Sunday: surprises

I woke up today and Joshua declared it was Grey Bear's birthday.  Since I didn't have anything on the calendar, today is now officially Grey Bear's birthday.  We had orange cinnamon rolls since it was a last minute notice.

I was cutting Joshua's hair and we were talking and I forgot to put the #4 thingy on the razor.  So now he has a stripe on the back of his head.  I felt so bad but he was so, so nice about it.  He has a plan if someone asks him about it at school.  We'll give it a week to grow out and next weekend I'll see if I can blend it in better.

We went to visit Grandma at her new home.  Although she isn't super happy about her new place, she did seem to be in good spirits.  We found the piano and she played for a little bit.

Saturday: shots

 We had a mostly normal day today, other than that we got our flu shots.  It was such a little poke.  Isaac and Joshua were both a bit scared, but realized afterwards that it's just the lead-up to it that's the worst.  They did fine.  We also made them give their birthdates for practice.  Apparently it's something we need to practice more.

Afterwards we finally got donuts.  I've struck out the last two times I've tried.

Joshua finished his Lich King (from Minecraft) recently:

...and became a panda?  I was just told to take a picture.

Friday: getting stuff done

I finally managed to get some stuff done this week.  (I know, that's a false statement.  But it's how it feels.  Having a routine colonoscopy doesn't feel like I actually did anything, although maybe I should put it on my to do list next time so that I can cross it off.)  I finished winter prep and got all the stuff to their winter positions.  I did all the laundry.  I finished several small chores.

Isaac had a good time at camp and was rather talkative about it.  That was nice.  He got me a mug as a souvenir.  I teased him that it was a reminder of when he left me and had a good time, but it was still a really nice gesture.  Everyone was rather tired tonight, although I'm not sure why Joshua and I were so tired.

Thursday: pumpkin

Isaac is gone at 6th grade camp today and tomorrow, so Joshua and I decided to carve a pumpkin after school.

Joshua made a cat pumpkin.  I made a small cat on the back, because I didn't really feel like I needed a pumpkin all to myself.  First a drilled a small hole and it went really well!  So I went with a bigger drill bit...and the pumpkin slightly exploded.  Pumpkin pieces went all over the place.  So next time, only small holes.

Wednesday: trunk or treat

We visited trunk or treat at church today.  We went right at the beginning and that was a great idea: when we left a half hour later the line was about ten times longer.  I don't have any pictures of the kids.  Isaac went as a wizard.  He had made a lego wand that lit up with a button.  Joshua was Squirtle again.

One spot was giving out things for the adults: hot chocolate and flowers.

Isaac and Joshua also got this fun picture during kitty play.

 

Tuesday: busy

 It was a busy day.  There was normal work for classes.  The kids had a half day and so I picked them up from school and ate lunch at home.  I picked up Isaac after our classes were done and he said he was disappointed about his quiz grade: 8.5/20.  That really surprised me, but I kept my cool and said that at least he could make corrections.  He told me he elected to not make corrections.  "What?!?  8.5/20 and you're not going to fix it?"  "No, no," he replied.  "18.5/20".  Phew.  I can understand a small disappointment with that number but I was also super excited about it because it wasn't 8.5.

Anyway, we rushed home so I could drop him off and go to parent teacher conferences.  We were a bit worried about Joshua.  He loses recess minutes as part of a group when he's doing the right thing, and it hits him hard.  It's usually the first thing I hear about when we're talking after school, but I also understand that the teacher has limited ways to stop talking.  She made a note.  She did say that he's a sweetheart and he's doing a great job and is on track with everything.  His lack of capitalization and periods is normal for where he is.  It was a glowing report.  (To note, he normally is fine with Ben and I, but we've had some small issues.  They don't seem to be issues at school.)

Isaac's conference was the boring one this year.  Grades are good.  His teacher was trying to tell us that it would have been better to have a higher growth in his standardized math test, but then realized that his test scores are so high it is actually hard to have that growth.  So we chatted a bit more and left early.

There were a ton of things on my to-do list because I didn't do anything yesterday.  I accomplished several of those this evening.  Several of my graders aren't putting in their allotted hours and I'm stressing a little bit about how everything is going to get graded if they don't step up and how I'm going to finish the other stuff I need to finish.  It's happened before and I know the important stuff will get done, but it still takes time.  I'm doing something very different next semester because this happens to some extent every semester and I'm sick of it.

Ben worked late.  Tornado missed him so much that he sat with me for a while.

Monday: colonoscopy

This morning I didn't do much.  A little bit, but I also just sat around a lot.  We finally got to the hospital and things went smoothly.  It turned out that the prep that I did had a high chance of bad side effects, but I luckily didn't have any.

I had a clear colonoscopy with no polyps.  So I get to do it again in five year.  I did wake up at the very end as they were taking the oxygen back off and I jumped when I woke up.  (This is how I normally wake up, honestly.)  They just pushed me back down and laughed a bit.  I don't remember going to the room, but woke up for good when we arrived.  I heard the doctor's report, drank my apple juice, and we got on our way.  They told us it would take a total of about two hours and they were very accurate.

Pat and I picked up the kids after a lunch for me and then I took a nap.  My intestines are still gurgling a bit, but at least I'm able to eat again.