Friday: ahhh

I got to stay home most of the day today.  It was nice - it's been a while.  I did take longer than I hoped writing the final exam, but it's done now.

The Christmas Ruiners and SMTWRFSs didn't do anything last night, but I nailed two of the SMTWRFSs to the wall because they are the ones that always cause the jail breaks.  When I told that to the kids you could tell that Joshua thought I actually nailed them to the wall.

I also finally got some work done on O:CtH - basement bathroom edition.  I only got through one cabinet, but it felt good.  I threw out several items, including an old kid tunnel that we let the cats play with a few times.  They enjoyed it one last time.

Here are some of the pictures of the decorated house.  We spread things out a bit more this year and I really like how it feels slightly less cluttered than normal.

Thursday: more Christmas Ruiners and SMTWRFSs

This morning the SMTWRFSs were stealing presents, again.  They got them to the table and were taking them away.

I then got a box from Isaac who said it seemed like an Advent calendar from the Christmas Ruiners...so each day I get a new Ruiner.

Today was the last day of classes.  It's been a long semester.  I still need to finish writing the exam tomorrow...it won't really be fun, but I think I have the base files all set.  That's often the hardest part, so that's a relief.

Wednesday: fun!

 It was rather good day today.

The Christmas Ruiners and the SMTWRFSs were up to a ton of mischief when I woke up this morning.  Some of the Christmas Ruiners were trying to steal an empty box (jokes on them!) and the SMTWRFSs were sending presents from our Lego display up a conveyor belt into a pool of lava.  I sent them all to jail and taped the instigators to the wall.

I had lunch with a friend.  A friend came over for a brief puzzle time before picking up our kids from school.  I had lunch with a friend yesterday.  I know I complain about not getting all my work done sometimes, but I realized there is a good reason for it, that I wouldn't change.

Our raid in WoW killed the last boss on normal difficulty today.  We only worked on him 1.5 nights, so that was rather amazing.  

Monday: 5 minute dungeon

Last night at the Christmas party we gave Joshua a game called 5-minute-dungeon.  He has taken to the game more than I was even hoping, and got Ben and Isaac to play it this evening even though it meant foregoing screen time.

I got about the amount of work done today that I was hoping to.  Sort of.  There's still a lot on the list, but since the kids had screen time after school I was able to finish some of the things that I really wanted to get done.

Sunday: Advent candle

The third grade Sunday school lit the Advent candle this week.  I was going to grab a screenshot from the streaming video, but it started too late so I only got a far away picture.  Joshua didn't want to say anything, so he just stood up there with his friends.

Friday: donating blood

 I donated blood today, and as always it was a bit of an adventure.  They used the opposite arm as normal, which surprised me but I don't really care which they use.  Getting the blood to flow into the tube was a little hard, but once it was going is was going well.  But then I got a hematoma - apparently some blood was leaking a bit into the surrounding tissue, causing a small bump and the flow to slow way down.  We moved my arm around a bit and it started flowing enough to finish up.  (Phew.)

I had to ice it for a bit right afterwards and then I applied heat this evening.  There's still a bump, bit it might be getting a little smaller.  My elbow is also slightly sore, but just barely.  They kept talking about the bruise that might show up - I usually get a pretty nice bruise a few days after donations, so I'm kind of hoping this one is awesome.

Thursday: class

It was a rather normal day, really.  Class had a bit more content than I would have preferred: I had a review, we talked about differences between Excel and Google sheets, and they had some time to practice.  The second class I took quite a bit out and that made it a little better, but I had still been hoping to finish just a bit earlier for more practice time.

Due to the change in credit hours and restructuring of the class, I don't have anything else pressing that I want to teach.  Next week is the last week of class so we'll have a quiz and then leave early on Tuesday.  Everyone is so busy at the end of the semester that I expect the extra half hour will be appreciated.  We'll review on Thursday, but that content is mostly put together.  I'm really ready for the semester to be over.  It wasn't a bad semester, but it felt busier than normal.

This evening I drove people around and had my karate class.  There's apparently a recertification coming up in two weeks.  It feels more like a normal test, but I should still get a little bit of extra practice in.  There's a new form that I don't have much practice with and some old forms that I don't remember that well.  I've tried to practice, but only manage about once every two or three weeks.

I should get to bed.  I should have gotten to bed a while ago.

Wednesday: inspections

 The cats inspected most of the work I did today.

Nap?  Inspected.

Unplugged the humidifier?  Inspected for a long time.

Cooked food?  Inspected

That being said, I didn't think I was going to get most of my list done today, and it was a bit of a problem as most of it needed to be done today.  But I even got a few extra things that were added at the last minute done, so I was rather happy.

Monday: lights

I'm getting closer to showing pictures of lights.  I got quite a bit done today, but the house is still not clean...enough for pictures.  I still have a month.

I got one with Joshua right after school.  He's been really amazing about turning them on and off.  I tried to get one at night, but it was cold and the garage light was on and I didn't have the patience to figure out how to get a good picture.  Again, I have a month to get a good one.

 

Ben was playing Minecraft with the boys and he and Isaac were going to spawn a monster.  The monster creates a lot of damage, so they went far away to a savannah.  However, they had to move to a different spot because Isaac said, "Dad, we can't do it here.  I've seen a giraffe around."  I know I don't write quite as much about Giraffe as I do Grey Bear, but Giraffe is a beloved member of the family. 

last Thursday: Happy Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving was a nice day.  We did church at home and then the kids helped with the fruit for Thanksgiving dinner while I made the corn pudding.  We already had the pomegranates done and were just using canned pineapple, so food prep on our side was rather easy.

The Box was brought over and proved to be a hit.

Dinner was delicious, as always.  I claimed the right to carve the turkey.  I'm not a great turkey carver, but I'm willing!

 

Afterwards we talked, played some games, and I took a quick nap.  We snacked a bit near dinner time.  And by snacked, I made a plate of food for myself and told the boys they had to eat something healthy before more dessert.  I think Joshua listened to me, but I think Isaac just didn't eat.

Sunday: Happy Birthday

Today was Ben's birthday.  I had a good day - hopefully he did too.

I had some unique present ideas and I was rather excited about one of them.  It was just a cutting board with Ben's name on it for building Lego sets on.  It actually took me longer than expected to find the right size in the right price range.

We also went out for lunch, had a special cheesecake, watched it snow, and played Space Base. 

...and I didn't manage to get any pictures. 

Saturday: another good day

 Today was just a nice day.  We finished up most of the Christmas decorations, I brought Isaac rock climbing, and did some work.

Let's see...I needed to do some grading because I was rather behind.  However, one of my graders had already graded about half of what I thought I needed to do (because it had been turned in late) and it was amazing.  I did it while Isaac was rock climbing, but was also able to belay him on a few courses and help out with some take-aways.

We mostly finished putting up the Christmas decorations.  I think there's still a few stragglers, but just a few small items.  Everything also needs to be put away.  Between empty boxes and taking apart Legos the main area has been a bit of a disaster lately, but it is starting to get better.  The house is fun.  I ordered some new lights this year so that all the house lights matched.  And I splurged and got special white/color LED lights and it has been so much fun.  First of all, there's are different colors and they can fade in and out and we've been having a fun time trying out the different schemes.  Secondly, the lights are about five times as long as the old light strings and so the whole house is covered with lights!  I knew they'd be longer, but I was expecting about twice as long.  Thirdly, the kids can do some of the stuff themselves.  Joshua put up some outdoor lights and Isaac did the downstairs lights and they both look great.  I'll get some pictures within a few days.

Wednesday: a good day

Today was a nice day.  All the males worked together on a Lego project.  Ben and I had a banking errand that went quickly and smoothly.  (That's what I was expecting, but sometimes these things take longer than expected.)  We started putting up Christmas decorations.  Joshua joined the game of Dominion that the rest of us were playing.  It isn't his favorite game, but he tends to do pretty well.  (Isaac won this time though.)  I didn't do a lot of house work, but still managed to cross a few things off my to-do list.

Tuesday: hmm

Hmmm...Joshua didn't have a fever today.  He was still complaining a bit about a sore throat, but is happy that he could go to school tomorrow.  He's especially happy that there is no school tomorrow!

I'm a bit grumpy tonight, but the things making me grumpy are all very small.  There were a lot of good things today too, and they're even-ing out the grump.  But nothing all that noteworthy.

Oh, a detail.  (I always make the kids give me two details in the car ride home after school.  It's interesting to see what they find noteworthy in the day...or, at the very least, what they can remember of the day.)  We got some large candy cane light up decorations a few years ago and this year the lights went out on one of them.  Joshua and I struggled to pull a new string of lights through and had really good team work.  In the end, the lights are a bit dimmer and Joshua didn't like the new look. :(  (I like the darker red, but we'll see if we can find something different.)

Monday: drugs, inverse Christmas

So, a majority of the family was on drugs today.

Ben had his back injection and took some medicine to relax.  It didn't kick in quite early enough but did kick in later in the day.

Joshua still has a fever.  It was pretty low this morning, but peaked again around dinner time.  It didn't surprise me; this is how fevers always seem to go.  He was feeling fine for most of the day, so that was nice at least.

Isaac had a tooth extraction and had laughing gas and a numbed jaw.  He doesn't think the laughing gas did much, but on the way home he was saying

"I know the first four..."

"...letters."  

30 second pause

"of my ZYXs."

So I think it got him just a bit.  He was happy that it was much easier than expected - the adult tooth was helping it come out but wasn't coming up quite fast enough.

******************

Since Christmas is coming up soon we're starting to take down all the Lego sets that have been up for a while to make room for Christmas decorations.  It means we currently have an inverse Christmas going on in the family area - choose a bag and then take it apart.  What it really means is that we'll need to watch a movie this weekend so that everyone can help.

Sunday: Fever, more Chicago pictures

 Joshua has a fever.  When I woke up this morning he was laying still on the couch and had an elevated but not unreasonable temperature.  I gave him some meds and he perked up.  Then, about seven hours later he was back on the couch, this time with an actual fever.  Plans for tomorrow had to be suddenly altered since he'll be home from school.

We also got some more pictures from Chicago!

Saturday

 Joshua had a friend sleep over last night and they had a great time.  He's been here over night before, but this time schedules worked out so that he could stay a little longer in the morning.  They played Minecraft last night (and were SO excited).  I'm pretty sure that's all they've talked about for the last week at recess.  All three boys played some game with the Legos this morning.

This afternoon for family activity time we got out our pick-a-bricks from Chicago.  The pick-a-brick wall had some really nice pieces, so we all got our own cups.

I made some flowers.  I had a really good time making them.  The big purple one was really heavy and required a double stem to support it.  And my favorite...I'm not really sure.  The pink one turned out a lot cooler than I was expecting.

Ben made a seaside mansion with several different types of architectural styles.

Joshua made a house with floating islands.  He used a large door as part of the roof, and it was a really neat use of that piece.

Isaac made a bunch of hidden eyes - some more hidden than others.

This one was my favorite.  The clear pieces in front of the eyes made it look like there were a lot of eyes.

Friday: dying mom stories

This morning I went to my Mom's group at church.  The topic was praying for your kids.  After brunch and announcements the speaker was introduced...as someone who has practiced praying for her kids and had a legacy of her mom praying for her.

She started her story.  With many of the details omitted, her mom was diagnosed with cancer when she was in high school and then died five years later when she was in college.  Needless to say, I couldn't handle it.  I tried.  But about she was talking about her mom actually dying I left.

I don't do stories in which moms die.  I don't watch those movies.  I don't read those books.  I skip those TV episodes.  Honestly, I probably would have skipped, or at least ducked out early, if I had known what the story would involve.  Is it a worthwhile story and worthy of being told?  Absolutely.   Is the point, that I left too early for, important?  Of course.  But I couldn't deal with it at the time.  The passage of time makes the hurt a smaller part of your life, but it can still show up painfully.

Someone did follow me out to the parking lot.  She gave me a long hug and prayed for me.  Later I had lunch with Betsy, who knows a similar hurt and understands the triggers and we commiserated. 

And I thought about Mom a little more than normal today, and that's not a bad thing.

Sunday: Chicago - Shedd

Today was a great day.  I think I enjoyed Shedd more than MSI.

We had a nice hotel with a great view.  The view at night was pretty, but we slept through most of it.  Joshua and I read in the window seat for a little bit, but it was rather cold and so didn't last very long.

Each family was on their own for leaving: we were going to meet up at Shedd.  Although we were told to leave around 9:30.  Well.  We all pulled into the parking lot within two minutes of each other, not having followed each other.  Timing on this trip was crazy because we all had the same clocks.

We went to the Great Reef first and that was my favorite part.  I probably could have gone around the circle a second time.  I love the eels.  I really enjoy the big tank.

We also happened to be there right as they were feeding several of the tanks.  This was the neatest part of a bunch of us.  First the sting rays.  Turns out, it isn't very interesting to watch them eat.  Then a normal school of fish.  The a group of fish that SWARMED the food.  And finally, an archer fish.  I'm not sure I had ever seen an archer fish, even on TV, so when it shot the water up to get the food off a stick I was so impressed.  On the way down from the Great Reef we were all in the elevator and someone noted that there should be a square tile for each of us.  Someone else pointed out that since it was a 4x4 array there should even be an extra title.  Then, as we were all shuffling into our square, someone pointed it that it was like one of those picture puzzles that you have to move one piece at a time within a grid to form a puzzle.  So then we started moving like that.  It was excellent.

We watched a show next and we were all a bit underwhelmed.  They've changed the format of the shows to only feature a single animal and last about seven minutes.  You don't have to reserve a time or pay for them, but you also don't know what the animal will be until one minute before the show starts.  I feel like this could be handled slightly better, but we still enjoyed the sea lion and penguin shows that we saw.

Joshua found this amazing orange fish.  It was probably his favorite in the aquarium.

We also got to pet several things!  The first was a Lake Sturgeon.  To me, it felt like a clean slimy fish.  I know that's a weird description, but that's how it felt!  Joshua managed to touch one once, but was a bit scared and didn't want to put his arm in too deep.  Later Isaac and I touched some sea stars.  They were harder than I expected, but I guess that makes sense.

Last, but not least, don't forget about the penguin exhibit!  We still tell Ben his favorite animal is a penguin, whether or not it actually is.  Joshua was especially excited to see the penguins with Ben.

We finished up around 2pm.  They had a large section under construction, which was also a bit disappointing but oh well.  It meant we got home at a reasonable time, and that's sometimes nice too.  I'm still hoping to get a few more pictures (especially some group pictures), but don't have them yet.

Wednesday: Library pics

 At the end of August we went to the library to help with some promotional pictures.  I just received them and they're really nice.

Isaac was also rather sad coming home from school.  Most of it was that he feels like he has a lot of homework.  (He does, but it's manageable.  He just doesn't have a good feel for manageable vs crazy yet.)  On top of that reading time in school was decreased from 15 to 10 minutes and that was really sad.  So obviously, I sent him to his room to read for a little bit right after school.

Tuesday: Isaac

 A few days ago Isaac told us he can't wait for Thanksgiving to be over because then he can be done writing about what he's thankful for.  Apparently he's had to do it several times over the last few days in different settings and is over it.

I taught about dates in excel today.  They're a weird subject because they're both simple and hard at the same time.  (Even Isaac, who has had a total of one excel assignment, has run into the problem of Excel turning his fraction into a date.)  Anyway, I was afraid the class was going to run short but the timing ended up just about perfect.  Starting Thursday we (finally) get back into material that has been prepped in previous semesters, and I'm excited to not have quite as much prep work.

Isaac had a really good time at rock climbing today.  A route that he finished last week was graded at V2, which is on the high side for him.  (Some he can do, some he can't.)  He finished another route that he's been working on for a while.

Monday: doing the stuff

 I just kept at my to-do list today.  I got a lot done, but there's always a lot to do.  I haven't worked on Operation: Clean the House for several weeks and I'd like to.  But between normal things and Hope work needing a bit of extra time, O:CtH hasn't gotten any time.