Thankful Tuesday

1. Last Tuesday we got red grapes at Aldi's for 99 cents a pound. I've gotten them even cheaper at that store in the past, but that was still a great price and four of us (all except Paul) enjoyed eating several pounds of grapes over the past week. Yum!

2. I'm SO thankful we're all healthy again. It is SUCH a relief to have energy again. It is rather challenging to cook, clean, take care of the kids, etc. with a fever and upset stomach.

3. Nadia and Ian finished their AWANA books on Wednesday. I am so grateful they can participate in this excellent program. The kids are looking forward to the Grand Prix (car races) tomorrow night. I'm also thankful that this week Nadia's softball games are on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday so it doesn't interfere with AWANA.

4. Although we skipped the program on Robots and programming and postponed our trip to Ephrata Cloister due to our illness, the kids were able to participate in homeschool gym class on Friday.

5. Nadia was able to play her first game of softball, and she got a hit and made it to third base! Ian had his first soccer game of the spring season. Oliver skipped his game due to not feeling well. Hopefully he'll have his first game of the spring season this Saturday. Paul's parents came up to see the two games on Saturday and also came to hear the kids sing in church on Sunday.

6. All three kids sang in the choir on Sunday, and Nadia had a small solo. Thankful for the three volunteers who make that possible!

7. Paul took the day off work on Saturday. It was great to have two days with him! This meant he was able to join us at the Mini Maker Faire in Bloomsburg and the Superhero Community Day at the Everhart Museum in Scranton and at dinner at Red Robin.

8. We finished reading The Golden Fleece. I personally am glad we are done with Greek mythology. This means we are taking a break from social studies for four months. We'll

start up with ancient Rome in the fall. I have read almost 300 chapter books to the kids thus far!

9. I missed one night of Bible study while we were in Chicago, and I missed a second night last week when I was not feeling well. I am thankful that I can go this evening.

10. My dad and Margie made it safely to Turkey yesterday.

11. The kids and I had a great time at Reptiland yesterday. It's only about 5 minutes from our house. The parakeets were a hit!

12. Today we spent two hours at the horse farm where Nadia and Ian attended horse camp last summer. They would like to do it again, but it costs $200 a person so it's not something we can afford to do every year. Previously Ian and Nadia had taken a few private lessons there. Oliver has never had lessons. Today I signed all three kids up for four lessons. That will be their horseback riding for 2017. At the Horse Education Day today the kids learned about brushing a horse,

cleaning out hooves, talked with a Veterinarian, listened to the horse's heartbeat and gut sounds, measured  a horse, and watched a farrier shoe a horse. Each of the kids were measured (height and weight) to compare with the horse they measured. With their shoes, clothes, and coats on, the kids weighed 40.5 pounds (Oliver), 50.0 pounds (Ian), and 70.0 pounds (Nadia). It cracked me up that all their weights ended in zero! They said Ian is 48 inches tall. I was hoping he was a little shy of that because it means his handstamp will cost more at Knoebels this year. All three kids are growing! We don't have any other field trips scheduled for this week, and that's fine with me too. Field trips are great, but days at home are nice also.

13. I am thankful for the 45 years of life the Lord has granted me thus far. I was sung to twice (my kids missed the boat on this one but my dad and Wendy's family serenaded me on the phone). I keep hoping my kids will be old enough to figure out it would be nice to make Mommy a birthday card for her birthday, but that hasn't

happened yet so I didn't get anything from them. My birthday was a non-event with my kids as they didn't even wish me a happy birthday, but Paul called me and wished me a happy birthday. The kids enjoyed eating donuts and drinking chocolate milk on my birthday. I love the new kitchen faucet and soap dispenser that Paul installed for my birthday. Wendy gave me an adapter for the van so I can charge the iPad on long road trips, and Paul's parents and my Aunt Tina both gave me money. I haven't decided for sure, but at the moment I am leaning toward getting new carpet for the master bedroom with my birthday money. I am thankful for these gifts and also the cards and emails I got from family and friends who remembered my birthday. I purposefully deactivate my FB account for a few days as I only wanted to receive greetings from people who actually knew it was my birthday rather than tons of people who only knew because FB reminded them. I didn't do anything special on my birthday, but this Friday is my spiritual birthday and I have plans to go out to dinner and to a Matthew West concert at our church with another homeschooling mom. YAY!

Reptiles and parakeets!

This year I am trying to maximize the benefits of our PBS membership that I obtained in December. Thus far we used it to go skiing for free and to see a show about dinosaurs at the Community Arts Center. We could have used it at the Everhart Museum that we were at on Saturday in Scranton, but we went on a day when it was free for everyone to get in because I thought the special activities would make it more interesting for the kids. Today we got our third usage of it by going to Reptiland. The three kids could get in free as long as I paid for my admission, which was $16. I also bought two feed sticks in the parakeet area, which cost $2 each. At least three other people gave their partially used sticks to the kids as they left the exhibit, which means we spent a LOT of time with the parakeets. We were at Reptiland for three hours altogether. Our first stop was to see a show with a zoo keeper introducing us to various reptiles. We spent the vast majority of our time with the parakeets. They were landing all over us even without feed sticks. Oliver was still scared in the

dinosaur area, although he was braver than last year. He did much better with the parakeets this year. Nadia and Ian still love to assign names to every single reptile (snake, turtle, komodo dragon, tortoise, iguana, etc.) throughout the zoo. They didn't attempt to name the approximately 300 parakeets.

Oliver was supposed to have soccer practice this evening. I took him there, but despite repeated attempts to get him to join with his coach and team, he just kept running off the field crying. He fought me a little bit last week, but I thought (the next day) it was because he was coming down with the tummy bug. He asked to play soccer in the fall, and I asked him again in January if he wanted to play again this spring, and he said "yes." I am not one to force my kids to play a sport, but I do think if they sign up for something they should complete that one season. Oliver definitely has a tendency to be defiant and always only wants to do what HE wants to do. So I am not planning to give in on this. He can have a say in the future as to whether he plays

soccer or not, but I do expect him to play for the next seven weeks. Hopefully he'll do a better job at the next practice. He never gave me any grief about going to his practices in the fall, and he has the same coach. I really wasn't expecting this.

The zoo naturally had a gift shop. Paul's mom had given the kids some money for Easter, and I had given them so money for finishing their AWANA books last Wednesday. Nadia had already spent all but 50 cents of her money on some American girl paper dolls (that we ordered but haven't arrived yet). Ian had been saving for a Lego set, but then today he decided he wanted a couple of stuffed animals at the Reptiland gift shop. He picked out two, and Nadia picked out one. I told her that she didn't have the money for one, and Ian immediately put back one of the two he had picked out and offered to buy the one she wanted (a white tiger) in addition to the panda bear he had selected. What a generous boy he can be (except when it comes to Legos)! He gave me $18, and Nadia gave me $1, and she still owes me $1 as including tax they were $10 each.

Softball, soccer, and superheroes

Yesterday Oliver and I were not 100% back to normal, but we were both doing much better and able to get back to the "land of the living" as my mom used to say. I had assumed Paul would be at work and had asked his parents to help me with chauffeuring Nadia to her softball game, but he took the day off so he could see Nadia's first softball game and Ian's soccer game. Ian and I had to leave at 8:50 because I had snack shack duty from 9-10 at the soccer field. Paul, Oliver, and Nadia headed out the door around 9:15 to take her to her softball game. Oliver, Paul's parents, Paul, and I watched Ian play a soccer game in the rain at 10:00, and then we drove to the softball field to watch the last 30 minutes of Nadia's softball game. The weather had been gorgeous on Thursday and Friday, but it was cold, windy, and rainy out on Saturday morning. The weather was back to being pretty again today; at one point today Oliver was wearing his bathing suit and going down the slip and slide at one of our neighbor's house, which was quite the contrast to wearing winter coats at the soccer game yesterday.

Ian was assigned to a different soccer team this spring than the one he was on in the fall. The visiting team demolished his team. Ian played during three of the four quarters and was always on offense. I know the wife of the assistant coach, and I enjoyed catching up with her during the game. We met at a ladies Bible study two years ago. Nadia was up to bat twice during her first game. She struck out the first time (which was before we arrived). She plays centerfield when on defense. The ball never came anywhere near her during the entire time she was on defense. The second time she was up to bat we got to see her make her first hit! The ball barely moved. It looked like a bunt, but it was enough for her to make it safely to first base. She made it to third base, and then the team had their third strike so she hasn't yet scored her first run. We witnessed the most exciting part of her game. Her team lost the game. I think the score was 2-5. This week she has three softball games. Thus far I can say I'd much rather watch a soccer or basketball game than a softball game. I need to work on my photography skills when dealing with a fence being in between myself and the players. Nadia was wearing her softball jersey, but you can't see it in the photos because she was wearing her jacket over it because it was raining during part of the game.

Before I knew the soccer game schedule, I had penciled in two different museums into our schedule for Saturday. The Children's Museum was having a Maker Faire from 10-4, and the Everhart Museum in Scranton was having a Superhero day from 1-4. We had never been to that museum, and it was free to get in yesterday all day (10-5) in light of the special event they were having. Earlier in the week I wondered if we'd go to either of them due to passing the germs around the family, but I asked the kids on Friday night if they wanted to go to one or both museums, and they voted for both. The only reason we were able to do both was because we skipped Oliver's soccer game at noon, but considering he was napping at noon, he definitely wasn't up for a soccer game yesterday even though his fever had finally broken.

We could have spent more time at the Maker Faire. There were many, many different interesting things to do. Nadia and Ian did some soldering for the first time to make a pin that lights up. I hope we can attend this event in

future years. It was our first because last year it was on the same day as the opening day of Knoebels, and we opted for Knoebels. In hindsight we should have left the faire a little earlier than we did because by the time we got to the Everhart Museum we were too late for some of the activities such as the guided tour of the museum, a magician's show, etc. I am glad we went to the Everhart museum, but I doubt we'll be back anytime soon. It's nothing too spectacular and is 90 minutes from our house. The superhero exhibit was our favorite. On their website they had encouraged kids to come wearing superhero costumes. Once we got there and Nadia realized not too many kids were actually wearing costumes, she was quick to shed the Captain America costume she had on. Oliver and Ian kept their costumes on (Mr. Incredible and Optimus Prime).

I had packed our lunches, and then we stopped for dinner on the way home. Paul wanted to go to Texas Roadhouse, but there wasn't one on our way home. The kids lobbied for Red

Robin, and that's where we ended up going. If both Paul and I are going it would be better to go on the first Wednesday of the month when kids' meals are free, but we rarely go out to a sit down restaurant without a gift card so it was okay to splurge. My meal was free. We should have skipped ordering a meal for Oliver, but thankfully Nadia ate a lot of his macaroni and cheese in addition to her meal. It was time for the kids to go to bed when we got home.

This morning the kids' choir sang. In the first service they did it with a live accompaniment, which I prefer. In the second service they used the sound track. Nadia had a brief solo near the beginning of the song. Ian and Nadia opted to go to their classrooms after they sang during the first service. That's the norm for Nadia but very unusual for Ian. He has been in his classroom only a couple of times over the past eight months. Oliver opted to attend the worship service twice today. That was a first! It was not shocking that he chose to sit with Grandma and Pop Pop during the second service, but I

was very surprised he made the choice to sit with Paul and I during the first service as in the past he's always chosen to attend his class (in the "airport") during the first service. I will say he was very well behaved during the first service although he really wanted some grape juice during communion, which I would not let him have. He did a better job of singing when he sang in both services. He's definitely making progress. I'll post one video below tonight, and I'll post the second service tomorrow. Nadia did a better job of smiling in the second service. Unfortunately when she's not smiling her "neutral" face doesn't actually look neutral - it looks almost angry.

Because of our sickness for the past 10 days, Paul's parents didn't come back to our house after church. I took advantage of the beautiful weather and mowed the lawn and also vacuumed out the van. The kids played outside with several different neighbors. Nadia played badminton for the first time. Aside from church we just stayed home today, which was fine with me after being out and about almost all day yesterday. Let me say I am SO glad to have energy again today. On Friday morning I was overwhelmed at the thought of loading the dishwasher. Today it felt great to be mowing the lawn. Paul had a headache today. He doesn't seem to have the same bug that we did, but it seems now it's his turn to not feel well. Hopefully he'll bounce back quickly.

The cupcake Ian decorated

Each banana played a different note via the computer!

Forty-five

As of today I am 45 years old, which means I'm now closer to 50 years old than to 40 years old. The number isn't really a big deal to me. Yes, it is obvious I am getting older by the gray hairs that are becoming more prevalent, my memory not being as reliable, etc. What is far more significant to me than the number is that it is my first birthday without my mom. I think there are several big lines of demarcation in my life in which I tend to think of before/after such as before vs. after I got married or how life changed on June 24, 2008 when I became a mom. I think the date of my mom's passing is now one of those big lines of demarcation as I think of lasts with her and now firsts without her. Next month it will be 25 years since I graduated from college, and if I die when I am 71 like my mom did, then I have 26 years left here on earth. It sort of puts things into perspective albeit none of us knows how many more days or years we have left here on earth, or maybe the Lord will come again before I pass away. My mom's sister's mother-in-law is still alive at the age of 101, and Paul's dad's

mom is still alive at the age of 94. My dad sang the happy birthday song to me this morning as is our family tradition, but I was used to hearing it as a duet between my mom and dad. I miss you so much, mom. Thanks for all you did for the first 44 years of my life to make my birthdays special.

I had been dreading this birthday a bit because of grieving the loss of my mom, but I didn't know it would be a physically unpleasant week for the kids and I. Today is day eight of at least one of us throwing up every day. Cleaning up Oliver's vomit was definitely not high on my list for a birthday activity, but it means I'm a mom, and I'm very thankful to be his mom. When I took our temperatures this morning, both Oliver and I still had a fever. Oliver didn't eat anything yesterday, but he said he was hungry this morning and asked for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He kept it down for almost five hours so I thought it was safe to take the kids out for lunch after homeschool gym class. The

teacher allowed me to enroll Oliver in the class even though the minimum age is technically five-years-old. They only charge an extra $10 for the third child (which works out to $1.60 per 90 minute class). Oliver wasn't up to participating today, but I signed him up assuming he'll be enjoying the class starting next week. I had an embarrassing moment when I was writing out the check to pay for the three kids to attend the class. Would you believe I actually asked the man what today's date was? Then when he said April 21, I thought, this has to be a first that I have forgotten the date on my own birthday! I am definitely not firing on all cylinders today. Then as I went to sign the bottom of Oliver's registration form I put the date as 4/21/72 instead of 4/21/17.  Oh my goodness.

We were going to eat lunch at Dunkin Donuts, but on the way there we stopped at Panera to redeem a couple of birthday freebies, but as we walked into the front door, Oliver started spewing up all over himself and their floor. I felt terrible to create that mess there. I carried

him into the bathroom and tried to clean him up as best I could and cleaned up the mess he created in their bathroom. So we opted for going through the drive-thru at DD and didn't order anything for Oliver. When we got home I gave him a bath, put clean clothes on him, and put him down for a nap. He's slept a lot the past two days. The past several years the kids and I have had the tradition of going out to eat three times within about 2 weeks of my birthday - once at Perkins, once at Red Robin, and once at Watson Inn. At all three places you can get a free meal for your birthday. Usually it's the only time all year that we go to any of those restaurants. We did go to Perkins with my Dad a few weeks ago, so the kids and I were planning to go to Red Robin today (their choice), but they realized that couldn't happen given Oliver is still throwing up. Hopefully we'll be healthier when my birthday rolls around next year. I had considered getting take out pizza from my favorite pizza place for dinner, but given how Oliver and I are feeling, it was leftovers for us tonight.

It's a beautiful day out, and the grass needs mowing, but it will have to wait. Nadia and I did clean the bathrooms today, and I did tackle the dishes when I came down this morning. I don't usually let them pile up, but given how lousy I felt the past two days they had been piling up in the sink. I admit I was hoping against hope some fairy would have done them for me last night while I was sleeping.

I took Oliver's temp a few minutes ago, and when I saw 101.8 I texted his soccer coach to tell her that he won't be playing in the game tomorrow. Hopefully we'll all be healthy in the very near future. I had planned a trip to a museum or two tomorrow afternoon, but those plans are also in jeopardy. The only thing on our schedule for Sunday is church, and the kids are singing in both services. My dad and Margie are flying to Turkey on Sunday. I think it's so funny that between my three siblings and myself, the first one to meet Margie will be Yvonne - who is the only one who lives on another continent.  They are going to meet Wesley, who is five weeks old. Once they are married in August they will have 21 grandchildren between the two of them.