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This Past Week

Tuesday  was our tumbling evening.  Princess is working on dive rolls, walking handstands, etc… Although the studio is less than 15 minutes away, the drive always seems to take an eternity because the kids argue so much as we go to and from the studio.

On the way to work wednesday morning, a massive dog sprinting towards the road caught the corner of my eye.  As I watched, I felt confident that this dog was not going to stop before the road.  I put on my brakes.  As I paused to get a better look at this wild dog, I was surprised to realize that it was actually a deer.  The deer crossed the road in front of me and continued speeding through the old golf course across the road. Apparently my neighbor had been two cars behind me.  She texted me soon after to tell me the whole experience was crazy, and she was glad I didn’t hit the deer.  We relived the crazy experience in person again tonight. 

Wednesday evening I was busy multitasking.  I took Champ to choir practice at church.  Thankfully, it was also the site of a voting site.  It was only a 20 minute adventure this time.  While we were waiting in line, I was helping Princess with her homework.  We saw one of Princess’s friends get in the voting line with her mom.  When I was done voting, we went back to get that girl and took her to the indoor playground while her mom continued waiting in the voting line.  I exchanged numbers with the mom in hopes we could get together again.

Then we squeezed in homework and Bible time before basketball practice.  I’m glad the practice doesn’t conflict with choir, but practice at 8 is too late for children.  

Wednesday was also a sad day because a dear neighbor moved.  Although she didn’t move far away, it is still sad not to have her nearby.  

Before I went to bed on Wednesday evening, I received heartbreaking news...that the gentleman who had been champ's Sunday school leader from 2nd grade through 4th grade had suddenly passed away at 47 years of age.  Over those 3 years, I had volunteered often with this man.  The news was too sad to even comprehend.

Thursday evening I told champ the news about his Sunday school teacher's death.  He was very sad too.

Saturday I ran with Vanessa.  Then her husband made us omelettes for breakfast.  Next Vanessa and I went to the craft fair at the high school.  I got a facial in the afternoon (thanks to my students), ran errands, did laundry, and cooked.

Today I helped in the kindergarten Sunday school.  Then I went to the service.  I went to my friend's visitation at the church.  It was nice to tell my deceased friend's brother that the man had been a good role model and that we were all better for having had him in our lives.

I finished the afternoon by visiting my old neighbor at her new house.

Tumbling

Sunday Vanessa treated me to lunch at Bar Louie's after I volunteered in champs Sunday school class and attended service.  I accomplished some errands in the afternoon.

Yesterday was my first day to try going back to exercising in the early morning.  It would be much easier to do an early morning workout the gym, where I could have friends with me.  I made the painful change in order to be a better help with homework and have time to just sit beside my kids in the evening.  Lesson for kids: love is sacrificial.

Tonight Princess had her tumbling class.  She worked more on it at home.  She has started to master round offs.

Break Ends with a Bang

My birthday was on Wednesday.  Around midnight that night there were two cracks of thunder that were louder than I’ve ever heard.  I knew it was close, and a neighbor confirmed that her husband saw it touch down in the nearby field.

On Thursday, we hosted a playdate for 2 neighborhood families.  Our food craft for the day was making spiders.  We made them out of bananas, pretzels, and raisins.

Friday the kids played with my mom while I got my hair done.  The kids and I made pancakes and doughnuts.  I froze them.  In the late afternoon, we met friends at a church’s fabulous indoor playground.  I brought the mom a Starbucks drink. I told the kids that we needed to do that in order to cheer a friend up who was going through a rough time.  In the evening, I finished browning 6 pounds of hamburger and baked 3 pounds of turkey meatballs.

This morning I met my mom at the gym for a walk.  I picked up some walnuts in the backyard and threw them over the fence.  I graded some papers and entered some grades online.  I redeemed my free Starbucks drink.  Then I went shopping at both Steinmart and Kohls.  Tonight I joined my aunts, uncles, sister, and some nephews in celebrating my parents’ award at U Indy before their football game.  We feasted on a fabulous dinner and had a lovely conversation.

October 19th

The kids woke me up at 8 because they were so excited to give me their birthday present.  We snuggled for awhile before Princess made me a peanut butter and honey sandwich for breakfast.

I played a game of Checkers with Princess.  Then the Orkin man arrived.  He spent an hour and a half doing an extensive search trying to figure out how a mouse got in.  He couldn’t figure it out.  He pulled out the drawer on the bottom of my oven, and I saw tons of mouse poop under it.  Cleaning up mouse poop on my birthday was a first for me.

I exercised to my dance videos on Youtube.  After getting cleaned up, we headed to Pizza Hut because Princess wanted me to use her Book It pizza coupon for my birthday.  I used her coupon, and I got Champ an individual pizza too.  I opted to redeem my Starbucks birthday coupon on my favorite (Skinny Vanilla Latte with decaf) instead of pizza.  I also ate at home.

Neighbors were playing for hours in our front yard this afternoon.  We shared popsicles with them.  We also made broomstick snacks together using cheese sticks and pretzels.  The kids played kickball, soccer, and more.

Tonight we went to my parents’ house for a lovely dinner.  Twice baked potatoes have been 1 of my favorite foods forever.  Yummy!  The boys watched a lot of TV, while the girls read books and played Go Fish and Memory.

When I reflect on this past year, there were a lot of firsts for me that I’m proud of.  I’ve been keeping a budget and keeping track of my expenses.  I had to master turning an expander in Champ’s mouth.  I joined a small group at church for several months.  I took my first solo flight on an airplane, and I was even able to make a connecting flight.  I took the kids to two special amusement parks (Kentucky Kingdom and Holiday World).  I braved paddleboarding with the kids.  We have expanded our horizons by trying new restaurants like Ichiban and Red Sun.  I started working in the 5th-8th grade children’s ministry at church.  I trained for a 5K with my son and ran in it with him.  I spoke at my grandma’s funeral.  I’ve trapped and disposed of mice.  Plus, many more things!

Airport

I enjoyed a behind the scenes tour of the airport Monday.  I loved riding in the Super Soaker.  It turns out spraying water on a large airplane isn't as easy as you might think.  I failed miserably at the task.

Holiday World

We drove to Jasper Saturday evening.  We pulled over at a gas station on the way.  I asked where the nearest McDonald’s was.  The attendant wasn’t sure.  I knew that wasn’t a good sign.  So we grabbed a snack at the gas station, in addition to using the restroom.  We stopped at a Wendy’s in Loogootee.  The kids went swimming at the Holiday Inn Express in Jasper once he arrived.  I was surprised to see another teacher in my corporation at the pool.  We enjoyed chatting while the kids were swimming together.  It was a rough night of sleeping.  Princess knocked over the phone, the remote fell and the TV turned on, and the nearby elevator dinged.

Sunday we ate a buffet breakfast at the hotel.  Then we went swimming.  (We had watched a Youtube church service the day before to make up for missing church.)  After checking out, we drove to Holiday World.  The weather was absolutely gorgeous...unseasonably warm.  We immediately learned that Princess had been growing, and she was now over 48 inches.  That meant that she could ride on a lot of roller coasters with Champ.  She was thrilled to be able to do what Champ could do.  Champ was happy to have a riding companion on roller coasters.  We ate lunch at a BBQ place inside the park.  Later in the afternoon we indulged on Dippin’ Dots ice cream.  We were at Holiday World from open to close.  

We had to stop at a gas station in Jasper for Princess to use the restroom...a direct result of free soft drinks in Holiday World.  We grabbed McDonald’s in Jasper too.  The kids were in such a happy mood as we drove to Bloomington.  They were just giggling and chatting away together.  We checked into the Holiday Inn in Bloomington.  I had reserved the room through Priceline.  We called the hotel the same day I reserved the room, the gentleman said that breakfast would not be included in the deal.  When we were checking in though at the hotel, Champ asked if they had breakfast.  The check in gal said she was throwing it in for us.  She included a complimentary breakfast coupon for 2, and kids eat free.  When we went to our room, it was absolutely wonderful!  The kids loved that the beds had remote controls for sleep numbers.  That was free entertainment.  Champ had a hard time falling asleep because he still felt like he was on a roller coaster.  On the other hand, Princess had a hard time falling asleep because she was still so hyped up from her day.

Today we enjoyed the complimentary breakfast.  Then we drove to I.U.  I parked on Kirkland.  Then we walked around the campus for 30 minutes.  Although Princess can walk miles for roller coasters, she is unable to walk voluntarily if there is no roller coaster involved.  We stopped at Griffy Lake to enjoy the view and skip rocks.

An Award

Saturday was Champ’s last flag football game.  His team lost in a super close game.  There was an awards presentation after the game.  I was thrilled to see that Champ won the award for the most improved player.  I loved how they tied each award to scripture verses.