Flexibility

 

Last year the summer recap video I made was for May through August. Because I already made a video about the vacation we took in May, I decided to only include June through August in this summer's video. The next video I'm planning to make will be about our nine-day trip to New England later this month. Starting in 2020, a lot of flexibility has been needed in regard to vacations. Although it hasn't been as obviously related to COVID this year as it was in 2020 and 2021, flexibility is still necessary. For our trip in May it was because of things like construction (lighthouse in Saint Augustine and the Billy Graham Library) and the fact that some national park sites in Virginia went from being open seven days a week to only being open five days a week. I'm not sure why more and more National Parks are making that change in 2022. Maybe it's due to a lack of staff? Whatever the reason, I had to do a lot of work revising our vacation plans for this upcoming trip a few weeks ago once I found out that some parks had reduced the number of days that they are open over the past few months. For example, we thought our first stop would be Hyde Park, but two of the three National Park sites there are now closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and our trip is starting on a Tuesday. There were some others in and around Boston that we had to eliminate from our plans because they are closed on Mondays and Tuesdays. I decided to still visit one in Rhode Island even though the Visitor Center will be closed the day we will be there because it's closed Monday through Wednesday. One downside to the revised plan is that we have to leave at 5:30am the day we leave. Our teenager isn't happy about that! But in general, we will do less driving on this trip and will typically be departing our lodgings around 8:30am.

I have to wait until next Tuesday to book our tickets to tour Ben and Jerry's, but otherwise I think I am done planning our next trip. There are so, so, so many choices involved in planning a vacation. There are many places I considered including but didn't in the end. The current plans include eleven National Park sites (three are focused on either nature/art and the other eight are historical), one miniature golf course, one farm, four factory tours (PEZ, teddy bears, cider, and ice cream), one whale cruise, two zoos (one is a lantern tour at night), four historical sites/museums that aren't affiliated with the NPS, one aquarium, one IMAX movie, one play about the Salem witch trials, two cliff walks along the coast (ME and RI), and one visit to a place where the kids can experience bumper boats and/or go-karts for the first time in their lives. I have gift cards for seven of the eight dinners. We plan to get pizza (without a gift card) in Newport, RI on the eighth night and hopefully have dinner at our church on the ninth day, which is the day we come back home. We *should* have a free breakfast seven of the eight mornings, and I plan to pack snacks for our lunches although we might splurge for popovers at the Jordan Pond House when we are at Acadia. Many museums, zoos, aquariums, etc. now required that timed tickets be purchased ahead of time. Even though I'm a planner by nature, I'm not accustomed to being that specific as to predicting exactly what time we will do something, but that is the way things are in 2022. 

Speaking of flexibility, I've also made a lot of changes to the lesson plans for this week. First, I thought we were going on an all-day field trip on Thursday. Then I thought we were going on two half-day field trips, but today's field trip was cancelled because of the weather. The woman hosting the monarch butterfly class tomorrow said it will be held rain or shine. Although the drought wasn't good for the farmers/gardeners, it did mean plans weren't cancelled due to rain the last few months. In contrast, we've gotten quite a bit of rain the last few days. I'm thankful for the opportunities to take the kids on field trips and vacations! 

P.S. Photo credit to Nadia for the photos in this post. She took them at Longwood Gardens in June.

Drought

(Some of the kids who participated in the program today)

Today I took the kids to a three-hour program on waterfalls and hydrogeology at Ricketts Glen State Park. Oliver was concerned because the program was advertised to be for grades 7-12, but thankfully other families also brought younger siblings, so he definitely wasn't the youngest child present. We've been there several times over the past five years, but it looked very different today because of the drought we've experienced this summer. In general, I feel like I'm "back to normal" following my ankle surgery, but on today's hike I was reminded that I haven't fully overcome my fear of falling that I've had for almost a year. I'm hoping as more time passes, I will also rebound back to normal in that regard as well. According to my log, today was our sixteenth day of school for 2022-23, but as far as days when we do math, science, history, etc., yesterday was our seventh day. I anticipate that at least 35 of the 180 days of school will be field trip days like today. The kids each read independently, we listened to audiobooks, and they watched World Watch news, but that was all I required because of the field trip. Ian also finished a biology experiment that he didn't complete earlier in the week. Although we saw very little water coming over the waterfalls and the stream beds were dry at the state park, Oliver got to enjoy being in water this evening as our neighbors who have a heated outdoor pool invited Oliver and some other kids in the neighborhood over for a pool party. 

Our first field trips of the school year have been seeing A Midnight Summer's Dream, visiting the National Canal Museum (and riding in a canal boat pulled by two mules), visiting the Lehigh Valley Zoo, attending the Roasting Ears of Corn Festival at the Museum of Indian Culture, touring the Old Mill Creamery, and attending the program at Ricketts Glen State Park. We had never been to Old Mill Creamery, but I imagine we will return again in the future! Their ice cream is amazing! They make it from the milk that comes from the cows right on their property. Nadia liked the teaberry flavor she tried, but in general the consensus was that Peanut Butter Oreo was amazing!! Our first day of "school" was last Wednesday, which meant we only had three days of school last week. This week we only did a few subjects at home on Tuesday because of the 10:00am tour at the creamery, which is housed in a building that is almost 200 years old, and we didn't do any subjects aside from reading today because of our time at Ricketts Glen. I think between August 24 (our first day of school) and November 4 we will not have any five-day weeks of school because of field trip days. Originally, the field trip I had planned for next week was to spend 5 hours at Christian Aid Ministries in Ephrata on Thursday, but my friend, Cheri, won't be able to join us after all so I think we'll try to go there next spring instead. However, I've signed us up for two other field trips next week, a tour of a dairy on Tuesday and a Monarch butterfly class on Wednesday. I'm very thankful that the field trip opportunities are plentiful again this year for the first time since 2019! In light of the many field trips that we are taking this month (including an eight-day vacation to New England), we are going to do schoolwork on Monday even though it's Labor Day. I told the kids they still got a three-day weekend since we didn't do schoolwork today. We don't have anything special planned for tomorrow. On Sunday we are having lunch at Panera with a missionary couple after church and Paul is taking Nadia on a bowling date later in the day. Monday will just be a typical school day for us, and Paul plans to go to work that day. 

Nadia took this picture of her friend, Macey, last weekend

Last weekend Nadia had a friend over for a sleepover on Saturday night, and we took her to church with us on Sunday morning. Another family from our church came over for dinner on Sunday evening. Nadia and Ian had their first choir rehearsals for the season on Monday night, and the boys had their second Ninjastics class. On Wednesday afternoon Oliver and I helped out for a couple of hours at our church's food pantry distribution, and I had a Zoom meeting last night as I am now on a leadership committee of Experience Missions. I feel like our school year has gotten off to a good start. Nadia and Ian both earned a 100% on their first test in Biology yesterday! Ian is also off to a great start with Algebra I. 

Thankful Thursday

1. We still enjoy chapter books together. We're going to do something special after we finish book #1,000, and I believe we'll hit that mark sometime in 2023 because we're already at #902.

2. Nadia has been reading voraciously through books written by Karen Kingsbury. Although she loves owning books, I'm very thankful we can get them from the public library. I've been getting her five at a time because she reads them so quickly. She is reading those books for leisure. For school she's currently reading Screwtape Letters. Ian is reading The Monster in the Hollows for leisure and Beorn the Proud for school. Oliver doesn't read for leisure (yet). Another book I've been doing with the boys is War Horse so we just started watching the movie based on that book yesterday. 

3. I'm very thankful that Paul works to support our family and enable me to be a stay-at-home homeschooling mom. I have the kids draw their self-portrait the first day of school every year. You can see Nadia and Ian's self-portraits from yesterday in this post. I also started a new tradition of having the kids each write at least four goals for themselves (faith, physical, academic, and personal). That wasn't an easy task for them. My mental list of goals for each one of them is far longer than what they wrote, ha ha! 

4. Last Thursday Nadia and Ian auditioned to be promoted to the Camerata (middle school) and Valley Singers (high school) choirs of the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale. They were successful!

5. I took the kids to see a free outdoor production of A Midsummer Night's Dream last Friday night. They weren't excited about going so I sweetened the outing with a stop at Sweet Frog for frozen yogurt. 

6. Paul took off work on Saturday, and the five of us visited the Lehigh Valley Zoo, National Canal Museum, and a festival held outside the Museum of Indian Culture. 

7. The kids ate dinner at home by themselves for the first time in their lives on Monday as I was attending a missions committee meeting at our church. I'm thankful that they are old enough that I can leave them at home for a couple of hours without paying anyone to babysit. 

8. The boys enjoyed their first Ninjastics class on Monday night. The last time Oliver took gymnastics was the fall of 2019; I was amazed that the Gym director remembered his name!

9. The last two pounds took a LONG time to shed, but I've lost fifteen pounds so far. I want to lose at least eight more. Hoping I keep this weight off for years to come! 

10. The kids enjoyed bowling, the trampoline park, arcades, laser tag, and the lunch buffet on Tuesday for the Homeschool Expo. I can't say the experience was helpful in any other way, but the kids had fun. I bowled one game with them. Ian was the winner! 

11. My allergies have been giving me far less grief lately. I've even been able to mow and weed whack. I also feel like I've gotten totally back to normal with my ankle. My right elbow also doesn't typically bother me anymore. It did hurt to hold a bowling ball, but I can go years without bowling so that's not a big deal. I'm still waiting to regain my hearing in my left ear. 

12. The price of gas has come down some. It's still higher than it was last year, but I'm thankful for the reduction in price. Last year we spent $4,120 on gas, and I'm expecting that we'll probably spend around $6,000 in that category this year. 

13. Our wonderful neighbor took Milo out for a walk once on Saturday since we were gone for about twelve hours. 

14. We have reached the end as far as trying to reduce the size of the hospital bill from my ankle surgery. The outcome certainly wasn't what we wanted, but I'm thankful that the suspense has come to an end. We hadn't heard anything from the hospital for five months. All our efforts didn't help one iota. They still say we owe another $19.923 in addition to what we already paid. It's mind boggling. They will give us 10% off if we pay the full bill within 30 days. That's their standard policy which we have known all along. I did the math, and I expect we will spend at least $29K on either medical "insurance" or medical bills this year. I say "insurance" because we don't have actual medical insurance anymore (because of this fiasco - what's the point of paying for medical insurance if they won't pay for a surgery to repair a broken ankle?). We now contribute monthly to Christian medical sharing program. We haven't had any expenses yet that were eligible for reimbursement through that program, but I feel confident if I needed a surgery now that we would only pay $400 for it not more than $20K. Anyhow not counting what we give away in charitable donations, I expect medical expenses will end up being close to 40% of the amount we spend altogether this year. The next biggest category in the budget will either be food or gas, as I expect both of those will rise to about $6,000 each, but time will tell exactly which one will be the biggest. So, in the very year that we are experiencing the highest inflation that we have in 40 years, we also are hit with what is for us an astronomically large medical bill. In our 21 years of marriage, Paul and I have only spent more than $10K for two things - a home or a vehicle. I honestly would have skipped having the surgery had I known it would cost us $10K much less $20K. The only time Paul and I have spent more than $1,000 on any medical expense was with fertility treatments, and those were definitely worthwhile as they resulted in us having three children. If we ever have medical insurance again, I will NEVER trust any hospital to do the preauthorization. Either Paul or I will call to make sure it is preauthorized, and although we have had various appointments and hospitalizations at that hospital in the past (ex. that's where I typically went for my annual mammogram), we are going to try to avoid that hospital like the plague the rest of our lives if at all possible. I'm not planning on getting a mammogram anywhere for a while as those aren't covered by our medical sharing program, and the thought of incurring any additional "large" medical bills right now is abhorrent. Of course, a mammogram costs a LOT less than an ankle surgery, but still, it costs more than $1,000 without insurance. Thankfully, we have a way to pay the bill. There were years in the past we would have had no way to come up with the funds to pay this size of a bill, but Paul in the last two years had started setting aside some money as a retirement account for himself, and we are using some of that money to pay this bill. 

Back to School!

Nadia started Kindergarten in 2013 so we have already completed nine years of homeschooling, and if Oliver is in 12th grade in 2030-31, then including this year I will have nine more years of homeschooling at least one child. The past five years I have said that the kids were each two grades apart, but since Oliver is spending a second year in fourth grade, my kids are in grades 9, 7, and 4 this year, which means none of them will be taking any standardized tests this year as those are required in grades 3, 5, and 8 in Pennsylvania. This will be my first year of creating a report card for any of my children as I need to begin documentation that will become Nadia's high school transcript. Here's an overview of what we plan to do this year. Here's to hoping and praying that the kids will grow over the coming year - physically, spiritually, musically, intellectually, emotionally, and socially. 

Today we are attending a homeschool expo that is being held a little less than 25 minutes from our home. It's been a while since I attended any kind of homeschool meeting or conference. Tomorrow will be our "first day" of school. We had our first field trips for the 22-23 school year last week. On Friday night we attended an outdoor performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream. The kids weren't excited about going to see it, so I made the outing more enticing by telling them we'd stop at Sweet Frog first. Paul took the day off of work on Saturday to join us on our field trip which included a visit to the Lehigh Valley Zoo, the National Canal Museum, and a Native American festival being held outside the Museum of Indian Culture. We rode on a canal boat pulled by two mules for 45 minutes while we were at the canal museum. The two favorite moments at the zoo were feeding the giraffes and watching a porcupine climb down a vertical surface. Our admission was free at the zoo because of the membership I bought in Delaware in June. I paid $15 for all three kids to feed the giraffes. We also received coupons for two free Dippin' dots, and the kids were very excited to use those because none of us had ever eaten Dippin' Dots before, and Oliver in particular had been asking me to buy him some at other places. Oliver chose the cotton candy flavor, and Ian picked cookie dough. We had breakfast at home, packed our lunches, and planned to get our dinner at the festival, but we ended up just sharing one order of fry bread and stopped at McDonald's (using a gift card) on the way home. 

Handwriting - Oliver is the only one who has a handwriting textbook this year. I will require Ian and Nadia to copy a very small number of passages in cursive throughout the year just to maintain that skill.

Math - Nadia and Ian are using a Teaching Textbook app on the iPad to complete Algebra I (Ian) and Geometry (Nadia). Oliver will be using a variety of resources including Beast Academy 3C-3D and 4A-4C. I am hoping that by the end of the school year he has really mastered his basic facts with addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division. 

Spelling - Oliver will be working through All About Spelling level five. 

Science - Oliver will be working through Exploring Creation with Earth Science, which is a textbook that his siblings never used as it only came out earlier this year. Ian and Nadia will be studying Biology. At the moment, Nadia's plan is to earn a Bachelor of Science in Zoo and Wildlife Biology at Liberty University. Hopefully this biology course this year will help her confirm in her mind if that actually is the direction she'd like to head. Faithfully doing experiments in science has not been our strong suit, but I am determined that they will be doing the experiments in Biology this year! 

Social Studies - We will be studying AD 30-1460 this year through Mystery of History and a variety of other resources. We watch a ten-minute news show for students every day (M-F) all year long. I am going to have the kids each create a display for the Living History event one of the homeschool groups hosts every winter. 

Physical Education - Ten weeks of ice-skating lessons for all three of them. At least eight weeks of a weekly Ninjastics class for the boys. We hope to go skiing once or twice this winter.

Music - Oliver and Ian will practice the piano at least twenty minutes a day. Ian and Nadia will participate in the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale from August 29 - December 18.

Art- Ian and Nadia will participate in a weekly art class at the homeschool co-op from January 16- May 8. 

Drama - All three kids participated in a theatre camp July 11-15. Nadia will be participating in a weekly drama class at the homeschool co-op starting in January. 

Finance - Nadia will complete the High School edition of Foundations in Personal Finance, Ian will complete the Middle School edition of that same course, and Nadia will also complete a Foundations in Entrepreneurship course.

Keyboarding - Nadia and Ian will type the longer writing assignments throughout the year. Oliver will use an online typing program to improve his speed and accuracy. 

Spanish - The kids and I will continue to use Duolingo to make progress with learning Spanish. 

Language Arts - This year the kids are going to be required to write every day even if it's just a few sentences. They will continue to read every day, and we will also continue to listen to audiobooks together. I've also been reading a series by Eager out loud to the boys. We're going to read Australia, Begin Teaching, Classes, and Dreams (Life of Fred) together. Oliver will work through Fix it Grammar: The Nose Tree while his siblings will use Chanticleer instead. A few of the read aloud books for this year will include: The Story of King Arthur and His Knights, A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur’s Court, Nelson Mandela’s African Folktales, Macbeth, Henry V, Wulf the Saxon, Midwife’s Apprentice, Morning Star of the Reformation, Catherine, called Birdy, A Single Shard (reread), Henry IV, Mad Wolf’s Daughter, and Hunt for Mad Wolf’s Daughter.

Bible - We will memorize the book of Ephesians together. Ian and Nadia will memorize the required memory verses from Acts for their Bible quizzing team. I am going to be more involved this school year in making sure they are putting more time into studying the book of Acts, which hopefully means they will do better at quizzing. We will read the entire New Testament together and Word in Motion: New Testament by Rachael Carman and watch the corresponding videos. We are in the middle of Jesus: Awesome Power, Awesome Love (John 11-16), and we also plan to read Jesus: to Eternity and Beyond (John 17-21) and Becoming God's Champion (2 Timothy) by the same authors. We also plan to read the books Peril and Peace and Monks and Mystics. We will participate in food packing and other service projects.

Thankful Thursday

1. We were able to attend Aunt Debbie's 70th birthday party. Paul and Oliver enjoyed taking a ride in his cousin's Tesla. I wish I had taken a picture of Oliver that day. He looked very dapper!

2. Nadia had a good week at camp, and I am very glad to have her back at home with us!

3. Seven of Oliver's friends came to his birthday party at the bowling alley.

4. I'm very grateful that Oliver has been part of our family for a decade! He appreciated the gifts he got from his friends, his parents, and my dad/Margie. One of our gifts to him was a two-person tent. It hasn't been used outdoors yet, but Paul and Oliver did sleep together in the tent in our living room one night, ha ha! 

5. I was able to help at Experience Missions on August 11 as part of the newly formed Volunteer Leadership Team, and the kids and I were able to help pack aid for Voice of the Martyrs on August 13.

6. August 11 was our 21st anniversary. My dad and Margie sent us a card and some money to use toward a date. I am not as skilled at planning dates with Paul as I am with scheduling field trips, but I will come up with something at some point. I wore a t-shirt that I got during our honeymoon on St. Lucia, and I purchased 4 steaks at the grocery store (something I very rarely buy) that Paul grilled on Sunday. Oliver and I didn't eat any of the steak, but Ian, Nadia, and Paul enjoyed eating the steak on Sunday and Monday. 

7. We enjoyed having the Schrecks over for dinner at our house on Saturday.

8. I really enjoyed teaching a lesson Nahum chapter one in our Sunday School class on Sunday. It was the first time Paul ever saw me teach. I was very grateful for the positive feedback I received afterward. 

9. On Monday the orthodontist said we are done turning Oliver's expander! He now has some braces on his top jaw. The orthodontist also made some adjustments to Ian's retainer. We don't need to return for a month. 

10. It's been 3+ years since we've been to an eye doctor. Our vision insurance ended when my employment ended in 2019, and then we dropped our health insurance on December 1, 2021, because of the fiasco with my ankle surgery. It pays to call around because I again found a big difference in the price that eye centers charge self-paying customers. I made appointments for four of us at a place that charges $85 for an exam. Ian, Paul, and I wear eyeglasses. I am curious to see whether they will say if Oliver needs to wear them or not. 

11. I was able to run one of the games that the children played at Kid's Cafe last Friday and will be helping out with another activity there today. 

12. This summer I've been enjoying eating salads at home with Panera's poppyseed salad dressing. It has VERY few calories, and it tastes amazing! The only downside is the price, but I've purchased several bottles at Weis as it's still MUCH cheaper than buying a salad at Panera. 

13. August 16 was the final day of the season at our swimming pool. I'm not planning on getting a membership again in the future, but I'm thankful for the times we were able to swim there the last three years. Last week Oliver won a door prize through the library that resulted in the kids being given a $5 certificate to buy snacks at the pool. They enjoyed that as I never buy them snacks at the pool. 

14. I haven't been very diligent with trying new recipes this year, but we recently tried two new ones that will be added to our meal rotation - a chocolate eclair (no bake) dessert and a copycat recipe of Olive Garden's Five Cheese Ziti Al Forno. Both were recipes Nadia wanted to try. 

15. Although we've had an enjoyable break from "school," I am very ready to resume homeschooling. I'm very thankful that I can begin my tenth year as a homeschooling mom. Assuming that Oliver graduates in 2031, I am exactly at the middle of my time as a homeschooling mom - nine years under my belt and most likely nine years to go. The final three years I'll only have one student (Oliver).

16. I had plans to take my friend out to lunch when the kids were at camp in July. Those plans were cancelled because I was sick. I'm feeling fine now aside from the fact I can't hear much of anything out of my left ear. I took her out yesterday while her boys were in a class at the Children's Museum. Yesterday was her actual birthday. Going out to lunch with a friend is a very rare treat so I really enjoyed having that one-on-one time with her. 

17. The weather has been cooling off a little. Although I'm not a fan of winter weather, I also don't prefer really hot temperatures unless I'm in water. I've resumed mowing the lawn and have continued take Milo on walks every day. 

18. Although I've hit a bit of a plateau lately, I'm thankful for the thirteen pounds I have lost so far and the fact that more of my clothes fit me at the moment. 

19. In March 2020 I wondered how long it would take for life to get back to normal. It has been a gradual path back towards normal, but I feel like our lives are almost 100% back to normal as of August 2022. People are shaking hands again. Events that had been cancelled the last couple of years are taking place again - in person! A minority of people still choose to wear masks, but the only places we are required to wear a mask is in all medical facilities except for the dentist office. On August 11 the CDC said that those exposed to the virus are no longer required to quarantine, it's no longer recommended to screen those without symptoms, students can stay in school after being exposed to the virus, and unvaccinated people now have the same guidance as vaccinated people. My unvaccinated kids can see a Broadway show without taking a COVID test. Their unvaccinated status is preventing us from visiting Canada at this time, but at least within the USA the fact that they didn't receive the COVID vaccine (which frankly is a rather ineffective vaccine in my opinion) is not an issue. When I mentioned that life was getting back to normal to the kids, Oliver asked if the prices had come back down. I wasn't specific enough. No, inflation is still out of control, the "supply chain" issues haven't gone away, and there are many other things happening that are just plain nuts to me; I meant in terms of how life changed in response to COVID. In other ways it seems our world is veering off in a direction that would have seemed unfathomable not that long ago. Here's just one of many examples. If you had asked me ten years ago if I thought that 50% of our senators would vote that biological males can become pregnant, I would have said that would never happen. But it did even though for thousands of years of human history not one biological male has ever been pregnant.  I'm not sure if life will ever get back to "normal" in some ways, but I am very thankful that life has almost completely returned back to normal in regard to COVID.

We definitely went on more field trips during the 2021-22 school year than we did in 2020-21, but I feel like we will truly be back to normal in terms of field trips during this school year. The last time we took the kids to a Broadway show was 2019, and now we're planning to see one in NYC in December and another in St. Louis in April. Some of these plans might be cancelled, and it's very likely that more field trips will be added throughout the year, but here is the current list of field trips that I have planned for the 2022-23 school year. The ones with question marks are ones that haven't been scheduled into our calendar yet. The vast majority of these field trips are to places we haven't been before. This fall I have signed Nadia and Ian up to participate in the Susquehanna Valley Youth Chorale and for Ian and Oliver to take a Ninjastics class. Beginning in January, I have signed Nadia and Ian up for an art class and Nadia for a drama class. I am planning to sign all of them up for ice skating lessons that would also begin in January. We're also hoping to go skiing once or twice in the winter. 

1. A Midsummer Night's Dream
2. National Canal Museum, Lehigh Valley Zoo, and Roasting Ears of Corn Festival at the Museum of Indian Culture
3. Tour of Old Mill Creamery
4. Waterfalls and Hydrogeology three-hour program for grades 7-12 at Ricketts Glen State Park 
5. Dotterer Dairy
6. Monarch Butterfly class
7. Howard Nursery
8. National Constitution Center, Betsy Ross House, Firemen's Hall Museum, Philadelphia Museum of Art, Eastern State Penitentiary, and Harry Potter Exhibition
9. Battleship New Jersey, Thaddeus Kosciusko National Memorial, Franklin Institute, and Edgar Allen Poe National Historic Site
10. Martin van Buren NHS and Saint Gaudens NHS
11. Sugarbush Farm, Marsh Billings-Rockefeller NHP, Ben & Jerry's Factory tour, Cold Hollow Cider Mill, and Vermont Teddy Bear factory tour
12. Marginal Way Walk and whale watching cruise
13. Acadia National Park
14. Lowell NHP, Louisa May Alcott's Orchard house, and Minute Man NHP
15. Bunker Hill, USS Constitution, Boston Lights at Franklin Park Zoo, and Adams NHP
16. Longfellow House Washington's Headquarters, Cry Innocent show, and Freedom Trail
17. Roger Williams Zoo, Roger Williams NM, John Brown House, Newport Mansions, and Newport Cliff Walk
18. Weir Farm NHS and PEZ Visitor Center
19. Homeschool program at Sinnemahoning State Park???
20. PA Renaissance Faire 
21. Waterdale Environmental Education Center
22. Belle Grove & Cedar Creek NHP
23. Wolf Sanctuary of PA
24. Outdoor Adventure Skills classes at Camp Susque (Nadia/Ian)
25. Full STEAM Ahead at Community Arts Center 
26. Local History Tour in McIntyre
27. Homeschool retreat at Camp Susque (two days)
28. Christmas Wonderland at Christian Life Assembly
29. Corning Museum of Glass
30. African Burial Ground, Federal Hall, Castle Clinton, and National September 11 Memorial
31. Radio City Christmas Spectacular, Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway, ice skating at Bryant Park, seeing the Christmas lights in NYC
32. Freedom Bound at Community Arts Center
33. Julius Caesar at Community Arts Center 
34. Easter show at Christian Life Assembly 
35. Indiana Dunes NP, Art Institute of Chicago, and Navy Pier
36. Pullman NM, Herbert Hoover NHS, and Bob Kerry Pedestrian Bridge
37. Henry Doorly Zoo and Homestead NHP
38. Brown vs. Board of Education NHP and National WWI Museum
39. Roasterie tour, Science City, and Meramec Cave
40. Ulysses S. Grant NHS, Herbaria, St. Louis Science Center, Gateway Arch NP, and Wicked show
41. Children's Museum of Indianapolis and COSI
42. Refreshing Mountain Homeschool Day???
43. Outdoor Adventure Skills overnight trip (Nadia and Ian)
44. Blue Angels Air Show
45. Fort Washington Park, Oxon Cove Park & Oxon Hill Farm, and Thomas Stone National Historic Site
46. Hampton National Historic Site, Maryland Zoo, and Rock Creek Park
47. Eckley Miners Village???

Birthday Video

Although I haven't been making progress in terms of improving the quality of the videos that I've made over the past year as I had hoped to, I still think my videos from the past 13 months are much better than the all the videos I made in previous years. So far in 2022 I've made three videos, one for Nadia's 14th birthday, one for Oliver's 10th birthday, and one about our vacation that we took in May. The kids have asked if I would make one about Milo. I am not sure if that will happen or not, but I do plan on making at least three more videos this year - one about this summer (June through August), one for Ian's 13th birthday, and one about our vacation in September. I'm hoping that these videos will be enjoyed by our family for decades to come. I finished Oliver's 10th birthday video this morning (see below).

I also took Oliver to his annual physical this afternoon. Last year he was 54 inches tall (74th percentile) and weighed 60 pounds (40th percentile) which put his BMI at the 13th percentile. As of today, he is 56.75 inches tall (80th percentile) and weighs 67 pounds (40th percentile) which puts his BMI at the 11th percentile. The pediatrician's office last year had said they only considered a child to be underweight if they were below the 5th percentile, but we switched to a Family Practice Center this year because they only charge self-pay patients $50 a visit, and she said he was underweight. I'm not concerned about his weight. When Ian turned ten, he weighed 63.8 pounds and was 53 inches tall, which means Oliver is currently about 4 inches taller and about 3 pounds heavier than Ian was when he turned ten. The kids and I had dinner at Bonanza using a gift card Pop Pop had given us for Christmas last year. That was the final celebration of Oliver's tenth birthday! Today we began the process of gradually easing into the next school year. All three kids did math today. I'm hoping that Oliver makes a lot of academic progress this year during his second year in fourth grade. 

Double Digits!

We have had at least one child who was in single digits for fourteen years, but that is no longer the case as Oliver turned ten years old today! Although Nadia is more of an extrovert than Ian, Oliver is the most extroverted member of our family. We have had a play date with the Schrecks around Ian's birthday, but he's never invited any friends to a birthday party. Since 2018 (except for 2020) we have celebrated his birthday by going on an overnight trip to Great Wolf Lodge. Nadia has invited at least two girls over for her birthday for the past seven birthday parties which have either been at a swimming pool or a sleepover at our house. Last year Oliver had two birthday outings with a total of four friends. 

This year for his tenth birthday he invited ten friends to go bowling for two hours. Nine of the ten we invited were planning to go, but yesterday Maddox came down with a stomach bug, and Xandir's mom came down with COVID. I had rented two lanes at a bowling alley for two hours, which meant up to twelve people were allowed to bowl. I hadn't brought any socks because I didn't think I'd be bowling so ten kids plus Paul bowled for two hours last night. We had a bit of a scare when we arrived at the bowling alley because the doors were locked. I called and stated that I had booked a birthday party from 5-7pm. The bowling alley didn't open for the general public until 6pm. Thankfully, after the employee made a phone call, he let us in. Whew! We brought in four large pizzas, a gallon of Hawaiian Punch, some bottles of water, pretzels, a pan of brownies, and a pan of Rice Krispie treats. Aunt Millie usually makes him a cake, but they have been on vacation in Tennessee for the past week. The entire pan of Rice Krispie treats was consumed in addition to 3.5 of the 4 pizzas and the whole gallon of punch. We brought home most of the pretzels and a little bit of the brownies. The paper products featured Baby Yoda (Grogu). Bumpers were used on one lane. Ian, Ean, Micah, Nadia, and Paul didn't use bumpers the first game, and Paul won on that side, and Nadia was in second place. Isaiah switched to the non-bumper lane for the second game, and Ian won the second game. Of the group that used bumpers, Karyss won the second game, and I can't recall if it was Westyn or Oliver who won the first game. It was definitely the most expensive birthday party that Paul and I have thrown over our 21 years of marriage, but compared to the parties that many others have, it was still a simple affair. Oliver received $20, a $25 gift card to Amazon, some candy, some chips, water balloons, and a gallon of iced tea from his friends. 

I let the boys stay at home yesterday morning when I went to get Nadia from Camp Susque. On the way back home we picked up donuts for today's breakfast. Since Oliver is the birthday boy, he gets to eat two of the six donuts. He'll have leftover pizza for lunch, and he requested grilled hot dogs and macaroni and cheese for dinner. We started watching the new movie "Luck" on Apple tv yesterday, and we're planning to finish watching that movie together as a family today. It's rare to find a movie that just came out that is rated G, but that is true for this one. We are ever so grateful that Oliver joined our family ten years ago, and I look forward to seeing how he will grow and develop in the years to come! 

Oliver's birthday celebration began on Wednesday evening when I took the boys to Knoebels. On Thursday he selected, and I bought two birthday balloons at Dollar Tree. On Friday night we attended Aunt Debbie's 70th birthday party. The bowling party yesterday was the second part of Oliver's celebration. Today he's opening his birthday gifts from his parents and also from my dad and Margie, eating his birthday donuts, and eating the food he requested for dinner. The last part of his celebration will be tomorrow when we have dinner at Bonanza. He also will have his ten-year-old doctor appointment tomorrow morning. Every child is a miracle, but when I was pregnant, many people referred to Nadia as a miracle considering how many years that we waited to become parents. Nadia's pregnancy was very smooth aside from the fact she came four weeks early and the delivery didn't go smoothly. Oliver's pregnancy was extremely precarious for both he and I once I reached about 21 weeks. I will never forget lying in the hospital and begging the doctors not to take him by c-section because at that point he was too early to be deemed "viable." They thought they needed to do so to save my life. Thankfully I didn't bleed to death, and Oliver stayed in the womb long enough that he could be cared for in a NICU after he was born. We love our ten-year-old very much! 

Thankful Thursday

1. Paul took off work on July 15 so that he could attend the kids' performance at Greenview Alliance Church with me. I'm thankful the kids were able to participate in that theatre camp put on by Family Life Network (radio station in NY).

2. The kids had a blast during the cousin swap from July 16-22. Nadia and Ian had fun with Yvonne's eldest five kids (and Toby) doing things like swimming, bowling, ice skating, playing tennis, playing games, etc. Oliver had fun playing with Yvonne's youngest three kids at our house and also a trip to DelGrosso's Amusement Park with them. 

3. Thankfully, I was the only person in our family who caught the bug that some of the Towfighis had. I'm grateful that Paul took off work on July 21 to go to DelGrosso's and also took off on the 22nd to meet Yvonne half-way to end the cousin swap a day early as I was in bed almost all the time on the 22nd and 23rd.  Thankfully, my energy came back on July 30, my eyes cleared up after I started the medication on July 25, and my ear pain drastically decreased on August 1. I'm still praying for my hearing in my left ear to return. It had been seven years since I last had an ear infection and five years since I last had pink eye. Hoping I go at least seven more years before I go through this again. 

4. The kids had a great time at Camp Good News. Nadia enjoyed being a counselor for the first time, and it was the boys first time to be campers at that overnight camp. An illness was passed around the camp. Thankfully Nadia escaped it, and the boys recovered very quickly from it.

5. Oliver got a good report at the orthodontist on Monday. I'm turning his expander once a day until his next appointment on the fifteenth. Thankfully it has gone smoothly so far, which wasn't always the case when Ian had an expander. The orthodontist said we might be done on the fifteenth! 

6. Our new front door was installed on July 29. We are very thankful that my dad and Margie gave us a new front door for my 50th birthday. Paul and I painted the exterior trim green. We haven't decided what color we will paint the exterior portion of the door (which is currently white). We also need to stain the trim on the inside of the house. The door STAYS closed, is easy to lock, and is in much better shape than our 23-year-old door was. Now we are praying that we can find an electric range to replace ours (which is a fire hazard) without redoing the cabinets or countertop in the kitchen as our twenty-three-year-old range is smaller than most (hopefully not all) ranges that are sold in 2022. 

7. I took the boys and Milo to Knoebels last night. Oliver had picked it as his birthday date with me, and since Nadia is at camp and Paul was at work, Ian was also able to join us. The boys rode fourteen rides in a little over 3 hours. I bought them bargain night handstamps that cost $15 each. I also said they could each have one snack. Oliver chose cotton candy, and Ian had a root beer float. 

8. If I had to choose between buying my kids more "stuff" or spending money on memorable experiences, I'd choose the experiences option the vast majority of the time. Yes, some purchases prove to be very worthwhile. Milo wasn't cheap, but he's well loved. I thought the Oculus would be a hit and so splurged on that as a Christmas gift for the kids last year, but nope it's hardly been used. I am thankful that we can afford to pay for some experiences that aren't frugal. Recently I purchased tickets for a Harry Potter Exhibition, a tour of Battleship New Jersey, made reservations for one night at a hotel in Philadelphia, and paid for tickets for a three-day Christian music festival in New York that will be taking place in July 2023. I'm grateful that we have the resources for those "splurges." The thought that Nadia will be graduating in four years motivates me to keep making plans as I know these years will just fly by. 

9. Looking at the pictures that Camp Susque has posted, it seems that Nadia is having a good week of camp! I can't wait to hear all about it on Saturday morning. 

10. Paul has been working crazy hours this week. He's at home for less than eight hours a day as he's leaving the house at 3:45am and getting home after 8pm. I am thankful this is no longer normal for him. It's only true this week because his brother is on vacation. 

11. Our neighbor took Milo for a walk one time the day we were at DelGrosso's. I feel like they deserve the best neighbor of the year award!

12. Mowing is usually my responsibility, but Paul mowed for me last weekend because mowing has been too much for my allergies lately. I also appreciated that he installed Nadia's new ceiling fan the week of the cousin swap. 

13. Ian has been wanting to buy the Miitopia game for his Nintendo Switch. He was able to do so today because Oliver gave him money toward the purchase and a woman from our church gave him $15 in exchange for one of Ian's Lego sets. 

14. We haven't gone to Kids' Cafe that many times this summer, but we went on Wednesday this week because it was Water Day. The kids played a game with water balloons, a game with buckets of water, and then the fire department used their tanker truck to spray the kids with water. The boys enjoyed getting SOAKED. 

15. The boys enjoyed attending the National Night Out event at our town's Fire Department on Tuesday night. 

Boys are back!

On Friday I had a few brief spurts of energy, which were greatly appreciated after not having any energy for the previous seven days. Thankfully I had even more energy yesterday. I still have a little bit of a cough, but aside from my left ear, I mostly feel back to normal. My left ear is still painful, and my hearing in that ear is still pitiful. On Friday morning the contractors came back to install our front door. The first time they showed up to do that was in June, but due to some complications they couldn't install it that day. My PCP sent a prescription to CVS for ear drops for me on Friday morning, but I waited until the contractors were done to go to CVS. Since I was home alone most of the week and also lacked energy, it was a boring and lonely week for me. The first few days I kept myself occupied with reading books, watching a movie, doing Duolingo, and working on vacation plans, but as the week progressed, I struggled with loneliness and boredom. The last time I remember feeling either of those feelings was when I was hospitalized for many weeks in 2012. One of the significant things I learned while planning future vacations last week was that I needed to make a specific reservation for what time we wanted to drive on the road that takes you up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park. I hadn't planned on being that specific with our itinerary that day. Hopefully my choice of 2:00pm will work out. Another was that they have a rodeo in Puyallup (near Seattle) in early September. I had tried to include a rodeo in our trip last fall, but in those states, I couldn't find any that took place after Labor Day. I thought the only chance we'd have to take the kids to a rodeo would be in Houston in March 2025. If we go to the rodeo in September 2023 in Washington and the kids don't want to go to another rodeo, then we can be more flexible about when we go to Texas/Louisianna in 2025. 

Saturday morning, I drove to Mountain View Bible Camp to pick up all three kids. In 2019 at Camp Good News (day camp), Ian was chosen to receive a cooperation award and Nadia was chosen to receive a leadership award. Yesterday at Camp Good News overnight camp, Ian was chosen to receive a sportsmanship award. Those are the three awards for character traits that they give out each year. Nadia was a junior counselor for a group of eleven-year-old girls. For the morning activity she and Macey led a group of girls who chose macrame as their activity. In the afternoons she helped with crafts on Monday and then helped with a group of girls who chose chess as their afternoon activity the rest of the week. They didn't have Wi-Fi, so she didn't actually use her phone at all at camp. The kids each received one letter from me in the mail, and Ian sent me a postcard from camp which arrived in our mailbox on Saturday afternoon after I picked them up. Oliver really wanted to pick riflery as his morning activity, but he missed the minimum age by 8 days, so he chose tie-dye because that is what his friend, Xandir, chose. He is proud of the things they made at camp. In the afternoons both boys chose outdoor games. The other afternoon choices were crafts or chess. In the morning Ian chose archery. He received an award for winning third place in his age group. Unfortunately, the boys came down with an illness the last couple of days at camp. We stayed home from church today and aside from an orthodontist appointment tomorrow morning for Oliver, we don't have any plans for the next several days so we can just stay at home sweet home. We haven't decided if we're going to give them COVID tests or not.

Nadia wants to be a junior counselor at Camp Good News again next year. She would be old enough to be a full-fledged counselor in 2024, but she'd rather be on staff at Camp Susque in 2024 because that's a paid position whereas the counselors at Camp Good News are volunteers. Ian wants to be a junior counselor at Camp Good News in 2024. Of the three camps where the kids have gone for overnight camp, Nadia ranks Camp Susque #1 and Camp Good News #2. Oliver ranks PMBC #1 and Camp Good News #2. Ian ranks Camp Good News #1 and PMBC #2. Next year I plan to send the boys to PMBC as campers, and Nadia to Camp Good News as a junior counselor and Camp Susque as a camper. The last year Nadia could be a camper at Camp Susque would be 2024, but she has decided that next year will be her last because she wants to be in their "staff in training" program for four weeks in 2024 which means she can be a counselor there for 5-8 weeks each summer starting in 2025. Nadia fell in love with Camp Susque in 2015. She only attended PMBC in 2020 because Camp Susque didn't have camp that summer. They do take pictures at Camp Good News and show them during the closing program, but they don't provide access to any of them so I don't have any pictures from last week. I'll receive pictures this week from Camp Susque, and I can send Nadia an email every day this week that they will print out and deliver to her. 

After we got home, I started a load of laundry so that Nadia could have clean clothes to pack. We had lunch and then the boys both fell asleep. They can go years without taking a nap. They are sick! Nadia is in the Apache tent this week. A friend whom she made at camp last year is in her tent again this year. I am thankful that my energy had returned because I drove for more than 2.5 hours yesterday. Nadia was home for a whopping 3.5 hours yesterday, but I appreciated getting a little bit caught up on what she had been up to at camp. I'm thankful that when I pick her this Saturday morning, she'll be home a lot longer than 3.5 hours! Hopefully she will have an awesome week this week! If she wasn't at camp this week, I'd have signed Nadia and Ian up for a choral workshop that's taking place next Saturday. I did sign them up for auditions on August 18 to be in the youth chorale. Nadia wants to move up to the Valley Singers (high school group), and Ian wants to move up to Camarata (middle school group that Nadia was in back before COVID). Oliver is old enough to be in the youngest choir, but he chose instead to be in a Ninjastics class on Monday nights.

Philadelphia

We live in a rural area. The main crops grown around here are Christmas trees, soybean, and corn. However, we don't live in the middle of nowhere. We can get to many of the national chain restaurants, big box stores, hardware stores, etc. in about twenty minutes. Pittsburgh, New York City, Baltimore, and Philadelphia are about three hours from our home. Paul and I enjoy visiting the museums and other sites that are available in the larger cities, but we'd never want to live in any of them, whereas my sister, who lives in Chicago, enjoys visiting a rural area but would never want to live in one. Of the four cities I mentioned, the one we live the closest to is Philadelphia. We have taken the kids to Philadelphia a few times in the past. For example, in March 2018 we went to Christ Church, US Mint, Franklin Museum, Franklin Institute, Adventure Aquarium, and Academy of Natural Sciences, and in November of that same year my brother and I took them to Independence Hall, Congress Hall, and the Museum of the American Revolution. I think our first trips there with the kids that weren't in conjunction with appointments at the Children's Hospital were in 2016 when we took them to the Franklin Institute, Please Touch Museum, Independence Seaport Museum, Franklin Museum, Liberty Bell, and Independence Hall. The last time I was in the city of brotherly love was to empty my brother's apartment with Wendy in March 2019 following his very unexpected passing. Because of COVID, we had no desire to visit there in 2020. 2021, or even the beginning part of 2022. 

We do have plans to spend two days there this September. Prior to yesterday, the only reservation I had made for the trip was to secure (free) tickets to the Constitution Center. I picked the dates of the trip because it is National Constitution Day and therefore free to visit. We've never been there before. Yesterday I also made a one-night reservation for a hotel, got tickets for a 90-minute guided tour of the Battleship New Jersey, and got tickets for a Harry Potter Exhibition at the Franklin Institute - each of those were definitely not free. We plan to visit five other sites for free over those two days - the Fireman's Hall Museum, Franklin Institute (free because of our ASTC membership), Philadelphia Museum of Art (free on Friday evenings), Thaddeus Kosciusko National Memorial, and the Edgar Allen Poe National Historic Site. The kids should be able to earn two junior ranger badges on the trip. The other two sites we plan to visit that won't be free are the Betsy Ross House and the Eastern State Penitentiary. When I taught middle school in the early 90's, I took my students on field trips to Philadelphia, and that was the last time I was at the Betsy Ross House or the Fireman's Hall Museum. Unfortunately, the time when they offer guided tours of the Penitentiary conflicts with the guided tour of the Battleship New Jersey. Ssince they have an audio tour at the Penitentiary, I opted to choose the guided tour of the Battleship. If we had more time, it would have been nice to return to the Independence Seaport Museum and/or the Philadelphia Zoo as it's been at least six years since they've been to either place. I imagine we'll make at least one more trip to Philadelphia sometime in the next four years as I want my kids to visit the Penn Museum where Maurice was a tour guide for several months prior to his passing. Although I'm emotionally ready to return to the city now that three years have passed, I don't think I'm quite ready to visit that museum yet.

Yesterday I mailed a card to each of the kids and a birthday card to my aunt. When the kids have been at overnight camp at PMBC and Camp Susque, I have been able to email the kids, as the camp would print out the emails and deliver them to the campers once a day. That isn't possible at this camp. My mom was very dedicated about keeping in touch with her children. When we were at camp, we would receive a letter every day. She started mailing them out before we even left for camp so that we would receive them even in the early part of our stay. As an adult, I definitely received more email from my mom than any other person. Even though the camp is about 40 minutes from our home, I think the mail will likely take 2-3 days to get there so my kids are only getting one card from me at camp this summer. In the past I slipped notes into their suitcase. Nadia first started attending overnight camp in 2015, and this is the first year I didn't do that for any of the kids. Unfortunately, I was totally out of commission on Friday and Saturday, and they left for camp on Sunday after church. Because she is a junior counselor, Nadia was allowed to bring her phone to camp this week although there is only one brief time in the day when she has permission to use it. So, I can send her a message every day to her phone. Next week, she will be at Camp Susque. She won't be allowed to have her phone at camp next week, but I can send her daily emails that the camp will print out for her. 

I'm writing this post at 3 am, which is a time when I am almost always in bed. I'm calling the doctor's office once they open this morning. I know they can't do anything for my cough, because it's just a cold, but I'm hoping to get relief for my eyes and my left ear. I haven't had pink eye since August 2017, and I haven't had this much ear trouble since 2015. My eardrum might have ruptured. I've had a lot of drainage from that ear, but I haven't seen any blood. However, the pillowcase I'm using right now is black (it was from Maurice's apartment) so it's possible I just didn't see the blood. I have very little hearing in my left ear at the moment. Thankfully my right ear is fine. I avoid the doctor's offices whenever possible, especially when we don't have insurance or a prescription drug plan, but I'm feeling miserable enough that I want to try to get some relief. I know those eye drops work wonders for conjunctivitis (also known as an eye cold). This is the second time in the last 14 years that I've had five consecutive days without any kids at home. The first time it happened (2020) I got a lot done around the house including painting Nadia's bedroom. I had grand visions for this week - spending time with Paul each evening after he came home from work, doing some painting around the house, having lunch with Tab, going on a walk with Cheri, etc. Since I'm sick, all the plans have gone out the window. I've been spending some time with Paul, but I'm trying not to share my germs with him which is why he's sleeping in our bed right now and I'm in the family room. I doubt the walk with Cheri will be rescheduled, but I am determined to take Tab out to lunch for her birthday sometime in the coming weeks as she and I have never eaten in a restaurant together. I certainly lack the energy to do any big projects around the house. I'm just grateful I have the energy to take Milo for walks, albeit much shorter walks than I usually take him on. The cold hasn't interfered with my weight loss goal. I've lost twelve pounds so far, which means I have eleven to go. I can't wait until Saturday morning when I will, Lord willing, be able to hear about the kids' week at camp. It's the last time the three of them will be at the same camp the same week as Ian will be too old to attend the camp in the future and too young to be a counselor next year. Next year I'm planning on sending the boys to PMBC and Nadia to Camp Susque. PMBC is Oliver's favorite camp, and I like the fact that it is much cheaper than Camp Good News (where they are now) or Camp Susque, which is Nadia's favorite camp.

 I'm grateful we have the resources to be able to pay for the kids to attend a week of overnight camp (Nadia is free this week) and also a new range for our kitchen. We weren't planning on buying a new range this year, but when smoke started coming out in multiple places from under the cookstove (not from the burner), we knew it was time to replace the 23-year-old range before we ended up with a house fire. Unfortunately, the builder installed a Kenmore drop-in style range. Between Lowe's and Home Depot they only sell ONE drop-in style range, and it's the wrong size. The vast majority are slide-in or freestanding. Paul is trying to find a slide-in model that will fit in our space if he cuts out some of the cabinet. It seems like things constantly need replaced in a home. Nadia's twelve-year-old light fixture died recently so Paul replaced her ceiling fan last week. That was a MUCH cheaper project than buying a new range. Unfortunately, the more inexpensive models won't fit in out space, and we don't want to have to replace our kitchen counter just because we're getting a new oven. Here's to hoping it won't take too long to find, purchase, and install a new range in our kitchen! Although I am thankful, we haven't had a monthly rent or mortgage payment for three years, there are times I wish we had a landlord who could handle these problems!