Thankful Thursday

1. On Friday after gym class I took the kids to Lewisburg. We got pizza at Vennari's for lunch. That is my MOST favorite pizza place bar none, and we hadn't had any pizza from there since May because Paul used to pick it up on his way home from Bucknell. Then we enjoyed seeing some ice carvings. I planned to take the kids back to the ice festival on Saturday morning for some games, but since it was SO cold outside we opted not to return. Maybe next year! The pizza was scrumptious, and they were having a special that meant we got a free order of breadsticks, which were also delicious.

2. Friday night I took Nadia and Ian to Bucknell for family night at their observatory. They looked out of a large refracting telescope that was built in the late 1800's. Nadia enjoyed seeing the craters on the moon. They made a craft (supposed to look like a protostar), looked out of a reflecting telescope, listened to a 30 minute concert by a singer/guitarist who sang songs about the planets, and heard part of a talk by a professor about stars.

3. I was summoned for jury duty last June, but I asked to be excused because my mother was on hospice. That request was approved. I was summoned again last month. I asked to be excused because I am homeschooling my three children, but that request was denied. Thankfully they didn't have a civil case this week so I didn't need to actually appear, but they said it means I'm going to get summoned again.

4. Grandma and Pop Pop were able to come to the kids' basketball games on Saturday. The games were back to back (12:00 and 1:00) which was really nice. It's the only time that will happen this season.

5. I went shopping by myself on Saturday afternoon at the mall, which is an extremely rare occasion. I would have enjoyed it more if I had been feeling better (had a fever and was upset about something), but I used three coupons that took $15 off my purchases at JCPenney and PetSmart and. I spent about $12 total at the mall. I got some food for the guinea pigs, two long sleeve Mickey t-shirts for Oliver for next year, and two short sleeve Mario t-shirts for Ian for next year.

6. Yesterday we had a field trip to the Children's Museum. They had one white bull snake, three ball pythons, and one bearded dragon available for the kids to hold. I would have gotten better pictures if I had brought my speedlight. The lighting in the museum is awful, and I had to raise the ISO way higher than usual and use a wider aperture than I really wanted to, which meant the pictures are definitely not as crisp or "in focus" as I wanted. Next time hopefully I'll remember to bring the speedlight. Usually they have the programs in the classroom, which has better light than most of the museum, but they are remodeling the classroom right now (putting in a big sink, kitchen, etc.).

7. It was SO warm that I took the kids to the playground after we spent two hours at the museum. What a gift the warmer weather was!

8. Today was quite the opposite. Very cold, windy, and we got about six inches of snow. Paul had to take a snow day because it wouldn't have been safe to drive to work this morning.

9. At Walmart yesterday I finally got Ian a strap for his glasses. It cost less than $5, and now his glasses are staying where they are supposed to. Yay!

10. The kids and I made Valentine's sugar cookies today. Usually I don't take a day off of school for snow, but since Paul was home I did. The kids did a little science and social studies with Paul, and they always read at least a couple of chapters in whatever book they are reading, but I'm not counting today as a school day.

11. Nadia and Ian love to listen to Christian contemporary music. We love our local Christian radio station. I know there might be a time in the future where our tastes do not agree, but it's nice that we all like the same music right now. My parents were not fans of Christian contemporary music when I was a child (that's putting it mildly - I was told it was "bad" because drums were used); so I didn't listen to my music in their presence, but I am thankful at least two of my kids share my taste preferences in music right now. One of my most favorite songs at the moment is "Thy Will" by Hillary Scott. I heard on the radio recently that she wrote the lyrics a couple of years ago following a miscarriage. Maybe that is in part why the song resonates so strongly with me. When Nadia and Ian were little all they wanted to listen to were VeggieTales or Slugs and Bugs CDs. Let me say Hillary Scott is much easier on my ears than Bob the tomato!

12. Although I'd still like to get myself a pair of snow boots at some point, the rain boots I wore for the first time today did a MUCH better job of keeping my feet dry while we were out in the snow today. Yay!

13. My Bible study was still held this evening. I am enjoying my studies on 1 Samuel and Revelation. Unfortunately the kids' ice skating lessons were cancelled, and they didn't email or call or text us so we drove down there (30 minutes one way) for naught. Bummer. But we did enjoy dinner at the Domino's near the ice skating rink before we found out the class was cancelled.

14. I'm thankful that Odd Squad is available on Amazon Prime. All three kids love that show, and I like that it's an educational show.

15. As always, I am thankful for my camera and lenses! I took TONS of pictures the last couple of days - too many to include in this post, but here are a few. I'll share more in the coming days.

4 1/2 years old!

Today is monumental in our family for two reasons. First of all, it was on this day twenty years ago that Paul and I met in a ballroom dancing class at Boscov's department store. So much has changed in the past twenty years. If you had told me then that I'd have three children, that wouldn't have surprised me as I wanted 3-4 children at that point. I would never have guessed that I wouldn't become a mom until I was 36 and that all three kids would come through IVF. I wouldn't have predicted that we would own three different houses within the first seven years of our marriage, but it wouldn't have surprised me that we would still be living in Pennsylvania, as after knowing Paul only a little while I figured he'd probably never be willing to leave the state. I had no idea at that point what type of job he'd have, but I definitely wouldn't have thought he'd be back at the family business because that was one of the very first things he told me on 2/7/97 - that he was just working there temporarily and definitely didn't want to work there long term or ever own the company. I would never have guessed that in 2017 he would turn down a job offer that paid more money and would allow him to spend far more time with his kids.

The fact that I am a stay-at-home mom now wouldn't have surprised me as that was always my goal, but I would not have predicted that I would be homeschooling my children. I always assumed I'd send my kids to a Christian school, but I am thrilled that Paul had the idea to homeschool them. The fact that I would earn my doctorate in 2002 wouldn't have surprised me, but I would not have expected that I would have kept working as a professor during my first four years of motherhood or that Paul would have been a full-time graduate student for seven years of our marriage. Considering how much we enjoyed ballroom dancing together twenty years ago, I would have expected we'd still be dancing together on a regular basis. That summer I assumed we'd get married in 1998 so I would have assumed we'd be married longer than we have been, as we got married in 2001. I always had a strong dislike of debt so the fact we don't have any car payments or school loan payments wouldn't have surprised me, but I would have expected our mortgage would have already been paid off. In January 2001 I got a 15 year mortgage and that would have been paid off by now. As it stands we won't be debt free until 2027. I would never have guessed that my mom would die in 2016 and my dad would get remarried in 2017. Twenty years from now we'll have an empty nest. I don't like to think about that right now. Realizing how quickly the past twenty years flew by makes me again very determined to savor these moments with my children because they will be gone before I know it.

Secondly, today is Oliver's half-birthday. He is six months away from turning five years old. My baby will be in Kindergarten, Sparks, playing Upward basketball, be in the homeschool gym class, and taking his first ice skating lessons at this time next year. He has been in the habit for several months of always putting the adjective "only" in front of his age. We hear him say MANY times a day. "I'm only four." I wonder if in August he's going to say he's "only five?" As I look at the posts I wrote about Nadia and Ian when they turned 4 1/2, I realize how I have spent far less time teaching him to read and write than I did his siblings when they were this age. Nadia knew what sounds the letters made, and Ian was reading short vowel words. Ian could write all his lowercase letters. Nadia was writing all but two letters (R and S). Although Oliver knows all of his letters, he can only write a few of them and hasn't learned what sounds any of them make yet. They were also playing a wider variety of board games than Oliver has learned to play thus far (such as Uno and Sorry), and they could both do a 100 piece puzzle independently. Oliver does up to around 60 pieces independently. He will do a 100 piece puzzle with some assistance. Over the past six months Oliver completely gave up the use of a bib. He also used a stroller for the last time a few months ago. I need to sell the two strollers we still own. He learned how to buckle his seat belt. We don't own any car seats any more - just four booster seats (two for each vehicle for Ian and Oliver).

Because he and Nadia have summer birthdays, they had both played on a soccer team before they turned 4 1/2, whereas Ian had to wait until he was closer to five years old. Nadia and Ian had accepted Christ as their personal Savior before turning 4 1/2. Oliver hasn't shown any awareness thus far of his need for a Savior. As I think back on the three kids I see some similarities between all three children, but I actually see more similarities between Nadia and Ian than I do between Ian and Oliver. For example, Nadia and Ian both loved dressing up in costumes and playing with stuffed animals when they were 4 1/2. In one regard Oliver is more similar to his sister - they were both more outgoing socially than Ian was at this age. I feel badly that I haven't spent as much time teaching Oliver thus far, but he has plenty of time to play, and that's wonderful. I plan to start doing more with him even this month, but when I really plan to help him get "caught up" is from May through August while the other two are in summer mode with their school work. Since I will be spending less time with them on school work, I will use that time to spend more time with Oliver. In the fall I'll need to make the adjustment to teaching three students instead of two since he'll be in Kindergarten at that point.

I am very thankful that Oliver has gone multiple months without an accident in his bed. I would like him to become totally independent with going to the bathroom (which his siblings had already achieve at this point) which means doing a better job at wiping and also learning how to button and unbutton his pants.

Over the past six months I have noticed a big improvement in how Oliver's body handles a respiratory bug. It has been many months since I've given him a nebulizer treatment, which is not something I could have said in the past. I even took him off the Singulair, and he's done fine. I am very hopeful that he won't need to be hospitalized this year because he needs to be on oxygen. In a couple of weeks it will be one year since he was last admitted to a hospital. This year is the earliest he *could* have the surgery to repair his umbilical hernia, but we're planning to pass on that unless he asks for it to be done at some point.

Oliver is still a great eater. The food group that has been the most challenging for him is fruit. He loves all vegetables he's every tried except for lima beans. He will eat a clementine or an apple at lunch. He's gotten much more independent with feeding himself. Yay! I knew it would happen. It bothered Paul far more than it bothered me. Three of his most favorite foods are carrots, bacon, and potatoes. He adores potatoes in just about any form - baked potatoes, potato soup, oven roasted potatoes, etc.

He does so much better with sitting and watching his siblings play soccer or basketball than he did when he was three years old.

I am not sure if he gravitates toward the girls or the girls gravitate toward him, but it is quite common to see him holding a girl's hand such as someone he just met at the play land at church. The two friends he talks about the most are Westyn and Karis. Westyn's family lives across from our house, and Westyn is 3 weeks younger than Oliver. Karis's family lives beside us, and Karis is 4 moths older than Oliver.

We are ever so thankful that Oliver Elliot is a part of our family and look forward to watching him grow in the coming months and years!

Thankful Thursday

1.Although Nadia's basketball practice was cancelled on Tuesday night due to the snow, my Bible study on Revelation was still held.

2. I had originally signed the kids up for two field trips at R.B. Winter this week, but I then decided one was enough so we skipped the one yesterday. Today Nadia and Ian participated in a program about animal hibernation. At one point they had to do research on a particular animal (either individually or in pairs), and Ian drew the card for the ground hog, which was very appropriate considering today is Groundhog Day. The four hour program included a walk outside. We were supposed to use snowshoes for that, but the snow wasn't quite deep enough for that.

3. Yesterday was my brother's 33rd birthday. I still remember how I kept chanting "Mommy is having a baby" when I found out my mom was pregnant. I have loved him since I knew he existed. I enjoyed chatting with him for about 45 minutes today after playing a lot of phone tag with him yesterday.

4.I finally got out the Expodisc that I've had for quite a while that I received as a gift, and wow what a difference it makes with white balance. I feel silly I waited this long to figure out how to use it. Many times I have deleted pictures and other times spent time trying to adjust the colors in Lightroom to get the skin tones right (ex. so everyone doesn't look jaundiced). It's so much easier just to use the Expodisc. I will be putting it to good use. In fact I am keeping it handy and not storing it the camera bag any more. I even used it today at the state park.

5. Nadia came down yesterday with the bug I came down with on Saturday. Thankfully her fever only lasted one day, and so far it seems the boys have dodged that bullet.

6. Oliver woke up at 4:40 on Wednesday morning. I am thankful that this is a very rare thing and that most of the time the kids sleep until almost 7:00. I am guessing he had trouble going back to sleep because he then slept until 8:45 AM, and he usually gets up by 7:15. I was glad we stayed home so he could sleep in that late. Also, he woke up because he had to go to the bathroom. I think this means our days of him wetting the bed are finally over. It's been a few months now since that happened.

7. The kids and I did some shopping after the nature program. One of our stops was at Ollie's, which is a discount store that I typically only visit 1-2 times a year. I let the kids each pick out one thing as their Valentine's gift. Two years ago I gave them each a puzzle, and last year I gave them each a book for Valentine's Day. I had been struggling with what to get them this year. This worked out well. I had a coupon for 15% off and the prices are great to start with there. Nadia selected a Bible with a sparkly blue cover. Ian picked a Lego set (and it cost less than $7 even though it had almost 200 pieces so that was a good deal). Oliver picked a twin set of VeggieTales sheets that cost about $8.50. I also got the kids two more sleds. We only owned one sled, and it seemed with three kids it would be best to have three sleds. When we were out in the snow on Tuesday I was reminded that I don't own any waterproof boots. I realized that again today on the hike. So at Ollie's I also bought myself a pair of tall rain boots. Ideally at some point I'll also pick up a pair of snow boots that will keep my feet warm and dry in the snow, but at least with the rain boots my feet would stay dry in the snow. I had snow boots when I was a child, but as an adult I stayed out of the snow until I became a mom. Now I need snow boots again! I still have my snow pants from when I was a teenager. I can get my legs into them, but I can't zip them up. I can hide that by keeping my coat zipped, but ideally I'd also like to buy a pair of snow pants before we go skiing in a few weeks. I'd like to "blame" the increase in my waist line to having given birth three times, but my sisters have each given birth more times than I have and they both manage to get back to what they looked like before they were married so I know it's just an excuse on my part.

8.  The kids and I had dinner at Applebee's before their ice skating lessons this evening thanks to a gift card. Yum!

9. The kids really do love their guinea pigs. I have discovered exactly how and where to pet Patches so that she will purr. There's something about listening to an animal purr. I remember feeling that way about our cats purring at my parents house. Of course there are moments I wish we didn't have these animals - like when Jenna peed on the couch or when I find bedding in random places around the house, but I know having a pet is a big deal to kids, and they do really love these two little furry creatures. This morning Nadia had Jenna in a little doll highchair. So I naturally had to take a few pics. If Nadia holds Patches she is "babysitting" for Ian, and if Ian holds Jenna he is "babysitting" for Nadia. Ian is supposedly Jenna's uncle, and Nadia is supposedly Patches' Aunt. LOL!

10. I worked on my Bible study lessons during part of the lesson at the state park today while sitting in the back with Oliver who was playing. During a break a middle school aged girl came back to me and said it was such an encouragement to her to see me reading my Bible. That comment of hers made my day. At the state park Nadia also discovered that one of the older girls (she's in 9th grade) in the ice skating class is also homeschooled. As you can see from the pics, Nadia has fun with Holly (a homeschooler who is one year older than her). They are in gym class together on Fridays.