Karate Girl

Our week did not begin exactly as planned.  The plan was to start the brand new year with lots of enthusiasm, good attitudes, and joyful anticipation for schoolwork.  But then I woke up Monday morning and I could not sit upright without feeling super sick.  So, I spent the morning in bed.  The boys were only too happy about it.  They were very kind and made me nice cards.

Henry was so excited to start his first grade math book that he couldn't wait another day and brought it upstairs to do on the floor.

Josiah quickly said he was in charge of the house and would take care of things.  I begged them not to do the dishes for me.  (We've been there before with dish soap in the dishwasher.)  They did practice a show and performed it for me.  Josiah likes to give lots of acting directions and lines to his cast mates, so the shows are sometimes hard to follow.  By the afternoon I was upright, much to their dismay.  It meant that school was a possibility the following day.

This was a still from their show.

School officially started back up Tuesday.  There was little enthusiasm, slightly dismal attitudes, and a paltry amount of joy.  Some days we have great days of school and accomplish much with little complaining and then there are many more days with lots of whining and complaining that sends me to the computer searching out charter schools.

By Wednesday, Josiah must have caught our bug and threw up in the morning.  It was a quick bug because 30 minutes later he was asking for food and he didn't stop for the rest of the day.  He liked my "crispy toast" as he called it.  Most of us would just call it toast, but Todd likes "light" toast (warm bread) and I like real toast (brown and crispy).  I tried to give him a little break on school with the throwing up and all, but I wanted him to do one math sheet (front and back!).  The horror.  It tooks hours, literally, hours.  It was ridiculous.  Those moments make me think about the kids that get off the school bus and have to do homework.  I cannot imagine having to do homework with Josiah after a full day of school.  It is then that homeschooling is the better alternative for him.

Josiah was very happy that his Angry Birds Lego kit came in the mail.  It was a kit for slightly older kids, so it was a little more of a challenge than he's used to, which caused a few breakdowns, but he got it completed.

Caroline had an exciting finish to her week.  Our karate school started up a new class for her peers and she tried it out.  Lucky for her, Henry's gi had gotten too small for him, so we passed it on down the line.  She was very excited for the weeks prior to it starting.  She was very excited on the car ride there.  She was very excited until we walked into the karate building and she actually had to go in the gym room.  But finally she sat down next to a little boy she knew and after another 10 minutes or so of not participating, she got into it.  She can now show us "fighting stance" and is learning to punch and kick like the best of them.

Josiah is getting very excited about his upcoming birthday.  I asked him to write a list of the things he wanted to eat and what he wanted to do on his special day.  He named off three restaurants for all the major meals.  So, basically he wants to eat.  Henry started planning his birthday, too, and not only did he name three different restaurants for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but he also named two other restaurants to get snacks between meals.  Henry also wants to go to a bounce house place on his birthday, which is pretty much what you want to do after eating all day.  Jump on inflatables.

I'm still on mustache watch.  Unfortunately, Todd received two compliments on it this week, further encouraging him to keep it.  Plus the fact that he actually likes it.  He's told all his co-workers how much I dislike it.  I'm not sure what he's trying to accomplish by keeping it.  Maybe he's participating in an experiment at his university about growing unsightly facial hair and the reactions of those around you.