Third quarter report

The end of October I wrote a sort of "first quarter" progress report for Nadia. I didn't do one for the second quarter, although at the end of December I did write an update on where she was at since it was her half birthday. If she were in school, I think it would be about time for her to receive her third quarter report card. Since the kids will be gone for a large portion of May (2 weeks in Florida plus they'll spend a few days driving down and a few days driving back), I think our school year will be wrapping up in early May although we will still do a little bit of schoolwork throughout the summer (at the very minimum reading) during the weeks we're at home.

Math: Next week she will finish the fifth chapter of the twelve chapter 2nd grade textbook. After that happens, we are going to set aside the math textbook for a few months and just focus on practicing counting money, using an analog clock, and using flashcards and iPad apps to have her memorize the basic addition and subtraction facts. We'll start chapter six (which includes the introduction of regrouping) when she starts second grade (end of August).

Art: I have not been nearly as faithful with doing art with her the last two months as I had been the first four months of the school year. The kids will be doing a six week art class at the co-op starting in the middle of March, and I have signed them up for an art night at the library that will take place in about 10 days. They do art projects at the Children's Museum once a month. Over the next two months I want to put FAR more time into art - colored pencils, paint, markers, etc. It will be easier to fit this in because we are taking a break from a few subjects for a few months.

P.E.: Over the last two months she has been taking weekly ice skating lessons (45 minutes each), playing on a basketball team (one hour practice on Thursday nights and a game each Saturday), and participating in a ninety minute gym class on Friday mornings (basketball, volleyball, karate, soccer, and dodgeball). On Monday she will return to the Level 2 gymnastics class (90 minutes each). When this eight week session is done we will take a break from gymnastics until the end of August. Ice skating and basketball will end March 12 and 14 and soccer practices will resume the very next week. The gym class on Friday mornings is supposed to resume in the near future, and I plan on signing the kids up for that again. I REALLY hope that over the next two months she learns to ride her bike without training wheels. Hopefully the weather will start feeling like spring in the near future. This will also mean we'll resume taking walks to different playgrounds (walking up to 3 miles a day).

Reading: She will finish the fourth grade reading curriculum (All About Reading) next week. We could have finished this a couple of months ago, but many times I opted to have her read something that tied in with what we were studying in social studies instead. For example, today she read three chapters of Gold Rush Days instead of the reader because we've been talking about the California gold rush this week. Half-way through this level she started the struggle for the first time in a long time. I would say her reading level is about 4.5. Words like "lasagna" and "deficient" still trip her up sometimes. I don't plan to purchase any additional reading curriculum for her. From now on we will just use picture books, the Bible, poetry, and chapter books to develop her decoding and comprehension skills. She's currently reading an Imagination Station chapter book on the Kindle (about the American Revolution).

Spelling: Next week she will start the eighth (of 28) lessons of the third grade spelling book. We will keep working on spelling over the next two months.

Handwriting: She recently finished the second grade textbook (Handwriting without Tears). She still has trouble with reversing some letters and numbers (such as p vs 9, b vs d, etc.). I am not going to even think of starting the third grade textbook (cursive) until she shows improvement with manuscript. Now that the handwriting textbook is done, I am going to have her write in her journal several days a week instead. She has been writing a lot more (of her own initiative) over the past two months.

Drama/Music: We are still working on learning a variety of patriotic songs ("You're a Grand old Flag" was one of the recent ones). She is still singing in the kids' choir at church, and she now practices the piano at least five days a week. She's singing a short solo at church this month (part of the song the kids' choir is singing), and I'm working with her to prepare her for her Annie audition that will take place next month.

Science: She just finished the ACSI first grade science book. Last year she did ABeka's first grade science book). We're going to take a break from doing a science textbook until August, but I want to read more picture books about science to them. Science field trips lately have included a program on trees at the library in Lewisburg (they had a guest speaker who was excellent), learning about animals that migrate at R.B. Winter State Park, and the children's museum in Bloomsburg. The next trip that I have planned is to learn about maple sugaring at the Montour Preserve.

Social Studies: This week we finished week 25 of the 34 week second grade curriculum "Adventures in U.S. History." We have finished all the read aloud chapter books included with the curriculum (Squanto, Friend of the Pilgrims, The Courage of Sarah Noble, Farmer Boy, On the Banks of Plum Creek, Mountain Born, and In Grandma's Attic) with the exception of Sarah Whitcher's Story which isn't at our library and I opted not to purchase. We should finish this curriculum before the kids leave for Florida, and then we will take a break until August when we'll start the third grade curriculum "Exploring Countries and Cultures." We are hoping to take the kids to Jamestown and Williamsburg in either June or August, which will be wonderful for Nadia as we have studied colonial history this year!

Spanish: I finally got that started! She is working on Level 1 of Rosetta Stone Spanish. I am also planning on signing her up for a ten week Spanish class that will meet from 6:30-8:00 on Monday nights this summer.

Keyboarding: We haven't been too faithful with using the Keyboarding without tears or having her send emails. I'm planning to focus on that more this quarter!

Bible: In addition to what she does at church each week, at home we work on her Bible memory for AWANA and Upward basketball, have devotions and prayer at night before bed, and have various spiritual conversations throughout the day (teachable moments). A couple of weeks ago Nadia and I started reading the book of Matthew together. I read a few verses and then she reads a few verses and we keep going. Most days we read one chapter together and discuss it. I am planning to read through the New Testament with her over the coming months. We're about half-way through Matthew right now.

In summary, over the next two months I'd like to do an informal math review of time, money, addition, and subtraction, a lot more art, read books tied to topics we're studying in social studies, continue to work through the 3rd grade spelling book, do more journaling, keep making progress with piano lessons, finish Adventures in U. S. History, read more of the New Testament, and have her spend more time doing Rosetta Stone Spanish and keyboarding. We'll be taking a temporary break from handwriting, science, and math textbooks and a permanent break from using a formal reading curriculum. Hopefully the elimination of those will make it easier to spend more time on art, keyboarding, Spanish, and journaling. I try not to have "school" last more than two hours a day.

Thankful Thursday

1. Paul's mom was able to complete the two week Rituxan/radiation protocol for her Non-Hodgkin's lymphoma on Tuesday. She had started this treatment in the fall of 2013 but was hospitalized for pneumonia in the middle of the protocol and was unable to finish it that time. We're hoping she won't ever need any more chemo or radiation, that her hair will grow back, and that her taste buds will come back. She's only been able to taste ketchup for several months as a result of the chemo she had last fall. We are VERY thankful that she hasn't had pneumonia lately. She had it quite a bit over a span of almost two years (beginning around December 2012).

2. Nadia has continued to work toward earning enough money to buy the Frozen lego set. This week she cleaned the toilets and bathroom sinks and counters again, and she also dusted the staircase banister. Last week she helped me dust the mini blinds on the downstairs windows (I did the top half of each while she did the bottom half). This also motivated me to dust the top of the refrigerator and the kitchen cabinets. No one can tell they have been dusted, but it was a job that needed to be done!

3. Nadia and Ian continue to be best of friends. I love listening to them play together. It melts this momma's heart. Hopefully they will be close friends for the rest of their lives! Of course they have their squabbles from time to time, but the vast majority of the time they play nicely together.

4. Oliver's favorite song to hear on a CD is "We Believe." He finds the cd, brings it to me, and says "We believe God father." Neither of my other two were interested in Christian contemporary music at the age of two. They used to object if I turned on the radio. They only wanted to listen to their cds, but now all three kids like to listen to the Christian radio station (in addition to a variety of cds). Of the three kids, Ian pays the most attention to the lyrics. He constantly asks me what various words mean that he hears in the songs (ex. "overcome").

5. Nadia made so many baskets at her basketball practice tonight that she lost count of how many she made! She said she made more than five. What an improvement! She has three games left this year.

6. Nadia says she has stopped sucking her thumb! Her thumb is showing signs of not being sucked so I am inclined to believe she is telling the truth. What is her motivation? I promised her $7 toward the Lego set she wants if she stops. That will be a VERY well spent $7, if this is what does the trick.

7. The boys BOTH slept until 6:50 this morning. This is a rare event in our house. Ian almost always gets up sometime between 6:00-6:15 and Oliver usually wakes up anytime from 4:30-6:15. I was very grateful for the extra sleep, and Oliver didn't wet the bed (or pee on his carpet like he did at 6:15 yesterday morning). In ten days our clocks will be springing forward. This is usually a good thing for Ian, and I'm hoping it also helps Oliver.

Annie!

The last two years Nadia participated in a one week (half-day) theatre camp in Williamsport. Both years she was in the non-musical camp for K/1st graders. I picked the non-musical camp for her both times because she gets practice singing elsewhere, and I wanted her to have more experience with public speaking and acting. Last summer she said she wanted to do it again this year, and I have been exploring various options. The first three choices seemed to be the Community Theatre League in Williamsport again (closest and cheapest option), one in Bloomsburg, or one near Lock Haven. I had been leaning toward the third one, although it's the farthest away, because they will be putting on a production of Winnie the Pooh at the end of the camp on Friday night and again on Saturday morning. That camp is for kids ages 6-9 (Nadia will be 7 at that point). It costs $50 more than the one she has done the last two years, but the final production will be far more substantial.  I recently learned of a fourth option.

I am registering Nadia for The Kids' Theatre Experience as they will be putting on Annie this summer! It is for kids entering K-3rd grade, and Nadia will be in 2nd grade next year. Ian is old enough, but he isn't interested. I don't give him a choice as to whether or not he'll participate in the choir at church, but this was up to him. It costs $100. The auditions are in April for the solos and speaking parts. Nadia wants to audition. We don't have any schedule conflicts with the rehearsals in June and July. Most of the rehearsals are on Tuesday and Wednesday mornings from 9-11am. I thought there might be a conflict the week she is scheduled to go to summer camp, but she isn't supposed to arrive until 2pm on Wednesday (and the camp ends on Saturday morning). The only schedule conflict at the moment is the date of the pizza party and read thru (May 8). We will be in Florida on that date, but I think she can make all the rehearsals. It might mean that she won't be able to do the horseback riding camp though. I don't know the dates for that yet. For those grandparents who will want to attend Annie, the performance is scheduled for July 10. We were playing our Annie cd this morning. I hope that Nadia has fun and learns a lot through this experience! I actually directed a production of Annie when I was a principal. I should pull out the VHS tape and show it to the kids. Now of course the kids who were in that production are now married, college graduates, have kids themselves, etc.

I actually am still contemplating the theatre camp that lasts for one week in August and concludes with a production of Winnie the Pooh. If money weren't tight, I would definitely sign her up. This is one of those tough decisions for me. We shall see. I found out yesterday that the kids' choir at church is putting on a musical in May, but we will be in Florida so after they sing in church in April, I'll have them take a break from the choir until it resumes in September. I said something to the choir director that I thought it was much better with a live accompaniment, and she agreed and said she's going to see if that is possible for when they sing in March. That would be awesome, especially as Nadia has a short solo in that song. I am planning on having Ian and Nadia participate again in the summer musical on Wednesday nights at the Alliance church in our town starting after we return from Florida. Those performances are usually in the middle of August. In 2016 Oliver will be old enough to join in as well!

ER bills

On Thursday we received a $100 bill from Evan for Oliver's ER visit on December 29. I called our insurance company because I didn't think we were supposed to have to pay a $100 copay if the ER visit resulted in a hospital admission. They said the hospital used the wrong code, and if the hospital changed the code that they would pay the $100. I called the hospital, and they wouldn't change the code because he wasn't admitted there (was transferred by ambulance to another hospital). Later I called the insurance company back, and said that THEY know he was hospitalized because they already paid the bills for his PICU stay. They said they will reprocess the claim. I think this means we won't have to pay the $100. On Friday we got a bill for $70 from GMC for Ian's ER visit in January for his chin. Paul had paid $30 in the ER. I had taken him first to GMC's urgent care clinic because our co-pay is $50 for urgent care, but the doctor there said that his wound needed more than glue. She said I had to take him to the ER for stitches and sedation. But actually the ER doctor just glued the wound.

If the urgent care doctor had glued the wound, it would have saved us $50 and two hours of our time. Plus the insurance company had to pay a lot more for the ER visit than they would have for an urgent care appointment. I am going to see if I can get them to lower our bill to $50, but I am not too optimistic. When I took Ian to the ER for a similar wound two years ago our co-pay wasn't nearly as high, but even then afterwards I said next time I'd just stick a band-aid on it (in part because that time the glue didn't stay on very long so it all really seemed pointless). This time the glue did stay on for a week, but I really don't think was worth $100 or three hours of our time. Hopefully he will use his hands to protect his face when he falls, and we won't be forced to make this decision again. We're trying so hard to live within our means, and the medical bills lately have been making that difficult. We spent a few hundred dollars at the eye doctor even though we have vision insurance. The new eye doctor did a great job of getting me a much better Rx, but he wasn't keen on giving me the prescription so I could order my contacts myself (which is what I have done the last several years), and since I wasn't familiar with our new insurance (we didn't receive a card or any paperwork in the mail about it) I thought maybe we *had* to get them through the eye doctor. Sadly, I paid a lot more money for a MUCH smaller quantity of contacts, and the contacts are not as comfortable as the other brand. He switched me to a different (far more expensive) brand. I had brought in a box of my old contacts in the hopes that he wouldn't switch brands, but he did without telling me. Bummer. Lesson learned.

I wasn't planning on getting glasses AND contacts. I've never gotten both in the same year, but he said it was important because it was such a big change with the prescription. He said there was a deal to get a pair of glasses (lenses and frame) for $99, so I agreed. They showed me the section I could pick from, and I picked the one I liked the best, but then she said that rimless one I picked cost an extra $30. I realize $30 isn't a large amount of money, but I looked at it as increasing the cost of the glasses by 30%, and I was already in shock over how much I owed for glasses plus contacts. So I very quickly picked another frame. I had to do it quickly because I needed to leave within a few minutes so that Paul could get to his appointment on time. If I could go back in time, I would have gotten the rimless ones OR at least come back another time and more carefully selected another pair. The ones I picked are AWFUL. Paul couldn't believe I picked them. Also, I realized after wearing them that aside from preferring the appearance of rimless frames, I also get distracted visually by the rim on the bottom. Well it doesn't matter how ugly they are when I wear them around the house. I will try my best to only wear my contacts out of the house, and if I really need to wear glasses out of the house, I think I'll just wear my old frames even if the prescription is wrong. The moral of the story is that it is NOT always best to focus on the cost. I sincerely wish I had splurged and paid the extra $30 fee!! Hopefully I did a better job helping Paul pick out his frames! He hasn't picked his up yet. He did get rimless frames.

I am by nature a penny pincher, but I have been reflecting lately that it is very different to do so because you want to rather than because you have to. In my first years out of college I made very little money because I was teaching at a Christian school. I remember one budget I had for myself gave me $20 that was unaccounted for each month. That's not much wiggle room! Eventually I earned more money, and I was able to start building my savings account. The next time things got tight again was 2001 because within 8 months I bought a house, paid for a wedding, paid for a honeymoon in St. Lucia, bought our bedroom furniture, etc., but after that I went back to being frugal because I wanted to, and because of the money we kept putting in the savings account we were able to pay for attempts at adoption in the US and Ukraine and IVF.

Until we can sell this house and move, we are going to be in the frugal mode unless I find a part-time job, and so far I haven't succeeded in that. It's a lot easier to make ends meet by making a little more money than it is by trying to save a few dollars here and there. I submitted an application at Bloomsburg to be in the their temporary pool. When I taught there (2004-2012) we was always a need for several adjuncts each semester, but in the last couple of years the enrollment has declined and that isn't the case right now. Paul's chair contacted the education chair at Bucknell and gave her my resume, but again they don't have any openings at the moment. I've submitted a few applications for part-time positions teaching on-line courses (Grand Canyon University, Concordia, etc.), but thus far I haven't heard anything. When I resigned from my position I thought it would be easy to become a part-time adjunct at some point in the future - supervising student teachers or something like that, but it seems right now that's not the case. While I was at Bloomsburg none of our adjuncts had a doctorate, and that was the preference (we hired those who had a master's degree and one time a woman who was working on her doctorate).

Hopefully I can find a way to make ends meet on Paul's income until we move from this house. I know that worrying about it won't do any good, but not paying any attention to it isn't the answer either, or I'll end up with credit card debt for the first time in my life. It's a lot more challenging to make decisions about what to cut or not cut when there are five people involved. For example, I thought we should stop Nadia's gymnastics classes, but Paul doesn't want to do that. I love staying at home with the kids and am going to do my best to figure out how to live on Paul's income. I am thinking of giving up our cell phones for a Magic jack phone, for example. We've switched from Netflix to Amazon Prime, which is a little cheaper for watching tv plus includes free shipping on Amazon. In a time when many are facing unemployment, I am very thankful Paul has a job. The things we have to give up (like buying takeout pizza) are very petty when you think of all the people around the world who are homeless or don't have enough money to buy food. We are blessed beyond measure.

Thankful Thursday

1. Nadia made three baskets during her practice last Thursday evening! She did a much better job of passing the ball during Saturday's game.

2. Paul's parents were able to come up and see Nadia's basketball game and then spend another five hours with us at our house on Saturday!

3. We are so grateful for the restaurant gift cards my parents gave the kids for Valentine's Day now that we're trying not to spend any money at restaurants (only using gift cards).

4. I used credit card points from a new credit card. The bonus points they gave us for using the card for three months were enough to almost completely pay for 3 round trip tickets to Orlando. We only had to pay $89.29 total for the three tickets, and we're flying on Jet Blue, which means our first bags are checked for free, and we're flying from DC so our car can be parked at my parent's  house for 2 weeks without paying for parking at the airport. With how cold it's been up here, Florida sounds heavenly right about now!

5. We also bought our 2 day Disney tickets. Those were definitely not free or anywhere near cheap, but the kids are VERY excited. I'm planning on using Paul's credit card bonus points to order free tickets to SeaWorld next month.

6. The kids really did a great job singing in their choir during the second service on Sunday. I'm especially pleased with Ian's  progress.

7. The kids and I enjoyed our brownie batter donuts on Saturday morning. YUMMY!

8. Paul and I enjoyed our date night on Friday night! I also got a few good bargains at the mall that night. For example, I got myself a cardigan and a blouse for $11.98 total that originally would have cost $66 total.

9. Oliver went nine consecutive nights without wetting the bed, and he is no longer needing to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, as the earliest he gets up to go potty is 5:45 am. He broke the "not wetting the bed" streak this morning, but maybe tomorrow he can start an even longer streak.

10. The previous two Sundays for a variety of reasons I sat in the worship service alone (the kids were elsewhere in the building and Paul was at home). It was so nice to sit with Paul, Nadia, and Ian this past Sunday.
Nadia is doing better at taking notes during the sermon, and a few weeks ago at one point she had a horrified look on her face when the pastor said that Peter "put his foot in his mouth" (she took it literally), which told me that she's really listening to the sermon!

11. We had a great time at the Children's Museum on Tuesday.

12. Oliver has been off the nebulizer for 12 days, and he's doing great. I'm very thankful we're all healthy right now!

13. It snowed while we were at church last night. I am grateful we got home safely, as the roads were snow covered.

14. Yesterday Nadia demonstrated an excellent work ethic. She was very motivated to do extra chores to earn some money. I had planned for cleaning the toilets to be her new weekly chore when she turned seven (and she's not paid for her chores), but since she's not seven yet, that will count as a way she can earn money for now. I taught her how to clean the bathroom floors, counters, sinks, and toilets, and she then proceeded to clean the bathrooms! She can't reach the mirrors, so I took care of those. I also taught her how to clean the windows. She did the inside portion of the bottom half of eight windows and one sliding glass door while I was mopping the foyer and kitchen floors. Next she plans to help me dust the mini-blinds (I'll do the top half of each while she does the bottom half) and dust and polish the upstairs banister. I paid her $2.50 for her hard work yesterday. At this rate, it won't take her long to earn $40! I said I would give her $7 if she stops sucking her thumb. She told me she didn't suck it last night. We shall see if she can give up this bad habit. I hope so! Ian wants no part in helping around the house. He almost always complains when I ask him to help. Not good. Oliver really wants to help, but of course his idea of "help" isn't usually actually a help (when I turned my back yesterday I discovered he was making an attempt at cleaning a toilet!), but I appreciate his desire to help! I bought a child's size broom a couple of months ago for Ian, but actually Oliver is the one who uses it all the time.

15. Ian is generally an affectionate guy, but lately he's been giving me five million hugs a day and telling me it's for Valentine's Day. Should I tell him the holiday is over? Nope. I'll just soak up the hugs! Oliver has just gotten into the stage of saying "I love you" or "I love you too." The others got into that at a much younger age, so I was starting to think Oliver wouldn't ever do it excessively. Like the extra hugs, I know he won't say it umpteen times a day for very long so I am treasuring the precious words every time he says them.

16. I finally took the plunge and bought Rosetta Stone so Nadia (and soon Ian) can start learning Spanish. This has been a goal of mine that hasn't been achieved for quite a while. I know it's much easier to learn a language at an earlier age so I want to seize the opportunity! I am also thrilled because our church might start offering art or Spanish classes for home schoolers are early as next month! They recently sent out a survey. I hope enough people are interested that it can happen! Like most language learners, Nadia is having an easier time with her receptive vocabulary than her expressive vocabulary with Spanish.

17. I've gotten in the habit lately of vacuuming (Nadia does some of it) on Monday mornings before we do school work. I love this habit because in order to vacuum the floors have to be clean. It means that at the start of the week everything has been put away (even if that only lasts for 30 seconds).

$2 Tuesday

After Nadia did her schoolwork and we ate an early lunch, we piled in the van to head to the Children's Museum. I began to wonder if we were actually going to be able to go because the check engine light was flashing, but I pulled over and after the vehicle started to warm up the light went off and didn't come on again. I hadn't driven the car in 48 hours, and during that time it was VERY cold outside. I think the van doesn't like being in zero degree weather! The kids were very motivated to keep Oliver awake because I told him that if Oliver fell asleep we'd go to Walmart after the museum, but if he stayed awake we'd go to Walmart before the museum. They were very anxious to go to Walmart because they each planned to spend some money. I also wanted to get Nadia some headbands and hair clips because she's letting her bangs grow out, and they are now long enough to be in her eyes. Nadia fell in love with a $40 Frozen lego set, and that was about $30 more than she had so she didn't actually spend any money. Now I need to come up with some ways for her to earn the money. Generally I only give her money for losing a tooth ($1), her birthday (she'll get $7 in June), and 50 cents for watching Oliver for me from time to time (such as while I'm taking a shower). Since I don't give her an allowance, I need to give her opportunities to earn the money.

Ian picked out a small Spiderman toy that cost $8, which was how much money he had brought with him. I knew he had some more money at home to cover the tax, so I included his item in my purchase of milk and such and charged it on my credit card. After I paid I turned and asked him for the $8, and he handed me four quarters. He said he had left the $5 and $2 bills at home. When we got home a few hours later, he couldn't find the $7. I think maybe he lost it in the store. Lessons learned include #1 buy this boy a wallet (it was in his pocket) or keep the money in my purse for him and #2 don't pay for the item until he hands me the money. He had another $2 bill in his bank at home, and Nadia generously gave him $1 of her money towards the Spiderman, but he's $4 short at the moment so Spiderman is up in a cabinet until he can pay me the $4 (unless we happen to come across the $7 he lost at some point or another). The kids had a blast at the Children's Museum as always. The activities were focused on Dr. Seuss today. They made Horton elephants (including the flower he held with the Who on it) out of toilet paper rolls, played with oobleck (Nadia's favorite part of the day today), sewed pockets for Wockets (I was very impressed with Oliver's ability to sew with a plastic needle!), flip green eggs (beanbags that looked like green eggs) with a spatula, make creatures out of modeling clay, etc. I have decided that in August I am going to buy a family membership because Oliver will no longer be free as of August 7, and it would be cheaper to buy the membership at that point than to just go on $2 Tuesdays. They have really neat programming on other days of the week (ex. science classes for homeschoolers every other Wednesday) that we could do for free if we buy the membership for the year. If we have an annual membership, I think we'll be heading out there more than once a month. I wish it was a little closer to our house, but it's worth the drive. All three kids slept on the way home, but it was a much shorter nap than usual for Oliver. I think next month we'll get there earlier so Oliver's nap isn't sacrificed.

President's Day

Since we homeschool we take different days off than schools do. We don't take snow days, but we do take the day off for our five birthdays. Paul had school today because Bucknell doesn't take off for many holidays either, but most schools around here were closed today for President's Day. When I mentioned that it was President's Day, Ian told me his favorite is George Washington (probably because he's heard Daddy say he thinks Washington was our best President). Nadia then asked me if Abraham Lincoln was still alive, and when I told her he wasn't she said, "Oh no, that means I can't meet him." Cracked me up! We sometimes check out DVDs from the library about various people (they're about 25 minutes long). Most recently we watched one about Ludwig Beethoven. Ian asked today if we could watch one about Lincoln. I had planned on doing that in a few weeks (we haven't gotten to the Civil War yet), but I believe in seizing the moment so I put in the request at the library so Paul can pick it up after work tomorrow. It seems fitting considering Lincoln's birthday was last week.

On Mondays the kids and I rarely leave the house, and considering how cold it was outside, I was very glad to stay inside all day today. Tomorrow it's supposed to get up into the 20's, and we are planning to venture out for our monthly trip to the Children's Museum.

Nadia has been working on learning Luke 2:1-7 for the past couple of weeks. I think she'll know it by Wednesday for Sparks. I took a video this afternoon (see below).

Valentines celebrations!

Last year I made the kids a heart shaped egg in a piece of toast, and then put some jelly on the heart I had cut out of the center (where the egg went) and chocolate chip heart shaped pancakes for lunch. They also decorated cut-out sugar cookies (heart shaped) last year on Valentine's Day. This year our celebration began on Monday when we gave the kids their gifts a few days early because Nadia was asking to do a puzzle, and Paul suggested we give them their gifts early since I had gotten them each a new puzzle. On Friday I let them eat the chocolate my mom had gotten them (they each got a little heart shaped box that had four pieces). That same day Nadia painted Valentines for Paul's parents and for Paul. Paul and I went out on a date on Friday night, and while we were out we bought six brownie batter donuts for a special Valentine's Day breakfast (those donuts are heart shaped). The kids loved them! At breakfast I also let them open their Valentines from Grandma and Grandpa. They were thrilled to receive gift cards to McDonald's and such in them!

I had planned to do the egg and toast thing for lunch but that didn't work because Nadia's basketball game was from 11:30-12:30, and we like to feed the boys lunch during her game to help pass the time since they are not big fans of watching basketball games. I was planning to make heart shaped pizzas for dinner, but Paul's parents were able to meet us at Nadia's game (we hadn't seen them in more than a month) so we splurged and bought pizza for the first time this year later in the evening. Yumm! They received cards from Grandma and Pop Pop as well as $5 each, which they will have fun spending! I had given Paul a bag of M&Ms on Friday night. Paul objected because we had agreed the money we paid the babysitter for our date would be our "gift" to each other this year, but he felt better when I let him know that I only paid 24 cents for his gift (thanks to a coupon that took 74 cents off the price). I gave the kids a hard time (teasing) on Friday that everyone got chocolate for Valentine's Day except me. Maybe next time they'll share one piece with me. :)

One of Nadia's shots

Nadia's game went well. She made several attempts at making a basket, and she was *very* close a couple of times. She made THREE baskets at the practice on Thursday night so maybe by the end of the season she'll make one in a game. She continues to improve with dribbling and playing defense. The thing I noticed the most improvement this week was she had some REALLY good passes (and a couple of assists). Her coaches and teammates are incredibly encouraging. What a fabulous team for her to be on! Paul's mom will be starting a brief radiation treatment on Tuesday so we won't see them for a few weeks. I am so glad they were able to make it to Nadia's game. We weren't sure they would because of the snow. Thankfully we didn't get as much as originally forecasted although their the first part of their drive home was a bit slick. Many churches in our area cancelled their services today due to the snow we got last night as well as the bitter cold temperatures. It was ONE degree (not including the wind chill) when we drove to church this morning. So many people were missing from the adult choir that our director decided at the last minute that we wouldn't sing this morning. We were planning to sing a beautiful arrangement of "A Mighty Fortress is our God."

There were enough kids present though for the kids' choir to sing. They sang in both services. Paul took a video of the first service. I wish we had a video of the second one, but the battery died at the end of the first service. In the second service our kids were smiling (unlike the first time), and the CD was acting up in the first service so they quickly switched to having the music pastor accompany them on a synthesizer, and I thought it was a million times better that way. Ian continues to improve by leaps and bounds when it comes to singing with a choir in front of a congregation.

For lunch today we had the heart shaped eggs and toast, and after Oliver woke up from his nap the kids decorated heart shaped sugar cookies. During his nap I had Nadia and Ian each make a list of the 5 (Ian)/ 6 (Nadia) reasons they love each parent. I had done the same thing last year, and it was fun to compare their lists. I think this concludes our Valentines activities for this year, but every day we should look for ways to show our love to others!

Locked out!

Paul and I have been looking forward to our date tonight, but I think that Nadia has actually been even more excited. For the past week she has been asking me every day how many days until the babysitter comes? I am glad they like our new babysitter so much. She's only watched the kids once so far (in November). This will be our third date in the past six months, but last month's date was 47 hours long! Tonight we had what is a very typical date for us - dinner at TGIF and some shopping. I am determined to plan at least a couple of dates this year that are not "the usual" whether that means we'll go see a play or go dancing or something. Our date in November was not the usual because we went to Applebee's and then attended a classical music concert at Bucknell. It's so easy to get in a rut, but actually we hadn't been to TGIF since August. It's Paul's favorite restaurant, they have great coupons (ex. we used one for a free steak dinner tonight), and it's one of the few places around here where I can redeem credit card points for gift cards. The coupons make the gift cards last longer. No matter what we do, it's just nice to have some one-on-one time with my hubby! Jenn told us she brought some craft supplies and helped the kids make Valentine cards for us. I can't wait to see them tomorrow. How sweet! I had Nadia paint two this morning - one for Paul and one for Paul's parents. We got the kids brownie batter donuts tonight for a special Valentine's Day breakfast tomorrow morning.

On Wednesday night someone observing my husband on the couch might have thought we had a fight or something. Actually the only reason one of us sleeps somewhere other than our bed is because of an illness or something like that. I usually go to bed first, and I close the bedroom door because the light from downstairs makes it harder for me to fall asleep. When Paul comes to bed he leaves the door open so we can easily hear the kids. If they need help before Paul goes to bed (after I've gone to bed) then Paul just handles it.  I woke up a little after 1 am and realizing Paul wasn't in bed yet, I went downstairs to see why he was up so late. When I went to open the door, I discovered the reason he wasn't in bed. The door was LOCKED. I had locked my poor husband out of the bedroom when I closed the door (unintentionally). I felt SO badly. I came down and apologized, and he came up to bed. I will be very careful from now on to make sure I am only closing the door at night!

Thankful Thursday

1. My parents came up last Thursday! We met in Sunbury around 4pm for a quick dinner together at Subway and then headed to the ice rink where they could spend time sitting by the fire with Oliver (to warm up!) and also spend time watching Nadia and Ian skate (brrr). They were also able to see their Karate class on Friday morning and Nadia's basketball game on Saturday morning. Paul and my dad bowled two games on Friday night, Grandma colored with the kids and read them books, my dad built Legos with Ian, etc. Nadia didn't do all her usual school work on Friday, but she did read part of a biography on Samuel F.B. Morse to Grandma, played the piano for them, practiced counting coins, and practiced some addition flash cards.

2. My parents brought up a myriad of goodies for us such as some cereal they didn't want, Maurice's Lego sets from when he was a kid (12 sets!), and an assortment of things that Yvonne and Joe had set aside for us when they were packing up to return to Turkey last month. We are very appreciative!

3. The home school P.E. class on Friday was a self-defense class (along the lines of stranger danger) taught by a woman with her black belt in Karate (who also teaches computers in a public school). The kids really enjoyed it! She brought a long a variety of items that used to be tools for gardening and such in China many years ago that are now used as weapons in Karate. I had a wonderful chat with a homeschooling mom (Erin) who moved to the area a few weeks ago from Altoona. I feel like I have met several women in the past few weeks who could become friends (more than just acquaintances). This is an answer to prayer!

4. The kids continue to make progress in their ice skating lessons. They started to learn how to skate backwards last Thursday!

5. Nadia is making progress with her basketball skills! Last Thursday night she made her very first basket during their practice. I noticed during Saturday's game that when she was playing defense she was both guarding her man AND looking to see where the ball was (first time I saw her doing both of those things at the same time). She also did the best with dribbling that I had ever seen her do. The ball was actually bouncing back up high enough so that she could dribble it down the court! Now she needs to remember to keep dribbling when she is about to make a shot. It's a good thing the refs don't blow the whistle for walking in the K/1st grade games. :)

6. My parents treated us to pizza on Friday night. Buying pizza used to be the norm for us, but I've been making our pizza lately at home, and it just does not compare At All to pizza from Vennaris. Yum! We had some leftovers that we were able to enjoy on Saturday night. Also, they got us donuts for breakfast on Saturday morning, and this is the one month of the year that Dunkin Donuts serves my MOST favorite donut - the Brownie Batter donut. I have *no* idea why they don't sell that donut year round. It is scrumptious! Nadia was wishing she had requested that donut instead of a chocolate frosted with sprinkles. I promised her we'll get donuts once more this month so she can have one of those brownie batter donuts before they stop selling them.

7. On Saturday (2/7) I wrote about Oliver turning 2 1/2 years old, but that date (in 1997) was also when I met Paul at a ballroom dancing class. We've known each other 18 years now! I love him so much!!!

8. My dad was able to help with two projects on Friday! He assembled the bed frame we had bought at Sears a couple of weeks ago. Oliver's mattress and box springs are no longer on the floor. He also attached some wood (from Oliver's crib) to the frame of Ian's bed because the box springs kept crashing down. Thanks so much, Dad!

9. Oliver is healthy again! Saturday was the last day I gave him breathing treatments for his most recent cold. Hoping he stays healthy for awhile, and I'm very grateful the last cold didn't result in another hospitalization or the addition of another medication to his daily routine.

10. My favorite consignment shop had a 50% off sale on Saturday, and I was able to go there during Oliver's nap. I bought 19 different things (some were outfits that included a shirt and pants, some were pairs of shoes, some were just a single item like a pair of pants), and my total bill was $21.66! Nadia has been wearing the pair of cowboy boots I got her (thinking ahead to horse back riding camp in June) almost every day around the house. I also brought some things to sell. I have never tried to sell anything at this consignment shop before. Unlike most shops, she actually buys things up front. Most consignment shops you don't get any money until someone buys the item from the store. I brought Oliver's crib set, a pair of snow pants, a pair of snow boots, and a baby scale, and she gave me $52. Over the last three years I've just been giving everything away (not selling anything). I am planning to try to sell some things and will keep donating others. Maybe I can sell enough things there that I won't need to spend any more money at that consignment shop. If we lived closer to the store, I am sure I would be shopping there more often than I do.

11. Oliver only woke up once on Tuesday night, and he woke up dry on Wednesday morning. Ian also stayed in his bedroom until about 6:50. What a blessing for this tired Momma!

12. The kids continue to make progress with their puzzle skills. Yesterday Nadia completed a 300 piece Frozen puzzle (having done most of it herself) and Ian started and finished a 211 piece Star Wars puzzle (with some help from me). Way to go, Nadia and Ian!

Oliver's first interview

I didn't start doing birthday interviews with Nadia and Ian until their third birthdays, but I decided to do one for Oliver starting with when he turned 2 1/2. Here's two minutes with Oliver! I'm on a roll with two videos two days in a row! I know this shows his counting skills are lagging behind, but in his defense the boy can do a 25 piece jigsaw puzzle by himself! I'll make sure he can count at least to ten by the time he turns three (considering his siblings could count to thirteen before they turned two).

This picture (at right) is of Nadia working on her first 300 piece jigsaw puzzle. It's a collage of six Frozen characters; she's almost finished it, and she's done almost all of it by herself. Oliver has attempted to help her, but I've been trying to convince him that he's not ready for a 300 piece puzzle yet (that was marked as being for ages 9+). The boy loves puzzles!

The picture below is of Ian doing school work this morning. He hasn't been doing much lately, but today he asked me to do school work and we did! He hasn't been playing the iPad lately either. He's been totally consumed by Legos! Today he did some handwriting, math, and reading. The picture is of him flipping "eggs" with a spatula. After he read a word correctly (all of the words have a "th" in them), he flipped the egg over with a spatula. He thought it was a lot of fun!

Insomniac

Can two year olds suffer from insomnia? On Thursday night (technically Friday morning) Oliver was up at least three times between 1-2 am, and he did a similar thing the next night only it happened a little earlier in the night. Saturday and Sunday he slept through the night, but both mornings he woke up having wet the bed. It's hard enough getting up one time to take him to the bathroom during the middle of the night because it takes me a long while to go back to sleep, but it's much harder when I have to get up multiple times. Maybe he has just as much trouble going back to sleep as I do? I don't turn the light on in the bathroom, and I try to do things as quickly as possible to make it easier for him to fall back asleep. The first several nights he woke up to go to the bathroom it was a once and done thing. Last night was the absolute worst. He woke up dry, but honestly I would have rather done a load of laundry this morning of his bedding and gotten more sleep. He was up FIVE times between 2:30-4:30 am. I took him to the bathroom the first time (and he did go), and the other four times I put him right back in bed. Ian also got up one of the first couple of times. After being up for two hours I finally fell back asleep and then Paul (in his sleep) accidentally hit me with his arm, and that woke me up again. Then Ian started coming to our bedroom (more than once) starting at 5:45. All this to say that I got almost no sleep from 2:30 am onward. Thankfully I went to bed at 9:30 last night, but I really prefer a lot more than five hours of sleep!

I cut Oliver off from fluids earlier this evening. The odd thing is that he had been waking up dry in his diaper for more than a week before I switched him to underwear, and hadn't been going to the bathroom in the middle of the night, so I know he *can* sleep through the night and wake up dry. Tonight I plan to be in bed by 9pm to try to get some more sleep. Paul thought it was because Oliver had a 3 hour nap yesterday, but he has taken that long of a nap plenty of other times without it causing him to get up in the middle of the night even once let alone five times. Today he only napped for 80 minutes. I woke up with a pounding headache, but I took a shower first thing and that took away my desire to take some pills for my headache. I hope and pray that someday these boys learn to sleep like their sister does. I actually have to wake her up sometimes because I think she's sleeping in longer than she should. That never happens with the boys!



I have taken several videos of the kids over the past six weeks, but I haven't uploaded any of them from the memory card. This afternoon I took one of Nadia playing one song on the piano. I just started teaching her again a few weeks ago. Oliver is fussing a bit in the background (asking me to take his picture, etc.), but still this shows where Nadia is at right now with her piano skills.

Three steps back

Oliver slept in underwear for the past fifteen nights. The first ten nights he never wet the bed, although his underwear was a little wet twice. Unfortunately over the past five nights he has wet the bed three times. The first time was on Thursday morning. He did fine the next two days, but the last two mornings he has wet the bed again. The most puzzling was yesterday morning. He woke up at 5:45, and I took him to the bathroom (his underwear was dry at this point) and then took him back to bed. I guess he didn't actually pee when I had him on the toilet because when he woke up at 6:45 his clothes and bedding were soaked. I thought from now on I will make sure he actually goes potty, if I take him to the bathroom before it's time to get up for the day. This morning when he woke up at 5:30, he had already wet the bed. It's frustrating considering he succeeded the first ten nights. I am very grateful for a working washing machine and dryer! The dryer was making a burning smell on Saturday night, but Paul was able to fix it yesterday thankfully. I bought the dryer 18 years ago, and I know it's not going to last forever, but I'm glad it didn't give up the ghost in the middle of night time potty training when I am doing laundry more often than usual! Ironically, I just donated all of the leftover diapers at church yesterday morning (some Parent's Choice that I had bought and some Pampers from the PICU). Hopefully he will get back on track with staying dry at night ASAP!

 He also had a slight regression with daytime training on Saturday because he peed in his pants while sitting on a chair. Both times he peed on a piece of furniture it was while he was using the iPad, so from now on he must go potty before using the iPad because evidently he gets so engrossed he ignores his need to go to the bathroom. The other time it was on the blue couch and the fabric can be unzipped from the cushion (and I washed it in the washing machine), but that couldn't be done with the cushion he peed on this time. Prior to this incident it had been more than a month since he had a #1 accident when he was awake.

The photos in this post were taken last Thursday afternoon during Oliver's nap. They were making Valentines for my parents with crayons melted by my griddle. This week we'll have to try a different heart themed craft to make Valentines for Paul's parents and for Daddy. Paul and I are looking forward to going out on a date on Friday night, and I already bought the kids their Valentine's Day presents (a puzzle for each of them).

Snowfest

After church and a stop at Dunkin Donuts for bagel sandwiches for lunch, we headed to RB Winter State Park for Snowfest. The kids had fun making snowman crafts, sledding, learning about animals that hibernate, and riding in a snowmobile. We spent about two hours there. I wish I had an action shot of Oliver coming down on the sled. He was laughing his little head off the whole way down!! Next time we'll bring sleds (someone let us borrow theirs for a little bit) and do a few more things that we could have done today such as watching the ice carving demonstration, snow shoeing, ice fishing, etc. Snowfest wore the kids out because all three of them fell asleep on the way home!