Wednesday: new computer

I have a new computer!

I had been having video card issues lately.  The screen would lock up for a minute before I could use it again.  This happened on a very regular basis.  Loading things for Warcraft was miserable.

However, now my computer is lovely!  I haven't had any issues with locking up and Warcraft was wonderful.  There's still a few issues that we're working through, as with any new computer, but most of everything has been figured out.

:D

Monday: books

A while ago, at story time, the librarian mentioned that the book he was reading was one of his all time favorites.  That made me wonder...what are my all time favorites?  More specifically, which ones can I read 50 times and still be excited to read them?  (Often the answer is the short books.)

I came up with two.  I just purchased our own copy of Beep Beep Go to Sleep because 1) I like it and 2) Joshua's expressions during it are awesome.  We read it today...I read the left side and he read the right side.  I think he wanted to be like Isaac, because I usually make Isaac read words now when we're reading together.



I also really like Boy + Bot.  Apparently we're a family of robot lovers.


These last two I read to Isaac as part of this going to bed ritual for ...a long time.  I still like them, so I thought I'd add them to the list.  They don't come out much anymore though, as Joshua didn't take a fancy to them.




(All images taken from amazon.com)

Sunday: impromptu visit

This afternoon I was done caring for children.  So we went to Aunt C's house.  It wasn't for very long, but it was long enough to get us past the hump and into dinner time.

Joshua enjoyed putting two sunglasses on during the way home.

Saturday: phone

I got my phone back today!

I'm glad to have it back.  I'm not so glad to have to keep track of it again...when I don't have pockets it can get a bit annoying.

This past week went much better than I expected, to be honest.  I missed it as a clock and as a camera and as an alarm clock, but didn't miss it as much as I thought I would for everything else.  (Although I did use the Ipad for email...I wasn't completely device-less.)

Now I need to get all the apps and settings back.  Blah.

Oh, the repair also fixed the selfie camera!  I was hoping they might, even though it wasn't really the reason for the repair.

Friday: 100 days

Today was Isaac's 100th day of school.

They did a bunch of 100 thing activities...100 stamps, building a tower with 100 cups, a 100 piece puzzle, etc.  They had to bring in a group of 100 things and Isaac chose marbles.

They were also supposed to dress up like a 100 year old.  We did a button down shirt and khakis, and used marker for some wrinkles on his face.  It turned out ok...not great.  It aged him a bit.

Thursday: blast from the past

Today one of my students asked if the class could take a quick survey for her stats class.  Since it only took about one minute I said yes, but it reminded me of my stats project.

"Determination of Time Intervals: A Comparison of Hope College Music and Religion Majors" by Amanda DeYoung and Brian Worrel

The results? 

Religion majors are more accurate at predicting 10 and 20 seconds.  For 30 seconds there was no statistical difference.

This is not what we expected.  I remember a bunch of music students humming the same song that is 60 beats per minute, although I don't remember what song it was.  Apparently they were trying too hard. :D

Wednesday: this and that

I worked today since everyone went to Crazy Bounce on Monday.  I was hoping to get a little farther than what I did, but oh well.  I still have a bit of time tomorrow to finish up.  I've been having a hard time this week finding motivation to grade.

Some friends came over for an hour after Isaac got home.  It was nice to see them as we haven't spent much time with them lately.

My phone has arrived at the repair center and the current status is that it should be delivered within six business days.  Since the original paperwork said 12-14 days, I'm quite happy about this.

Tuesday: groceries

I ordered groceries for the first time today.  Well, I guess I ordered them last night and Ben picked them up today.  It is just a rather busy week and we were running low on the healthy things like fruit, veggies, and milk.

It was rather wonderful.  I didn't get the right size of some things...a few items ended up being of a smaller size than I really wanted, but oh well.

It is something I expect to use again in the future, but I do also like still going to the grocery store.  It will work well for a once in a while thing when we're having a busy week.

Monday: Crazy Bounce

Since there was no school today, we went to Crazy Bounce with some friends.  I didn't tell the boys where we were going, but Isaac was sure it was Crazy Bounce.  It is suddenly the boys' favorite place ever and they're always asking to go.  (I often have a good reason to say no, because toddler time (through age 7) is only Mondays and Wednesdays from 9-11am.  It tends to be less busy and there aren't big kids, so it's the only time we go.)  It was a good day for it because they were both bouncing off the walls before we left.

They had an excellent time!  Isaac got hurt several times (and I think they were all real, not just little hurts that he should have brushed off) which dampened his mood a bit.  However, a few hugs, a few drinks of water, and some giggles usually had him bouncing again.

Isaac and Ethan ran around together a good amount of the time, which was awesome to see.  Joshua stuck pretty close to me, but that was ok too.  It gave me a good reason to go down all the slides and get my exercise in for the day.

Afterwards we went to Burger King.  Betsy and I were waiting for the food and heard lots of laughter then too...it is a good sound to hear.

We also got a ceiling fan installed in our room today.  It's something we've wanted for a while, so it's nice to finally have it done.  (No pictures, because I still have no phone.  Betsy kindly sent me some of hers from Crazy Bounce.)

Sunday: subcontracting

The boys got along very well today.  It started around 4pm, when Isaac was doing some work for extra money.  (Oh, he got to $40 yesterday and was then sad because we didn't have another $20 bill in the house.  Apparently it's cool to have large denominations.)  He was shredding, and Joshua started helping.  Before I gave Isaac his money, I asked if he thought Joshua should get some too.  Isaac gave an amount that was 40% of the amount he got for doing one bucket full of shredding.  Joshua followed Isaac around, and next they sorted some laundry.  It turned into a game, and Joshua had to put socks in Ben's sock drawer.  (Side note: Isaac was flabbergasted when I told him that Ben's socks were going in the drawer all messy.)  Joshua got a percentage of that money too.

Then they started playing a game.  I don't know exactly what was going on, but there was a ton of laughter.  They enjoyed playing with each other so much that they even had a sleepover, and they haven't done that for a while.

Friday: phone, day off

Last night my phone died.  (It was apparently a really bad day for me and electronics.)  It died-died too.  While it's being fixed, which will take about two weeks, I haven't decided what I'm doing.  Here's what you need to know...

1. Texts will still get to me.  It will just go via my computer, so it might take a while for me to see it.
2. I can still talk to you, but again, via the computer.  It would need to be prearranged.
3. Getting a hold of Ben will be the best bet.

It was a bit annoying to be without my phone today, but also a bit liberating.  We'll see how I feel after a few more days.  I don't really get many calls or texts, so it really shouldn't be a big deal.  (Although I did lose my grocery list and my contacts.  I'm rather sad about those.)

Today Isaac had the day off of school.  He spent quite a bit of time doing extra work to earn money.  His goal is $40 and he needed $4 I think.  I'm not sure how much he ended up with, but he didn't make it.  I was trying to be semi-proportional to what he earns for his allowance, but it's a hard thing to figure out.  Joshua went crazy with Legos...his tree house was attached to the fire station and there was a beast that was put in jail and Grey Bear was saving the people that had been vacationing via the fire plane.  I really wanted to take a picture, but no phone.

We went to Hope College for a child observation for the psych class.  The kids apparently got rave reviews.  Isaac interacted very well, as was appropriate for a 6 year old.  Although at a few points he stood up and did a short crazy dance.  The professor left the room for a short time, after putting playdoh on the table and asking the boys not to play with it.  Isaac didn't play with it, but the barrel monkeys he was playing with slightly touched it.  So then Joshua very deliberately took Red Monkey's hand and had it touch the play-doh, and I heard a whole bunch of "aww"s from the room.

Then we went to the big library since we were close to it.  They have a nice play area, so the boys played well while I found books.  Monkey was almost left in the freezer, but we remembered just in time to go back and get him.  They knew exactly where he was.

Thursday: computer

I opened up my laptop to get my notes for class, and I couldn't get the webpage to load.  Bother...but the internet breaks on it on a relatively frequent basis.  I know how to fix it.  But this time, it didn't work.  I restarted the computer, and when it was still shutting down after ten minutes I did a hard restart.  It restarted, but nothing worked.

I was able to do this class without my notes; it was a rather lucky day in that regards actually.  But it was annoying and made me feel a bit off my game.

Joshua got his Valentine's from school today and he loved them.  He loved the words on them.  He loved the candy.  He was just so excited.  (By the way, Valentine's almost seems to net them more candy than Halloween.)

Wednesday: Fire plane

Joshua finally earned his fire plane today!  Yesterday he "shoveled" some snow, and he was willing to do the same today.  And by shoveled I'm not sure if more snow ended up in the driveway than what was originally there, but I decided it was the thought that count.

He made the whole plane over the late afternoon/evening and I think it's sleeping in his room now.  He did a really good job on it; I mainly needed to turn pages and just double check to make sure things were in the right place.

Isaac got a ton of stuff for Valentine's day, including a glow stick.

Tuesday: Parent Teacher Conferences

Isaac's parent-teacher conference went very well today.  He's doing great in math - something clicked for him.  We noticed it and the teacher noticed it.  Apparently he and another student asked when they were going to learn multiplication.

He is doing well with reading.  His reading is around 80th percentile, but he's still getting all the things he needs to get...sounding out words especially.  He's probably at about the spot he'll need to be leaving kindergarten, so everything is coming along well.

He could use a bit of improvement in writing, but his teacher isn't sure if he's slow because his writing is slow or he's thinking about what he wants to write.  In either case, she isn't worried as he has words on the paper.

Socially he seems to be doing just fine in class.  She's heard a few big laughs from Isaac lately, so he's feeling more comfortable in class.  He's also talking with most of the students, even though he doesn't have a 'best' friend.

There's a book fair at the school's library that they always sell well to the kids.  Isaac had put down some titles that he really wanted, and he mentioned a few times that he wanted to show Ben the list because there were minecraft books on it.  Well, one minecraft book was just a guide of how to play and the other was the third in a series.  So we got him a different Minecraft book that wasn't on the list.  When I got home, I told him we didn't get him any of the books on his list and he was about to cry.  I quickly showed him what we did get and he quickly got happy again.  Disaster averted.

Monday: winter break

Today and tomorrow are winter break.  I feel like I usually have big plans - things to clean, misc work to do, whatnot - but this time I don't.  So while I am doing a little bit of work, there isn't a ton getting done.  I am very ok with that.

Joshua got a Valentine's stuffed monkey from daycare.  He was promptly named Monkey.  Grey Bear and Monkey are getting along very well.  Grey Bear is helping Monkey stay up off the snow and they are shooting off to Mars together.  Below they are hugging.

Dad and Pat invited us for lunch at Panera, and that was nice.  It was nice to see them and Joshua had a good time telling them all about Grey Bear and Monkey.  After that was a tantrum (because Joshua didn't want rest time) and then rest time.  Joshua's been throwing a lot of tantrums lately, and they usually involve throwing something.  The not listening has gotten him in time out, while the throwing has gotten him additional time.  Anyway, he made some robots during rest time.  Well, that first one is a cake for Ben I think.

Sunday: bedtime

I put Joshua to bed and left the room.  A moment later I heard a, "Mom?"

I went into his bedroom.  "I love you Mom."

"I love you too."

Saturday: yesterday

Joshua has still been all about looking at the fire plane box.  But he seems to have no interest in making the last two dollars to actually get it.  (Two dollars is not that much work.  We are being rather generous.)

So yesterday Ben said that if Joshua doesn't start earning the money, we're going to put the box back in the closet.

Yesterday at lunch, Joshua announced that he hid the box from Ben.  I tried getting Joshua to tell me where he hid it, but he kept saying, "It's a secret."  (In hindsight, he might just not know where it was.)

Yesterday night we were all talking about it, and Isaac pipes up with, "He did hide it really well!  It's not in most of the rooms of the house!"  Ben and I cracked up.

It was found this morning by the rest of the Legos.  Joshua told Ben it was just a trick.

Friday: snow day

Isaac had another snow day today!  Today was an excellent day for a snow day, and we enjoyed it.

We decided to make graham cracker houses.  Isaac's wanted to make them since Christmas, when there just wasn't enough time.  We had to go the store first to get groceries and graham cracker house supplies.  Joshua was not having it.  This is the second huge tantrum we've had this week.  I ask him to get dressed and he doesn't want to.  He throws something and then runs away from me.  (Spoiler alert: I win.)

Anyway, we finally got started. I made Joshua's and mine; Isaac did most of his.

We let them sit for a few hours.  I've found that letting the frosting harden at least a little bit makes things easier.  After rest time we started with the candy.  Joshua did his own candy.  He got many of the candies on, but if they happened to fall off he quickly decided that they just wouldn't say on and they went in his mouth.  :)

Mine:

Joshua's:

Isaac's:

After this Isaac and Joshua played well with each other...it was some kind of pirate candy land game that involved a lot of running.  And a lot of pillows.  But they were happy and content, so they could take all the pillows they wanted.

Cruise - day 7: sea day, sort of

Today was our last day on the boat.   It started with breakfast, as always. They really were delicious breakfasts...a lovely assortment of food and yummy things.

It was a day back at Castaway Cay, but we decided to just stay on the boat instead.  We finished up the last of the three detective things.  This was one of Isaac's favorite parts.

Isaac would hold the card in front of a "painting" and it would make him do a little game (pop ballons, light rockets, use a flashlight to find a clue) and then he would find some of the lost items or a clue on who was the bad guy.  Pluto elevator

During one of them Joshua snuck Pluto into my purse strap and then said, "Mom!  I don't have Pluto!"  "Where is he?" I asked.  "On the elevator."  "WHAT?!?!?!"  I ran over to push the elevator button, but since there are always four elevators in a bank I didn't have much hope the right one would come.  Well, it came right away and Pluto wasn't on it.  Joshua had been carrying it around all the time, and I didn't really want him to lose it because buying him a new one would feel like a parenting fail.  Then Joshua told me Pluto was in my purse.  I was not amused.  (Although now that it is done I am.)

We took a nap.  Joshua was super cute.

We went to take a few more pictures before our last dinner.  This is the lobby from the second floor.

I had wanted to get at least one picture with Mickey.  Since it was so close to the end there was no official photographer, which in several ways was nice.

Our dinner was in Animator's Palace again, and it was a great place to end up.  This time we drew some figures and they were animated in a short show.

I tried to get a few pictures with a few of the scenes we were in, but I'm not sure it worked.

There was a puppy that showed up on the ground this time.

After dinner we went swimming for the last time.  Well, Ben and Isaac did.  Joshua and I ended up just sitting and watching whatever was on the screen.  They went down the water slide 10 times!  (There was no line.) Isaac was so excited to beat his old record.  By the end the cast member had Isaac repeating the rules instead of him.

That night we had rough seas.  Luggage that was outside was rolling all over the place.  Hangers were banging and safes were slamming.  It's a bit too bad that it was the last night as everything was packed up instead of being able to help quiet things down.  We survived, but Ben and I were awake for a few hours.

We had our last breakfast in Animator's Palace again and then had to leave.  :(  It was a wonderful vacation.

Thursday: Isaac doctor

Isaac went to the specialist today because of his cough.  Of course, Ben and I haven't heard the cough in the last week and a half.  I called and they said to still bring him in though.

An allergy test was done.  As expected, Isaac is not allergic to anything.  (This was expected because the allergy medicine didn't help.)

We're left with two options, both of which are hard to diagnose.  1) a habitual cough or 2) a periodic asthma induced cough.  This is different from normal asthma, as something will trigger it, the person will have a cough for a week or two, then it will stop until it is triggered again.

Anyway, we have an inhaler if the cough comes back to try.

Joshua and I brought Ben to a doctor's office today...

Joshua: Am I going to get a sucker?
Amanda: No.
J: Are Mom and Dad and Joshua going to get suckers?
A: No.
J: Yes or no or maybe?
A: No.
J: Yes or maybe?
A: No.

Tuesday: snow day

Isaac had a snow day today.  I'm not really sure why; there was a lot of snow, but only 5-6 inches and it was light and fluffy.  I think I'm more annoyed that it fell on a Tuesday than the fact that he had a snow day;  everyone works on Tuesdays.

Anyway, Ben ended up staying home and having a snow day too.  Isaac had a great time: extra screen time, bringing treats in to Ben's work, and going out for lunch.

Saturday: the day

The latter part of the morning was spent cleaning, as normal.  Well, Joshua didn't clean.  He finally spent the fifteen minutes needed to do it when Ben and Isaac were going to play Minecraft for screen time and he realized he wanted to do that.  Anyway, I put all the Legos that were on the table away.  Yay!  I had a table again! ...for about 30 minutes.  Oh well.  Joshua enjoys them, so that's good.

This evening we did our big puzzles.

Friday: fire plane

Joshua again didn't sleep all that well last night.  He woke up early.  I went in to see what was going on and he wanted to see his fire plane.  Well, we had told him last night that he could see it, so I got it down and went back to bed.  He looked at it all day...he so excited about it, but didn't do any extra work to earn money for it.

Joshua played with Legos a ton today.  The fire engine that he got for Christmas is still used all the time.  He also got out his tree house and a Lego robot.  They were all in a story together, but I'm not sure what the story was about.

Thursday: snow

It snowed today!  I wasn't expecting it for some reason.  It was also rather cold.  The radio said that later tonight it would get into the low teens...and I looked at the thermometer at it was already 11deg.  I'm glad of the snow not only because I like snow, but also because I got new snow tires a few weeks ago and was hoping that they would be used.

*****
Last night Joshua didn't sleep well last night.  He made noise about ever 15 minutes for several hours.  He didn't really want anything, but sometime was wrong.  At one point Ben turned down Joshua's lamp and a minute later we hear, "Da-ad, it's too dark to sleep!!"  We rolled our eyes.