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.

Saturday: Chicago

We came down to Chicago for the weekend with some friends.

We all left on our own from the Holland/Zeeland area.  Two of them found each other about four miles from the Museum of Science and Industry and we found the other two cars about a mile away.  It was a bit crazy and a great start to the weekend.

We got to ride escalators up.  The kids love escalators.

We did the U-boat 505 tour first.  I haven't been here that many times, but I'm not sure I've done it before.  The boat was crazy small for the number of sailors on it.

The jolly ball was a hit as normal.

And the mirror maze was probably the star of the museum.

We went to the space area, saw the volcano movie, and then spent some time in weather and storms.  Each family was pretty much done by that point.  We were going to just leave but each family ended up going to another small exhibit and then leaving.  Time-wise it did work out pretty well 

After arriving to the hotel we walked to the LEGO store.  Oh, the pick-a-brick wall had some really good pieces!

We ended the night by going to a Greek restaurant.  The problem was that the people that had the table ahead of us didn't leave.  They paid the bill and then sat there for over a half hour.  Our group was doing mostly ok.  The kids got some screen time and the adults held it together.  They were finally able to seat us over an hour after we had arrived at a different table.  Chris ordered for us and it was amazing.  The food was amazing and not having to figure out what to order was amazing.  For the most part he just got a lot of the same and we spread it around.  It started with bread, which we ravenously tore apart.  Then some flaming cheese, a creamy rice and chicken soup, and some gyros.  He got Ben some pasta which was ideal for him and Isaac.  By the time we were done eating it was about 10 EST and our kids were done.  We left a bit before the other families because the kids were dropping fast.  

Friday: Grey Bear

Every day that I don't work Grey Bear waits for me in the lamp for nap time.  He's there, ready and waiting, when I come out of the bedroom in the morning.  He always has a smile on his face while waiting.

Thursday: kicks

 I was at karate and we were practicing assorted double kicks.  (Roundhouse --> spinning hook, roundhouse - hook).  I wasn't doing great, but my partner was nice.  Then we got to "start as a front kick but after the chamber change to a roundhouse".  I did it a few times and then my right leg felt weird.  We switched and she did it several times while I was wondering about my leg.  We switched back.  I did it one more time and it was a mistake.  My whole leg went slightly numb.  Not as bad as when a leg falls asleep, but enough that I needed to stop.  Within about fifteen minutes there was just a ghost numbness - it might have been my brain over-feeling by that point.

In any case, it was rather weird.  I've never had my leg suddenly go numb like that.  It was a bad night for injuries - real and imagined.  There were only 12 students and three went off the floor at some point for assorted reasons.  Usually we can go weeks without any injuries.

Wednesday: work

I didn't really get a lot of housework done today.  At least not nearly as much as I was hoping for.  However, I did create a homework and I needed to get that done soon and so that was a good feeling.

I had a hard time waking up from my nap.  That didn't help with getting stuff done.

The boys and I did a lot of traps after school.  I know the kids always love them, but there were more than I expected today.

We had grilled cheese for dinner - it was delicious.