Monday: eagle

So...let's talk about this eagle.  It was part of Joshua's homework and he wanted to color it.  That's cool.

What wasn't cool was how many tears were shed over the colors of the eagle.  Apparently the eagle needed to look like a real eagle, so he brought out brown, yellow, and orange.  So really, as long as it's mostly brown it'll look fine.  No, not in his mind.  He walked up and down the stairs (because I was downstairs) what felt like ten times times weeping over little details, like the color right above the talon.  Or he seemed to forget what we had just talked about and couldn't remember what color the talon should be.  I finally had him bring it downstairs and color right next to me to try and relieve the drama. 

After it was colored he wanted to know what yellow the beak should be.  'What yellow?' I thought.  He only had one option in his markers.  He had already colored it.  I said probably a light yellow or a yellow.  He looked at it and said it was more of a dark yellow.  I quickly said that was fine too and that it looked like a real eagle.

Sunday: zombies

8:30pm, after Joshua should be in bed.

Joshua, in a completely calm voice: Mom, I think I heard zombies in my bedroom.
Amanda: Zombies aren't real.  You didn't hear zombies.
Joshua: Well, it was a sound like zombies.
Ben: Well, you're completely safe because there are no zombies in your room.
Joshua: ok.

9pm, way after Isaac should be in bed.
Isaac: Mom, I can't sleep
Amanda: oh, because you had too much energy?
Isaac, crying: no, because of Flurry.

Saturday: pretty normal

Today was a pretty normal Saturday.  The boys played with Legos all morning.  Joshua worked really hard on putting together a Nexo Knight set while Isaac bounced around between a few things.

I got quite a bit of housework done, although it's rather hard to tell.  I'm still plugging away at my way-to-long to-do list.  I have fall break this week and am not going to work on Tuesday.  I'm feeling motivated this semester, so there's a chance that I'll get a decent amount of work done.

Friday: a walk, school pictures

Isaac's school pictures came back.  They're fine, but I'll admit that I liked last year's better.  Isaac mentioned it was the third try to make sure he didn't blink...I can tell that the smile isn't quite real.

Cheryl, Joshua and I went for a walk at Stu Visser trails this morning.  Joshua reminded both of us to wear our boots in case it was wet again.  It sure was!  There were a few puddles and then there were a few places were the pond overflowed onto the walkway and the water was ankle deep.  Joshua enjoyed his comfy stroller ride.

We did eventually find an overflow that was just too deep.  Cheryl had short boots on and the stroller wasn't going through it very easily.  I carried Joshua over to the other side, we walked across the bridge, and then we went back.  Over all we got a little bit farther than last time, but not much.

Thursday: reading

Joshua has been getting homework.  It isn't much, but enough to get a little more practice in and start getting in the habit of doing it.  He complains a little bit, but then very happily does it...almost like he feels he should complain about it but secretly enjoys it.

They've also been working on a few sight words.  After several discussions of, "mom, did you get my book?"  "Yes"  "I don't think you did."  "I did"  "They put it in my folder, are you sure you got it?"  I finally showed it to him and he read it to me.  Although...the best part is when he's reading it before he's turned the page.  It's still a good place to start. :D

Wednesday: wisdom and Legos

I showed up at Isaac's school today and poked him on the shoulder as they were heading towards an assembly.  "What are you doing here?"  "Oh, I just thought I'd come watch the assembly."  "Oh, ok."

Fast forward, and Isaac wins the Moral Focus award for Wisdom.  He was surprised and didn't think he'd get it.  (But really, why else would I show up??)  His teacher said one reason he (and the other student) got the wisdom award is because when they're done with their work they continue to challenge themselves and don't just chat or draw or whatever.  (The part I was most excited about is that sometimes he finishes early!)

The odd part was that all three second graders in Lego League received the wisdom award...so is it wise to be in Lego League or does Lego League make you wise?

Our Lego boxes arrived today!  We knew they were supposed to arrive today, but it took until 6:30 for them to actually show up.

We started taking things out pretty quickly, but then we sat down and the process got slower as we all looked at the pictures more in depth.  It was pretty fun to see what cool things we could find on the pictures.

Also, there was one Lego set that neither of us recall picking.  There were also a few Lego sets that, this past Monday at Meijer, I thought, "oh, I really wish we had chosen that Lego set."  So while I apparently can't remember what we got I do have consistent desires.  It took a little over an hour to pull everything out.

I'll admit, it was a little better than Christmas. 

Tuesday: construction

There's construction by Isaac's school.  It's been a little bad previously, but today was terrible.  It probably took us an extra 20-25 minutes to get home.  This meant that I had been commuting for about an hour by the time we got home and I was in a mood.  I know that an hour commute isn't bad for some people, but it's bad for me.