Ian's first basketball game

Today Nadia began her third season of Upward basketball and Ian had his very first game. The games last Saturday were cancelled due to snow so today was the first day of games for the 2016 season. It was fun watching Ian. He sure got his exercise running around the court. Sometimes I thought he looked like he was playing a game of tag with the child he was guarding. He doesn't understand the difference between offense and defense. He was guarding his player on both sides of the court. Oops! He did dribble and make some good passes. He never made any attempts at getting a basket. He was all smiles though. It did my heart good to watch him because he was having SO much fun out there, even if he was one weakest players on the court. His game was at 11:00, but when we arrived at 10:45 they were only having half-time for the 10:00 games. The rest of the games they had a very short half-time, but they were still running 30 minutes late when we left the gym at 2:30. Nadia's game was supposed to begin at 1:00. I took the boys over to the play land at our church for about 25 minutes in between the two games. Paul and his parents watched one of the 12:00 games. Oliver did pretty well considering we were there for three hours altogether, especially since he also missed his nap (which has been at least two hours long lately).

Although this was Nadia's third season, it was her first game playing on a 2nd/3rd grade team. There are some differences with the rules for those games compared to the K/1st grade games. For one thing they do keep score. I had the impression her team was being slaughtered by the other team, but actually they only lost by 4 points (28-32). The basketball hoop is higher, there are foul shots, the defense is allowed to steal the ball when someone is dribbling (not allowed for the K/1st grade games), and in general the referee enforces a lot more rules than they do with the youngest kids. It is still a co-ed team playing on a half court. Starting in fourth grade the kids play on a full court and the teams are not co-ed. We have yet to experience seeing one of our kids make a basket during a game. Maybe this will be the year? We shall see. I hope that both of them improve in their skills, show good sportsmanship, and have fun.

I didn't realize until today that I hadn't touched my camera in a little more than a month. The last time I took a picture was December 28. That is by far the longest I ever went without using a camera in the past 7 1/2 years. Since Nadia and Ian's uniforms this year are navy blue and yellow, I had Oliver wear a sweater sporting those same colors. He asked me to take his picture, and I was happy to oblige. I don't want him to feel left out even though he's not old enough to be on the basketball court yet.

Paul's parents met us at the church for the games and then came over and spent a few hours at our house (and treated us to pizza for dinner). So all around it was a special day.

Grateful Friday

It's been far more than a week since I last wrote a "Thankful Thursday" post so here we go...

1. I am thankful that Paul's parents watched the kids during my third trip to Maryland and that Paul watched them during my fourth trip.

2. I am thankful for the extra time I was able to spend with my sisters and mother although I wish it were for another reason. It was especially nice to see Yvonne, Micah, Jenna, and Andrew, as I hadn't seen them in 13 months. They are en route back to Turkey as I type this post.

3. Nadia and Ian are enjoying their ice skating lessons. They had their fourth lesson yesterday.

4. Nadia and Ian have also been enjoying their 90 minute gym class on Friday mornings. This month they did basketball two weeks and field hockey the other two weeks. The next three weeks they will be doing hockey, glow in the dark dodgeball, and capture the flag.

5. I was glad that their basketball games were cancelled last Saturday because I really didn't want to miss Ian's very first game. I am grateful that Grandma and Pop Pop are planning to come up for their games tomorrow.

6. I am thankful that West Chester invited me to have a phone interview. I will find out in a couple of weeks if I will be invited to interview on their campus next month.

7. As usual, I am very thankful for the public library. We have moved on to our fourth continent (Africa). This week the kids and I enjoyed eating mandazi (Kenyan donuts). Oliver and I liked the Jollof rice. None of us were too keen on the chapati (flatbread), but we did finish eating it. We all (including Paul) loved the book Listening for Lions. We give it two thumbs up! The kids also really enjoyed the picture books about Owen and Mzee (a true story about a hippo and tortoise in Kenya). I also have recently downloaded some free books on my Kindle that I checked out at the library and read while I was in Maryland.

8. Nadia and Ian are doing better at eating peas. They definitely prefer green beans or carrots, but it's nice to know that they will not have a total meltdown over peas any more. Ian also discovered he likes clementines! Progress.

9. Nadia has been FLYING through the Ramona chapter books. They are each almost 200 pages long, and she only takes 1-2 days to read one of the books. I figured she would love them because she really enjoyed them when I read them aloud to them a couple of years ago, but previously she was intimidated by the length. I love to see her reading! Ian also is making great progress with reading. He is moving quickly through Level Four. He is motivated because he has to finish that level before he can see the movie Return of the Jedi.

10. Ian tried on his glasses yesterday (with demo lenses) to make sure it was the frame we wanted, and I think they look nice on him. Hoping he will take good care of his glasses once we pick them up. I told him Aunt Wendy's advice "if the glasses aren't on your face, they should be in your case."

11. My mom made it through the 3 hour surgery on one of her lungs on Wednesday (decortication). She is hoping to be discharged on February 1 (she has been hospitalized since January 20). I have appreciated all the prayer support on her behalf. I know my mom has received MANY cards from folks who love her and are praying for her. I received my second card today - this time from someone at our previous church, which was very thoughtful.

Prayers appreciated

Last Wednesday my mother nearly died, but thankfully by God's grace the ambulance got her to the ER in time and the Lord pulled her through a very close call. Wendy flew from Chicago to Baltimore that evening, I drove down the next morning, and Yvonne arrived on Thursday evening from Turkey with three of her seven children. We spent Thursday night at our parents' house, and then on Friday morning we checked into a house owned by the hospital (similar to a Ronald McDonald House) in light of the approximately two feet of snow that was headed our way. Maurice and Yvonne's two oldest children stayed at my parents' house. My dad had reserved one room that had a queen size bed, cot, and a pack 'n play for Micah (who is 16 months old). This was sufficient for the five of us since one of us spent the night in mom's room each night. Wendy slept in the hospital room on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday night. I slept in the hospital room on Friday and Saturday night. During this hospitalization she was diagnosed with diabetes, thrush, and c-diff. Getting treatment for these conditions and having her fourth thoracentesis meant she had more emotional and physical energy when I left than when she arrived at the hospital.

You usually need to be rated at a 0-2 to receive chemo (sometimes they will give it to someone deemed a "3"). When she arrived at the hospital she was a 4 (which means hospice not chemo), but when I left she was a 3 and was very motivated to try and get back to a 2 so that she could have her next chemo treatment. The thoracic surgeon discussed two surgeries she could have on her lungs. Her left lung just needs a catheter so the fluid can be drained at home (no more thoracentesis procedures). That's a 20 minute procedure. Tomorrow morning at 11:00 she is scheduled to have a more complex surgery (2-3 hours long) on her right lung. She has been in the hospital since January 20 and will probably be discharged on the 29th or 30th. I would appreciate prayers that the surgery will go smoothly and will be a success in helping my mother's breathing and in turn give her more energy so that she can have her next chemo treatment on February 4. She does not want to go on hospice yet. This will only be my mom's second surgery in her life (she's 70 years old). Her first surgery was to remove her gallbladder several years ago. We are hoping that in several weeks she can have her third surgery to remove her ovaries, spleen, portions of her intestine, portions of her colon, the pleural cavities of her lungs, omentum, fallopian tubes, and anywhere else the cancer has spread. However the first step is to get her strong enough to have her second round of chemo next week, and we are hoping this surgery will help make that possible.


I came back home on Sunday night once the roads were cleared. We only got 3 inches of snow, but the places I was driving through on the way back home had received 20-30 inches of snow. Wendy flew back to Chicago yesterday evening, and Yvonne and her kids will probably leave on Friday evening. I have not planned my next trip down, but I am assuming it will be sometime within the next ten days or so. I have lived in Pennsylvania since June 1996, and in the past almost 20 years I have never made four trips to Maryland within a month (which is what happened between December 25- January 24). This last trip was very unique in that most of the time was spent with my two sisters and my parents. That hasn't happened in more than ten years as usually we have our husbands and children with us. I am grateful that we all have remained close to each other even though we live rather spread apart geographically. We love each other deeply and although we hope for more years together here on earth, we have the assurance of being reunited in Heaven and spending eternity together.

While I'm asking for prayer for my mom's surgery tomorrow, I would also appreciate prayers for a phone interview I am to have tomorrow with West Chester University at 10:15. I received a rejection from Millersville earlier this month and haven't heard anything yet from East Stroudsburg. The application deadline for Lock Haven isn't until March so I know I will not hear from them for awhile. There are basically three hurdles to pass to receive a job offer. First, one must be selected for a phone interview. I have made it past that hurdle with West Chester. Next, I am hoping to be selected for an in-person interview, and then the third hurdle is to be selected for the position. When I was hired at Bloomsburg University in 2004 I thought my days of interviewing were over (especially after I earned tenure and was promoted in 2008), but here I go again. On the one hand I feel a little bit rusty, but on the other hand I have the experience of having chaired many searches during my eight years at Bloomsburg.

Ian is getting glasses

The past three weeks have been a whirlwind and an emotional roller coaster. In order to respect my mom's request for privacy, I deactivated my Facebook account and temporarily stopped blogging, but yesterday was a big day for Ian, and I felt it deserved a post. Yesterday was Ian's second spiritual birthday. I bought a gallon chocolate milk on Tuesday in honor of that, and yesterday we stopped and had a donut at Dunkin Donuts on the way to their eye doctor appointment. Ian had two donuts, and the rest of us had one. Paul wasn't with us, but we brought his donut home. Ian's present this year was four Larry Boy books that I purchased for our Kindle. From Dunkin Donuts we went to the eye doctor where Ian and Nadia had their first eye exams (not counting the ones Ian had when he was an infant due to his prematurity to make sure he didn't have ROP). Nadia's vision is fine (yay!), but Ian is farsighted and has a lot of astigmatism. The astigmatism is interfering with both his near and far vision. I was surprised to hear the doctor say he was farsighted because both Paul and I are nearsighted. Paul didn't need glasses until his late twenties, but I got glasses when I was in first grade. Not surprisingly, Ian picked frames that were green because that is his favorite color. The woman said that the color he picked is by far the most popular color by both girls and boys. The lenses are rimless. Here's to hoping and praying that we picked ones that will really look nice on him and that he will take good care of them. The insurance paid over $400 toward the exam and glasses, and we paid about $150. Nadia's exam only cost us $5. We stopped at the library on our way home, and we happened to be there during preschool story hour which hadn't attended in years. Sometimes I feel badly for Oliver that he doesn't get to do things like that which his siblings did.

When I got home for lunch I learned that my sister from Turkey had bought airline tickets to fly to Maryland today and also that my mom had taken a turn for the worse. She was taken by ambulance to the hospital yesterday afternoon. When I arrived last Friday I was stunned to see how much she had gone downhill in the eight days I had been away, but it seems that since I left this Monday she had gone downhill even farther. Wendy was due to fly in today, but due to my mom's health she came in yesterday. I am leaving in a few hours so it will be the first time in 13 months that I will be with all my siblings. Because a blizzard is supposed to start in Maryland tomorrow (18-24 inches of snow is expected between Friday and Saturday), my dad has made reservations for us for rooms near the hospital in Annapolis as we won't be able to drive back to my parents house from the hospital for a few days. We ended Ian's birthday celebration by having dinner at Friendly's. I want to write more but don't have time. Please pray for my mom and my entire family as we walk through this together. Please pray for Ian as he was crying a lot yesterday over the thought of losing his Grandma. Please pray for Oliver as he had hard time with my separation. The kids stayed with Paul's parents during my last trip to Maryland. I really want to be in Maryland right now, but it's also really hard for me to leave my kids. Paul will be watching them the first couple of days and then Paul's parents will probably watch them for a couple of days. I don't know exactly how long I will be gone.

Goals for 2016

In 2014 I focused on habits and traditions. There are certainly a few that the kids really enjoy like having donuts for breakfast on each of our birthdays and me buying a gallon of chocolate milk the week each child has a birthday. Last year I focused on grace - being more willing to bend the rules from time to time and being a bit more relaxed about school work. The fact that I took off a week from school work the week of Thanksgiving was proof that I have been more relaxed this year. This year I want to focus on patience and gentleness. I am thinking of moments such as when Oliver spills milk for the second time that day or writes with a marker on the couch. I want to show more love and less frustration. Hopefully this list is realistic, but even if we only achieve some of the goals, that will represent progress!

1. Once the weather gets warmer I'd like to get back in the habit of running 3-4 times a week and gradually increase my pace and by next fall I'd like to be able to run as far as 10 miles and also

be able to run one mile in 12-13 minutes (maybe that is overly ambitious, but it's a goal to shoot toward anyhow). I'd also like to lose at least 6 more pounds (or more if I gained weight since I last weighed myself). I think it is going to be much harder for me to run once Paul starts working FT for Kennedy Concrete in May, but I hope to find a way to work it into the schedule. If I get a job, then we can afford to pay a babysitter while I run.

2. Having a regular family fun night and a regular family game night. I think we should target Saturday night for the family fun night (rotate among us as to who picks what we do that night together), and I think Friday night would be a good night to declare as our game night for the first four months of the year. Once Paul starts working FT at Kennedy Concrete, I think Sunday night will be best for game night because M-F when he works at the plant by the time he gets home and takes a shower, it is usually time to put the boys to bed.

3. Although all three kids are potty trained, there is still room for growth in this area. All three could do a much better job with remembering to flush. Oliver needs to learn to put his own
clothes back on afterward and making sure all the pee goes IN the potty. Ian needs to remember that toilet paper goes in the toilet not the trash can. Oliver and Nadia need to remember to close the door for privacy.

4. Ian and Nadia need to continue to like a wider variety of foods, particularly vegetables and soups. Oliver needs to become more independent with eating. He *can* feed himself, but often times he still prefers for me to feed him. I want to keep trying new recipes even after we finish studying different countries each week. Ian needs to consistently finish his lunch and his dinner in an hour or less. I would love to see Ian and Nadia learn how to cut their own food and remember to stay seated until they are done eating.

5. I want to work with Nadia and Ian on memorizing their basic addition and subtraction facts, using coins, and telling time. Ian also needs to work on being able to count to 100 by ones and fives (he can already do so by tens). I would like for Oliver to learn to count to 20 and identify the numerals 0-10 accurately. By the end of 2016 I think Ian will have completed the first grade math textbook and Nadia will have completed the third grade math textbook.

6. Oliver needs to learn to identify the letters of the alphabet and begin learning how to write upper case letters. I would like to see Ian finish Level 3 of reading and also complete Level 4 of the reading curriculum. I hope that by the end of 2016 he is reading easy chapter books independently.

7. The household chore I would like to focus on this year is dusting. I am making that Ian's new chore now that he's six years old, and I think if he and I dust a part of the house each week, that would be a big improvement. Ian and Nadia need to hang up their wet towels and do more than just pull the comforter over their beds each morning.

8. If we do move this year, I really, really want to go all out at trying to make at least one or two friends for myself. I also need to make progress with emotionally handling this drastic change of plans for our lives. I am hoping to meet with a counselor or pastor at church next month to that end. If I
go back to work, I need to make the transition from being a SAHM to being a mom who has a FT job. Hopefully we will still be able to homeschool the children, but if not, they will also need to make the transition to attending school.

9.  Ian needs to break the belly button habit, learn to tie his shoes, obey the first time I ask him to do something, and decrease the whining and complaining.

10. I would love to see Oliver learn to ride a bike with training wheels, be kinder with his words, learn to do a forward tuck roll, and continue to make progress with controlling his temper.

11. I want to have Nadia start using a writing curriculum, get back to using Rosetta stone for Spanish, get back to working on her keyboarding skills, finish the fourth grade spelling textbook by the end of 2016, become more flexible (she's become VERY picky lately in regards to many different things), learn to write in cursive, remember to put the hairbrush back where it belongs, not scream when her hair is brushed, and see drastic
improvements with her attitude and tone of voice.

12. I want to continue to hone my photography skills. I am planning on using most of the money my Aunt Janet gave me for Christmas toward a Lightroom course. I think taking that class will be very helpful and "force" me to make progress (and start shooting in raw).

13. I have not read through the whole Bible in a year lately. I would like to do that in 2016. I also want to help Nadia get in habit of having a daily time of prayer and Bible reading.

14. The financial goal for 2016 is to no longer have a mortgage. We've paid off the van and Paul's student loans. I want the only debt we have to be a loan from my retirement accounts to buy our next house because it means we would not paying interest to any bank.

15. I wrote most of this post a few weeks ago and just added pictures to it this week, but this final goal I only wrote last night. My mother was told yesterday she has cancer. We don't know any particulars yet in terms of exactly what kind, how far along it is, what the treatment will be, etc., but my goal is to be as much help to her as I possibly can. They usually make more trips up here to visit us than we do down there to visit them, but I imagine we will be making more trips than usual in 2016 to help my mom out through this battle with cancer. I wish with all my heart that she did not have to go through this, but I am praying for the Lord to heal her as only He can.

2015 in Review

Every year has its ups and downs, but some years are more challenging emotionally than others. The miscarriages in 2005, 2007, and 2013 were certainly tough for instance. As I reflect over our fourteen years of marriage, I would say the three hardest years for me were 2007, 2012, and 2015. 2007 was challenging for the first eleven months due to our struggles to adopt a baby in the US, struggles to adopt 2-3 kids from Ukraine, and our first IVF transfer ended in a very early miscarriage of triplets. That year ended on a very happy note however, as we found out we were expecting again (Nadia!). 2012 started on a happy note when we found out we were expecting Oliver. April and June through August were very hard because I spent most of those four months in either a Ronald McDonald House or a hospital bed between Ian's feeding program in Hershey in April, my 10 weeks of bedrest (end of May through August 7), and Oliver's 4 week NICU stay, but the year ended on a very happy note as Oliver was off the oxygen and monitors, and we were all at home together.

This year started on a really rough note as I was in the PICU throwing up every time I stood up with the stomach flu while Oliver was screaming for me to hold him because the chest tube bothered him, and I wasn't allowed to hold him because of the machine that was helping him breathe, and this pained my heart in the worst way. Thankfully, we all stayed out of the hospital the rest of the year. Ironically, the year is ending with another lung issue in the family. My mom was admitted to the hospital last night, and after they ran various tests they determined only one of her lungs was functioning due to 4-5 liters of fluid (pleural effusion). Please pray that they will determine the cause of the fluid build up, that her lung will "wake up" and start functioning again, and that she will not be in much pain. After Oliver was discharged from the hospital in January, the next almost eight months went pretty smoothly, and then Paul told me on August 20 that he was done with the field of chemistry. Paul and I started dating almost nineteen years ago. He was a full-time student for eleven of those nineteen years (and a part-time student other years). Seven of the fourteen years of our marriage he was a FT graduate student, and now all that was invested or sacrificed to make that possible is now being cast by the wayside. Honestly, I still can't even really handle this reality yet emotionally. Mostly I try to block it out of my mind, but I need to eventually find a better way to handle this total change of plans because it will become reality in a little more than four months. I never would have dreamed I would be applying for a FT job when my youngest was only three years old, but that is in fact what I have done. I am very curious to see what what happens with my applications. As I reflect on 2015, here are 15 memorable parts of our year:

1. Ian has become much braver. He was tall enough to ride the big roller coasters at Knoebels for the first time. He loves the Phoenix! He also became brave enough to walk across the rope at the playground for the first time. He also made a lot of progress with singing in a choir.

2. Nadia and Ian both learned to ride their bikes without training wheels.

3. We spent two weeks in Florida with Paul's parents and one week in Williamsburg with my parents. Ian traveled down to Florida with Paul's parents for the first time. Highlights included a day at Magic Kingdom, Hollywood Studios, Sea World, and Kennedy Space Center.

4. Paul's mom has been much healthier this year. Oliver started the year in the hospital for RSV and a collapsed lung, but since that discharge, we all stayed out of the hospital the rest of the year although he came very close to being admitted in May when he had pneumonia. He also hasn't needed the nebulizer as frequently lately.

5. Oliver was night time potty trained, started memorizing Bible verses for Cubbies, and started taking gymnastics for the first time.

6. Nadia had her first experience being in a musical. She played the part of Pepper in Annie. Nadia and Ian were in the summer musical again and also sang in a children's choir at church.

7. We enjoyed going to many different field trips and amusement parks such as the children's museum, Maryland Science Center, Knoebels, Dutch Wonderland, Six Flags, Del Grosso's, Sight and Sound, Port Discovery, Steamtown National Historic Site, R.B. Winter State Park, Little League Museum, to see many theatrical productions, etc.

8. Nadia and Ian were in a 90 minute homeschool gym class at our church on Friday mornings. They both also took their first ice skating lessons, took swimming lessons, and played on a soccer team. Nadia scored her first goal on a U8 team, and Ian scored his first goal in the spring and about eight more

goals this fall. Nadia just recently started her third season of basektball, and Ian just started his first season of Upward basketball.

9. For four months I ran 3-4 times a week and for more than half of that time I was running 4-6 miles each time. I am looking forward to starting up again when the weather gets warmer!

10. I got my first smartphone.

11. Nadia and Ian both made a lot of progress in their schoolwork. Nadia really loves reading chapter books such as American Girl, Amelia Bedelia, Nancy Clancy, and Boxcar Children. Ian loves reading easy books like Amelia Bedelia, Frog and Toad, Little Bear, etc. Nadia learned how to regroup with double digit addition and subtraction. Nadia learned to identify the countries in North America, South America, and Europe. She took a Spanish class during the summer.

12. Paul was offered a one year extension on his contract at Bucknell. This summer he received a stipend for working on a NSF grant with two other professors at Bucknell.

13. I read the kids 82 chapter books this year, and over the last four months Nadia read 60 chapter books independently. 

14. Nadia had her first experience with going to a camp that involved sleeping in a tent for three nights. She loved it!

15. Paul decided in August that he no longer wants to use his PhD in Chemistry. He decided to return to Kennedy Concrete. We put our house on the market in November, and thus far I have submitted four applications for tenure track positions for myself.

I also thought it was high time to look back at the goals I posted for this year to see how we did. Here are some goals that we did accomplish:

Taken right after she lost tooth #7. See the space? 

1. Most of the time Nadia practiced the piano 5-6 times a week.

2. Ian has started to do schoolwork in the morning at the same time Nadia does hers.

3. I do believe I did a better job with being more relaxed at times (more grace with regard to rules and routines).

4. Nadia did stop sucking her thumb, learned to ride a bike without training wheels, learned to like corn, and definitely has a greater thirst for reading chapter books.

5. Oliver can do 24 piece puzzles independently, identify many colors and some shapes, is night time potty trained, usually eats with utensils, and has begun memorizing Bible verses.

6. I lost more than ten pounds, have continued to try new recipes, and am doing better with a routine with most household chores.

7. Ian did learn to write lowercase letters and numbers, ride a bike without training wheels, swing on his own, walk across the rope at the playground, much better at using scissors, far more comfortable being alone in a room, and he made huge strides with his reading skills.

Some we did not accomplish include:
1. Having a regular family fun night. This will again be a goal for 2016.

2. Having a regular game night. This too will again be a goal for 2016.

3. Nadia still has issues with reversing some letters and numbers (ex. b/d and p/9) and still needs to work on learning to eat lima beans, peas, and soup.

4. I didn't succeed at making new friends for myself, and I still need to work on dusting more often.

5. Ian still needs to break the belly button habit, learn to tie his shoes, and decrease the fussing.

6. Oliver still needs to learn to identify the letters of the alphabet.

Thankful Tuesday

1. I enjoyed being able to run 9.5 miles between two runs last Wednesday and Thursday when the weather was very pleasant outside.

2. We had a special day on Christmas Eve between our donuts for breakfast, opening presents with the kids, and the kids and I enjoyed the candlelight service at church.

3. On Friday we enjoyed spending several hours at Paul's parents house (also spent time with Al, Millie, and Shawn). We enjoyed a yummy meal and exchanged gifts.

4. I'm thankful that we had a safe trip to and from Maryland and that Oliver slept for most of the ride home today. At one point I was the only one awake in the vehicle. It's a good thing I was awake as I was the driver! I am also grateful that Wendy and her family arrived safely at 4:00 am on Saturday in the rental vehicle since theirs broke down in Indiana around noon on Friday. It would have been awesome to be with Yvonne and her family also, but we were able to watch a 45 minute movie they created with my dad last summer which was special.

5. During our four days in Maryland, the kids enjoyed playing with their cousins. Nadia was determined to go with the Benners to Williamsburg this morning; she did not want to be separated from her cousin, Rachel. I enjoyed a couple of rounds of Apples to Apples Junior yesterday, but we didn't get our annual game of Boggle in this time. We exchanged presents on Saturday morning, went caroling in my parents' neighborhood on Saturday night, went to church and Sunday School with my parents on Sunday morning, ice skating on Sunday evening, watched the Steelers lose on Sunday afternoon (SO sad because of the playoff implications), went bowling Monday morning, and six (out of the fourteen of us) went to see the new Star Wars movie at the theatre in 3D on Monday afternoon. Paul was the only member of our family who joined in that adventure. As an added bonus, I came in second place in the first game of bowling (Drayton won). I bowled a little  better than usual and my Dad and Paul bowled worse than usual. It is VERY rare that I beat either of them in bowling. It was fun to get some spares and strikes, especially as I bowled very badly on December 10.

6. I am thankful that we are healthy. Usually we come back from Christmas in Maryland with a virus of some sort (respiratory or stomach). Last year we came back with both and Oliver ended up in the PICU with a collapsed lung. It is a huge relief to come back not having caught any bugs this time!

7. We came back to a very clean house. I had the house in "ready to be shown" condition when we left on Friday morning in case the realtor contacted me while we were away. It would have been great to have the house shown yesterday or today because the five times it's been shown thus far we have always had to leave the house just because of the showing. I thought it would be very convenient for it to happen while we were out of town, but even though that didn't happen it was nice to come home to a clean house. It is probably the first time I was ever doing things like mopping the kitchen floor and cleaning bathrooms in the morning on Christmas Day. Of course once we arrived back home the house became very cluttered with suitcases, Christmas gifts, etc, but I worked hard to do laundry, put away suitcases, put away Christmas gifts, etc. tonight and tomorrow I plan to put away the Christmas tree and other decorations.

8. I had a nice long (about 3 hour) chat with my sister last night. That was an extremely rare treat. We usually only see each other once a year so those opportunities are very few and far between. I love her very much!

9. I know that at least some of the gifts I gave were "winners" in that the person seemed to really appreciate what we gave them. Paul's niece really liked the placemats I made her two children through Shutterfly, for example.

10. My mom and I enjoyed watching the movie "War Room" on dvd together on Friday night. I always watch "chick flicks" by myself so it was very nice to be able to watch it with someone.

11. We received many nice gifts over our "three days of Christmas." I am not attempting to list everything we received but just a few highlights that pop into my head right now. Hopefully when I start having the kids write their thank you notes I will be able to accurately recall who gave them what as I forgot to make a list again. Oops. One of these years I'll remember to do that hopefully. Nadia and Ian can't wait to try out their two new Wii games tomorrow. They each started assembling one of their Lego sets this evening. Nadia enjoyed doing Ariel's hair in the bathtub at Grandma's house yesterday afternoon. I am very grateful Paul received a few new pairs of jeans because it means I don't have to keep repairing his old ones any more. We will all enjoy our gift cards to Friendly's. I am really looking forward to a new laptop computer from my parents because mine is six years old and on its last legs. Now to figure out if I need a cd-rom drive or not.

12. Nadia lost a tooth in Maryland. She really wanted this to happen again since it did the last two years, and her wish came true. She has one more wiggly tooth, and she told me she wanted to wait until next December to pull it out. Nope a tooth won't wait that long, ha ha!

13. I've been doing this free instant win game on the Coke rewards website the past 20 days (it ends on Thursday), and I've won a few things along the way ($20 off of Shutterfly, 270 Coke points, and a free personalized bottle of Coke), but yesterday I won a $25 gift certificate to one of three restaurants (Bonefish Grill, Outback Steakhouse, etc.). That was nice!

The kids we wished were with us this Christmas, but we look forward to seeing them again sometime in 2016 or 2017.

Three Days of Christmas

On Christmas Eve we began our three days of Christmas. On Wednesday after going to the library I had picked up some donuts for our Christmas Eve breakfast. I figured since we have started having donuts for breakfast on our birthdays, we could do the same for Jesus' birthday.  I had not trusted Oliver to leave the presents wrapped under the tree, so we waited until Wednesday evening to put them under the tree; the kids enjoyed helping me arrange them under the tree.  After eating our donuts on Thursday morning, we opened our presents. Nadia had the job of passing out the gifts to everyone. I loved the fact that the kids each had gifts for each other and for Paul and I that were a surprise because they had purchased them at AWANA with the shares they had earned (the "money" give in AWANA). For example, Ian's gifts for Nadia from AWANA were a small Lego set (about 100 pieces) and a My Little Pony Play-doh set. Oliver gave me a really nice oven mitt. Nadia gave me two necklaces, two pairs of earrings, and one bracelet.

Christmas Eve is Nadia's half-birthday. Not too many kids get gifts every year on their half-birthday. Speaking of which, the first few years of her life I wrote a post about her on the 24th of every month and then eventually cut back to every 3 months and then every 6 months. Since I didn't write one this year, I guess as of age seven I have officially cut back to only one such post a year. I am still planning to write a post every 3 months for Oliver and every 6 months for Ian for the time being. The kids enjoyed opening their presents and then making good use of many of them over the course of the day. Oliver shared some of his goldfish crackers with his siblings at lunch. Nadia and I played our first game of Mancala after the boys went to bed. Nadia and Ian tried out the Tangled Wii game we gave Nadia. Ian's favorite gifts from us were the Star Wars "lego" minifigures, a Monsters Inc scare floor, and a large Sully stuffed animal. He has slept with Yoda for the past 12 months, but Yoda was ousted from his bed that night in favor of Sully.

The weather has been REALLY nice the past few days. I ran for 3.5 miles early on Wednesday morning before Paul went to work. Paul wasn't feeling well on Thursday, so I was able to run 5.5 miles that afternoon while Oliver and Paul napped. I didn't have time to run on Christmas Day or today, but the weather was really nice both of those days so had there been time I would have done so! Today it was in the 70's, and we went ice skating which seemed like an odd combination. I didn't get as much exercise when I run, but I did get some exercise. Some people may dream of a white Christmas, but I honestly would love a 60 or 70 degree Christmas every year. It felt strange to wear a short sleeve (sparkly black and red) top to the Christmas Eve service without a jacket I was a little leery about having the three kids in the service by myself, but they did pretty well. None of our four candles caused anything to catch on fire, so I viewed that as a success! A man sitting behind us commented afterward to Nadia how much he enjoyed hearing her sing the Christmas carols. That was music to this Momma's ears, and I have to say that was my favorite part of the service as well (hearing her sing). I was assuming the candles would only be lit for one song (Silent Night) but we had them lit for more than one song. It was very beautiful seeing more than 1,000 candles shining at once around the auditorium. The place was totally PACKED. It was above full capacity. There were two candlelight services. I had assumed the 7;00 service would be the more popular one, but maybe I was wrong because the 5:00 one was totally full.

On Christmas Day (our 2nd day of Christmas) after breakfast we drove to Paul's parents' house. We opened more presents (from Paul's parents and Paul's brother) and had a delicious meal, and then we drove to Maryland. It was the first time that Paul's grandmother didn't join us to celebrate Christmas.  Oliver during part of our drive. We weren't sure when Wendy and her family would arrive because their van broke down in Indiana, but one of our cousins helped them out, and they were able to rent a vehicle and get back on the road about six hours after theirs broke down at a toll booth. Thankfully they arrived at my parents' house at 4:00 am on December 26. Yesterday we had our third and final day of exchanged presents as we opened up gifts from my parents, my three siblings, and my Aunt Janet. I only see Wendy and her family once a year so we are soaking up the time that we have together. Grace (who is 2 1/2) didn't remember me. This is a disadvantage of only being able to get together once a year. The tooth fairy was busy here last night because Susie lost a molar and Nadia lost her seventh tooth (another one on the top). This is the third year in a row that Nadia has lost at least one tooth at Grandma's house around Christmas! Bowling is on the agenda for tomorrow morning, and a few members of the family are planning to see the new Star Wars movie at the theatre tomorrow afternoon. We are greatly enjoying the time spent with family as we celebrate Christ's birth!

Ian's 6th Birthday Interview

I completely forgot about doing Ian's sixth birthday interview until yesterday. I guess ten days late isn't so bad. Better late than never! I have not been in the mood to take pictures lately (except for a few with my cell phone) so I am glad I at least remembered to do this. While I am focusing on Ian, I wanted to mention that I forgot to include in yesterday's thankful post that last Tuesday (Dec 15) Ian made multiple baskets (he estimated at least five) during his basketball practice. Wow! I was amazed because Nadia didn't make any her first season. We shall see if he makes any during his games (January - March). Yesterday Ian and I finished his second large Lego project, which means it took us only ten days to complete two big sets (at least 1,900 pieces total between the two sets). Putting Legos together is definitely not my thing, but I know it means a lot to Ian so I do it because I love him. I figured we should assemble these before Christmas, as I am sure others will be giving him more Legos for Christmas (we're not giving him any at Christmas aside from some minifigures). I am not sure if he's going to get the set he wants the most (the one he keeps telling the Santas he wants), but I'm sure he'll love what ever Legos he is given. Now for me to figure out what to do with more than 2,000 additional Legos above and beyond all that we already owned. I will say though that he continues to spend hours every day playing with them. They are definitely the toy he uses the most.

Thankful Tuesday

1. Friday evening and Saturday morning Nadia and Ian had choir rehearsals at church. I am very thankful the church has an indoor play land as Oliver spent about 4 1/2 hours playing in there between those two rehearsals. Their rehearsal ended at 6:55 on Friday night, which was perfect timing for the kids and I to attend a Christmas service they were having at 7pm at church. We only stayed for the first 45 minutes of the service, but the kids did very well (even Oliver).

2. Saturday morning we enjoyed a yummy breakfast put on by our local fire department. Ian discovered he likes bacon. Go figure. He and Nadia always tell me they don't like bacon when I put bacon in anything. We returned a couple of hours later (after the choir rehearsal) for a quick photo with Santa. They don't mind meeting Santa, but what they really wanted was the large stocking filled with candy they knew he would give each of them. And by candy I mean FULL sized candy bars not little tiny pieces of candy. Nadia and Ian didn't surprise me with their answers as to "what they want for

Christmas" but Oliver did. He told Santa he wanted a Mickey Mouse toothbrush. I imagine not many kids ask for a toothbrush for Christmas, ha ha! We did buy him a Mickey Mouse umbrella. Hopefully that will please him.

3. I have enjoyed eating pasta e fagioli at Oliver Garden many times over the past 25 years, but I have never tried to make it before. I made some last week, and it won't be the last time I do so. YUM! The recipe called for V8 juice. I don't believe I've ever purchased it before, but it was yummy in the soup!

4. The kids had fun decorating Christmas cookies on Friday. Nadia put the most time and energy into this than she ever has before. She viewed each of her cookies as an individual masterpiece. It took her a LONG time to decorate a few cookies, but we weren't in a rush. Ian would have been happy to just decorate two cookies, but I insisted he do more than

that. I will say Oliver did a great job of not dumping too much on any one cookie, which is a challenge for a three year old! I like making one batch of cookies a week, but I admit I'm getting a bit weary of it right now, but we delivered three plates of cookies on Wednesday night, four plates of cookies on Friday night, and five plates of cookies on Sunday morning to AWANA leaders, Sunday School teachers, children's choir directors, etc. It was just a small way of saying thanks for all they do throughout the year. On Saturday I made Paul some white chocolate macadamia nut cookies since I knew many of the ones I had made lately are not exactly his favorites.

5. Paul's dad came up on Sunday to see the kids' Christmas program. They did it at both the 9:00 and 10:45 services of church that morning. He then came over to our house for a few hours because it was his 74th birthday! I made him a cherry swirl cake because I know he loves cherries. I was pleased that Nadia did a much better job remembering to SMILE when singing in the program.

6. Because Nadia and Ian were meeting their choir early on Sunday morning, Oliver was the only child of mine sitting in the sanctuary while I was rehearsing with the adult choir at 8:20; usually the three of them sit together. I was very impressed with Oliver's behavior as he stayed seated while I was on the platform. Way to go!

7. On Sunday evening Paul took the kids to a birthday party for Jesus at our former church. The kids really enjoyed the snacks, crafts, games, balloons, animals to pet, etc. It was Oliver's very first time riding a real horse. I wish I had seen it, but I was at home watching my football game, and thankfully Pittsburgh WON. It was a big win against a team with a better record than us and kept our winning streak going (necessary for us to secure our spot in the playoffs).

8. Yesterday Nadia rode down with Paul when he went to work at the plant because Grandma had asked to have a day just with Nadia to go shopping and have lunch. What fun for Nadia! This also meant that Oliver and Ian played together more than usual.

9. Netflix sent me an email last week saying they were giving us a free month of their dvd service. We had a free month last April and hadn't used it since so I was surprised they offered us another free month, but we are happy to take advantage of their offer again!

10. Ian is making progress with his dribbling skills, and he is so excited about basketball. Even though we declared Friday to be our last day of school this year, yesterday I did spelling and reading with Ian in the morning, and in the afternoon we did basketball and painting (so it seems like that counts as art, PE, spelling, and reading). He was telling me all that "Coach Tom" has been teaching him in basketball. Tonight he has his third practice. Sometimes Paul will spell something as way of communicating to me without the kids knowing what we are saying, but that strategy only works with Oliver these days. A couple of days ago Paul spelled out the word "larger," and Ian immediately told him that he spelled "larger" = a disadvantage of kids learning to spell! Ha ha!

11. Paul submitted his grades for the fall semester yesterday (being a procrastinator he waited until the last possible day even though his only final exam was given seven days earlier). Now he truly is on break from Bucknell and can just focus on Kennedy Concrete.