Thursday, May 2, 2024
Thursday: exams given
Wednesday, May 1, 2024
Wednesday: life
Tuesday, April 30, 2024
Tuesday: grading
Today I graded. I graded a lot and didn't get as far as I was hoping, but it could have been worse. I took a short break to transport kids and start a final exam for a few students. I was a bit disorganized, but got everything set within a reasonable amount of time. Then more grading. Then a break to transport kids and go rock climbing. The kids are really good teachers, but the gym was really busy today and that is a bit intimidating. There was one route I wanted to try again but didn't because of the people there. I think it'll be up for a bit though, so I should have another chance at it. Then home for dinner, more grading, and computer games.
It wasn't an exciting day, but not too bad all things considering.
Monday, April 29, 2024
Monday: drums and Giraffe
I was at Isaac's school early to pick him up after band. (The errand I needed to do went quickly.) It was nice; I got to see them practice outside. I thought they were doing pretty well for a middle school band! The drums were especially good, although I could be biased.
For Giraffe's birthday we had taco salad (because Giraffe likes leaves), pineapple, and lemon bars (because Giraffe is yellow).
Sunday, April 28, 2024
Sunday: Grandma and Giraffe
We went to visit Grandma today. Last time Ben brought Uno, so we played several games of that again. Then, since the weather was nice we took a short walk outside.
Tomorrow is Giraffe's Birthday, so we had half the party tonight. It involved a lot of balloon games and making Lego trees. Ben won the tree challenge.
(Back left: Ben. Front left: Amanda. Back right: Isaac. Front middle: Giraffe. Front left: Joshua)
Saturday, April 27, 2024
Saturday: walk and play and Lego challenge
This morning I went on a walk with a friend. We found a nice walking trail and the weather was beautiful. It was a bit windy at times, but didn't impede us too much.
We went to the Eagle Crest play this afternoon. It was actually pretty good...the sound was much better than in past years and I could understand most of it. Combined with a few funny characters and it was a good time.
At home we did Joshua's Lego challenge. He had some special pieces grouped up and we each got one set.
Isaac made a cool fighting mechanism that actually moved, but then he sat on it so I didn't get a picture.
I made a garden of Cheshire cats. I had a faces that I thought looked like Chershire cats and I couldn't unsee them, so I went with it. The garden includes lava flowers, sawblade flowers, flame flowers, a deadly water fountain, four cats and the leaves of death.
Friday, April 26, 2024
Friday: impromptu visit
A friend dropped by this morning to bring some quilt tops over. She ended up staying for an hour while we chatted...usually we get together for lunch every week or two, but that hasn't happened recently. The visit was so much more than cleaning.
We also got some flowers for the summer. Isaac ended up getting a stick of bamboo, so I'm interested in seeing how well that grows. We also got a few different succulents for outside, so hopefully they all live.
Thursday, April 25, 2024
Thursday: conclusion
Horizon sat on my boat this morning. We finished the game this evening and I won! I feel like it's been a while since I've won against Ben and Isaac. I'm not sure that's really true or if it is just how I feel. I had a good strategy this time and it worked.
Moving the bread to the other side of the cabinet was lovely. It made me happier than expected this morning.
Today was the last class of the semester. I really don't enjoy the first and last classes of the semester. For different reasons, but neither class really involves any teaching.
Wednesday, April 24, 2024
Wednesday: The little stuff
1. Ben, Isaac, and I are playing The Isle of Cats. It's a game during which you need to fill your boat with cats and treasure to win. Last night, Horizon was sitting on Isaac's boat to say he should win.
This morning, he was sitting on Ben's board.
2. Isaac took the labels off three bottles of tasty (i.e., water flavor squirty stuff). What was he thinking. They all look the same without the labels. He and Joshua worked well to figure out which was which and relabel them, but the process took several minutes and dinner was ready. It might have been funnier in different circumstances.
3. I switched the side of the cupboard on which the bread is stored and I think it's going to be a life changer. The old side required me to open two doors because one has the "don't see inside" bar on it.
Tuesday, April 23, 2024
Last Thursday: lines vs planes
So I'm in my karate class, working on my round-house kick. We're getting pretty technical with it, making sure it is being done exactly right and not just mostly correct.
The instructor tells me to make a line with my shoulders, hips, and knee. I look at him funny, because the hip to knee is also supposed to be parallel to the floor and then I can't see what I'm kicking. "A line?" I say. After finally understanding what he's trying to say and he understands what I'm thinking we realize that it is more a plane. The three points all need to be on the same plane. The instructor proceeded to laugh at me for my technicality, because no one else in the class would have been confused. (To be fair, I'm also about twenty-five years older than anyone else in the class.)
Monday, April 22, 2024
Monday: catching up
Today felt like a catch-up day. I'm not really sure what I was catching up from, perhaps Friday when I was gone on the field trip?
Anyway, I started trying to make apple chips. They're not very chip-y, but they are pretty good. The laundry got put away. The kitchen got cleaned. Phone calls (yuck) were made. Emails were sent. Some clutter was put away. It felt pretty productive today, but not amazing.
The best story I have today is actually from Joshua. He spilled his morning breakfast smoothie on his blanket. Since it isn't laundry day, I told him he'd have to wash it if he wanted it tonight. Of course, we both forgot after school. So at 7:14, while I was at karate, I have three texts from him. The first asking how to do laundry. The second pinging me: Mom? The third pinging me: Mom?? Honestly, I usually don't have my phone nearby during karate unless the kids are home alone. Isaac ended up helping Joshua out and it really made me feel like I won at parenting. (Yes, Ben was home. No, Joshua didn't ask Ben for help.)
Eclipse Monday
The eclipse was amazing. Here we go...
We were going to try to leave at 8:30am because it was a half hour drive and the farm opened at 9am. Packing up the car was a bit of a pain. Joshua decided that he didn't need to help and by telling him where is sweatshirt was that was basically giving him permission to play outside. So we were both a bit grumpy, but to his credit he did come back inside and pack up his stuff.
We left very close to 8:30am. There were all sorts of news articles and signs saying, "leave early to get to your viewing location" so I thought we should get there at opening. I needn't have worried. We got to the farm at 9am and seemed to be the second group there. The roads were not busy. When 10am rolled around the farm was still not busy. 11am - well, there were a few more people. It really didn't get busy until about noon. Thank goodness we got there early. (At the same time though, we had run of the farm for the first two hours and didn't need to wait in lines or anything like that.)
Ok, we got there and the first thing the kids wanted to do was the zip lines. We got distracted by the bell and getting a photo first though.
The kids finally got to the zip line and it was amazing. There were four lines of all different speeds and heights. I went on all of them throughout the day: one was too short and I touched the ground in the middle. One was too fast and I didn't appreciate going parrallel to the ground and crashing back onto the seat. (This is the one most of the kids loved.) One was a little too fast. One was just right. All the adults went on them at the same time.