Pencils For a Nickel

This has been one incredibly busy week.  Monday was the calm before the crazy.  The weather cooperated and the boys were able to take Henry's new football outside to try it out.  Henry was pretty good at throwing it and Josiah was doing a good job catching it.  They were having a lot of fun.  Henry also used his football as his CC presentation this week, which prompted a football game after lunch.  Henry says his team won, so this may become a regular thing.  Usually the boys all play soccer after lunch.

At CC it was also Dress Your Mom Day.  Apparently, the kids like their mothers to dress up.  Henry's tutor showed up in 4-inch heels.  Another mom had a long flowing dress with a fur stole.  Several others were in dresses or skirts.  The director's daughter wanted her to wear her wedding dress, but she just had a baby, so that wasn't going to happen.  We'll have to see if this becomes a tradition.  We'll need to start an exercise class before next year, so we can all feel comfortable in our fancy outfits.

I had a birthday this week and the kids decided that they would read outside of our bedroom door while I went to sleep like I do for them.  However, after half an hour of lying there, I got up, put them to bed and read outside their doors.

Henry gave me a great card, from my "best kid."  :)

My parents got me an antique pencil dispenser.  There are not many people in this country who can appreciate a pencil dispenser, but I am definitely one who can.  The kids loved it, too, although when she inserted a nickel and the pencil dropped out, Caroline exclaimed, "What? They're not sharpened?"  She has so much to learn about pencils.  The best ones are unsharpened.  Maybe when she gets old enough I can show her the collection I keep in my old Keds shoeboxes.

Todd surprised me with a signed picture from Speaker Paul Ryan.  I happen to find him on the attractive side, so Todd knew of a close contact that could get it signed.  It was hilarious, kind, and slightly embarrassing.

We went to a friend's house for most of the afternoon, so the kids had fun while the moms got adult conversation.  It was wonderful to spend the day with good friends.

The following day we went to a bounce house place to meet up with a CC friend.  It ended up being a homeschool play date with quite a few families there.  By the end of our time, the kids had each made a new friend.  Unfortunately, this particular location was an hour away from us, so it probably won't be a regular thing.

They had a hurricane wind tunnel there, that if you paid $2 it would produce 80 mph winds.  Caroline sneaked her way into several wind tunnel experiences.  Another time all three kids were squeezed into it, but Henry didn't last the whole time which wasn't too surprising.  He's the boy who has nightmares about tornadoes.  It was probably more exposure therapy for him that he hadn't quite signed up for.

Henry left the booth soon after this picture.

Henry has decided that he wanted to learn cursive this week.  He just started following the letter guides we have on the wall and has been trying to write everything in cursive.  So now we're on the hunt for a cursive book so he can learn everything the correct way.  I keep finding signs like this on our white board.

Henry also had a karate test this week for his camo belt-black stripe.  Todd went with him and said he did very well.  When it came time to break the boards at the end, Henry was the 8th kid to go up.  He broke through the first two with ease.  Then came the big board.  All the kids before him had tried to break it, but couldn't.  Henry snapped his foot down and broke it on the first try.  He has no hesitation when he breaks the boards.  Later, he told Todd that the other kids loosened the board up so that it broke easier when it got to him.  That boy has some power to him.

We got a lot of yard work done this weekend.  After playing for a while, Henry came over and helped Todd and I bag leaves.  Then he helped mow nearly the entire front yard.  Later Caroline helped bag up leaves as well.  However, before she helped, she watched our neighbors play basketball for what seemed like a good 45 minutes.  She started off at the end of their driveway, just standing there staring.  I made her sit a bit further back just to give them room to play.  She was literally on the sidewalk in full view of their house and she was loudly saying, "I can't see."  I was pretty sure she could if she looked in their direction, so there she stayed.

Josiah danced around, played with his sticks, and rode his bike and scooter.  He wasn't one for yard work, however, he does still enjoy his barista job.  He makes the coffee every morning now, gets it going, and pours me a mug.

Josiah prefers to be bare-chested most of the time.

We are going to try and finish this week well, because the following week is spring break and we are taking a break from everything.  I have been looking forward to it for the past 6 weeks or so.  We also have one more birthday celebration for one very excited little girl.