Rainy Day

Today is a rainy day, and the high temperature was at least 20 degrees lower than what it had been for the last week. The downside was it meant we didn't attempt to go swimming today, but the upside was it meant that from 12:20 onward I stayed at home. I toyed with taking the kids to pick strawberries today, but I have done a lot of driving this week due to Nadia having Bible Bowl practice from 9-12 every day (M-F). It also meant we didn't need to water our flowers today, and I took the opportunity to spread a little more grass seed. This was our sixth week of summer break, and we have eleven weeks left. I feel like it's flying by, and I haven't made enough progress through my to do list. I have enjoyed spending more time reading and also have listened to some audio books. The latest book I finished was Surviving Savannah. I started Lovely War, but I've decided it's not my cup of tea. I've decided my next read will be A Woman of Words by Angela Hunt as I really enjoyed the first two books in that series. That series reminds me of The Chosen show. I've also spent a fair amount of time on Duolingo. There are nine units, and I completed the highest level ("legendary" which comes after level 5) of each topic in the first unit. I have only made a little bit of progress over the last six weeks on lesson plans for the next school year and also for our vacation in September. I haven't spent any time on the videography course. I need to start on that ASAP as Nadia's birthday is in 13 days. When summer break first begins I envision myself having SO much free time since I'm not devoting hours to homeschooling, but the truth of the matter is that I still spend a decent amount of time interacting with my kids each day in various ways such as listening to Nadia say verses from Matthew in preparation for her trip to Oklahoma next week, helping Ian on the piano, helping the boys complete a junior ranger badge, and chauffeuring the kids here and there (orthodontist, Bible Bowl practices, swimming at the pool, etc.), and I still am grocery shopping, cooking, cleaning, doing the laundry, mowing the lawn, etc. So in the coming eleven weeks I need to give more time to lesson plans, vacation plans, the videography course, and also I'd like to walk on a more regular basis. I walked a lot the two weeks the kids had tennis lessons, but other than that haven't been making exercise a regular habit as I had hoped I would this summer.

One thing that caught my attention when we were in China in 2006 was how often umbrellas were used as protection from the sun rather than the rain. I'm not sure if the motivation is along the lines of prevention of skin cancer or if it's because a fairer complexion is preferred as it was in the earlier days in our country. Preferences change over the years and vary by culture. There are many in the US who pay to have darker skin (tanning salons, etc.). I've never been tempted to use those services, and I've also never used an umbrella to shield myself from the sun, but we saw quite a few people doing that on Sunday at the WWII show, and I wished I had done the same. When I take the kids to the swimming pool, I generally sit in the shade. I prefer finding shade to slathering myself with sunscreen. On Sunday I did use sunscreen on my arms, but I forgot to do the area around my neck. Because it was hot and I hadn't had a hair cut in almost 8 months, I pulled my hair up in a pony tail (which I almost never do) and so the skin that is usually protected by my hair was exposed. I definitely got sunburned there. Ouch! I had poison ivy on my arm, sunburn on my neck, and then was wiped out by the COVID vaccine all at the same time. My poison ivy has completely cleared up, I've fully recovered from the vaccine side effects, and my sunburn is getting better. It's such a blessing to have energy again! Hopefully the next time we plan to be outdoors on a very hot, sunny day I will remember to bring an umbrella. 

Thankful Thursday

1. The kids enjoyed playing arcade games for an hour followed by 50 minutes of laser tag and 10 minutes in the trampoline park at Kaos last Thursday. I enjoyed being able to chat with Tab while our kids played.

2. The swimming pool we belong to opened on June 5. We made our first appearance for the year on June 7. On June 5 we went swimming at another pool because it was free to swim there that day and they have water slides and a diving board whereas our pool only has a diving board. Oliver really wanted to go down those water slides so we went to that pool that day. I sat in the shade of an umbrella. I thought I would get in the water because the air temperature was in the low 90's, but the water temperature was too cold for me to want to get in. Oliver had gone swimming twice in our neighbor's pool in April/May, but now we will be swimming on an almost daily basis.

3. The Methodist church closest to our home had a summer kick off event on June 5. The boys enjoyed the inflatables and The Bug Man. The kids and I enjoyed eating a free dinner there. 

4. On Sunday we streamed the 9AM service in our van while driving to pick up Pop Pop. Then the six of us drove to Reading for the Mid Atlantic Air Museum's annual WWII show. We had planned to go last year as we had been studying WWII, but naturally the event was cancelled last year. The contrast in the weather between that weekend and the previous weekend when we were in Buffalo couldn't have been more stark. It was in the 40's and raining in Buffalo, and the next weekend it was in the 90's and sunny. Personally in early June in Pennsylvania and New York I expect something in between those two extremes. Thankfully they had a mister you could walk through. Nadia and Oliver spent enough time in there to be drenched multiple times, but it was so hot out they dried out very quickly. If it wasn't SO hot out, I think we would have spent more time than we did at the event. Fifty different aircraft from WWII took to the air. We also watched a Pacific theater weapons demonstration, a French village skirmish, a flamethrower demonstration which was part of an Iwo Jima reenactment, and a European theatre battle. In addition to a wide variety of aircraft there were many other military vehicles, encampments, speakers, singers, etc. The adult tickets were a bit pricey and it's two hours from our house, which means I doubt we'll return, but it was definitely worth attending once, especially since Paul really enjoys military history. It was the first time in quite awhile we went on an outing with Pop Pop. He had been cautious due to COVID. Now that he's fully vaccinated and Grandma is no longer with us, we should be able to see him more often than we did over the last 17 months. 

5. On our way back to his house on Sunday, we picked up pizza from Palermo's. We ate it at Pop Pop's house. It was delicious! It was our first time in his house in 2021, and we were only there once in 2020 due to COVID. His sister, Marlene, helped a lot with cleaning, purging, organizing, and donating things last month. Ian remarked that it was sad to be in the house knowing we won't see Grandma there again. I remember him making the same comment in the fall of 2016 when we visited my Dad for the first time after my mom passed away. We brought some things home that Pop Pop doesn't need such as a sewing machine, electronic keyboard, Mousetrap game, and some of Grandma's earrings for Nadia. The boys have had fun playing the keyboard the last few days. Nadia and Oliver both want me to teach them to use the sewing machine. 

6. Nadia has been attending "Bible Bowl boot camp" from 9-12 every day (M-F) this week at the coach's house. I took her on Monday and will take her again today. Tab took her and picked her up on Tuesday, and a mom who also has a son in Bible Bowl took her and picked her up yesterday. I'm thankful for all the volunteers who work with the kids on the Bible quizzing teams. Next week they're headed to Oklahoma! 

7. Paul and I got our second Pfizer shots this week. Thankfully Paul had no side effects. I definitely cannot say the same. The last time I got a flu shot (quite a few years ago) I became sick after I got the shot, and since then I have declined all flu shots. I did fine with the first Pfizer shot - just a sore arm plus a little tired. I got the second shot at 10:00am on Monday, and I crawled into bed around 8:00pm with a fever. I was in bed for almost 34 hours straight. I wish I could have at least felt well enough to read, but most of the time my head was throbbing too much that I couldn't sleep or read but could only lie in bed with my eyes closed. I had most of the possible side effects - very bad headache, the highest fever I've had as an adult, chills, joint pain, nausea, diarrhea, and exhaustion. The fever lasted for 24 hours I was shaking violently when the fever was the highest. I wish I had taken my temperature as I'm curious as to how high it got. I'm guessing it was at least 104 because when the Tylenol had kicked in and I felt somewhat better and was able to come down and get a thermometer, my temperature was 102. If they offer a booster shot for the COVID vaccine next year, I am planning on declining it. Hopefully there won't be any more pandemics in my lifetime. It was about 100 years in between the Spanish influenza and COVID-19. I'm also hoping that we didn't make the wrong choice when we agreed to get this vaccine. Paul and I feel like we volunteered to be guinea pigs in the world's largest clinical trial. I'm praying that down the road there aren't negative consequences for having gotten this vaccine such as an autoimmune disease. At least we will soon be able to say we are fully vaccinated and won't have to wear masks.

8. I am a pretty independent person, which causes me to usually be reticent to ask for help outside of the family. I have no qualms about asking my kids and husband for help. However on Tuesday morning I had absolutely no hesitation in calling Tab and asking for help. I knew I was in no condition to care for kids or a puppy that day. She came over within an hour and kept the kids and Milo for about 8 hours including taking Nadia to and from Bible bowl. Paul picked them up at her house on his way home from work. He had come home late on Monday night, but I knew he'd be coming home earlier on Tuesday because he had a 6:00pm appointment at CVS for his second Pfizer vaccine. Yesterday morning I felt much better since my fever had gone away, but I was still nauseous, wiped out, and light headed. I again knew that driving was not a good idea. I sent a message on FB messenger and another mom agreed to pick Nadia up and take her to Bible bowl.  She offered to take Nadia and Ian back to church at 4:30 yesterday afternoon, but by that point I felt like I could drive safely. A neighbor took my boys with her when she went to the playground to pick up lunches for the kids at Kids' Café. I am so, so, so thankful for the help these moms provided this week when I was unable to function, and I'm thankful that today I feel capable of driving Nadia to Bible Bowl this morning and taking all three of them swimming this afternoon. 

9. Nadia, Ian, and I have each (separately) been making progress on Duolingo this summer in our quest to learn more Spanish.

10. Kids' Café resumed this week. They had made their plans for June before they knew that the COVID requirements were being eased so this month it's still a drive-thru pick up of meals. Each child is given two meals on Monday and three meals on Wednesday. In July they will resume serving meals in person M-F at the playground. The kids are thrilled to receive things I don't usually buy them such as chocolate milk. 

11. I mulched the flowerbeds in the front and on one side of the house and for the first time ever also used some pond pebbles. I bought 13 bags of rocks; each bag weighed almost 50 pounds. Whew. I put those around a bush in the backyard. I had been wanting to put rocks back there for a couple of years. Paul had said he'd bring home rocks from work. Thankfully this summer he gave me permission to buy rocks. 

12. I signed the kids up for a week of Camp Good News. For some reason the camp is super cheap this year. It runs from 9:30-6:30 M-Th and 9:30-8:30 on Friday (includes a t-shirt, swimming every day, free snacks at the Sugar Shack, lunch, and dinner) and only costs $15 per child for all five days. $45 for three kids to attend camp for a total of 47 hours?!?

13. Ian went to youth group for the first time in his life last night. He had a great time!

Thankful Thursday

1. The kids had four more tennis lessons from May 24-27, and their friends Micah and Isaiah also took tennis with them. I was able to talk with Tab in person far more than usual that week. It was also easier for me to log more steps that week as I walked during the lessons. The kids have been playing tennis in our driveway with the neighbors lately.

2. We were able to take a two day getaway to Buffalo that included the Buffalo Naval and Military Park, Theodore Roosevelt's Inaugural site, swimming in the indoor pool at the hotel, and Six Flags Darien Lake. We used four coupons to reduce the cost of our dinner at Chick-fil-A on Friday, and we used gift cards to pay for our lunch and dinner on Saturday. Paul had a four day weekend!!!!

3. Our church had a nice service and luncheon to celebrate the fifth graders promotion into the youth group on Sunday. Ian would have attended youth group last night for the very first time if Paul hadn't offered to take the boys roller skating. He's planning to start attending next week. 

4. I'm very thankful for all who have given their lives in the service of our country.

5. The kids and I enjoyed our annual visit to Reptiland. 

6. Milo is handling our absence better when we leave him in his crate, and we are also very appreciative of the care that Micah and Isaiah give him when we leave Milo at their house. 

7. Tab picked us up at Walmart one day last week on the way to tennis lessons so that we didn't have to wait at Walmart while they rotated the tires on the van.

8. Paul took Karyss, Ian, and Oliver roller skating last night while Nadia and I were at church.

9. Although the mask mandate in our state doesn't expire until the end of this month (or whenever we hit 70% of adults fully vaccinated if that happens first), at most places masks are already optional. Yahoo!!!

10. I don't always vote in the primary election in an off year election, but I did vote this year because of the constitutional amendments that were included on the ballot. PTL the amendments passed. The first two were aimed at limiting the power of a governor in terms of how long a state of emergency can last. I'm absolutely in favor of checks and balances and not giving any one person too much power regardless of what political party currently has control of the legislature or the executive branch. 

A mohawk and more

For several months Oliver has been asking me to give him a mohawk. Thankfully all he meant by that was basically a stripe. Although I can't say I really wanted to shave off so much of his hair, at least he wasn't asking for his hair to stand up straight in the middle of his head. I figured it's just hair. It grows back rather quickly, and so I said "yes" to this request. I said we'd do it when it was warmer out, and we also wanted to wait until after Grandma's funeral. I do not profess to be a trained barber or hairstylist, but I did the best I could to follow Oliver's request. Nadia was shocked that I included him in the Memorial Day picture with Milo yesterday. I guess she thought I wasn't going to take any pictures of him until his hair grew back?

Paul planned to go to work yesterday, but he actually ended up staying home, which meant he had a four day weekend. Wow! Considering he almost always has a one day weekend that's a big difference. I mowed the lawn, trimmed some bushes, did some weed whacking, and did some weeding yesterday. I also started taking down the trampoline yesterday, and I finished that project today. We bought some new parts for the trampoline last year (to the tune of $100+), but in the end decided for a variety of reasons not to continue to put money into the trampoline or buy another one. We got a lot of use out of it for the past 10+ years. Thankfully another neighbor got a trampoline recently so Oliver has used theirs some. After I finished taking it apart this morning, I worked the soil, spread grass seed, laid down straw on top, and watered it. The next project related to the backyard is that I want to get more rocks for a bed in the backyard and mulch for the beds in the front and on the side of the house. I also cleaned the fence some yesterday. Unfortunately that aggravated the carpal tunnel in my right arm. I was diagnosed with carpal tunnel in 2008, but it didn't cause me that much grief until 2020. Now the pain extends all the way to my elbows especially when I'm in bed. It's getting to the point I'm contemplating surgery, and I am one who tries to avoid surgery. Someone (either Oliver or one of the neighbors) broke Nadia's large swing not that long ago. I ordered her a replacement as an early birthday present, and Paul hung her new swing on the swing set yesterday.

Nadia kicked it into high gear as far as studying Matthew for Bible Bowl as she leaves for Oklahoma in exactly two weeks. I don't think she has prepared as well as she should have over the past year. I have decided that starting in September I'm going to work with Nadia and Ian on a daily basis (on school days at least) with quizzing them on their knowledge of Romans and James. 

We also went to Reptiland today. Because Nadia was still twelve when we renewed our WVIA membership, she can still get into places like Reptiland for free once this year. The employee at Reptiland actually was going to let all four of us in for free, but I told her that I was supposed to pay for my admission. The kids told me that being honest cost me $16 today, which was true. She also didn't punch our card or stamp their passport, but I won't take advantage of her mistake. We only go once a year. Nadia told me that next year she'll just stay at home. I would be willing to pay for her admission next year, but I'll leave it up to her. I can see that having a 13 year old is a lot more expensive than having a 12 year old because many places that is the difference between a child and adult admission. I wish it was 18 and under for kids prices! I paid 50 cents to buy food to feed the emus and $6 to buy three sticks to feed the birds. In the past they've only had parakeets. This year they also had cockatiels, but they were not as interested in being on a feeding stick so we didn't get any pictures of them. Last June we wore masks when we were at Reptiland, and they didn't let you touch any of the animals at the end of the show. This time masks were optional, and they did let us touch a snake at the end. Yahoo for steps back toward normalcy! 

Buffalo Take Two

In the summer of 2018 we made two trips to the western part of NY. In June of that year we went to a science museum in Rochester, the Strong Museum of Play, and the Genesee Country Village and Museum. In August of that year we went to Old Fort Niagara, Niagara Falls, Fort George, Buffalo Museum of Science, Lockport cruise on the Erie Canal, and saw a Broadway performance of Aladdin in Buffalo. On Friday morning we dropped Milo off at our friends' house and then drove to Buffalo. Our first stop was the Buffalo Naval and Military Park where we were able to tour the USS Little Rock (missile cruiser from the Cold War), USS Sullivans (destroyer from WWII), and USS Croaker (submarine from WWII). It would have been more enjoyable if the weather had been nicer. Just the day before it had been sunny and in the 80's, but that day it was raining and in the 40's. BRRR! Our second stop was the site where Theodore Roosevelt was inaugurated following the death of McKinley. Usually National Parks in this part of the US are free to visit, but that was definitely not the case here, however we enjoyed our tour, especially since it was indoors. The kids each earned a Junior Ranger badge, and we stamped our National Park passports. After we did our virtual backstage tour of Chick-fil-A earlier, they had mailed us four coupons for free entrees. We decided to use our coupons for dinner on Friday night. The line of cars waiting to go through the drive-thru was insanely long. I don't ever think I've seen a line that long outside of a fast food establishment, but wow it was impressive how quickly they got the cars through the line as they had many employees standing outside (in the rain) with tablets taking orders. We planned to go to Darien Lake for a few hours on Friday night, but given the rain we just went straight to our hotel.

The last time we had been to a hotel was the first week in October, and during that week we discovered that most indoor pools at hotels were closed due to COVID and breakfast buffets had become "grab and go" instead. Thankfully the indoor pool and jacuzzi at this hotel were open. We all swim a little on Friday night, and the kids swam again on Saturday morning. The breakfast was better than the grab and go breakfasts we had in October. The contents of our brown bags were similar to last fall, but they also gave the option of a drink of your choice, oatmeal, and yogurt. Hopefully by September hotels will be back to serving eggs and the like for breakfast. We shall see. We checked out of the hotel at 11:00am, stopped at Dunkin for breakfast sandwiches for our lunch, and went to Six Flags Darien Lake. The water park opened that day, but we never saw anyone actually going down the water slides and such. Thankfully it didn't rain on Saturday, but the temps only got up to the low 50's. Way too cold to be swimming in our opinion! We stuck with the dry rides. It was the first time since 2019 I could take pictures of the kids on dry rides without masks on as last summer masks were required just as they were earlier this month at Knoebels and Six Flags in Maryland. It was our first time at this park and probably the only time we'll go there. It's three hours from our house. We went because we got in free with our Six Flags membership (plus free parking and free unlimited drinks). They gave us a $5 coupon which we used toward a funnel cake, which was the only thing we paid for at the park that day. We had a late dinner on the way home at Wendy's using gift cards. We picked Milo up at 9:00pm. He was very, very, very, very, very happy to see us. Our friends had taken excellent care of him, but he missed us. She said he whined the most at bedtime on Friday night. It was his first time sleeping elsewhere since we had purchased him on December 12. Yesterday he turned eight months old! 

Yesterday morning was our lead pastor's final Sunday. His retirement began that afternoon after having been a pastor at this church for the last 40 years. Nadia had lunch and spent a couple of hours at her Bible quizzing coach's house after church. The rest of us attended a special lunch and service honoring the fifth graders being promoted to the youth group. I can't believe I now have two kids in middle school and that it is Nadia's last year in middle school. 

Last week we had tennis lessons M-Th and then were in New York on Friday and Saturday. I'm thankful our schedule is not as hectic this week. Today we're just staying at home. Tomorrow I'm taking the kids to Reptiland which is only ten minutes from our house. Paul is going to take the boys roller skating on Wednesday night while Nadia is at youth group and I'm at choir rehearsal. Thursday I'm taking the kids to the homeschool meetup at Kaos at 4pm, and Friday is another day we plan to stay at home all day. 

One of the best parts of the trip was the family time that included Paul. He took off a day of work in January to take the kids skiing and a day off on May 22 for his mom's funeral. He took off two days of work for our trip to Buffalo, and since he usually doesn't work on Sundays that meant we had three days together. He gave his crew the day off today for Memorial Day. He and his brother are planning to work a short day today. It's been great to have more time with him. We've been listening to a biography of one of his most favorite people - George Washington. Last night when we were tucking Oliver into bed, Oliver said to Paul, "see you on Saturday" as often he hardly sees Paul Monday through Friday, but thankfully that isn't true this week as Paul isn't working as much today. Also, he usually gets home around 8:30pm on Wednesdays, but he's coming home earlier this Wednesday to take the boys roller skating in the evening while Nadia and I are at church. 

Tennis Take Two

The kids had tennis lessons three weeks ago, and this week they are having their second week of lessons. Oliver really wanted to do another week of lessons, Ian was ambivalent, and Nadia really did not want to take any more lessons. I was leaning toward signing them up after I found out that Tab had signed her boys up for lessons this week. I left the decision up to Paul, and he was adamant that all three should take another week of tennis lessons. The first week of May my three kids were the only ones at some of the lessons. Another boy (Hugh) joined them one day that week. This week there have been five or six kids at each lesson as Hugh came twice this week. The Coach is fully vaccinated so he didn't mind it if my kids didn't wear masks. Micah and Isaiah haven't been wearing masks during tennis lessons either. Hugh has been the only one wearing a mask. On Monday the temperature was in the low 60's, on Tuesday it was in the low 70's, and today it was in the high 80's. 

On Monday Tab met a friend for lunch. I walked around the park with Milo for two hours while listening to A Girl of the Limberlost. I've really enjoyed two

of Gene Stratton-Porter's books recently so I am planning on listening to five more of her books this summer. I want the kids to listen to Freckles at some point in the future. On Tuesday I walked with just Milo for part of the time while Tab ran some errands, and then she walked with us. Because of the heat, Tab didn't feel up to walking today. I chatted with her in her vehicle (with the AC on) for part of the time and walked around the park with Milo part of the time. Today Tab met us at Walmart prior to the tennis lessons so that they could do a tire rotation on the van during tennis lessons. It took me 7.5 months to drive 5,000 miles due to COVID. Last October the Walmart Auto center wasn't even open due to COVID. I am grateful they have reopened because tire rotations are free because I bought the tires there. Tomorrow I'm planning to treat the kids at sweetFrog to celebrate the completion of their tennis lessons for this summer. It's over priced frozen yogurt in my opinion, but the kids really enjoy picking out their toppings so I like to take them there at least once a year. 

Can you find Nadia on this ride?

For years Nadia has been asking for us to join a co-op again. We participated in two different co-ops several years ago. Neither of them met all year. I had contemplated joining two others that did meet all year long, but for a variety of reasons I hadn't done so. As is normally the case, Ian would prefer to stay home. One of the co-ops put on a production of The Sound of Music earlier this month. Because Nadia can't try out to be in Tuck Everlasting because we'll be away for 3+ weeks in September, she really wanted to be in this co-ops productions during the next school year. Students in grades 5-8 will put on a Christmas production in December, and students in grades 8-12 will be on another (TBD) production next May. Hindsight is 20/20 as they say. This past school year would have been the ideal year to give this co-op a whirl. This school year is not idea in light of our lengthy vacation in September, but I've decided to show up on registration day on June 15 to see if there will be room in the classes that the kids selected. The co-op meets on Tuesdays. During the fall semester we would be there from 12:00-4:45. It's held at a church 25 minutes from our house. Since Ian will turn 12 in December, I will consider him old enough to babysit Oliver at that point. Unless they add more courses for spring, I think Nadia will just have drama from 3:30-4:45 on Tuesdays starting in January and the boys can stay at home. 

Oliver selected three courses for the fall: art, baking, and one that will involve discussing character traits after listening to a true story. Ideally I would have signed him up for music, art, and some type of physical education, but the colored bells (music) is being offered at the same time as art, and they aren't offering a gym class for grades 4-5. Nadia and Ian are planning to take three classes together this fall - painting (grades 6-12), drama (grades 5-8), and a foam sword fighting gym class similar to Dagorhir, Belegarth, and Darkon. Nadia hopes to take a fourth class - Home Economics (sewing, calligraphy, setting a proper table, cooking, etc.). This co-op has a homeschool graduation at Camp Susque each May, and Nadia would like to participate in that. So we shall see how it goes whether this ends up being a one and done experience or if we keep participating in this co-op for years to come. They offer courses in history, science, math, etc., but I wasn't interested in signing up for any of those. I plan to homeschool the kids in the morning at home on Tuesdays and then spend our afternoons at the co-op in the fall. The past few years (prior to COVID) Nadia and Ian had taken classes at MCS (art and chorus) as well as participated in a homeschool gym class at our church. I would be open to signing them up for a homeschool gym class that started in January, but I said if we do this co-op, I am not signing them up for classes at MCS this year. She still wanted to do the co-op this year. Our vacation would have caused the kids to miss four weeks of co-op, so I decided to shorten our vacation by one day so that they would be able to attend the first session and "only" miss three weeks of co-op. 

Thankful Tuesday

1. We enjoyed watching episodes 4 and 5 of the second season of The Chosen. Sunday's episode was a cliffhanger so hopefully we won't have to wait too long for episode 6 to be aired. 

2. An ALDI is going to be built 15 minutes from our house!

3. In late April our neighbor who has an inground, heated pool invited Oliver over for a swim. 

4. My friend and her husband surprised us by attending Paul's mom's funeral.

5. I really, really enjoy playing piano duets with Ian. My grandma taught my mom to play the piano, my mom taught me, and now I'm teaching Ian = at least the 4th generation (I'm not sure who taught my grandma to play the piano). 

6. The office where we have our life insurance notarized our homeschool affidavit at no charge. I wrote a list of objectives for each child for next school year last week. 

7. Our church gave Paul a flower arrangement in memory of his mom. It was the first time in 51 years that someone gave him flowers. I have enjoyed having daisies and carnations in a vase on our kitchen table.

8. We got an estimate for replacing our roof in 2019. I wanted to do it in 2020, but Paul wanted to wait. We were afraid the costs for materials had skyrocketed since then but thankfully we'll "only" have to pay an extra $850 to have it done this year. Our roof is 22 years old, and we plan to have it replaced in September. Paul wants to do it now because he wants us to have solar panels installed on our roof.

9. Oliver, Nadia, and I planted some flowers in our flower bed. 

10. We enjoyed a play date at a playground/skate park on Wednesday afternoon. I enjoyed being able to talk with Tab some while the boys played. 

11. We didn't wear our masks or shields at church on Sunday. WOOHOOOOO! I so greatly appreciate steps

toward what used to be normal. 

12. Milo spent a lot of time alone at home in his crate on Saturday and Sunday, and he didn't have any accidents or throw up while we were gone. We were gone from about 9-3 on Saturday and from 10:30-12:30 and 2:45-7:25 on Sunday. The morning worship service was 90 minutes long, and Pastor Arlie's retirement service was three hours long. We each grabbed a piece of cake and then immediately left the dessert reception after the service because Nadia was already late for youth group at FBC. 

13. Paul and I were recently discussing how many times we used my time share over the 20 years I owned it. We went on nineteen vacations through the time share, but we actually booked a total of forty-nine weeks through the time share as sometimes a relative or a friend used a week, and other times we booked more than one unit for a week. For example, when we went to Florida in 2015, we used four weeks that year because we stayed at a resort in Orlando for one week and spent a second week at a beach, and Paul's parents also had a unit for two weeks on that same trip. Of the 49 weeks, two of them were not actually used. The more recent instance was when we booked a week in Williamsburg and didn't end up going because of the damage a hurricane had done in that area. The first time was when we chose not to go to Puerto Vallarta, Mexico because I was offered additional courses to teach (on campus) in the summer. At that time in our life it was very helpful for me to earn as much money as I could because we were spending tens of thousands of dollars on adoption. I would estimate that between what I paid to buy my time share in 1999, the maintenance fees we paid over the years, and the annual fee we paid to Interval International that we spent about $8,000 altogether on our time share. We think we got our money's worth out of it if it enabled our family, friends, and relatives to enjoy a total of 47 weeks of vacation over a period of twenty years. 

10,000 Reasons

 My kids have sung at three funerals over the past five years. In July 2016 they sang "Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus" at my mom's funeral. In September 2018 they sang "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" at Paul's Gram's funeral, and today they sang "10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord)" at Paul's mom's funeral. A friend of Paul's sister-in-law played a flute solo of "Amazing Grace," Ian and I played a piano duet of "Cornerstone," and I played the piano when the congregation sang Amazing Grace. Unfortunately they didn't have a microphone available for the kids to use. Ellie's brother-in-law gave the main eulogy. Paul's dad, Paul's dad's sister, and Paul's brother also gave eulogies. At my mom's funeral I gave a brief unscripted eulogy at the luncheon as that is when all of the eulogies were given because she requested there not be any during her service. At my brother's funeral I gave a longer eulogy that I had prepared ahead of time. 

It's so easy to feel a sense of remorse following the passing of a loved one. I found myself wishing I had told her how much she meant to me the last time I talked to her, but when I was talking to her I had no inkling it would be the last time I'd hear her voice, and she was rather confused at the time. Over the last week I've found myself second guessing whether I should have driven to the hospital to see her that last night. I wasn't even sure if the hospital would allow more than her spouse to see her, and I knew she wasn't opening her eyes or showing any other signs that she knew what was going on around her, and I was afraid I'd be too emotional. Similarly, I found myself thinking this afternoon that I should have given a eulogy this morning, but then I reminded myself that I played the piano three times during her service and helped the kids prepare for their part in the service. That was another way of honoring her. There are many people who make jokes about their mother-in-law, but I certainly can't relate as I had a good relationship with Ellie. I'm very thankful for the memories that we made over the past 24 years. It will take time to adjust to the new reality of not being able to talk to her any more. I'm very thankful that her time of pain and suffering has come to an end. Because we had only had one visit with her over the last 17 months, as Ian said in some ways it had already felt like she was gone. 

I'm also relieved that the service is over as attending funerals can be a challenging experience emotionally. I expected to see Paul's relatives - most of whom we hadn't seen since Gram's funeral in 2018, but I didn't expect to see my friend Tab and her husband (Dan). I was shocked. The funeral was held at a church that is one hour from our home. They live maybe 15 minutes closer to that church but still it was a total shock that they came to be a support to me and our family. Wow. I almost cried happy tears when I saw them because it meant so much to me that they would surprise us in that way. They had seen Paul's parents a few times over the years - basketball games and most recently at a patriotic concert Nadia and Ian were in in November 2019. Dan works at the hospital where Ellie spent a lot of time and he had actually seen her there upon occasion. Milo wasn't a fan of us attending a funeral today as it meant he was alone in the house in his crate for almost six hours. Thankfully he didn't have any accidents or throw up in his crate while we were gone. He was VERY happy when we came home.  Grandma would have loved Milo had she ever been able to meet him. When she posted his picture on her Facebook page in February, she introduced him as her newest grandson. Pop Pop has seen Milo one time so far, and unfortunately he didn't give a very warm reception to Pop Pop. I don't think that would have happened to Grandma if she had been able to meet him as he barks at men more than women or children.

Flowers and a frog

In the last three weeks we've accomplished 14 things on our summer bucket list as well as partially completed a few others. One item on our list was to plant flowers, which is something I hadn't done since 2016. Nadia and Oliver chose which flowers they wanted me to buy yesterday afternoon, and we planted them this afternoon. I mowed the lawn, used the weed whacker, did some weeding of the flower beds, and started trimming some of the bushes. It was a very hot day today for our state so I decided to finish trimming the bushes tomorrow morning. While I was outside, Oliver found a frog (or maybe it was a toad?) that he caught and released several times. He also wants to plant a seed for a tree and grow a tree. Of my three kids he's consistently been the one most interested in nature. 

I saw today that WVIA posted that they will be having a day at Montage Mountain waterpark next month, which was another encouraging sign of life moving closer back to normal. I also noticed that a couple of the National Parks we are hoping to visit in September have very recently reopened or have announced when they will be reopening. I hope that trend continues! Today I booked our reservations for Darien Lake next weekend. I should have done it earlier as some of the time slots were already filled. I also purchased timed tickets for the Theodore Roosevelt Inaugural site and the Buffalo Naval Park for next Friday. 

I'd assume that it would seem like I would have a lot more free time now that we're taking a break from homeschooling, but I never lack for things to do! In addition to mowing and other yard work that I did today I also made a cheese soufflé, ordered some clothes online once I realized Nadia outgrew her bathing suits from last year and needs one next week, requested an audiobook by ILL, did a load of dishes, removed all long sleeve shirts from the boys' dressers and finished moving their summer clothes and bathing suits into their dressers, worked on some vacation plans, practiced the piano with Ian and the trio with the kids, completed a couple of lessons on Duolingo as I'm trying to strengthen my knowledge of Spanish, and the list goes on. I enjoyed listening to A Girl of the Limberlost while I was mowing and weed whacking. Yesterday I got the annual homeschooling affidavit notarized. Tomorrow I'm hoping to write up objectives for each of the kids for next school year which needs to go with the affidavit and their homeschool evaluations for this school year.  

Catching insects

Thankful Tuesday

1. I'm thankful for the 76 years of life God granted to Paul's mom. We miss her. It's an adjustment to accept the fact that I can't call her on the phone any more, but it's a comfort to know her time of pain and suffering has come to an end. 

2. Micah and Isaiah did an excellent job taking care of Milo on May 9. We are so thankful that they plan to pet sit him various times over the next four months. 

3. Those who have been vaccinated don't have to wear masks, and the end is in sight for everyone being given the option to stop wearing masks. Our church has made the decision that starting next Sunday masks will be optional for everyone. Woohoo! I got my first vaccine injection yesterday, and thankfully my only side effect was a sore arm.

4. I've been enjoying attending some choir rehearsals again! We are singing four anthems from May through August, and one of the ones we are singing is one of my top five that I've ever sung in my life - The Majesty and Glory of Your Name. I sang it in Maryland in the 1980's, had the choir I directed sing it in Pennsylvania about 20 years ago, and now am singing it again in 2021.

5. The kids had fun playing arcade games and laser tag with Micah and Isaiah on May 6.

6. I purchased some clothes for the kids at yard sales on May 7. I also bought Paul a Rubik's cube.

7. The kids had fun playing with seven other kids at a friends' house on May 7 - exploring their pond and stream, roasting hot dogs over a fire, etc.

8. The kids enjoyed the time spent at Six Flags on May 9. They were avoid standing in line most of the time. Nadia had a great time in Maryland with four of her cousins for four days, and Ian and Oliver loved having four of their cousins here for four days. 

9. Ian's expander is back in his mouth and so far we have been successful at turning it six times. Hopefully the next eight turns will go smoothly and then hopefully we will be done. 

10. Nadia had a good experience with her first quizzing event in Indiana on May 14-15. She also had her first experience sleeping in a college dorm and eating in a college cafeteria.

11. The kids have been sleeping in lately (except for when their cousins were here), and Milo has even been cooperating most of the time! 

12. The kids selected a song to sing at Grandma's funeral this Saturday - 10,000 Reasons (Bless the Lord). My choir director sent me music for the piano accompaniment this afternoon.

13. We enjoyed watching the ladybugs go through metamorphosis. The boys also enjoyed the lesson on insects by the Biology professor at Bucknell on May 15. 

14. Vennari's, which is my favorite place to get pizza, gave us a free pizza on Saturday because they thought they had mixed up our order. 

15. I got a lot of exercise through walking the last two weeks. 

16. I finalized what the kids will be studying in science the next school year. Ian and Nadia will be doing a physical science textbook together. I am determined to do a better job with gathering what they need for the experiments. Oliver has been very interested in birds lately so that's what he'll be studying for the first semester. It turns out three of their cousins will be using the same Physical Science textbook in Ecuador so Yvonne and I are planning on having the kids discuss some things together via Zoom. It will be a 6th grader (Ian), 7th grader (Nathan), 8th grader (Nadia), and a 9th grader (Joshua) doing science together! This past year Nadia did science independently, but I decided to have Ian join her this coming year again rather than having him join Oliver again next year.