Sunday: a day to remember

First of all, Tropical Storm Amanda came and almost went.  It happened quickly and I almost missed it.

On Friday we finally brought the old printer up to the car to bring it for recycling.  This meant that we were able to check behind the printer table for Spark.  Do you remember Spark?  The little animal from McDonald's that Joshua won't forget about?  (Apparently the name changed.)  Anyway, we found him today and Joshua was so excited!  He got played with for the rest of the day (on the good guys team) and is currently sleeping with Pokeball and Grey Bear in his bed.  I hope he doesn't get lost.

Saturday: to do list

I finally got something off my to-do list that was on there for way too long.  I reattached some weather stripping for the basement slider.  It took all of about five minutes, as expected.

Then, since I had the Goop out I also tried reattaching the towel bar in the shower.  Honestly, I'm not sure how it was attached in the first place because it really seemed too small.  The bar barely stayed up and the attachment points didn't really move.  Oh well, we'll see if it stays up this time; if not, we have other "problems."

I picked up groceries this afternoon and was very proud of my reverse parking job.  I didn't have to readjust at all.

Thursday: Young 5s

We went to Joshua's school to pick up his belongings today.  While we were waiting for his teacher in the lobby we looked at the fish tank for the last time.  We always stopped here in the morning, looking for the red coral? that moves, the tentacles of a sea star, and a star fist.

They also got a new white fish a little bit before we left and it was always in the same place.

Social distancing kind of went out the window when his teacher asked for a hug and I didn't think quickly enough.  But it was nice to get a picture with his teacher.

I won't say that he is done with school, because Isaac still has one more official week.  Even after that I think we'll be doing a relaxed summer school, because otherwise I think I'll go crazy.

Wednesday: life

Joshua finally lost his second tooth.  It's been bothering him for a few days.

Life skills today included planting some seeds.  Joshua had gotten some lavender from school and I found some lettuce and bean seeds in the garage for Isaac to plant.  We'll see how it goes.

Tuesday: hot

Today was going to be a hot day, so I finally got out of pajama pants and into a dress.

We played a good game of Ingenious.  It's a game I really enjoy, Isaac did well, and Joshua did much better than last time.  I scored for Joshua this time and that seemed to help the game flow go much better.

Joshua made some banana raisins today.  They were pretty good...the ideal thing is that he could do it all by himself.  I finally made some curry for Ben while he did that.

It sun-rained several times this afternoon.  There were several children playing in the rain, even though it never lasted very long.

Isaac and I tested for our next belt level in karate today from the comfort of our own house.  We passed, unsurprisingly.  It really helps to have two of us.

Monday: Memorial Day

Well, we didn't do anything special for Memorial Day.  We were outside for a little bit in the morning, but it got rather hot out in the sun.  Our evening walk was nice though.

Sunday: dirt baby

I walked to Lowes today to pick up some dirt.

Horizon also took a nap in the sun.  It was kind of like, "I can't move anymore, so I'll just sleep right here."

Saturday: fabric

A while ago I ran out of a grey fabric.  I changed quilting projects.  Now I'm about to run out of fabric for the next project so I went to put in an order.  I really need white, and it'd be nice to get a dark blue.

It's all out of stock. 

There is a chance I'll be able to finish the current project with the white that I have, but it's one of those colors that I am always using.

I also need some grey thread, but I don't know the ID of it.  I haven't been able to get in the store because it's been closed, so that's another project on hold.

Good thing there are several other projects that I could start or continue, but it's still annoying.

Friday: food and ghosts

Joshua made a ghost that surprises for his Lego challenge.

Isaac was given a map to walk to IHop so that we could get it for lunch.  He did a good job navigating.  Ben met us there so that we could bring the food home while it was still warm.

I made some food.  Ben made some food (unshown).  The kitchen was so nice and clean yesterday and today and then we destroyed it again.

We played kodenames tonight.  I've mentioned this before, but girl clues are ones that barely work but totally do.  My girl clue tonight was "pterodactyl" for eagle and spine.  The girls totally got it, even pretty quickly.  I was so happy.

For Joshua's Lego challenge I gave him an apple or a horse.  I was interested to see how he would combine them.  He made an apple and a catapult.  Obviously.

I made Joshua get dressed for the first time in..oh...10 weeks.  He wasn't happy and changed back into PJs and stayed in them the rest of the day.

We got his bike out for the first time.  I think we'll need to take the pedals off and use it as a balance bike.

Isaac's life skill was to put up the swing.  A small life skill, but he had to figure out how to do it.  He put it up in one place and we decided it wasn't a good place and he was so sad.  I moved it for him, but we talked about how sometimes you have to do things multiple times and it's really annoying.

Wednesday: goal failed

My goal was to wear pajama pants for the entire lock-down.  Today I failed and wore jeans the whole day. 

You see, I was actually supposed to see people today.  I gave blood in the morning.  It went so much faster than last time and I was back home within an hour.

I was also supposed to see the sprinkler people to get the sprinklers started.  (Yes, we know how to start the sprinklers.  But there are always several that need to be fixed and replaced and we just don't want to deal with that.)  Well, I've been unimpressed with these people so far.  It took them three tries to get to our house last year, and they usually didn't call to reschedule.  Let alone call to say they weren't coming.  They called this year and I called back to schedule.  They weren't available, so I left a message to call me.  They didn't.  When I called them later they said that they had got the message...

Anyway, after this long rant you won't be surprised to learn that they didn't show up nor did they call.  It turns out that Cheryl had the time slot before us, and it seems as though they got to her house very late.  Maybe when they were done they thought, "Oh, we just finished Hilldore.  We're all set."?  But at the same time, if you're running really late and suddenly you're not running late shouldn't that be a red flag that something is wrong?  Or the fact that you have two Hilldore's on your list?  Or two different addresses?  Or did something get mixed up on the scheduling side?

It doesn't matter.  I'm done with them.  Showing up to appointments 25% of the time and not communicating just doesn't do it for me.

Joshua and I conducted a scientific test to see what the most ticklish part of his body is.

1. Armpits
2. Feet
3. knee
4. tummy
5. Back
6. Chin

It involved a lot of screaming. :D

Isaac made an ice box lemon pie all by himself, including the crust.  Well, I got out some of the things from up high and helped with one stir.  But that was barely anything.

Monday: week 10 day 1

Art started out the school week.  Cheryl had brought some cars to put together, so the boys did that.  Isaac added a special twist and then they painted them.

Joshua was tasked with making a watermelon or a fridge.  He combined them.

I let Isaac work on some logic puzzles for math.  Ben and I have been working on the hard versions...and they're hard.  https://www.puzzle-star-battle.com/

Joshua also showed me how Horizon can turn into a donut.  It's so obvious.

Friday: walk

It was a beautiful day (and we had a bit of time to burn), so we went to some trails.  It wasn't too busy.  The trails were smaller and more 'trail-blazy' than most trails we've done recently, and the boys seemed to actually enjoy it.  They often don't, so it was a nice change of pace.  Maybe it was because Ben joined us.

We walked by a fast river.  The boys were a bit scared.

It was our anniversary.  We got a few pictures, but we didn't exactly dress up for it.

After taking assorted pictures Joshua wanted one with just Ben.

Isaac thought he saw a Venus flytrap in the water.  A minute after looking, Ben realized there was a frog.

We found a bench!  The boys immediately turned it into a toy.

Thursday: rainy day

Isaac finished up the shelves

A few years ago I had a crazy idea of collecting bubble wrap so that the boys could have a bubble wrap stampede.  I was cleaning out the basement and it was rainy today so it seemed like a perfect time to actually get them out.  They had fun, but it didn't last quite as long as I was hoping.

Joshua wanted to do sensory activity, so I got some quinoa out.  (It's been used as sensory before.)

Wednesday: life skills and Lego challenges

Joshua made a four scoop ice cream cone as one of his Lego challenges today.  I also challenged him to use color appropriately, and it worked very well.

Isaac's life skill was to put together shelves that we had just got.  He did an excellent job by himself, but the shelves themselves are rather large and unwieldy so he did get some help.

Joshua's next Lego challenge was a pirate ship.  He used colors well again and it turned out great!

It was also a nice day today, so I pushed Joshua in the stroller to pick up some cat food.  He fell asleep for the second half, which was the second goal of the trip.

Tuesday: Joshua

Let's start with Lego challenge.  Grandpa Paul gave him "make a big A, a little a, a happy A, and a silly A."  He changed it (of course) to "a big E, little E, happy E, and sad E."

He also made a treasure chest that opens when you put a key in it.

This evening Ben and I were in the office and the boys were supposed to be doing their chores.  Instead we hear a big thunk outside the office and Joshua says, "Oof, that definitely did NOT work as a parachute."  We laughed so much.  (It was a pillowcase, by the way.)

However, soon after that there were so many tears because I wanted him to feed the cats.  So many tears.

Monday: Happy Birthday

Today we celebrated Tornado and Horizon's 2nd birthday.

The boys got out all the special food and made Lego gifts and decorations.

They got wet cat food.  Horizon licked it quite a bit, Tornado ignored it.  Possibly the candles scared him.

Joshua opened his presents.  He had made them a heart out of their colors and a cat.

Isaac made a cake...

That could be cut into two pieces with a dull knife.

In other news, we started working on addition because number flash cards are boring.  Does anyone have a trick for telling the difference between a six and a nine?

This is what Joshua made me yesterday.