Valentines Day

Valentines Day is one of those holidays for me.  Along with Halloween.  A holiday which the kids (and marketers) love, but I kind of dread.  There's just a lot to do to get the kids ready for their school parties, and maybe I'm too lazy, but...  I never feel much love for Valentines Day.  It's fun in preschool, for your first child, but...  after 10 years or so I've just kind of lost my enthusiasm.

The kids had big parties in their classrooms.  Josie and I went to the parties mostly to be able to help Steven count his carbs...  I gave him an extra dose of insulin to account for whatever he ate at the party.  Usually he only gets insulin with meals and at night before bed.  But, in order to still have fun with his classmates eating all sorts of Junk Food at school (at his desk even!), he needed an extra dose.  He ended up eating over 115 g of carbs...  He had ice cream, gummy bears, chocolate kisses, chips, Capri Sun, lollipops...  Yes, the teachers hold these parties at the end of the day so that the sugared-up kids can burn it off at their own houses!

The main job of Valentines day for me is filling in the Valentines day cards...  We don't give out goody bags, just the cards...  We bought our cards in January during one of the snow days.  We filled out the cards last weekend.  It was fun to see Luke try to fill in all his cards for his classmates without even referring to the class list.  He only forgot one name.  He didn't spell every name correctly, but he could read their names and was able to distribute the cards to the right person.  This was a big improvement for him.  He is really coming a long way in reading and writing.  Math seems to be clicking as well.  For example, the other day he was able to tell me how old everyone will be when Josie is a Big Kid.  Apparently, this happens at the age of 6. Luke told me that he will be 10, Steven and Isabel will be 13 (shoot me now!), and Kate will be 19.  And I will be 39.  He did all that math in his head!  Not too shabby!  Anyway, last year was a big battle to get the Valentines filled out and addressed...  He ended up just writing his name on all his cards because he couldn't legibly write out the names of his classmates, and he certainly couldn't read the names of classmates...  It was fun this year to see him actually be able to fill out the Valentines independently. 

The kids made Valentines for Great Grandma too.  The following is a snippet from Isabel's card.  I'm sure she'd just about die from embarrassment if she knew I was writing this, but it's so cute.  And so very Isabel.

"Dear Great Grandma...  I love you with all my heart!  I would live with you for the rest of my life if I had to live with only one person, but I might of picked my mom or my friend named Nana, though!"  So funny.  Anyway, Grandma if you're reading this, the actual, illustrated card is on the way!

After all the celebrations at school, the kids were really, really hyper.  Bouncing off the walls.  Josie ate a significant amount of chocolate, too.  She enjoys these school class parties more than the kids probably!  The kids spent the rest of the day running around the house causing mayhem.  Mac came home late, but just in time to help put the older kids to bed.  After that, he ate a little bit and went off to the gym to exercise.

He came home at about 11 pm on Valentines day.  And he brought with him this:

At the time, they were all in one vase.  I've tried to rehab them a bit, pruning and moving the sickest little roses to other vases.  The poor flowers were wilting, and the vase was nearly out of water.  The stems were green for about 3 inches from the flower, and then brown.  This is clearly a bouquet that was destined for the garbage heap of unsold flowers...  Then my gallant hero came and rescued them.  It's like the Charlie Brown Christmas tree.  The last little tree on the lot...

Here are some more views of the flowers...

 
Alas, much as I appreciate the rescuing of flowers, I told Mac that he really doesn't need to prop up this Valentines day marketing scheme of mass producing roses and selling them at huge profit margins...  I "let him off the hook" so to say...  Maybe a Starbucks next year?  Or some Thai Takeout?  Just not a stuffed bear.  PLEASE not a stuffed bear. 

Anyway, that was Valentines day at our house!  Next big school party?  St. Patrick's Day.  I kid you not.  There will be a party and lots of sugar consumed...

Birthdays and Kitchen Appliances

Is it just me or do they NOT make kitchen appliances to last anymore?  We have lived in our current house for only 8 years.  We started out with mostly new appliances because the ones that were here when we moved in were just horrible.  We tried to make due with the original dishwasher, but it had some condensation problems, so we replaced it about a year after we moved in.   The dishwasher was OK, but the latch broke and it started leaking water, so we replaced it about a year ago.  So far the new dishwasher is working fine.  The oven and stove have been good.  But I kind of wish they'd break because we got the coil burners and they are horrible to clean.  I'd like a flat top stove.  The refrigerator we bought had a freezer on the bottom.  I really liked the convenience of having the refrigerator on the top.  And the shelves were deep in the fridge door, so we could store lots in there.  The fridge was probably my favorite appliance...

That refrigerator, unfortunately, completely died on my birthday.  The fan was still running, the lights were still on, but it was not cooling anymore.  Rather than try to fix it, we spend a few hours this weekend replacing it.  It probably would have been an expensive fix, as I had noticed the refrigerator hadn't been quite working correctly for the past few months.  Freezing milk one day, barely keeping it cool the next...  Plus, we weren't sure how long we'd be without a refrigerator, waiting for parts and what not.  We decided just to replace it.

On Friday night, we moved the food outside in coolers.  Insulin has to be kept in a fridge, so we moved it outside too...  I'm hoping Steven's insulin was kept cool enough.  If his numbers start to go through the roof we'll have to throw out the whole batch of insulin though... 

Saturday morning was really busy, but not unusually so...  Mac and Josie went to Kate's Big Swim Meet (divisionals- she swam a 50 yard freestyle and placed 16th), and I went to the other kids' basketball games.  After lunch, Mac and I drove to the Frederick Costco to look at refrigerators.  Our local Costco doesn't carry appliances.  We found a very basic fridge, it looked ok, and it wasn't too expensive.  So, we packed it up into the suburban and drove home.  Mac almost completely on his own lugged the new one into the house and the old one out to the suburban.  He didn't need to go to the gym that day!  Refrigerator moving was enough of a workout...  By this time, it was getting late.  We had the boys Cub Scout's banquet that night.  Kate decided not to go to the banquet.  I was too tired from all the refrigerator stuff to force her to go!  Oh well.  Luke and Steven earned some badges, and Luke got a huge trophy for winning the pinewood derby race within his Tiger Den.  The Pinewood Derby was held in January.  The banquet also involved a Yo-Yo show which Josie wasn't too interested in.  We were all exhausted by the time we came home from the banquet!   

We finished installing the new fridge Sunday afternoon, Mac took the old one to the dump, and then we all went out to eat dinner at Red Robin.  I wanted to go somewhere loud where I wouldn't have to worry about the kids making too much noise and disturbing other diners...  Dinner was fine- my hamburger was raw but they sent me a new one without too much hassle.  When we got home, Mac gave me a couple of gifts from him and the kids, and we stuck a candle into a rice krispy treat for the ceremonial Happy Birthday song...

I think I will remember this birthday as being the one where my refrigerator died! 

Snow and Silliness

We had a big snow a couple of weeks ago.  After having a "snow day" on the day before the storm even started, we ended up getting about 10 inches of snow topped by a coating of ice.  School was canceled for the rest of the week...  Lots of snow days! 

The day after the storm, the kids went out to play.  The snow wasn't great for sledding, but they occupied themselves in our backyard for hours.  Steven worked on his own snow fort, which involved moving as much snow as possible from one part of the yard to another. 

Isabel and Luke worked together to build their own fort, using the snow from the deck mostly.  

Josie went from sibling to sibling to "help".  She really enjoyed playing in the snow.  She stayed out a long time! 

At one point she did a faceplant, though.  Then she decided that it was time to go inside for some hot cocoa...







The kids had fun in the snow that one day, but unfortunately the weather was just not great for playing outside during all the other snow days.  There was an arctic blast of cold air, and the snow was really icy and crusty.  So, we stayed inside a lot during all the snow days.  The kids fought with each other, played the DS, went to extra swimming practices, fought some more...  I even took them all to Costco.  Having a Suburban, I was able to get around town at least! 

It wasn't all fighting in the house.  Josie has discovered the very fun pastime of dress up.  She already knows she's a princess, but it doesn't hurt to dress like one!

And if Josie is the princess, Steven is the Court Jester.  He is very tender-hearted with his baby sister.  After taking this picture, she proceeded to bop him on his head with the toy she is holding...  But she loves her brother!  Really, she does! 

Last week was a much more stable week weather-wise.  No more snow days.  Back to the same winter routine. 

On Saturday we had lots of sports.  Luke, Isabel, and Steven played basketball games. Luke is slowly figuring out how the game works, and he seems to prefer defense to actually touching the ball.  The coach makes sure each player dribbles the ball down the court at least once, but Luke passes the ball away as soon as he can!  In this picture he is getting ready to pass.  Those little guys are so cute!

I didn't get to watch Isabel's game much.  Mac was watching but not taking much in- he had Josie Duty for the morning!  Josie isn't a huge fan of all these sporting events...  Mac did watch Steven's game, and I missed that one due to my turn on Josie Duty...  Mac reports that Steven "ran circles" around the other players.  Steven is in great shape due to all the swimming.  He's having fun with basketball.  If I get decent pictures of Steven and Isabel playing basketball, I'll add them later.

Kate finished up the regular season of swimming on Saturday with a swim meet.  She completed a 200 IM- she'd never swum that event before.  She also did a very fast 50 freestyle leg for her relay team.  Right after her swim meet, we drove straight to her indoor soccer game.  Busy busy Saturday!

What's up?

We are in the middle of the winter doldrums...  Mac continues working in a "local" rotation that has him commuting over one hour each way.  At least he comes home though!  He is enjoying this rotation a lot.  He likes the Big Surgeries.  His favorite surgeries involve breaking the jaw and screwing it back together.  He is able to do a lot of surgery "on his own" at this training site.  He likes the Big Whacks (big surgeries) and the independence.  February is his last month on this rotation...  I am bracing for his next rotation- he's going to be doing far fewer surgeries and far more administrative stuff as he transitions into a chief position.  Should be interesting...

The kids are in the midst of winter sports.  Kate continues on the high school swim team, with meets every Saturday and practices twice a week.  She also has year-round swim practices three times a week.  She's logging lots of time in the pool.  She complains about it all the time!  She is also playing in an indoor soccer league this winter.  Her team plays one game a week.  She seems to enjoy that.
Steven, Isabel, and Luke are all playing basketball in the Upward league.  The Upward league is a Christian league, where the kids are supposed to learn Bible verses and practice Christ-like sportsmanship.  It's going well.  Luke pretty much has no idea what he's doing on the court, but he smiles a lot.  Isabel usually will make at least one basket a game.  She still stops to blush and wave at the crowd after she scores points.  Steven is running his little heart out on the court.  He's very conditioned thanks to all the swimming, and he barely gets winded in a game while his teammates are huffing and puffing...  They all seem to be enjoying basketball.  I am not enjoying driving them in the cold to three different practice times!  At least the practices are very close to the house, which minimizes the amount of time I have to listen to Josie screaming in my ear from her car seat...  She also doesn't enjoy driving to and from practices all day long!

The kids also are continuing with their Winter Swim programs.  Steven and Isabel practice three times a week now.  If that seems excessive, they would agree with you!  However, that's a fairly modest commitment to swimming around here.  There are 9 year olds who practice daily...  Luke has lessons twice a week.  He's been introduced to all the strokes, but I don't think he's legal in anything but the freestyle and the backstroke.  We'll see when the summer swim season rolls around though. He might surprise us all!  Steven continues to enjoy swim meets.  He has about one meet a month.  He usually drops time in all events.  He enjoys the competition, but I still think he likes swim meets most of all because he gets to log in a lot of video game time on his DS in between his swim events!  His diabetes has been much better controlled at meets lately.  We are starting to get a handle on how to manage it a bit better on "meet day". 

Josie is full of life.  She is a big talker.  She loves dress up and playing with her siblings.  Thanks to a lot of snow days, she's had a lot of extra time to play.  She has decided that she likes childcare now, too.  This means we can go to church again.  She happily goes into her classroom, where she has lots of "friends" and she seems very enthusiastic.  The teachers have no idea that she had a history of complete meltdown in childcare from about age 0 to 28 months.  Complete meltdown.  Now, at age 29 months, she is a very secure young preschooler ready to conquer the world!

She will also go to the playroom at the gym, albeit with less enthusiasm than when she goes to her classroom at church.  She plays in the playroom, eats a snack, and watches cartoons.  I get to go to the gym and exercise.  I only take her once a week to the playroom, lest she decide she hates it there and then I'm stuck once again!  I try to go in for a workout on the weekend when Mac is home to babysit, and then one other time during the week, again when Mac or Kate is home to babysit...

So, that's what we are up to. Activities, Mac's busy schedule, and trying to stay warm.  We have had one power outage which only lasted about 5 hours.  We were nervous though.  It's too cold to camp out in our house with no heat!  And we don't have a fireplace, so...  Thankfully the power came back on.  Right now I am hoping all the snow will melt away and we can start to transition to spring.  But, February has historically been a Big Snow Month for us.  We will see what happens!