He is Risen indeed! We opted for church at home today, partially so we could be with Ben, partially because churches are packed on this Sunday. It meant we never got out of our comfy clothes, but we celebrated this wonderful day.
Joshua decided to make a bird house with some of his special Lego pieces. Since I suggested that for him, I was put in charge of making the bird. It isn't amazing, but it's cute.
We once again ended the day by all reading together on the couch and it was lovely.
Today, in the day between the sadness and the rejoicing, we did our secular Easter things. The kids dyed Easter eggs. Now that they're older I came up with the great idea of having them do it one at a time...this prevented all the "you still have an egg in that cup and I want that color" that I deal with. Hmm. I usually get the kits on sale after Easter: I suppose I could get two. Either way, it worked really nicely this year.
After dinner we did an egg hunt. Stuffing the eggs I got rather grumpy. I didn't prepare well and it really isn't a fun activity. I ended up with some Christmas candy, spare change, and *lots* of little pieces of paper for 2 minutes of screen time. I told them not to have very high expectations.
The hunt itself was pretty fun. The kids enjoyed it and like the odd places we found.
While the morning was rather laid-back, the afternoon was pretty full. We started with an escape room, a gift from Christmas. We solved it, but needed a few hints. One we should have been able to figure out, one was dumb but understandable, and one was tricky. Everyone had a good time though.
Then we went to Ben's work to pick up a car, since mine is at the shop. He gave us a tour of the facility...I've been there, but it's been a really long time. Joshua didn't remember it at all. He's moved desks (at least once) since I was there last so it's nice to have a new picture in my head.
After a quick stop home, we went rock climbing. It was the end of the month and we had an extra guest pass, so I was able to climb today too. I'm pretty bad.
After a quick nap and dinner we went to church for the Good Friday service.
Third grade did animal reports and they looked at each other's.
Third graders also read to kindergarteners as part of March reading month.
I started cleaning the closet shelves today. Turns out none of my belts fit me anymore...by quite a bit. I'll blame pregnancy changes.
I had a dentist filling today and it took all of about 11 minutes. I had plenty of (boring) things to do at home and was rather excited to get to them and start crossing them off.
Oh! Good news! The tooth fairy finally decided to come visit Isaac. He lost his tooth about two weeks ago and about once a week he calmly tells me the tooth fairy hasn't come and I comment on how bad she is at her job. She finally decided to come in the middle of the day because she felt a little bad.
I got a lot done today and it felt good. A ton of little stuff. I started cleaning out my closet. I got rid of many T-shirts and a few long sleeves. Really, it was less than I was expecting but I also don't need to completely empty the closets, I just need to get rid of stuff I know I won't wear again.
Wednesday I have several errands out of the house and then spring break starts Friday, so there might not be as many to-do items getting done. That's ok though...we'll have lots of fun.
It was a pretty normal day: church, lunch, nap, Legos, screen time.
My back/head/neck are starting to feel better. They were ok but warm and weird the last two days, but I didn't have any complaints today.
So yeah. This was a boring post.
Let's talk about the skid marks we saw on the neighborhood road the other day. They were some well defined marks that continued into (or came out of) a lawn. The grass was brown and dead, normal for this time of year, but the skid marks were so well defined in the lawn that it didn't just seem like dirt that was churned up. Although I'm just looking at it from inside a car because it's cold so I might not be the best judge. I'm sure I'll never hear what happened, but I'm intrigued.
There was no snow day, although Ben thought it should have been when he dropped off the kids.
I had my PT appointment and she ended up spending the whole time on my upper back and upper neck. She said I was all messed up and it wasn't a surprise that I had a headache. We didn't even get through any normal exercises. I'm sure it helped, but yesterday and today I still felt a bit off.
Joshua made a little bed in the basement and was excited when Tornado curled up on it for a bit.
We're getting some snow tomorrow, which could slow down the morning commute. We have only used three of our snow days so far this year. Will we have a snow day?
One calculator currently says 12%.
One calculator says 99%, although this is wrong.
One calculator says 47%.
The meteorologist says "moderate chance".
My guess is yes, but at the same time wouldn't be surprised if it's a no either, especially if the storm starts later than expected or moves north.
Today I cleaned out our dresser.
So. Many. Socks.
I had a lot of socks. Ben had a ton of socks. We still have a lot of socks, but we both have less now. Ben probably doesn't need the old socks from two cycles ago "just in case." In fact, it turns out he doesn't even need last cycle's socks because he had three pairs of new looking socks that will work for backup.
I didn't think I'd end up getting rid of this much - 2 bags for recycle and 2 bags for donation. But we definitely don't need clothing with crunchy elastic anymore. (I did make several decisions for Ben based on what he doesn't wear, but I also left him a few choices on things I wasn't sure about.)
Our church has been leaning into the theme of listening to God for a while now, and that has changed our church services in that there is a time to listen and receive a message from God. Isaac said that he's had the same one for the last few weeks and so today finally wrote it down and gave it to the pastor:
This evening Isaac was a bit bored, so he took us up on an offer to read on the couch. (Everyone had their own books.) Then Joshua finished his chores and joined us. It was a lovely way to finish up a blah weekend. (Ben and I were both under the weather and not a ton got accomplished. Well, Isaac did a great job finishing up his math test and Joshua made a huge ghast, but Ben and I didn't do much.)
I've had a headache on and off for the last several days. For the most part it's only been off when I have taken some ibuprofen. The headaches aren't terrible, but at the same time they make me feel yucky. I was complaining this afternoon as the kids were trying to figure out what was for dinner and I was only saying that I didn't feel like anything. So Isaac volunteered to make dinner and it was such a relief. He heated up some taco meat, added the toppings, cut up an apple, and put some carrots on the plate.
Isaac didn't give us a ton of food, it wasn't super hot, and he gave me cream cheese instead of sour cream. However, he also then got the sour cream, brought it over the food, and I didn't have to do any of it. It was wonderful.
I did the minimum required chores this morning so that I could start Operation: Clean the House - Master Bedroom edition. I cleaned the end tables and the top of the dresser...and got rid of a ton of stuff!! It looks nice, but at the same time there are still some very messy parts so the overall effect is still lacking. It was an excellent start though.
We had parent-teacher conferences today. Both were rather boring, but I'd rather have it that way then need to actually discuss anything. I did learn that Joshua is actually using his noise-canceling headphones that I got around Christmas, so I was happy to hear that.
I made a lemonade pie for pi day and to give to Isaac while we finished our board game. However, he was in significantly better spirits tonight, so I'm not sure the pie was necessary. At the same time, food always helps.
Horizon loves games. He loves sitting on them. He loves to walk through the middle while we play. He goes around to each player, trying to see what they have.
I also bought too much butter. I didn't realize we actually had enough and then it was on sale. Also, the kids have stopped eating the cinnamon butter so we're not going through that quickly any more.
The kids had a half day today because of conferences. It worked out well because I am on break. Well, I guess Isaac had more than a half day because he still had to go to PATH. Let me tell you, he was not excited about that.
Besides that the day was fine. I got a little less done than I was hoping, but about as much as I expected. The kids and I did some good take-away routes at rock climbing. (Each time they do a route, one of the holds is removed and can't be used anymore.) Isaac frequently gets down to only a few left and Joshua had some impressive moves this time too.
First of all, I finished cleaning the downstairs bathroom! It might be a bit hard to tell from the pictures, but I scrubbed the floor, repainted the blue shelf, and touched up some paint. (The paint touch up is a little obvious, but it's better than what was there before.) I also cleaned off a ton of marks from one of the doors.
Before and after:
I'm most excited about the cabinets. They went from a huge mess to useable.
Let's start with the down: my cold is worse. I've had it for several days now, but I was quite worn out today.
Then the up: the car just needed a jump start and it seems to be working again. We got it back to the house this morning and took it out later this afternoon with no problems. The battery is probably getting old, so we'll see how tomorrow goes.
Joshua and I decided on popcorn for our evening snack. I have a ton of normal popcorn...hmm...not the microwave kind. Anyway, I decided to give it a try.
Here's how it started...
We added our toppings and it was delicious. It was more work than I was hoping for, but also more delicious than I was expecting.
In other news, my car isn't starting. We don't think it's a dead battery but is acting weirdly. It's sitting in a parking lot by the kids' school because obviously that's when it decided to die. I suppose there's never a good place though. We're going to try again tomorrow and then I guess we'll need to get it towed if it doesn't miraculously fix itself. I called Ben several times while trying to troubleshoot and it turned out he was giving a presentation. Oh, I felt so bad but not having the car start is a small emergency. There was a friend still in the parking lot so she brought us home. Also, I want to note that I'm always the one with car problems and Ben is always the one to bail me out. It doesn't seem fair, but he's always so nice about it.
Oops. I keep forgetting to post. Maybe because nothing too exciting is happening.
I had PT today. She said that I was straightening out nicely! I have a few appointments every two weeks for the next month and then I get to go down to once a month. I also learned how to do a push-up correctly. I have known that I've always been doing them wrong, but now I know what it was. At karate tonight I attempted to implement the change and well, I was only able to do about a third of the amount I normally could.
Today was also the day before spring break. Classes weren't attended well, but they were attended better than I expected. For the students that didn't come, most of them at least sent me an email so that they can watch the recording later.
I got so much done today! I finished most of the items that I "needed" to do by 11. I was about on track as expected. I went on a walk with a friend - it was a beautiful day today. I had lunch and took a nap. I finished a few items on my "need" to do list and then had more time! So I just kept checking stuff off, hence all the blog posts today. I picked up the kids and they had some screen time, so I got some more done. Then it was a beautiful day, so the kids played outside for a long time...and I got some more done!
I even made an new dinner tonight and it was a hit. Joshua liked it, which was a bit surprising. Ben and I really liked it. Isaac thought it was ok...but that's ok.
The worst part of the day was when I thought I had lost Ben's new swimsuit. It had ended up with Joshua's clean clothes and he put it in his dirty laundry basket to cycle through. This is normally a good plan, I just happened to be too on top of it.
I have a bunch of pictures and whatnot in my email that I've forgotten to share...
Joshua got his first trophy at piano. About every quarter they have a little test and usually achieve a bracelet, but it's been about a year and he got a trophy. He's really been looking forward to this.
Joshua during reading groups. Joshua's teacher does a great job sending pictures.
Today we traveled home. Everything went really smoothly. Well, I guess Isaac and I had the traveling grumps on the way home, but we all survived that. I was so tired again when we got home. I usually don't have the same stress coming home from vacation that I do leaving for vacation, but oh, I was so tired. I think I went to bed 2.5 hours early and was asleep two hours early.
We had a few hours in the morning before we had to leave.
Isaac jumped in the pool so Creeper could see a water explosion.
Joshua played Tic-Tac-Toe with Grandpa. They also took another Vespa ride.
On Sunday we went to Fort Myers beach. Oddly enough, we went to a pool near the beach. Isaac joined me for one walk on the beach itself to get some shells and I went for a second walk by myself, but most people stayed by the pool. Oh, I should add a side note. Joshua tried to join us for a walk on the beach but it turns out he had scraped up his toes pretty badly on the pool and it hurt to walk. Ben did it a little bit too.
The pool was heated to a lovely temperature and Joshua was in it most of the time. We had brought a few tiny beach balls and he played a lot of catch with different people as we rotated in and out. Again, a lovely and relaxing day.
Oh, I'm doing this rather late and didn't take pictures of the whole day. I'm sure Isaac was in the pool and that both kids played with ducks. I think Joshua went on a Vespa ride with Grandpa and that Ben let Isaac drive the Vespa (while having his hands very close and ready to take over).
We also went on a boat ride. Not really to anywhere though, because many marinas are still recovering from the hurricane two years ago and haven't rebuilt. The others were all full. It was still a very nice boat ride though! In the sun was a nice temperature, especially when we were going fast.
The weather today was beautiful and Joshua said he wanted to go to a playground. Isaac didn't want to go, and since he had a rather busy weekend I didn't want to push it. I ended up making a call to one of Joshua's friend as we were pretty much putting our shoes on and he was interested in going. We picked him up and the boys were able to hang out together. The kid doesn't go to Joshua's school anymore, so it's nice to be able to get them together once in a while still. It also turns out that he lives quite close, which is an added bonus.
I realized I've missed several days of blogging. It's just been normal busy over here. The kids didn't have school on Friday and I'm still finishing the last of the unpacking and catching up from vacation. The to-do has exploded, but I'm hopeful it will be back to normal levels after tomorrow.
