Tuesday: bragging on the kids

Last week I was picking Joshua up and while he was getting off the playground she was relating a few stories from the day.  Then she said, "I know you're not supposed to have favorites, but...he's up there."

Today we met with Isaac's teacher about math.  This time his number for math went down a bit to 218, but the test changes a bit from first to second grade and with summer it was expected.  It was still high though.  Anyway, we talked about some ways to keep him engaged and pretty much ended up with the same solution as last year.  She mentioned relief that we didn't just want him set aside with worksheets during class.  :)  (During school if they're just drilling addition he might do something else.  If they're doing something more activity based it might depend on how things are going.  I get to do his homework...this week we're doing the coordinate plane and today he mapped out a smiley face.  He liked it.)

Anyway, she had so many nice things to say about Isaac too.  He's been doing a much better job getting his work done this year, and finding pockets of time to work on it if he isn't going fast enough during the set aside time.  (Yay!!)  She mentioned that he is really interesting to converse with and finds appropriate times to talk to her.  He's still a bit of a loner, but interacts with other students appropriately.  Although I feel the same way, it's nice to hear.

So we also got a packet of topics that Isaac is (supposedly) ready to learn (so that I can appropriately make the homework).  Some of these items are super surprising to me.  Let me give you some examples...
*Writes and solves proportions to make inferences about populations
*Completes complex conversions of customary units of weight involving fractions, decimals, or more than two units.
*Solves real-world problems involving least common multiples
*Writes and solves a two-step linear equation in one variable involving a real-world or mathematical context

Monday: spinner, dryer

Joshua had two sets to chose from to put together this morning.  He went back and forth a bit, but decided on the spinner because he got it first.  While it didn't take him long to put together, he played with it a lot!

Also, our dryer started making terrible squeaking noises.  The good news?  We already have a new one on the way.  The gasket had been brittle and disappeared, and where the gasket was was slowly eating the laundry.  So we ordered a new one last week.  It won't get here until Friday, but we can line dry as needed until then.

Thursday: excel

Lately the computer that I teach at has had an extra feature where Excel quickly restarts itself while I'm in the middle explaining something.  It's been a bit annoying, but had hadn't yet contacted CIT. 

Today, however, I was unable to keep two worksheets open.  Every time I tried to do something it would restart and the work I did would be lost too.  I ended up moving into Google sheets, which I really don't care for...but it at least didn't reset every thirty seconds.

Surprisingly, excel worked almost fine for the second class.  It restarted once like normal, but it was with a different file.

Tuesday: winter is coming

Today was fall break, so I stayed home and got some stuff done.  While I didn't work all day, I did work consistently and got some of the important things checked off the list.

Including dealing with the garage.  This needs to happen twice a year when the seasons change.  This year we decided to put the kayaks in the garage instead of puzzling out how to get them in the storage area of the basement.  I think this will be a very good choice.  I also stowed a lot of the outside toys and made room for the winter tires, so it'll be easy to switch once snow comes.

We also got some fish yesterday.  Some shiny ones and, as Joshua calls it, an allergy eater.  I think it's too cute to correct to algae eater, so I just smile whenever he says it.

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.