in April and to Long Island for a week in July that year, and since we drove and stayed with relatives, basically our only cost was the gasoline and tolls it took to drive those places and back. Next April I'm planning on extending the Chicago trip to include time in Detroit and Pittsburgh so the trip won't be AS cheap as the one in April 2017, but still it will be a lot cheaper than our trip to San Diego in May 2018. We will naturally be tithing less since our income will be a lot less. It's emotionally hard to cut back in that category, but it must be done if we

want to save money to pay for things like Ian's braces, a replacement for the van in a few years, a new roof for our house, etc. We also need to cut back in the "gift" category. There were some areas I thought that when I was working FT that we'd be spending more money such as paying babysitters so that we could go ballroom dancing, but since I went back to work we only went on one date (and never went ballroom dancing). So there won't be any change in that regard due to me returning to the status of stay-at-home mom.

Although it wasn't my choice to stay home this next year, one thing I am really looking forward to is being able to put my all into homeschooling. Feeling like I had to settle for "good enough" in regards to just about everything the past two years was very vexing but necessary as there weren't enough hours in the day for me to do anything to my fullest potential given how much I was juggling. I have been under the weather the past couple of days, which has lead me to go slashing through the calendar and deleting things that I had scheduled for this month and in August so that we'll have more days just at home sweet home. I hope to eventually take the kids to many of the places that I deleted for this summer. For example, I rescheduled a trip to the Erie Maritime Museum to April 2020 on our way out to Ohio/Chicago. We were going to visit a fort in Altoona this Saturday, but I scratched that. I didn't scratch the plan to visit the Landis Valley Museum on Sunday because we purchased an annual membership last fall so we can attend that Civil War event for free this summer. I deleted more things from our summer bucket list like picking blueberries, picking raspberries, seeing Junie B. Jones at Millbrook Playhouse, etc. I got a lot of fruit at ALDI for a reasonable price yesterday including blueberries. I'm sure some year we will pick them again but not this summer. The boys didn't end up attending VBS the last two nights, but they went tonight. I did all the chauffeuring to and from VBS this summer up until tonight. I took them there this evening, but Paul is picking them up tonight, which I greatly appreciate.

I've been putting time into my lesson plans for next school year. They passed a law recently that changed the age you have to be in school from eight down to six, but it doesn't go into effect until the 2020-21 school year so it doesn't impact me because Oliver will turn eight in August 2020. One thing I haven't decided is where they might do gym and/or art class this school year. Ian and Nadia will be in a choir from late August through the middle of November, which involves a weekly rehearsal on Monday nights. Oliver will have gymnastics during most of those Mondays. Ever since our church started offering homeschool gym class on Fridays we've participated in every single session they've offered. In light of the fact our kids play on a basketball team, take ice skating lessons, etc. I've decided this year we will only do the gym classes some of the sessions not all of them. I'm trying to decide which sessions and whether to continue at our church or try the Miller Center for one session as they offer a homeschool gym and art class on Tuesdays. I'm not going to make any firm decisions until August when I find out Meadowbrook's schedule (the Christian school where Nadia has taken art the past two years). All I know is I want to be careful not to fill our schedule too much. I want to take life at a more relaxing pace. Ian will like that because he's a homebody.

Another budget category where we can cut back is what we spend on the kids in a year. Next summer I'm not planning on signing them up for as many camps. I'm planning to skip horseback riding camp. The kids are doing a 3 day history camp next week that Nadia and Ian did a few years ago. I wanted to do it one more time so that Oliver could also participate and before Nadia is too old. I don't plan to ever do that one again. I only signed the boys up for the chemistry camp this week because we will be studying chemistry this fall. I don't plan on signing them up for any camps at the Lewisburg Children's museum next summer. Nadia and Ian did the softball/baseball clinic a few years ago. Just like the history camp I mentioned, I wanted to do it once more so that Oliver could do it once before Nadia was too old to participate. The kids don't play baseball or softball in their gym class. Nadia was on a softball team for one season, but the boys have never played tee ball or baseball, so I wanted to do this four night clinic one last time so at least they all will have a tiny bit of experience playing baseball. Next year I think they'll each have one week of overnight camp (the boys will be together), one week of Camp Good News (day camp), and one week of theater camp (half-day for 5 days). I'm also considering a music camp for Nadia (and possibly Ian) that is connected to the choir they are joining this fall. The camp is only about 10 minutes from our house. Whether or not they do it will probably come down to if we can afford it or not. I'm thinking of sending all three of them to overnight camp the same week (Nadia to Camp Susque for 7 nights of girl's camp and the boys to Camp Good News for 6 nights). If we do that the last week of July 2020, it would mean they also wouldn't be in the history camp at the Taber Museum that Nadia and Ian did last year and all three are doing this year. So I will spend less time chauffeuring next summer which means we'll also spend less money on gas in addition to spending less money on enrollment fees. The kids had been talking about getting a dog, but that is also going to have to wait as I know from hearing friends talk (who have dogs) how much they cost in terms of vet bills as such. We've never taken the guinea pigs to the vet. Our only expenses for them are for their food, hay, and bedding.

The last budget category that I feel we can trim is entertainment. We don't eat out very much aside from getting takeout pizza, but we have spent more the last two years on tickets to concerts and such. I had already promised the kids we'd go to Uprise in September. I wouldn't have made that promise had I known I'd be staying home this fall, but I am not going to break my word. I did delete going to the concert at the Bloomsburg Fair from the calendar as well as a trip to NYC to see the Christmas show at Radio City Music Hall. I still want to take the kids there some year before they leave the nest, but it doesn't need to be this year. That was going to be our way of celebrating Ian's birthday this year. Instead we're going to spend one night at Great Wolf Lodge like we did last year. That will be MUCH cheaper than buying five tickets to see the Christmas show in NYC, and the kids loved it and had already been asking when we were going back. We might not be able to afford to go to as many concerts and shows as we did over the past year, but thankfully in the summer there are three free concerts in August. This past spring we attended a concert without paying much because Nadia and I were free (we volunteered with Compassion), and because we sponsor kids through Compassion we were given 50% off other tickets. I'm hoping something like that might be possible for a concert they are sponsoring in November that will feature Hillsong Worship, Casting Crowns, and Elevation Worship. That sounds like an amazing lineup!

I didn't take any of the pictures in this post. Some were from Camp Susque's Facebook page, and the ones from chemistry camp were from a shared Google drive. They also posted a video on the children's museum Facebook page that showed them sending 1,000 ping pong balls into the air with the aid of liquid nitrogen. I did take pictures on Tuesday on the riverboat and also at the bowling alley.

Thankful Tuesday

1. This Thursday night will be the last night of VBS for the boys this summer. Ian will have attended VBS 14 days this summer, Oliver 17 days, and Nadia 11 days. I will have taken at least one child to VBS a total of 19 days this summer. Nadia has outgrown the one at our church. She can help next summer since she'll be too old to participate. The other churches include middle schoolers in their VBS programs. I'm thankful the kids are able to participate in several each summer! The VBS they are attending this week provides a free dinner to the kids at 5:00 (M-Th). Since the boys are having a (free) lunch at the playground this week, it means they are only eating breakfast at home M-F as Friday we'll be eating dinner at Knoebels at a pavilion with some people from our church. I'm only cooking dinner for Paul and myself four days this week. Although the kids enjoy VBS, and I'm glad that they have the opportunity to study God's word, learn about missionaries, play games, etc., I'm also growing VERY weary of all the chauffeuring. Next week they'll have a softball/baseball clinic for four nights, and then our evening commitments are done for the summer. I am looking forward to just being able to stay at HOME in the evenings in August.

2. Earlier this summer our grocery store had 6 packs of flavored water on sale for $1. I usually just drink tap water, but zero calorie flavored water is a special treat. I usually don't spend any money on drinks for myself, but at that price I decided to splurge. I've really enjoyed my flavored water this summer! Paul and the kids drank some of them on our vacation.

3. Usually we have unwelcome visitors each summer - ants and houseflies. We have had flies this summer, but ants haven't been a problem (at least not yet). In general I much prefer the warm weather, but that has in the past been one positive to me of winter (no ants in the house). It's wonderful to not have ants in the house even in the summer!

4. I found out that Family Life Network (based in NY) offers Christian theatre camps in the summer at various churhces - one of which is about 20 minutes from our house!! I wish I had known about this previously, but better late than never! I'm planning to sign Nadia and Ian up for that theatre camp next summer. This will save me SO much driving time. It *might* mean Nadia can't go to Creation next summer as this year they held the camp at that church the same week as Creation. We shall see, but I was very excited to learn about this on Sunday! It will also be a way to save money as it's cheaper than the ones Nadia has attended the past few years. I think Ian has a lot of talent when it comes to singing and drama so I'm excited about him participating in a theatre camp for the first time ever with his sister, who has been in a theatre camp every year since 2013.

5. We recently used a free 30 day Netflix dvd subscription. The first two DVDs were for the kids and all the rest were for Paul. I didn't watch any of them. Since it has been several years since we used Netflix at all, yesterday I activated a free 30 day subscription to their streaming service. We have Hulu (for 99 cents a month) plus Amazon Prime, but Netflix definitely surpasses both of those so Paul and the kids are enjoying having access to some shows and movies they wouldn't otherwise have access to.

6. Nadia is at Camp Susque, which she says is her favorite week of the year. She's having much better weather thus far this year than she did last year when it rained incessantly! I miss her very much (as does Ian), but one perk of her absence is the boys are playing together FAR more than usual.

7. Nadia and Ian both received an award at Camp Good News on Friday! Each summer they pick about nine children to win an award for a character quality. None of my kids had been picked in the past. Last week Nadia was chosen for a leadership award and Ian was chosen for cooperation. That melted my heart! Next year will be the last year Nadia can be a camper in Camp Good News. She will have to skip the camp in 2021, but in 2022 she can return as a junior counselor. She wants to be a counselor at Camp Good News starting in 2022 until she is old enough to be a counselor at Camp Susque. They tried to convince her to try their overnight camp, but she isn't willing to give it a try if it means not going to Camp Susque. Oliver said he wanted to try the overnight camp put on my Camp Good News next summer, and Ian said he was fine with either one. So at the moment, the plan is for the boys to go to Camp Good News next summer. That camp is 6 nights long (compared to 7 nights at Camp Susque). It's also cheaper, which of course I won't complain about. I suggested they could try it once and then decide which they like better.

8. I've received $100 so far from selling things over the past several days, and I'm scheduled to sell something else on Friday for $50. The best part is there is less clutter in our basement. Going through everything also reintroduced the kids to some toys they forgot we owned, and the kids are happy with what they purchased with the money I gave them from the sales.

9. I am planning to meet my friend, Cheri, today while the boys are in a chemistry class; Paul knows the man teaching the class from his time at Bucknell. They enjoyed the first session yesterday afternoon. I have seen Cheri more regularly this summer than I have since we moved here almost 11 years ago. This is partially due to the fact that she is now retired.

10. This morning the boys and I are riding a paddlewheel riverboat. We rode it four years ago, but they have no memory of that. Tab and her boys are joining us, and after our one hour cruise we are all going bowling together since the kids can bowl for free.

11. Speaking of bowling, Paul and the boys bowled on Saturday evening. Paul didn't join us for the first four trips to Camp Susque this summer, but he joined us for trip number five. This Saturday will be the sixth (and final) trip for the summer when we pick up Nadia. The kids had seen very little of Paul for two weeks due to us being in New York for a week and then there were only a few minutes each day that Paul was in the house while the kids were awake the week after we got back. He came home from work earlier than usual on Saturday which meant he could join us for taking Nadia to Camp Susque, eating pizza at Domino's (thanks to a gift card), and bowling. I haven't bowled at all this summer because it's only free for kids. Paul has bowling shoes, so we only had to pay for his two games. Ian did a great job! His score was 100 in the first game and 99 in the second (with bumpers). Paul didn't do well in the second game so Ian actually beat Daddy!

12. Several adults gave me positive feedback regarding the lesson I taught on Nehemiah with the K-5th graders on Sunday. It was very encouraging.

13. We attended a yard sale on Saturday morning, and we purchased a few things such as a pair of white Sunday shoes for Nadia for $1. I also bought some plums at the grocery store on Saturday. I paid more per pound than I typically am willing to pay for fruit, but Nadia and I LOVE plums, and I decided to splurge and buy four plums. Yummy! They were worth it.

Sentimental

I definitely would not call myself a pack rat. If I feel we are accumulating too much stuff, I personally find that to be stressful. I have been grateful for the purging the kids and I have done lately. Some went into the garbage, I donated some, and I have been selling some of the stuff. There are times though when I am sentimental and save things. Lately the kids and I have been expressing how we are sentimentally attached to a few things that weren't things we opted to save. For example, I had been using a bottle of lavender dish detergent from my brother's apartment. We used it up earlier this month. It might sound strange, but I had a hard time throwing the empty bottle into the recycling bin. What a goofy thing to be attached to. Maurice had quite a few half dollars in his apartment. If he was still alive, I'd love to ask him why that was the only type of coin we found in his apartment. I had split the coins between his nieces/nephews back in March. My kids didn't want to spend theirs, but again it didn't seem like something we actually wanted to save in memory of Maurice. Each year I add coins to a container, and then each summer we give all the coins we've collected for the past 11 months in the offerings at each VBS and at Camp Good News. I told the kids I thought Maurice would like that his half dollars were being given to a missionary (that's what the offering was going toward). They agreed. We experienced the same thing while sorting through their toys. One we kept in part because it had been a gift from my Mom. Nadia had a hard time parting with a coloring book which she said my mom gave her. I asked if she thought she'd ever use it again. She said, "no." Then I said I don't think we should keep it.

Ian purchased a Lego set with his share of the money from the toys I have sold thus far. It's supposed to arrive tomorrow. He's very excited! All three kids have been enjoying Oliver's new scooter. Nadia has had that scooter on her wish list for over a year. I almost got it for her birthday, but I knew I planned to get one for Oliver for his birthday, and so I got her the swing. The swing is also a huge hit with our three kids and also Karyss (neighbor). The boys were having a blast on it today. One perk of Nadia being at camp is the boys play together a lot more than usual. I think the swing was a good choice for Nadia's birthday, but I think I need to buy another scooter at some point so three kids aren't trying to share one scooter. Nadia could have gotten herself a scooter with her birthday money, but she bought a set of books and a Lego set instead.

Unpleasant tasks

Yesterday I crossed some things off my to do list that I had been dreading for months. I cleaned the guinea pig cage yesterday while the kids were at Camp Good News, but that's not what I'm referring to, although cleaning their cage definitely qualifies as an unpleasant task in my opinion given the icky smell involved. Last summer Paul and I went to the lawyer and revised our wills and power of attorney documents. Unfortunately, we had Maurice listed on both. I really don't want to go to the lawyer again this summer, but I knew we needed to at least change our contingent beneficiary as he was listed in that capacity on all of our retirement accounts and life insurance policies. I had been dreading it, but I finally completed the task yesterday. It was really hard emotionally to click "delete" by his name on the screens related to our beneficiaries, but it really makes zero sense to have someone who is in Heaven listed as a beneficiary on a retirement account or life insurance policy. This week I believe I also finished the task of contacting the businesses who had been sending him bills in the mail. Most of them wanted a copy of the death certificate. The lab

I contacted this week actually didn't require anything of me, which was appreciated. Since I had to soldier through those tasks, I figured I'd also power through making a photo book while I was at it. It was hard not to burst into tears. I kept reminding myself of how Wendy and I just focused on accomplishing the task at hand when we cleaned out his apartment a few days after we learned of his passing. Now the next time I have a code for a free photo book, I can start ordering copies of the photo book about Maurice for my siblings, my kids, etc. just like I did three years ago for my mom. I'm hoping NOT to be making another "in memory of" photo book for a while. Oh and speaking of death certificates, in hind sight ordering ONE would have been plenty. The funeral home suggested I order a few of them, so I did because I had zero idea how many I'd need. In every instance I only needed to submit a copy of the death certificate, so I still have all of the original death certificates.

Originally I thought I'd be filing the estate paperwork in Philadelphia. Yvonne, Dad, and

Wendy had a form signed and notarized so the court could appoint me as his personal administrator. Then I found out I would have to go to the court in Philadelphia in person. I called them in May, and I found out that I didn't need to file any paperwork. The only problem I could see was that I knew from when I tried to file his taxes in April that I needed something from a court to file his taxes. I also did research into that issue yesterday and found that because he made a VERY tiny amount of money in 2018, his taxes don't have to be filed. He's technically deserving a small refund from the IRS, but it's not worth the headache to go to a court and have one of us appointed as his representative (since we couldn't locate his will) just to get a tiny refund from the IRS. So I think my duties as executrix are done. Speaking of the passing of loved ones, as of today mom has been in Glory for three years. It's hard to believe that much time has passed since I heard her voice or wrapped my arms around her. She experienced multiple miscarriages plus Maurice was reunited with her a little over four months ago

so she has some of her children with her in Heaven. Her three daughters still on earth miss her very much though!

I enjoy organizing things. That is not an unpleasant task for me. However, I don't enjoy seeing something go back to a state of disarray shortly after I organize it. Yesterday I tackled the craft cabinet again. I don't want to try and count how many times I have done that over the years. I am trying a totally different system this time around, and hopefully it will be more successful! Nadia and Ian do not enjoy taking their Legos off the dining room table. The last time they did it was around the first of the year when I switched from a Christmas to a winter tablecloth. I think I have been rather patient as it's July 12. Normally I would have switched to a spring one and then to my patriotic one. This morning I asked them to take the Legos off so I could take off the winter tablecloth. Although they hated taking them off, they did enjoy rearranging them as they put them back on the table.

I haven't been taking pictures this week. I nabbed all of these from the Facebook page of the church where the kids attended VBS this week. Oh and Oliver actually gave me an idea for what to get him for his birthday. Problem solved. Thank goodness. I love that he rarely asks for things, but it does make it challenging to come up with ideas at Christmas and his birthday!

Thankful Thursday

1. We enjoyed our last day at the swimming pools and beach last Friday with Aunt Janet.

2. We were able to visit the Long Island Explorium on July 5 (for free) and Old Bethpage Village Restoration on July 6. The traffic was very good (for NYC) on July 6, which I greatly appreciated.

3. Aunt Janet sent us home with various snacks, drinks, and even chicken for our dinner that night. She and my mom both were/are very gracious hostesses. Prior to our arrival she buys foods that she knows we'll enjoy - watermelon for Oliver, Peanut Butter Captain Crunch for Nadia, etc. We are so thankful we've spent a week with her for three summers in a row.

4. I enjoyed teaching a lesson twice on the calling of the 12 disciples on Sunday morning with kids from K-5th grade.

5. The kids have been enjoying their third week of VBS that started on Sunday night. It's Nadia's last week of VBS this year since she'll be at Camp

Susque next week.

6. Ian went to Camp Good News for the first time in 2016 - the week my mom passed away. Nadia was in a theater production that week and so she wasn't able to attend. Once she heard about the camp from Ian (it's run by CEF), she really wanted to go the next summer. Oliver wasn't able to go in 2017 because he wasn't old enough. Last summer was the first time all three attended the camp together. Nadia picked the same activity this year as the one she picked last year - sand art. Ian and Oliver both chose archery this year, which is not one they've done at camp in the past. The weather was rainy part of the day on Monday, but it's been sunny since then. They took the kids swimming on Tuesday, and all three passed the swimming test. It's no big deal for Nadia and Ian to pass the test, but the novelty hasn't worn off yet for Oliver since it's his first summer of being able to swim independently. The theme this summer is the armor of God. The kids are to learn one verse a day plus also five extra bonus verses for the week (Ephesians

6:13-17). The kids aren't accustomed to memorizing from the KJV, but they do it for this camp each summer. Nadia and Ian have already learned their ten verses.

7. I was able to spend three hours with my friend, Cheri, on Tuesday. Her vision has come back completely, PTL!

8. Yesterday the kids and I enjoyed seeing the new Dumbo movie; I had checked the DVD out from the library. We are making good progress on our bucket list! I replaced a few things on the list such as picking strawberries, Montage Mountain water park, and seeing fireworks, but we've crossed off more than half of the things on our list!

9. I returned to BU in August 2017 and from May 2018-May 2019, four faculty in our department retired. It would seem they would have a greater need for adjuncts in August 2019 than they did in August 2017, but such is not the case. I am not sure if it's due to decreased enrollment or some other reason. Anyhow, it seems

like I will be a SAHM again. This unexpected turn of events has been challenging for me to process emotionally, but I can definitely find good in this situation. I get to homeschool my kids five days a week instead of three days a week, and the pace of my life will slow down as I am not juggling as much. It has already had that effect on me. This week for example I would have pushed myself to try to accomplish as much as possible around the house doing those projects I haven't had time to do during the year while juggling homeschooling three kids, housework, plus a FT job. Now I can tackle my to do list at a much more comfortable pace. The two biggest "cons" to my lack of employment are #1 the kids won't see their Dad much and #2 it's more challenging financially. Thankfully we are debt free. Not having a mortgage payment is a big help. The main challenge is to save enough money to pay for things like replacing the van (I'm hoping to get four more years out of our van before we replace it), replacing the roof, braces for Ian, etc. As the house is 20 years

old, it is likely that we'll have to replace a variety of things over the next ten years (roof, oven, furnace, A/C compressor, etc.). I'm very grateful though that Oliver won't be asking me every night if I'm going to be home with them the next day! That question used to break my heart. I also love the thought of being able to snuggle with the boys every morning! These years where the kids are at home are just flying by, and I'm trying to soak it up!

10. I got myself a nightgown on Tuesday. I borrowed one from my Aunt while I was at her house. I had worn the same nightgown for more than 11 years, and it had so many holes in it that I threw it away last fall when I switched to wearing my winter pajamas. It's been hot this week so I'm very grateful to be back to owning a pair of summer pajamas. It was the first bit of clothing I had purchased for myself in 12 months (not counting nylon stockings). Over the past two years I've spent less than $25 on myself in terms of clothing/shoes as I bought myself one top last year and now one nightgown this year. I

bought the nightgown while the kids were at camp, which meant I had the luxury of trying it on at Marshall's before I purchased it.

11. Even though Oliver rarely asks me to buy him anything, he is one who has a harder time parting with things. When I go on a decluttering rampage, Nadia and Ian quickly will come up with things to add to the bags that are going to Goodwill. Oliver will suddenly become very fond of items he hasn't touched in months or years. So I keep the items, and yet he still doesn't play with them most of the time. So this time around I said I'd try to sell some things on Facebook, and I'd give them the money. That worked like a charm. On Tuesday I sold some of their toys that they hadn't played with in years. Ian is saving his money for our visit to the Nintendo store in NYC in August. Nadia used her money to buy a set of 9 books (Mother Daughter Book Club series), and Oliver used his money to buy a scooter, which he's been asking for lately (which means now I have zero idea as to what to get him for his birthday as that had been my only idea). The books and scooter are to be delivered by Amazon today. Frankly I'd rather just donate things than sell them, but this seemed like a win/win situation. We did some decluttering, and the kids were happy with the outcome.

12. Yesterday I booked a room for two nights in early September. Paul isn't coming with us to NYC, but he'll be going on that trip as we're going to Fort Ticonderoga and Saratoga Battlefield (and three museums but those two sites are the reason for the trip). I found a reasonable hotel through Interval (time share company) that has an indoor pool and free breakfast. We're actually studying the Civil War this fall, but hey better late than never when it come to two more Revolutionary War sites. As far as the Civil War, we did go to Gettysburg recently and have plans to visit Antietam, Manassas, Petersburg, and the Appomattox courthouse this fall.

13. It's been harder and harder to come by coupons from Shutterfly, but I managed to get two to use with the unlimited page code earlier this week. I bought two 110 page photo books for less than $25 total. I used to spend SO much time making a 20 page book - carefully selected the background color, etc. Now I'm generally in a race to get it done as fast as possible and take far less time even though I'm making one that's more than 5 times longer than I used to make, ha ha!

14. Yesterday I was working on the budget in light of the change in income. In August I usually call the cable company to have them reinstall our cable in early September so that we can see football games. As I was looking at the channel options and prices, I noticed that if we only have the local channels, it would only cost us an extra $11 more a month compared to what we are paying just for internet. We usually have gotten another package that includes things like EPSN, but that one is $41 more per month. I checked the NFL schedule, and we would each be unable to see two Monday night games if we didn't have ESPN. I suggested to Paul that for those two nights he could go to his parents' house after work and watch the game there. He could get a little bit more sleep if he does that because that saves him the one hour commute to work the next morning. I am fine with missing the two Monday night games that the Steelers have scheduled this season. I'm not really excited about football this year, and I usually go to bed at half-time during night games. So I'm thankful I found another way to cut back our expenditures.

Home sweet home

Saturday morning we left Aunt Janet's house around 9:30am. We drove for about 40 minutes and then spent a little over two hours at Old Bethpage Village Restoration. One of the homes was from the colonial time period (early 1700's) but the vast majority of the buildings were from the 1800's. I think we all learned a few things, but given we've been to quite a few living history places (most recently Williamsburg) it wasn't that amazing. It had been on my list of places to visit on Long Island for the last three years. Now we can say been there, done that, and I doubt we'll ever return. The traffic was much better on the way home on Saturday than it was on the way out on Sunday, and aside from the time spent at OBVR, we didn't make any stops. We had stopped to get gas and go to the bathroom on our way there on Sunday. Altogether the trip took about 75 minutes less on Saturday than it did on Sunday, for which I was very grateful as I am not a big fan of long drives or of sitting in traffic in NYC. This was our second time in NYC this year as we visited the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island in May. I'm

expecting we'll make two more trips to NYC this year as we're planning to spend four days there in August with Wendy and her kids and then we're thinking of making a one day trip in December for Ian's birthday. Depending on the traffic, it can actually take us less time to get to NYC than Philadelphia.

When I get home from a vacation I feel like I always hit the ground running - unpacking, doing laundry, buying groceries, cooking, and mowing the lawn ASAP. I wasn't able to mow the lawn last night because it was raining cats and dogs after dinner. I mowed the lawn today despite how HOT it was because it had been 9 days since I had last mowed. Whew. Last night I also put time into preparing for the lesson I taught the K-2nd and then 3rd-5th graders during the second service today on the calling of the 12 disciples. Aunt Janet is very thoughtful. She had packed up a bag and also a cooler of food and drinks for us to take in the van. We ate lunch in the van after we left OBVR, and since she had included grilled chicken skewers in the cooler, dinner preparation was

very easy last night. One of the treats she packed was a bag of Cracker Jacks. The kids were very excited to try those out at lunch today! Aside from church this morning, mowing the lawn, and taking the kids to and from VBS this evening, my main project was to create a 110 page photobook on Shutterfly. I created one of pictures from February 24 through July 7. At some point, when I feel I can handle it emotionally, I also want to create one about Maurice just like I did one about my Mom in 2016.

Tonight the kids started their third week of VBS for the summer. Next week will be their fourth and final week of VBS for 2019. This week is Nadia's last week because she'll be at Camp Susque next week. Each church has selected a different curriculum this year so they aren't experiencing any repeats. This is Nadia's 9th year of attending multiple VBS programs each summer. Tomorrow the kids start their week at Camp Good News (9-3). This will be my second (and last) week of the summer where all three kids will be at the same camp for 6 hours straight. I am trying to decide what projects around the house I want to tackle while they're at camp.

P.S. Nadia loves the dress I got for her at a yard sale for $3 while she was at Creation. It helps that it's her favorite color! The previous owner had cut the tag out of the dress so I wasn't sure what size it was. I was thankful the dress fit her (see first two pics in the post).

Last day at the beach

Not counting a little time at the beach on the Outer Banks, the kids have had ten days where the main focus of the day has been swimming in pools plus time at the beach. Five of those days were the first week of June in North Myrtle Beach, SC, and the other five were the first five days of July here on Long Island, NY. The kids will have more opportunities to swim this summer - particularly Nadia when she's at Camp Susque, but I believe they won't be at a beach again until 2020. We had amazing weather all ten beach days - it was in the 80's without any rain (sprinkled for a few minutes a few times in SC but never enough that we had to change our plans). It was in the low 80's in SC and also the first two days here, and then it was in the high 80's the past two days but the humidity was low. You really can't ask for nicer weather for a beach vacation!

On our way to the beach today we stopped at the Long Island Explorium. It was worth a little stop, but it was very small. I wouldn't have wanted to spend $25 for the five of us to spend a little less than an hour there, but

considering it only cost me $1 (parking), it was worth that. I had wanted to check it out the past two years as it's about 10 minutes from Aunt Janet's house and one we can get into free with our ASTC membership. I don't feel we need to go back in the future. We've typically spent at least 6 hours each day at the beach, but we only stayed for two hours today because Aunt Janet wanted to take us to a Mexican restaurant. She knows that I love Mexican food and that it's a very rare treat for me to go to a Mexican restaurant. I decided not to care too much about my diet this evening and just enjoy the treat. Nadia and Ian ordered chicken tenders, but Oliver, Aunt Janet, and I had Mexican food. I had a chicken chimichanga. I didn't eat the whole thing, and I didn't have any of the rice or beans that came on the side. It was delicious! Because we came home later than usual last night, the kids didn't get a jacuzzi bath last night. We got home earlier than usual this evening which enabled me to start packing and for them to have nice long baths in the jacuzzi. Tomorrow morning we are planning to

leave around 9:00 and start driving home. We'll only drive about one hour and then will be visiting Old Bethpage Village Restoration. After that we'll drive the rest of the way home. We're very thankful that we have been able to visit Aunt Janet the past three years, and Lord willing we're planning to return next summer!

P.S. For the record, I did have Nadia stand on my shoulders in the pool, but I forgot to have Aunt Janet take a picture.