Wednesday: Christmas

I'll admit, Christmas morning was a bit rough.  The boys were ready to go to Larry and Cheryl's house yet there were still things to do at home and it wasn't time to go yet.  However, once we made it there things calmed down and we had a wonderful afternoon.

Waiting:

Presents:

Legos are serious business.

Joshua came downstairs after bedtime because they were having too much fun and he bonked his head.  He fell asleep on my lap...I never know when the last time that is going to happen will be (obviously), but each time is nice.

As I said, it was a lovely day...until about 12:45am.  (So I guess it was technically the next day by then.)  Ben's phone buzzed.  I had been almost asleep.  1am...buzz.  I had been almost asleep.  1:15am...my phone buzzed.  We were getting assorted texts about paprika that apparently didn't reach our phones during the day.  My phone was on silent, but since Ben was in the text chain or because it was supposed to get to me during the day or something the phones buzzed.  Then I was hot and more awake than I should be.  Fast forward to 2:30am when I finally turned off my phone because they just weren't stopping!  I finally got my last one at 11:30am.  I understand that servers were busy yesterday, but the texts didn't come in any order or even all at once.  And it was night time, so I wasn't thinking straight.

Wednesday: Christmas

As always, the animals that were looking for Jesus all of December finally found him.  The boys moved the people over too, because there were fewer people to move than animals.

Monday/Tuesday: Christmas time

Yesterday we had a Christmas party with Ben's Dad's family.  It was nice to see them too, especially since it had been a year for many of them.  It's amazing how time flies.

Ben found this air hockey like game for the boys to open and play.  They loved it and we heard giggles the whole time the adults were doing their game.

Today we opened up presents with just our little family.  The boys ended up with more presents than I had been expecting, but oh well.  :)  It was fun.

Sunday: things kids say

Isaac is working on a Lego set with Ben and Joshua.

Isaac: I need to get a drink of water.  Save my seat.

a few minutes later...

Isaac: I have a headache.  And that is why I drink.

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Joshua, about 20 times a day: I'll tell you this.  Tells you something.

Saturday: Christmas party

Grey Bear got a bath today.  I've been threatening to do this for a year or so, but I smelled him again yesterday and realized he really, really needed one.  He smelled much better afterwards and while I doubt he enjoyed the experience, I'm sure he's happier now...just look at that smile.

We went to a Christmas party today with one of Ben's extended families.  It was nice to see everyone; I'm pretty sure it's been a year since I've seen many of them.  One of Ben's cousin's children had grown up enough to run around with Isaac and Joshua and it was pretty cute.

The cousin: what's your name?
Joshua: Joshua
TC: What's your brother's name?
Joshua: Isaac
TC: What's your dad's name?
Joshua: Ben, but Isaac and I call him Dad.

Friday: fridge

We finally got our new fridge today.  Although I feel like I haven't been making dinner a lot lately, it'll still be really nice to have all the food in the kitchen instead of spread throughout the house.

Joshua helped me take all the stuff out today before the new one came.  Then this evening he commented on how sometimes it's a good idea to do a big clean.  He's so right...I got a ton of containers back after throwing away food that had migrated to the back of the fridge.  Next time I clean I should probably do it this way again and not just look for the stuff that needs to be removed.

Thursday: Joshua

I went to pick up Joshua from school today and he was adamant that I close my eyes while he put something in his backpack.  It's Christmas time, so I figured it was a present.  I was rather surprised when the teacher came over a minute later with his present to give to us.

Once we got home he showed me the paper (the green one).  It's our family, a table (which was going to be a cat but then was too small), our cats, and four houses.  It's super cute, but I don't know why it was such a secret.

The boys also got a little bit of Christmas money today.  Isaac thought of something very reasonable to spend his on.  Joshua, on the other hand, said that he's saving for Great Wolf Lodge, a Disney cruise, Disney, and Animal Kingdom (although he meant Epcot).  But probably not in that order...probably Disney before the cruise.  I asked him if he realized that those were all expensive things and he said he realized that, but he really wants to do MagicQuest at Great Wolf Lodge.

Wednesday: forgot to post

Today was a rather relaxing day.  The kids were at school and I didn't have to work.

I did a little bit of quilt stuff that is easier to do with no one at home.  I continued to work on wrapping presents.  I went to the Wednesday morning karate class.  (Which was quite empty and wonderful.)  I took a nap.  Picked up the kids.  Heated up leftovers for dinner.  Helped the kids get through their chores.  Watched TV with Ben.

Tuesday: with pictures

First, last night's pictures that I missed.

Joshua made about four Christmas trains (without any help):

Tornado tried to help Isaac with his homework:

This morning I finished grading and got grades in.  Yay!  Most people that were worried will be happy with their grade, but there are a few won't be happy.

I finally trashed the diaper bag.  It had been riding around in the back of the car for the last two years, barely touched.  Then it sat in the garage for a while.  Anyway, it did a good job when it was just Isaac but gave up the ghost by the end of Joshua's time.  I was not sad to see it go.  Nor am I sad that I don't have to change diapers any more.

I got my hair cut!  It's been donated.  I keep thinking I'm not going to grow it out that long again and then I do.  We'll see what happens this round.  Oh, it's a bit wet in the picture.  It poofed a bit.

Isaac brought this song home.  It promptly got stuck in my head...except I couldn't remember any of the verbs.

The amazon guy had his arms full!  It's a bit sad (in a first world problem way).  I had our house helpers wrap the other half of the gifts and after the boxes came I realized they had barely finished half.

Isaac is the star student on Friday.  When he grows up he wants to be a scientist on magnets.  (I.e., using magnets to develop new applications.)  Is there a name for this specific field?  Ben and I couldn't find one.

Monday: cats

Oh, the cats are still cute.

They like to lie upside down on the runner by the garage.  Well, there are several places that they like to lie on their backs and it seems like such it silly pose.

Sunday: surprise!

Remember those random fevers I used to get a few times a year several years ago?  It came back last night.  Achy back, too cold to get the medicine that I knew would help...it was mostly the same.  I was a bit out of it today too.  I did some things, but I sat around more than normal too.  Hopefully it'll be gone soon.

We finished our ginger bread houses today.  It was almost serious business.

My houses:

Isaac's house - the bear laying down in front is baby Jesus:

 Ben's area...a little house with a fenced in tree:

Joshua's house.  He mainly put things next to his house, but he did it himself!

Saturday: graham cracker houses

Today we started our graham cracker houses.  Joshua did most of his by himself, with just a touch of help from Ben and me.  It was wonderful.

We put them in cages to dry and protect them from wandering kitties.  Unfortunately, they're also hidden from the camera.

As part of a Lego group I'm part of we were challenged to make a small scene that showed something that is better together.  I chose doing laundry, I think because the day the challenge came out Joshua helped me put away extra clothes and it was so nice.  I think it turned out ok...I really wasn't feeling it until I put the floor in, which was the last step.  But that gave it a much more polished look.  (Isaac was slightly upset that I took all the hands out of the shirts, but I told him that I couldn't wash hands.)

Friday: twins, errands, books

Guess who were twins today??

After they left for the day, Joshua and I did a few chores and some Legos and then started our errands.  We had 10 places to go!  Usually I spread them out and go to two places at the most, but with Christmas coming several of these needed to be done.

1. We went to the pet store.  (Joshua looked at all the animals.  We got cat food (the real reason) and some kitty presents.)
2. We went to Joann's...I needed a bunch of thread.  Joshua didn't enjoying helping me find just the right color as much as I thought he would.
3. We went to the south side Meijer and stocked up on Lego bins.  We also found a new carpet runner because we happened to be going through the aisle.  And donuts, because 10 places!
4. Gas station
5. Hope college - Dad's office.  He wasn't there.  Joshua got his treat from the office.
6. Hope college - library.  I had been planning to find the things I needed yesterday, but then suddenly the day was packed.  There were some shapes made out of chalk board material that Joshua wrote on while I found what I needed. 

7. Present store - closed
8. Present store - got presents and a few things for us too
9. Back to the first present store: open
10. Herrick Library - Joshua elected to stay in the car.

Fast forward to this evening, around 9pm.  Ben and I hear a child coming down the stairs.  We were expecting Joshua.  Instead it was Isaac, crying.  Whatever could be the matter??  It turns out he finished his book series and was so sad that they were done.  I understand...it actually seemed like a good reason to be crying.

Thursday: reindeer reigns

Today was a fun day at karate.  We started by warming up to The 12 Days of Karate, which involved doing assorted kicks, blocks, push-ups, sit-ups, etc. way too many times.  Also, I don't know what the kids are doing because it takes me X amount of time to do eight sit-ups.  (Say a thirty seconds because I've never timed myself.)  I do them pretty quickly, although I know I'm not always the fastest.  The kids were done when I was on four!  I think they cheated a lot. :)

Then we pretended to be reindeer.  I got to partner with Isaac, which was super fun.  He took off his belt, put it around his waist, and I took the ends as reigns.  He had to pull me across the floor while I tried to not let him get away.  Then we would switch.  Needless to say, I'm still quite a bit stronger but Isaac put up a valiant effort.

Wednesday: moodle

Oh, it's that time of year again.  I have to get moodle, the on-line class resource, ready for next semester. 

They changed moodle again for next semester.  They took away several of the good things, made one bad thing worse, and, as far as I can tell, didn't improve the things I didn't like much.

One thing that baffles me is the due date calculator.  I've copied the same starting info from this semester, but moodle tries to guess when things should be due based on the semester start date.  It works ok until you hit a school break, when it gets all messed up.  That's fine, it is still better than years ago.  What baffles me is that toward the end of the semester it also adds two hours to the time the assignments are due.  It used to add one hour and I think it was because of daylight savings time (although why that feature would even be in there, I have no idea.)  But why two hours now?  Probably to make me do more clicking.

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Here's the Thankful Turkey that Joshua made at school.  I'm surprised he put Mom instead of Dad since he likes Ben better.  (He actually did that on two different thankful things this year.)  The frogs also surprised me, but then he told me very matter-of-factly that frogs eat mosquitos.

Tuesday: conversations

Isaac:... Live for 500 years
A: I don't want to live for 500 yrs
Isaac: because you'd be decaying?
A: sure

J: I can't wait until mom and dad are dead so Isaac and I can do whatever we want!
A: how about when you're an adult you can do whatever you want.  Then I don't have to die.  What do you want to do when you're an adult?
J: break stuff!
A: uh, sure
J: and get expensive glofish tank!

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In unrelated news, I had first at Hope today.  Students can turn in late homework for a penalty.  I had two students do so poorly that they ended up with negative points on an assignment.  Every semester there is something new.

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In more unrelated news, I had sent a comic strip to Isaac's teacher about snow days.  She sent back an appropriate response, along with this..."Also, I just adore Isaac and his creativity and great sense of humor.  I am SO GLAD he is in my class."  Aww. :D

Monday: ups and downs

Today had more ups and downs than normal.

UP: I found a bag of apples in the trunk of the car!  I had been surprised this weekend when we were out of apples, but figured Ben had suddenly been eating a lot.

DOWN: Our sink is leaking.  This will end up being a very small repair to a small repair.  Luckily our favorite handyman is willing to help and that makes this so much easier.  (Can any more appliances break on us?  Yes, yes they could.)

UP: The exam that I gave today only had one minor typo.

UP: The exam that I gave today was about the right length.  Possibly a bit on the short side, but I'd rather go that way than the other way.

DOWN: I have a lot of grading to do.

UP: Dad picked up Isaac from school and brought him to Hope.

DOWN: Joshua had several problems.  I finally had him watch his movie in the classroom.  He didn't really want it, but he was just having too many problems.

DOWN: I missed a call (by a minute) from a student taking the exam in a different location (for good reasons).  I called back several times with no answer.  It turned into a small fiasco.

UP: The people at karate were very helpful.

UP: Once I got the right information I was able to help the student over the phone.

DOWN: I was rather distracted the whole karate class.

UP: It was Ben's turn to read to the kids before bed.  Sometimes, it's the little things.

UP: I opened a package only to find some surprise socks!  Are they from you?  Are they supposed to be for Christmas?  Either way, it was exciting.

Sunday: chocolate Legos

Isaac got it in his head that he wanted to make chocolate Legos.  (It was a small problem last night, as he kept asking and I kept saying 'tomorrow' but then he kept asking.)

Anyway, we finally got around to it.  I made him do most of the work, including the microwave and stirring and putting it in the molds.  I helped flatten the bottoms, but besides advice that was about all.  He put them in the fridge and while they did get hard already we're going to wait until tomorrow to have them.

Saturday: lunch and logic

Ben and I had separate errands this morning.  The boys were sad to see him go, even though we left about two minutes later.

The boys played with their lunches.

After dinner Ben was playing a video game for a few minutes and there was a sign in a hallway that said, "this way".  Joshua wondered why we needed the sign, since it was just a straight hallway with no other ways to go.  After some discussion I said that maybe the person couldn't see (that there weren't any other ways to go).  Isaac pointed out that if this were the case, they also wouldn't be able to see the sign.

Friday: awareness

Joshua was sliding down the steps this evening and hurt himself a bit.  I suggested we put the ice pack on it, but then Joshua complained that it wasn't cold enough.  (It's just been sitting in the freezer that doesn't freeze.)

Isaac: we could get an ice chunk from outside
Amanda: what ice chunk (it hasn't been snowy in about two weeks)
Isaac: The snow.  We could pack up some snow for him/
Amanda: What snow?
Isaac:...
Isaac: well, it should be there.  It's almost Christmas.
Amanda: it usually not snowy on Christmas.  It usually comes in January.

Isaac: mind blown.