Friday: yesterday

Amanda: Joshua, who was your special friend at school today?
Joshua: We win.
Amanda: We win?
Ben: ?
Amanda: Ah, Vivian.

They told me at pickup that the two spent the day together.  The friendship had been getting stronger over the last few weeks, but especially so yesterday.  I was even expecting Joshua to say Vivian, so was surprised that I didn't understand it properly.  They gave each other a nice hug when Joshua was leaving.

Isaac hasn't seemed to form quite such a close friendship, but lately he has been going to say good bye (again) to his friends after we get Joshua.  It's been nice to see that too.

Thursday: worms

Today was a home day for me and a school day for the boys. :)  I did quite a bit of work, although some of it was fun work and some of it not so fun work.

One thing I did was deal with the dirt that the worms made over the last year.  The worms are thriving.  (So if anyone else wanted some worms, I'd be happy to give you some.)

I had tried to separate the worms from the old dirt.  I thought I could be smart by putting another bucket on top of the old one as they are supposed to want to move upwards.  I've had it there for a while, so all the fresh food is up there too.  That didn't really work though.  I took a little bit longer than I was hoping for and extracted some of the worms from the old dirt, moving them into the new dirt bin, but stopped caring after a while.  Sorry worms.  I was a little surprised at the amount of dirt that was already in the new bin after the transfer; I might need to do a transfer again at the end of the summer.


Anyway, I filled up about 1/3 of a bucket with dirt.  It's not a lot, but there is a small bare patch in the front lawn that completely and randomly died last summer.  I think I'll use the dirt and some grass seed and see if anything grows.

Wednesday: quilt show

Today we went downtown again, mainly for the quilt show.  However, I also had the boys dress up in their Dutch costumes.  Neither were all that excited about it, but Isaac did it somewhat willingly and Joshua did it somewhat unwillingly.

We got there a few minutes early and went off in search of some tulips. (Joshua's expression really shows how he felt about this whole ordeal.)

Isaac started to get into it at this point.

We went looking for some more.  Joshua had just seen a bus, which is why he isn't pouting in this one.

Isaac also wanted the side with the purple tulips.  I think Joshua saw a police car and everyone was pointing at it.

I was ready to be done, but Isaac was now on a mission to be photographed with every group of tulips that we saw.

We enjoyed the quilt show.  Joshua kept asking when it would start; I think he was expecting music.  Isaac enjoyed figuring out which two he liked the most.

They also got to see how some old sewing machines worked.  And Isaac got rather excited when I said he could submit his hole quilt next year if he ever finished it.

We saw the finalists for the year's theme painting.  (I actually know the winner, so that is rather cool.)

We stopped by The Studio, a place for kids to make stuff.  It looks pretty cool; I think we'll try and go sometime.

We got out of the Arts Council and found more picture opportunities.  I felt like I couldn't tell Isaac no, since I made him get dressed up specifically for pictures.

Then Joshua escaped behind a tree and declared, "I'm in a forest!"  Finally, I got a smile from him.

Joshua also really wanted me in a picture with these large shoes.  Notice how significant parts of the costumes are now missing. :)

Tuesday: Tulip Time

It was nice out, so I took a short break from work to walk around the park.  Red tulips are my favorite.

Monday: today

Last night I wasn't feeling great, so I went to bed quite a bit early.  This morning I still wasn't feeling great, so I put on the TV, took some ibuprofen, and hopped back into bed for an hour.  My alarm went off and I started issuing instructions (i.e., get dressed/take off your pjs) so that we could get to gymnastics.  We weren't running late by any means, but we did need to keep moving.  When I came out of my room I went to find Joshua and help him.  I started to go in his room but Isaac said, "go away Mom." and I heard things like, "Here's your sleeve."  Isaac managed to get Joshua completely dressed, and in clothes that Joshua refuses to wear for me.  I was so proud of both of them.

Later in the afternoon I was put in jail.  In my bedroom, by myself.  It was terrible.  Although I was soon joined by another cell mate, my jail keeper was rather attentive.  He brought me water, an apple, more water, and some books before telling me it was time for bed.  When it was time to wake up I got some free time outside of my cell then exercise time, and then he read me a book before bed time again.

We went downtown for Tulip Time food, a yearly tradition with Ben's family.  Unfortunately, it was cold.  I think when we left the house it was 48 deg.  And this isn't food you can eat with mittens or gloves.  So we ate but didn't stay around much longer than that as everyone was cold.

Digger movie

Ben and the boys finished the digger a while ago.  It went significantly faster than Ben or I expected as the boys always wanted to work on it.

They periodically took pictures.

Saturday: race day!

We made it to race day.  We haven't been practicing lately because the weather got rainy (and cold).  I'm a wimp I guess.

I ran with Isaac.  We didn't stop, although we slowed down several times for a drink of water.  Isaac did a great job and probably finished in the middle...although it didn't help that the beginning was terrible.  They changed the route, which was great, but started the race in the tightest spot possible.  (Isaac did a better job with large strides when there were people to pass.)

Ben went with Joshua.  They ran for the first part and then walked the second.  Joshua ran at the very end, just passing someone at the end to come in second to last.  Telling him that he got a snack once he finished is what spurred him on.  For not doing much practicing he did a really good job and did the whole thing on his own without being carried.

The tulips are going to be perfect for Tulip Time!