Monday: last day

Today was the last day of summer vacation.  I haven't decided whether I'm excited for school or really sad that summer is done.

Excited: The routine will be nice.  Isaac will learn a lot.  Joshua will hopefully learn a lot.  Perhaps the boys will not get on each other's nerves quite so much.

Sad: packing lunches.  Getting up early.  Wearing socks.  Being Joshua's only playmate during the day.


We went on a walk and found all the colors of the rainbow...but mainly green.  I thought we all could use some green before going back to school.

Sunday: made it

Well, everyone survived today.  I'm not really sure what was in the water, but everyone was having a slightly off day.  I took a nap that I wasn't planning on taking and it made me feel a lot better.  Naps often do an excellent job of resetting my outlook on everything.

Saturday: birthday week

Continuing with my birthday week, I got some presents this morning.  Before I opened the presents I learned that, "It's not ice cream" (Isaac) and "Can I have a donut with lunch?" (Joshua)  I also got some lovely fabric.

We also went for a very nice boat ride and dinner this evening.

Thursday: mini golf

We went mini-golfing and had some ice cream today.  Isaac did a pretty good job, but he wasn't keeping score so several he just swept into the hole.  Joshua was hilarious, just like last time.  I completely gave up trying to get any sort of correct form.

Friday: quilt show

Today I went to the quilt show with Cheryl.  There were fewer art and crazy applique quilts this time, and I really liked that.

Here are some of my favorites:

Jazzy by Kathy Kittle:

Glacier 01 by Karen Marchetti

Sunshine by Katherine Jones

Winter Peace by Lynne Bogardus

2017 by Tracy Husch-Lissak

Wednesday: meet the teacher

Today was meet the teacher day for Isaac.  His friend was there and came right over to say hi, and that was nice to see.

The teacher presentation was mostly just the normal stuff, but it was nice to be able to look around the classroom and see what was there.  When Isaac went up to say hi to his teacher she said, "your teacher told me so many great things about you!" to which he responded, "I never moved my clip!"  (i.e., I never got in trouble.)

At the end I wondered where I should put some of the supplies that had Isaac's name on them.  She said to just put them out in the hallway because it is a communal pool.  Um...ok.  I asked again because I really was surprised and pulled out the pencil case, which had his name on it.  We slowly figured out what was going on.  Apparently no one ever reads the instructions on the list and just brings stuff in without putting the name on.  And they don't get all the supplies, because she had a pencil bag and water bottle for everyone.

Now, I understand that sometimes people can't bring in supplies due to financial hardship and that's a separate topic.  But no one else reads the instructions???  I was really surprised that there wasn't at least some expectation that the parents would do as the instructions asked, even if it wasn't done by most.  When I was talking with her it wasn't, "oh, yeah, I know what you're talking about and you should put those supplies here."  It was some back and forth before we understood each other.  (Also, it isn't as though the supply list is out-of-date because the list changed between the one they sent home after kindergarten and the one we recently received in the mail.)  I would be happy to not label his pencils.  But then don't tell me to do so.

Besides that she seems nice and hopefully Isaac will have a great year.

Tuesday: meh

Today was only ok.

To cap it off, it was Isaac's last ice skating lesson.  Now, I know that he hadn't improved all that much this session.  (He even seemed to go backwards a bit in the middle.)  But when I got his 'score card' it said that he mastered all the level 2 skills, and none of the level 3 skills.  This is exactly the same as at the end of the last session.  Exactly!  What were the teachers doing?  Even I could see that he needed to bend his knees more...march more...take more steps before gliding.  Going back and forth on the ice isn't helpful after a point if you're just doing the same wrong form over and over again.  I tried to give him some pointers to work on, but saying them in the car is not as helpful as saying them on the ice.  There weren't that many students that he couldn't have been given a few more pointers.

So I came home from that a bit grumpy.  Now, Isaac said that he had a good time and has no idea about his progress.  We're not doing the next session due to scheduling conflicts, but I think that is a good plan anyway.  If he wants to try again at the end of the school year the break will be good...or he could try something else.