Friday: snow day

I was awoken early this morning with a phone call saying that it was a snow day.  I knew we were getting a fair amount of snow, but I wasn't expecting a snow day.  Honestly, I was hoping it wouldn't be a snow day as I had things to do.  My things to do were just around the house but they were also by myself.

And so, I found myself rather grumpy today.  Hopefully I didn't take it out on the kids too much, but I know I did a little bit.  To be fair, they did do some stupid things.  Isaac was going to put the hair on his hat for wax museum.  I said everything was in a bag in his room.  He found the hat and then was wondering where the yarn was...I don't think he even looked before asking.

The kids did play outside for quite a while because the snow was amazing.  It was light and fluffy while still packing well.  Isaac made a climbing snowman.  Joshua emptied out a section of the lawn of snow, but we forgot to get a picture of that.

In the afternoon when everyone was grumpy (except Isaac, and I think he should have felt more remorseful because he did something mean to Joshua (but I don't know what that mean thing was)) we went rock climbing.  It took a little bit, but it did shake off all the resentment.  Yesterday I was helping Isaac do an elimination game: every time I get to choose a hold that he can't use anymore on a route.  In this case, it was the blue route.  Isaac told me my goal was to make it so he couldn't climb the route anymore.  Challenge accepted!  I told away most of the initial foot holds thinking that would make me win.  He came back to it today and kept working on it and eventually got it!  Joshua did something similar with a green route and had a really good time.

I had black belt boot camp tonight.  Honestly, I am really enjoying boot camp.  We go quickly through a lot of stuff and it's fun to remember everything (even if I can't remember all of it well) and it's a good workout.

Thursday: middle school move up and animals

1. The penguin.  Ben and I hide it around the bathroom.  Then it disappears somewhere until it's found again.  Anyway, a week or two ago there was something in the shampoo bar.  I thought it was a whale, and it seemed really weird that a 'green' company would put a little plastic thing in their soap and also not advertise it.  Well, a few days ago the shampoo bar broke and the penguin fell out!  Ben had spent a rather long time making a square mold out of Lego that was the correct size, melting some soap, hardening the soap, melting more so that he could put the penguin in the middle.  It felt like true love.

2. Cat.  Tornado went in the cat carrier this morning.  It was a poor morning to choose, as I'm always rushing around trying to get everything finished.  I usually just carry him around in the house when that happens.  Well, he didn't want to put his tail in.  So I left it out.

3. Tonight was middle school move up night.  The band played a few short songs and the choir sang.  It wasn't professional, but it was a nice length.  We got a bit of info about middle school, walked around the classrooms, and saw some of the extra-curriculars.  There was nothing all that earth-shattering, but it was nice.  (As we walked into the math classroom another family was asking about PATH.  So we exchanged contact info.  I don't think this boy and Isaac have been in the same class, which somewhat makes sense but is also a bit sad.)

Wednesday: O:CtH

I cleaned one cabinet drawer and a normal drawer today as part of O:CtH.  I'll admit, I had been hoping to do more but, well, there are other chores that need to be done too.

I started off with the cabinet drawer.  It was the last, and bottom, drawer in the cabinet I did on Monday and I'm pretty sure that it was sad that I didn't get to it.  I get rid of much, but underneath the shelf and in the back was a mess.  So it was a very good thing to take out and clean up.

Joshua ended up choosing the second drawer for me.  It was a full drawer, but still functioning ok.  That being said, I actually ended up getting rid of most of the stuff in the drawer.  There were many bibs and some spring form pans that I rarely use.  Most of the bibs are being recycled and the pans are being put in a different place.  I'm not sure what will go in that drawer now, but the drawer underneath it is a bit of a nightmare so maybe it'll get some of that overflow.

Tuesday: homework

Today Isaac had some writing homework he needed to finish, along with a few other items of homework.  The writing was a bit weird, but after not understanding each other for a while he got what he needed and estimated 20 minutes of writing if he worked well.

Less than two minutes later he was finished.  We were both so excited.

Monday: a cabinet

There was a lot of normal stuff today, but I made some time to work on cleaning a cabinet.  The kitchen is taking so long to get through.  There are a lot of little victories and it's easy to do a little bit at a time, but there's still quite a bit to go.  I almost feel as though by the time I'm done it'll be time to start all over.

The exciting part was that when I took the drawers out of the cabinet I realized the rails could move, just like normal shelves in a cabinet.  I ended up not moving them because I was happy with where they are, but it was an interesting discovery.

I got rid of a medium amount.  Enough to make the cleaning very worth while, but not so much that I'm awed at how different the shelves look now.

Sunday: family time

Today we had official family time.  It's not much different from most of Saturday other than it's mandatory.  Usually we do a game, but Joshua has never been a fan of that and it was his turn to choose.  So we opened up the options for him today and he chose a Lego challenge: everyone had to make a boat.

Due to time restraints, we had about 35 minutes before dinner.  Ben said we'd try to finish in 15 and then maybe do another challenge.  

At the 15 minute mark Isaac was done and no one else was close.  So, as I expected, we extended the time.  Isaac made a second boat.

Ben made the black boat.  I missed most of the story behind it.  I made the Christmas raft in the front.  It has presents!  It also has holes in the bottom of the boat as it turns out making the sides and then trying to backfill the bottom doesn't work all that well.  Joshua has a boat bathhouse on the right.  He has a tiny boat in a bathtub in a house.  There's also a red towel that you can barely see.  Isaac first made the back right boat: I think it's supposed to be underwater with a bunch of animals on it.  Then he made the top left boat.  The boat that you can see above water is a decoy; the actual boat is a submarine underneath.

Saturday: yesterday

Well, yesterday we finally got the schedule and some of the extra requirements for receiving our black belts.  I'll admit...it was a bit much.  I know they have a tight schedule with everything that they're trying to do at the school, but they put one test on the first Friday of spring break and one on Memorial day weekend.  There's a note that says no retests, although I'm not really sure that they'll be able to accommodate that.  There also feels like a ton of extra things to do on top of the extra practices.  I understand the reasons for almost everything, but this commitment has added about 2.5 hours/week that I need to be at the school.  (For some weeks.  Some weeks won't be as bad.)

There's also a requirement for "Empathy Training" because they want us to understand how to put yourself in others' shoes.  So I'm not supposed to talk for eight hours and supposed to be blind-folded for a different eight hours (although that can be broken up).  Again, I understand the logic behind it.  But being blind-folded will be boring.  If I was actually blind I'd have a system in place, technology to help me, and hobbies to fill the time.   This one requirement is annoying me the most out of everything.  I think I'll give it a good try and then possibly write my paragraph(s) on why I stopped.

The family talked today because I'll obviously need a bit more support - if nothing else than being gone more.  They were all on board.  The kids really stepped it up and are helping me with training too.  Joshua "made" me do my exercises this afternoon and Isaac set up a ticket system to help reward me for what I do.