Tuesday: ups and downs

Today had its ups and downs with a few odd surprises thrown in.  However, none of it is blog-shareable so you'll have to be content with a mysterious blog post that doesn't satisfy.

I think that the end result of everything is just life as normal.

Monday: a good day

There were a lot of little things that worked today.  Ben had an appointment in the morning.  It usually goes long, and today it was long but not absurdly long.  I went on a walk with a friend.  It was colder out than I expected, but it was still nice to get out.

Isaac had full band practice after school.  Annoyingly, he had to stand out in the cold by parent pick-up before going back inside to go to practice.  I understand why, but at the same time, it seems like they could figure something different out.  There were a bunch of students doing this though, so they could all be cold together.

I cleaned a drawer for O:CtH.  This one was my miscellaneous paper and random other stuff drawer and I had recently put too much paper in it and it was hard to open.  This drawer does get cleaned out regularly, but I still got rid of a bit and put several more papers in a different pile for filing.  I'm not sure I'd call it organized, but it is much emptier.

Sunday: offering

 Tornado has made himself a nest.  I regularly hear him scrunching the paper just so at night time.

Isaac assisted with the offering for the first time today.  I know it isn't a huge deal, but there was someone that thought of him, thought he was mature enough, and then helped him out.

Saturday: car

Ben got a new car today!  While he ordered it back in November, we weren't expecting it until mid-February which made everything feel slightly rushed.  However, all the paperwork easily got finished on time and he was able to get it.

I know it's not a great picture, but I regularly go for quick and easy pictures instead of good pictures.

Friday: friends

We had some friends over tonight.  They include a lot of boys between 7th and 1st grade.  The kids just play though...it's always a bit crazy, but in a good way.

They also went outside for a little bit.  So now the whole yard has footprints around it, but it's perfect.

I had most of the day blocked out for cleaning the house and getting ready, but by 9am I decided that it was good enough.  I did do a bit more cleaning and stuff, but at the same time I was much more laid back.  It was a nice feeling; the house has been staying a little cleaner than normal somehow and it's made life easier several times.  Surprise surprise.

Thursday: snow

We finally got some snow.  I guess we had some yesterday too, but most of it was today and it was beautiful.

Beyond that, it was a pretty normal day for me.  Isaac climbed his first V2 route at rock climbing, so that was exciting.  (It starts with VB, Beginner.  Then VB+, V0, V1, and now he's done V2.  It gets hard quickly.)  I belayed Joshua several times on a route.  He did the run several times.  First just to try it, then with fewer breaks, then with no breaks, and then with as many breaks as he could.  It was a funny challenge.

Wednesday

 Isaac enjoyed eating dinner with both cats on his lap this evening.

Google also made a nice collage of Ben and the boys.  It's cute.

Tuesday: before and after

Before: 

And after:

As I mentioned before, I didn't get rid of a ton of stuff.  It is reorganized so that the bottom shelf holds more of the commonly used items.  I've also used up a few of the items that have been sitting around for a while and we just haven't eaten them.  I'm hoping to do a few more within the next few weeks to help clean it out even a bit more.

Monday

Today I went to help out at kids' food basket.  I always try to sign up for packing lunches and half the time I feel like I end up on food prep.  While the change isn't a big deal I do enjoy doing the lunches more.

I cleaned another cupboard, but the lazy susans I was using were dirty enough that they needed to go in the dishwasher.  So I'll post about the final result later: I was expecting this one to be a more drastic change than what it ended up being.

Weekend

 It's been a busy weekend and we've seen people, but at the same time nothing all that noteworthy has happened.

My amaryllis finally bloomed.  It was a bit late, but I'm still enjoying it.

We did some rock climbing.  Isaac is on the Rockwall of the Week, which tends to have large pieces and is currently above his level.  But you get to sign your name on a piece of paper if you make it to the finish point and they are different than the normal routes so he's been spending a lot of time on them.  I know Joshua looks bored here but I think I just got him at a bad time.  On Saturday Isaac's friend Isis joined us and that was nice.

Thursday: star student

Apparently the latest popular question for the Star Student in Joshua's class is "If you could do anything, what would you do?"  Now, Joshua has already been star student, but he's been thinking about it.  He told me that if he could do anything he'd like to meet God.

And my heart melted a bit.  One of my biggest prayers is that the kids have a relationship with God, so it's nice to know that they think about God outside the adult-led times.

Wednesday: tired

After going to bed early last night I was still tired all day.  It was a poor day to be tired, because it was also busy.

I've had a friend come over some days night before school pick-up and we've been working on a puzzle.  The top edge was surprisingly hard; we ended up taking it apart and working our way up.

Not wanting to do anything else, I worked on a small section of the kitchen.

I didn't change much, but cleaned up the wall and under the cabinets well.  I straightened up some stuff so that it just looks nice too.  I was hoping to avoid any paint, but there are a few spots that really would look better with some touch up.

I only had one girl in my GEMS class this evening, but it was relaxed and pretty nice.

Tuesday: good till the end

Today was a pretty good day.  Mostly normal.  My second class asked more questions during practice time and that made the time go faster.

I did soak my shoes and socks when picking up the kids from school.  There are just too many puddles to avoid.  Then it was piano day.  I took my shoes and socks off during piano, but everything was still wet and blah.

I was doing ok until 8pm.  Something snapped.  I made it through books, but I was done.  'Don't talk to me I need to be alone' done.  (We are reading a fan fiction of Harry Potter where he gets sorted into Slytherin instead of Gryffindor.  I haven't enjoyed reading to the kids this much in a long time.  Not that the kids' books aren't usually good, but this one is holding my attention much better.)

I'm going to bed slightly early because I'm also rather tired.  Things will look up in the morning.

Monday: a hike

 The kids were off today because of MLK day.

I bribed them into a long hike with extra screen time.  They are also both doing something on the switch right now, so it felt like the TV was on especially more than normal today, even if they only had a little more screen time than normal.

Anyway, I think they enjoyed the hike.  Joshua especially enjoyed climbing all over this tree.

Sunday: graham cracker houses

 Last night Joshua slept in his castle.  It's cute.  I also left the door open to see if the cats would behave.  Horizon joined me at some point in the evening and nicely slept curled up by my legs.  (He does an excellent job sleeping with me.  However, he does not do an excellent job with Ben.)  After Joshua woke up the cats were chasing each other all over the room and I kicked them out, but happily fell back to sleep for a bit.

We finished our graham cracker houses in the afternoon.

Saturday: by ourselves

Ben left this morning for a work trip and will be gone several days.  I have a few things planned for the long weekend, but nothing special.  After the first half hour I was lamenting the lack of plans.

But then we fell into a rhythm.  Isaac and I played a game while Joshua set up his bed for a sleepover tonight.  It turned into a castle, with a gate, draw bridge, and separate rooms for him and Grey Bear.  

In good brotherly fashion Isaac went to check it out and before I knew it they were playing some imaginary game.  It went for a long time!  So I cleaned out another drawer.  Before you couldn't find anything but I could fit a lot of stuff in, now you can find everything but I couldn't fit everything in.  So something moved to a different drawer for the time-being.  I did get rid of some stuff, but not in the amazing way that some of the other drawers have changed.  I probably don't need all the pens/pencils/markers, but there's no real reason to get rid of them right now either.  They'll stay around until the next round of decluttering.

The planned activity of the day was graham cracker houses.  While usually a Christmas activity, it just didn't happen this Christmas.  (Also, there were plenty of treats during Christmas and we didn't need more.)  Both boys are getting much better in their creating skills.  Tomorrow is candy day.

Mine.  Small, like normal, to maximize the candy:graham cracker ratio.

Isaac's.  A modern take this year.  He lamented that a half graham cracker isn't a square, which makes building a bit harder.  He also has a non-modern well.

Joshua's.  The main person to try and cut the crackers this year.  (Ben often does something elaborate, but was ok not joining us this year.)  While his roof will be a bit leaky, I was excited to see how he put everything together.  Although you can't see it yet, there's also a fireplace inside.

Friday: cleaning!

Wow, two good cleaning days in one week.  I've realized that some weeks are slower with fewer errands or outings.  Errands and outings are great, but they disproportionally hurt my at home productivity.  Especially the errands.  They always take longer than I expect.

I got my "try to do this" list done by 10:30 and continued to work on the oven.  I now have the outside of the oven and the back wall clean.  I'm hoping to use the oven clean function next week.  I also need to clean the inside of the lower drawer, but that's a cleaning and organizing activity so I'm considering it to be like any other door/cabinet.  You can only tell in a few places that the oven is much cleaner, but you can take my word that it is much cleaner.

Before:

After:

Joshua also saw a heart Lego set in the catalogue that we got recently and decided to make it for me out of blue, since blue is my favorite color.  We pulled up the instructions for the original and he did a great job making substitutions when needed.  We hung it in the bathroom.

Thursday: not much to report

There hasn't been much to report the last two days.  I've been normal productive.  Classes were taught.  The house is semi-clean.  We forgot Isaac's birthday treat so stopped by Meijer after school for some cupcakes that he can bring tomorrow.

Yesterday Joshua worked on a challenge that involved putting a stuffed animal on his head while doing a tower traverse.  He really got into it.

Tuesday: first day

Today was the first day of classes; they went fine.  The first day is not really that fun.  I also didn't sleep well because I was worried that the morning wouldn't go well.  It went fine.  I don't know why I was worried; we've done this before and I had stuff ready.  Just an annoying brain I guess.

Joshua joined me at bedtime because he was scared of his room again.  While I love it when he falls asleep on my lap, I also wish he didn't get scared at bedtime so easily.  (I think it also has to do with the book he listens to.  It really needs to be of the super not scary variety and those can be hard to find.)

Monday: cleaning

I got so much done today!  As with most days, I went into the day with a plan and feeling ambitious.  That ambition doesn't always turn into actually accomplishing as much as I'd like (and sometimes things just take longer than expected).  But it went the other way today!  Things took shorter than expected, so I finished up the try-hard-to-do list and added several more things.

As part of O:CtH I started working on the oven.  After the first ten minutes of cleaning the top of the door I almost gave up...the stain was just not coming off.  It came mostly off with the fourth cleaner, so while it took a while I was excited to see it finally looking better.  I also realized that a butter knife is ideal for cleaning the crack between the oven and the counter.  I'm not planning on cleaning the inside of the oven very well, but I did vacuum it and got several charred pieces out.  Sadly, I'm expecting to stay with the oven for quite some time, because I really only got the door finished today.  Maybe things will go faster than I expect.

Sunday: normal

It was a pretty normal day today and so not much to write about.  The church clay was almost stiff, but not quite, so the kids split colors and enjoyed having two colors at church.  It did eventually end up as a slightly lighter red, but it was interesting to watch the marbling in the clay as they worked it.

Saturday: kitchen

 Joshua made a fruit Pikachu today.  He decided to do it based on the cake.  

Friday: O:CtH

This afternoon I decided the only way I was going to get anything done was if it was 'fun' work.  So I cleaned one of the kitchen cabinets.  I decided to do the drink/spice cabinet.  I had done it a few years ago, so I didn't expect too much change, but I had gotten some new spices for Christmas and I wanted to change them out for the old spices.

In the end though, I got rid of so much stuff.  Probably at least 1/4 of the stuff that was in the cabinet, which was amazing to me.  The weird thing was getting rid of a few tea boxes, but I haven't been drinking tea lately and it's pretty old.  I also have two small boxes full of water bottle tops.  I put them in a few years ago and haven't looked at them since then, so I'm going to assume that I don't actually need them.  There are also some candlestick holders; they came with the house and I don't think the previous owners are going to care anymore. 

The saddest thing I am getting rid of are unopen but well used tea bags.  I had them in a different cabinet when Isaac was small and he found them.  They became a favorite toy but I kept them around because the foil wrappers had never actually been opened.  Since I'm getting rid of tea though, I decided I could take a picture of them and remember that way.

Thursday: errands

This morning was supposed to be a work morning, but it turned into an errand morning.  I got the oil changed, I picked up some auctions, dropped off some stuff at UPS, dropped off the compost, and went to the library.  Some errands were very fast and some were very slow.

I also went for a walk with Aunt C.  It was rather misty out, but we still had a lovely time.  We went to Ottawa Discovery Center to walk.  We found the birds of prey exhibit!  I haven't gone to ODC that many times, but I guess the times I have gone we've skipped the exhibit.  I thought it would involve a building that you go inside of, like nature centers.  So imagine my surprise when a Bald Eagle starts squawking at us!  There were two bald eagles and they were both quite vocal.  One made normal bird screeches and one...didn't.  

Anyway, I've never been that close to a bald eagle before and they are beautiful.  There were also owls, hawks, and a few other assorted birds of prey.  (FYI, most of the birds were in an accident and now can't fly or hunt anymore.  I think there was one that was imprinted on humans.  But none of them would survive in the wild, which is why they're here.)

Wednesday: wig

About a week ago I got pictures of the wig that was made with my hair!  It was my hair and hair from three other people.  And while I think the mannequin is ugly, I think the wig is really cute!  (Also, it's supposed to just be a partial wig and worn with a hat.  They're less hot and take less hair.)

Tuesday: last day

Today was the last day before the kids go back to school, which is a bit sad and a bit happy all at the same time.  We didn't do anything all that special, although we did go rock climbing and stayed a bit longer than normal.  I also tried to bring some returns to UPS and the line was about 5x longer than I've ever seen it.  While it would still probably only take 10 minutes, since I had two kids in the car I decided to come back later.

Weekend: family

Nathan and family came this weekend!  It was a wonderful weekend.  The kids keep getting older and entertaining themselves and sometimes it feels like we barely see them.  (Although, to be fair, we kicked them into the basement a few times because they were being loud.  You don't get to be loud in the main area.)

Friday: we worked medium hard all day before they arrived, but it did also include a nap and making some food.  Isaac finished his deviled eggs (all by himself!) and I helped Joshua with his Pikachu cake.  Now, we had gone to the library to try and find some easy dinner ideas that he could make by himself that sounded good.  What we ended up with with an involved dessert.  Oh well.  It was very good and I expect we'll make it again.

Saturday: in the morning we went rock climbing.  Nathan and Liz also tried it out, while I still haven't made it off the ground.  I did get to belay some adults though, so it was nice to do that for the first time.  Liz was no problem, but I did feel the weight difference a little bit with Nathan.  I was floatier than normal.  Isaac worked on the challenge wall a lot.

After lunch we opened presents!  Yay!  We all got some good ones.

Kate came by for dinner...it was nice as we haven't seen her in a long time.  We did a New Year's countdown around 9 and sent the kids to bed.  They were out quickly.  (Actually, they were out quickly the night before too.  Maybe they had had enough time to see each other and burn off some energy.)  Isaac stayed up both nights to watch the new Top Gun movie with us.  I just though it was ok, although the plane scenes were good.  I don't know if Isaac understood all the minor plot points.

Sunday we went to church to watch Pat play the organ.  She did a lovely job.

In the afternoon the kids made a wood craft with Dad.

After the three youngest went to bed Ben and Isaac taught Nathan how to play Magic: The Gathering.  I read my book.  I just started a new one and it is hilarious and excellent.  (Beware the Chicken!  However, it is based on an Eastern genre, and if you haven't read at least a few of that type it might not be as good.  Still funny, but some items might not make as much sense.  Thousand Li was the series I read first to help out with some of the background knowledge.)

Then, as always, they left the next morning.  While it's nice to go back to normal and not run the dishwasher twice a day, it's also always very sad and quiet.  However, there are plans to see them during Spring Break!