Fat Tuesday

Tonight we went to the Fat Tuesday Dinner at church. We had pork and sauerkraut, ribs and mashed potatoes, and cake. The kids loved it. Granted, they did not partake in the sauerkraut. Everything was delicious, and it was so nice to not have to cook or clean up. Happy Mardi Gras! 

Bad Dog

I was home with a stomach bug today and spent a good part of the day sleeping. During some of that time Winston was curled up next to me on the bed. Other times he wasn't. I figured he was lying on the couch in the sun room (which he is not supposed to do), and I was right. I wasn't too worried about it, though. What could he possibly get into while I'm home? I got up to put him outside and noticed the little brown spots on the floor that used to be part of the arm of the couch. He had chewed quite a hole in it. I was not happy.  Needless to say, he was in the doghouse the rest of the day. 

Gymnastics Meet

Maelle had her second and last gymnastics meet of the season tonight. She did very well. She got red on bars and vault and blue on beam and floor. She also said she had a lot of fun. Afterwards we stopped for a quick bite to eat at Dairy Queen. Now we are all exhausted and it's time for bed. 

Taco Supper

Every so often, our church youth group puts on a taco supper to raise money. The kids, especially Benny, look forward to it every time. Well, it was tonight after the 5:00 mass. It was delicious. Both kids went back for more. I'm sure it won't be long before they are asking us when the next Taco Supper will be. 

Cat's Cradle

Maelle learned how to do Cat's Cradle at school today. She was sort of obsessed with it all evening. She asked me if I wanted to do it with her. I remember a little bit from my own childhood. What I never learned how to do was Jacob's ladder, but Maelle taught me how to do it tonight. She was a good teacher. 

Chivalry

Chris always insists on pumping my gas when we go to the gas station together. I could totally do it myself. In fact, I pump gas all the time. It's just one of the many little things he does for me. It's a modern example of chivalry. 

Reading

Tonight when I got home from gymnastics with Maelle, Chris was in the shower and I found this cute kid on my bed, reading. He asked me if I wanted to read 5,000 awesome facts with him. I say yes, and he read several interesting facts to me. When Maelle was finished brushing her teeth she came down and I read to them from Harry Potter # 7. We haven't done that in way too long. It's time for to get back into the habit. 

Bees

It has been unseasonably warm the last few days. On Sunday when I checked on my bees I was so happy to have them flying all around me. It was a rare and special treat to spend time with them in February. I am praying that these last two hives make it through these next two months. I will keep checking on them and do whatever I can to help them survive. 

Early Learning Center

Today I spent the day with a wonderful group of educators. It was our Young Fives, kindergarten, and first grade teachers. We worked on developing ideas for how we can create the ideal learning experience for our young learners. While there is still some anxiety and a lot of unknowns, I think there is excitement for the opportunities we are going to be able to provide our learners. It's an exciting time in our district, and I am excited to be a part of it. 

Outside

Yesterday and today have been absolutely gorgeous. I think it got up to around 70 degrees today. It was too nice not to be outside. When I got home from scrapbooking I went out to check on my bees. I spent nearly three hours outside cleaning out three dead hives. That was sad. However, there were so many bees flying around that it seemed like May. When I was finished with the bees, I went down to the creek to see what Benny was up to. I suggested he go on an adventure. After clearing a small log jam in the water, he took his walking stick and headed off for adventure. 

Outback

I spent nearly the whole day working on the kids' albums. We took a break and went to get something to eat around 1:30. We ended up going to Outback. It was pretty good. I haven't been there in a while. This has been a nice weekend, but I'm anxious to get home tomorrow. Maelle is still not feeling well. Chris has done a great job taking care of her, but I just miss them. 

Scrapping

This is my home away from home for the weekend. It's our annual scrapbook weekend. This is the second year that Cheryl and I have gotten a hotel room in Ann Arbor to do our scrapbooking. We like watching movies while we work. Tonight we watched two of my favorite movies, Space Camp and Hoosiers. I realized that I'm further behind in my books than I thought. I'm hoping to get caught up this weekend. 

Sick Again

Maelle woke up with a fever again today. This is really surprising since she was sick with the exact same thing a couple of weeks ago. This winter has been the worst in a long time for sickness. I can't wait until spring when we can air everything out and all the germs go away. 

Gymnastics

Tonight at gymnastics Maelle started having a headache. I hope she isn't getting sick again. There has been so much sickness going around this year. Having been sick a few weeks ago, I thought she would be good to go for a while. My fingers are crossed that she's feeling okay in the morning. 

Heart Cloud

Today is Valentines Day. We don't usually do much to celebrate besides getting a few little things for the kids. I know it sounds cliche, but Chris shows me he loves me in so many little ways every day. I am so thankful for that. Hopefully he knows how much I love him too. On the way home from school today, the kids were looking at shapes in the clouds. Benny asked for my phone, quick. I gave it to him and he took a picture of this little heart cloud. Perfect for today! ❤

Ukuleles

It was another exciting night for Tecumseh elementary musicians. Under the direction of two of the elementary music teachers, including our own Mr. Simon, the third graders performed a song on ukuleles for the School Board at the Board meeting tonight. They sounded great, and I was so proud that I had tears in my eyes. Again, I just can't say enough about the educational experiences our learners are receiving. Way to go, musicians! 

Bath

It was very muddy today. Between the thaw and the rain last night there was no chance of keeping Winston clean when he went outside. Every time he came in it got worse and worse. Finally I couldn't take it anymore and hauled him into the tub for a bath. He needed one anyway. He didn't seem to love it, but he also didn't mind it too much. He just stood there in the tub and let me soap him up and rinse him off with the warm water. The bath didn't take too long, but it took over 30 minutes to dry him with towels and a hairdryer. Although he still got muddy when he went out after that, at least he smelled better. 

Surprise!

Maelle received a box from Amazon today. There was nothing on the box to indicate who it came from. It was a mystery. We opened the box and found an origami book and two packs of origami paper. I called a few family members to see if they knew. My search lead to Aunt Karyn. She had seen Maelle's interest in origami a few days ago on a Facebook. She also likes origami. It was such a thoughtful gift. Thank you, Aunt Karyn! 

Snow Moon

Tonight there is a full moon, an eclipse, and a comet. We tried to see the eclipse, but we missed it, or else it was too subtle for us to see it. I doubt I'll be awake at 10:30 to see the comet. At least we got to enjoy the fullness of the moon. 

Origami

Maelle checked out a book on origami from the library today. She was very anxious to get home and start trying it out. Origami is not easy. She got stuck on the very first thing she tried to make, the finger puppet dog. The directions were not very clear. She asked for some help and Chris jumped right in to take a look. He couldn't figure it out either. I tried to make sense of it with no luck. I like to think that if we had more time we could have come away with a finger puppet dog. We'll try again tomorrow. 

Home Sweet Home

I got home from my training right before Chris left to take Maelle to gymnastics. I was so glad to see everyone. There really is no place like home! Benny was reading on the couch and when I went to take his picture, Winston had to get involved too. I am so glad Benny has become such a voracious reader. He likes all kinds of books. Currently he is reading the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series. 

Ziplocks

These are our favorite containers for the kids' lunches. A couple of years ago they were discontinued. I don't know why because they are fantastic. The compartments are the perfect size, and best of all, they are leakproof. After a couple years, we were down to having one left. We tried other brands, but none were as good. Well, I found out a few weeks ago that Ziplock brought them back. I searched online and could only find them at Target. (I didn't look that hard.) I hardly ever go to Target, but this afternoon we went to Target in Mount Pleasant and I bought three sets. These should last a while. 

Hotel

I am at an Adaptive Schools conference in Mount Pleasant with some colleagues for the next two days. This will by my home-away-from-home for the next couple of nights. I'm looking forward to learning a lot of new insights from this conference. 

Happy Birthday, Chris!

Today is Chris's birthday. We started the day with breakfast at church. Then we came home and had a pretty typical Sunday with laundry and other chores. Chris pruned the apple trees and we checked in on the beehives. It is also Super Bowl Sunday, and we all enjoyed watching the game. We ate soup and cake and had a few little gifts for Chris. We could never give Chris the birthday he deserves. He really is an amazing husband, dad, and person. We couldn't love him more. Happy birthday, my love! ❤

Chomp Burger

We celebrated Chris's early birthday with supper out at Chomp Burger. I had my usual peanut butter burger. It was absolutely delicious. Everyone had a great meal. I'm going to be craving Chomp Burger for a while. 

Karaoke Night

We had a really fun event at school tonight, Karaoke Night! If you know me, you know how much I love Karaoke. I was so glad to be able to share something so special to me with so many special kids. I sang a few songs, mostly with some of the kids, including Maelle. It was obvious that the kids were all having a great time. I'd definitely call it a success! 

Duet

It was another great day in music class for Maelle. The class was learning about lullabies and Maelle told Mr. Simon she could play Twinkle Twinkle Little Star on the piano. He asked her to play it and she did. Then he got out his guitar and they played it as a duet. She was very proud. I just love how he encourages our learners to be musical!

Grilled Cheese and Soup

It was a good night for grilled cheese and tomato soup. It was delicious!