Wednesday Lunch

Each week I try to give them some variety with their lunch choices. Not much, but some. I let them choose one day for hot lunch. The other days of the week they bring cold lunch. Sometimes I surprise them with a lunchable. Today was a lunchable day. Little did I know, Six had made arrangements of his own with his dad. N promised a fish sandwich for lunch. We brought him the sandwich this afternoon. Not sure how Five will feel about that, we will find out. He has had lunch before with Three and I without us going to see Six too, but never have we given one McDonald's and not the other.
Still preparing for 100 days of school day and Valentines. Need to get the valentines done and purchase supplies for punch for the party. Three is thrilled she gets to go help at the party. We will see how that turns out. In all of Six's class, only two parents volunteered to help. His teacher is really organized and runs a tight ship. I am sure it will be fine even with only a couple extra helpers.

100 Days of School

On Valentines the children will celebrate 100 days of school. They will begin the morning by each bringing 100 pieces of their favorite cereal and eating together. First grade has been instructed to wear 100 of something. Somehow, we came up with buttons. Well, we do not have 100 buttons. We are close to 30. I think of all the buttons in the past that I have parted with, no clue where they are today. We will see if this will work. Kindergarten is supposed to bring 100 things that fit into a nice small paper bag. 100 post cards should be easy enough for that. I think. We have less than a week. I hope we can get it together. Six is so excited. We are pinning them to a black cape for him to wear. He has a pin N got from the Secret Service, some from the Air Force and I even added some UND pins. I have some from Germany and Italy too. I hope we can get 100 and write about where each pin came from. We even found three that are pictures of the kids from Halloween 2008.

If you can contribute to our cause, I will send you our address. Thanks, the boys greatly appreciate it.

Sick Days

First it was Three who was sick last week. Wouldn't you know, getting ready for church, Five says his tummy hurts. No church for us. No play date either. Poor Five spends the day sick on the couch. He took a late nap and was better after. He had two Popsicles and enjoyed watching his movie from the movie store. I put the other two to bed and gave Five a bath. After I laid with him on his make-shift bed on the floor. (When ill, I don't want him up on the top bunk.) He loves to hear about Texas. I told him when he was just one day old a lady came to my room to take his picture. He cried and cried. I put my hand on his cheek and ran my finger up and down. The lady commented on how he liked that and he had stopped crying right away. Poor Five was so ill all day. He sweet little face looks up at me and and with a soft voice says "I still like it."

He was recovered this morning, but needed a day off. There was no way I could rush him out the door on time. Six knew he had to go to school. Wouldn't you know, we went through the entire morning routine and just before getting dressed for the bus, he says his tummy hurts. Flashes of Five being sick yesterday go through my head. I let him stay home. I fear him getting sick on the bus or at school. Well, the first hour goes by and he is not sick. Guess he snuck a day off.

Even with having everyone at home, I was determined to get something accomplished. Our group activity was cleaning the junk drawer. They were excited for the task and eager to see what treasures we would find. Five wanted to clean out the drawer and use if for something else. Everyone helped. In the end, we had four big bowls full of different things. One bowl for N, which was full of nails, screwdrivers and various fishing accessories. Another was for me, ribbons and anything to do with crafts. Of course there was a bowl full of toys. You name it, puzzle pieces, Lego's, fish, anything and everything. The Fourth bowl was crayons and markers. We got out a money jar for the change and everything else went on the counter. It was quite an undertaking. Once finished, they were amazed. Five thought it would be a great place to keep their Nerf guns. They fit and were easy to access. Leave it to Five to come up with a suggestion like that.

I sorted through more totes and made more garage sale progress. Three found more things for Auntie J's baby. I was discussing this with a friend on the phone and just happened to mention that it might be a boy. Three interrupts and says with great confidence, she thinks it WILL be a GIRL. We then went through totes of dresses and clothing for Auntie J's baby.

Well, I can hear the Lego's rattling. Perhaps the boys need a reminder that it is indeed bedtime.

Five and Six

Today at breakfast, Five was trying to explain something he had discussed with Six in MN. We did not understand when he was talking about since he said it was at the 7 hotel. There is no 7 hotel, it's an 8. We stayed at a Days Inn with a sun on our way home from MN. Then he mentions this was on the lazy river. Oh, there is a 7 hotel; Seven Clans Casino Hotel. Gotcha Five!

For Christmas, G & G gave everyone new pajamas. Six decided that the star wars pj's would only be for Saturday mornings when he can stay in them "all day." True to his word, he will only wear them on Saturdays or snow days.
We have to find 100 things to wear to school on Valentines day. It will mark 100 days of school. They are to bring 100 pieces of their favorite cereal and will eat breakfast as a class. I started searching through boxes for different items for the 100 things to wear. We have a number of pins, some belong to N, some me. I wanted to get a collection together and put them on something the boys can wear. Found some motivation after all! I also found things from Germany, Italy and Poland. I want to get them together to take to school to share with the kids. I have more things to find, we will see if the motivation continues.

Once again, no motivation

I have the basics done. N woke me up early. I stayed up late waiting for him to get home from work. Even discussed with the boys of letting us sleep in. Sleep in, it's nonexistent for me. They are watching cartoons and eating cereal. I have no motivation to cook. I started a load of laundry. I worked out, but only 1 mile. Lost motivation. Oh what will our day be like? No plans and nowhere to go....hopefully we can come up with something to get us going. I should go back to bed, but that never seems to work out either. I hate to sound like such a downer. We just had so much time at home this week. My migraine is gone for the most part, but I know as soon as I say this, it will return. The chances are high since my sleep pattern wasn't on target last night. Stayed up too late and woke up too early, not an acceptable combination.

How to get things done

Mr. C from next door knows how to get things done. The neighbors worked hard to clear the driveways, then the snowplow comes through and shoves a think mound of snow right in the exit of our homes. Talk about frustrating! I had this discussion with Mr. C when we got home from school. Less than an hour later, the maintenance guy was plowing Mr. C and the neighbor's driveway clear. I never would have considered calling the landlord. Kudos to Mr. C!

I subbed for special ed today. I had never been in that room before. It was nice and fun. I was able to work one on one with many kids. I got to know the girl who bit Five a few months ago. I can't remember if I blogged about it, it was in October I think. She came into Five's classroom and walked right up to him and bit him. Mr. L called me to tell me what happened. I went to check on him about an hour after it happened and he was fine. She is a sweet girl, but the paras said they need to keep her away from the other kids. One boy almost had a melt down over having to get creative with a story. I had subbed for his class twice in the last two weeks. Once given a direction that tied his interest to it, he was able to write eight pages! And to my surprise, the story was quite funny. I enjoyed helping him through that difficult time and seeing the results in such a positive way. When he was done he put up his had at me for a high five without saying anything. It was sweet. Another boy came in and directly to me asked where his teacher was and who I was. I told him and he gave me a little pat/rub on my shoulder saying he was happy to have me there. I worked with him throughout the day too. Another boy doesn't talk. I remember seeing him during the bake sale. He was wandering the halls, but could not tell us where he belonged. I worked with him on a short story. It was supposed to be 2-3 sentences about anything he liked. The other teachers told him he had to talk to me in order to do the assignment. I got the first sentence "We played in the snow." (Yesterday on the snow day.) But the second sentence, I had a hard time understanding. He was saying something about playing a game, but it sounded like something to do with someone named Kim. In the end we figured it out and he completed his work. What an adventure. The teacher I subbed for came at the end of the day. I guess she was at a workshop and then meetings all day. I thanked her for the experience and told her how much I enjoyed my day. I have seen her in the hallway many times, but never with a smile on her face. She really lit up when I told her how great it was to be there. She is really good with the kids too.

On another note, it is amazing how small the world can be sometimes. Would you believe I had a conversation with a para that started out about Oklahoma and led to learning she was from North Dakota? She knew every place I mentioned. It was fun to know there was a connection to "home" around here. Not that she is from my hometown, but just that she knew the town my grandparents live in and even knew my hometown was kind of fun. She goes to our church too. Guess we will have a different greeting next time we see each other.

Still, another note, just as we left the school the emergency vehicles pulled up to the doors we had just come out of. The buses had already left and Zinnia and I were exchanging children. Nothing seemed to be happening when we left, but by the time we got home, we could hear the ambulance arriving somewhere in town. It had to have been the school. It got me thinking how many people I have come to know and care about were in that building at that exact moment. After the death of Father Larry, I can't imagine how we would feel if something like that happened to another new friend in town. I pray for who ever it was and that it all turned out OK in the end. We have come to really enjoy this small community. Once again, it is bitter sweet. As much as I love it here, it still makes my heart ache that we are not closer to home.

And so, that is the end of another week for our family. Tonight, its just the kids and I. I hope to find something to do tomorrow, or it might make for a very long weekend. Two snow days followed by only one day of school might be tough since we did nothing those snow days. We do have great plans for Sunday following mass. The boys have been counting down for Sunday to get here.

Snow Day

We shoveled ourselves out from our biggest Michigan snow storm yet. The kids were thrilled there was not school on Wednesday, but especially thrilled when they canceled it for Thursday as well. They stayed in their pj's all day. I managed to get the floor washed and the bathroom clean, but that is all the productive I could be. N made lunch and supper. Baths and we were ready for bed. Today they plan to make an igloo in the back yard. N isn't moving very fast this morning, which there is no hurry. We will see how the building goes.

The dreaded migraine has returned and I will be on minimum maintenance today as well.