The Accidental Boilermaker

 Evelyn had her second grade gym showcase last night. It is supposed to be a kindergarten gym showcase but we all remember where we were two years ago. I thought it was great that Mr T, the PE teacher, didn’t just forgot about the kindergartners from 2020 and they still got their chance. Each class did a physical activity skill and then a choreographed dance. Evelyn’s class did the rope ladders.  She also got to participate with another class because their dance required groups of 3 and she was asked to jump in if needed.  Today was Jameson’s first field trip! I got to go along too.  The class took a trip to the safety village where they learned about safely crossing the street primarily and a little about bus safety. After listening to the police officer, they got the chance to practice in the village. Of course the best part was driving the electric cars. 

 We had our first sleepover. Evelyn couldn’t make it to Harper’s birthday sleepover so I asked Sarah if Harper and Willow could spend the night at our house. It was lots of fun and pretty easy all things considered. I had a few crafts planned, but they mostly entertained themselves.  They made masks and we did lots of origami. I also bought a Lego dot bracelet kit for everyone.   We made pizza for dinner and had ice cream for dessert. They watched a movie and then wanted popcorn. Everyone wanted to sleep downstairs which worked out just fine. They fell asleep around 11 and everyone stayed asleep till around 8. We made French toast for breakfast and everyone played more until Sarah came to pick them up. 

 Today we made our annual spring trip to the Toledo Zoo. It was a beautiful day but the zoo wasn’t very crowded and we saw lots of fun animals.  Gorillas Wolves Sea turtle and jelly fish And the rhino which we have never seen before at this zoo.  Evelyn and Jameson loved taking pictures on all the animal statues.  And they agreed to take a picture with me and Nate.  They were very sleepy on the way home and both fell asleep. 

 Another first for us - our first FAME (foundation for art and music in education) festival. Evelyn and Jameson each had a piece of art chosen by their art teacher to be on display. There was lots of art from schools all over the county which was fun to walk around and look at. Choirs and bands also performed. There were several craft tables; at one Evelyn and Jameson got to make kazoos, lucky us. Jameson’s shape robot Evelyn’s self portrait 

 We experienced our first Croninger lip sync. It was quite the production and we only stayed for the first half.  Jameson’s class performed Super Heroes Unite.  Jameson did a great job.  He looked very serious, but he knew all the moves. Evelyn’s class teamed up with another second grade class to do La Ensalada with the Spanish teacher, Mama Llama.  Theirs was a high energy performance.

 Happy St Patrick’s day! A day I never thought I’d celebrate so much. First it’s Hans’ birthday which is reason enough to celebrate. It was also 2 years ago that everything closed and stuff was kinda scary so I thought why not made a big deal about St Patrick’s day to take my kids’ mind off of all the big changes.  Both Evelyn and Jameson made leprechaun traps although Jameson’s was more of a home. No leprechauns were caught but it looked like maybe one visited.  I hear leprechauns are very hard to catch. Nate brought home some yummy cupcakes to round out our day. 

 This is a Jameson’s tech Tuesday homework that we forgot about yesterday.  It reads, “I had a bad day. I found a salamander.” Our before school and before dinner were less than ideal.  They often have time to shoot some hoops before we drive to school but Jameson struggles to understand that he doesn’t get infinite chances to make one last basket.  At school it sounded like his friends didn’t play very nice on the playground too.  He was also very disappointed in the leprechaun traps his class made.  Before dinner I think he was hangry.  We went on a very nice hike with friends right after school where Victoria found a snake and a red backed salamander that everyone got to hold.  When I read his homework, I gave him a hug and said I love him and I was sorry he had a bad day.  Jameson told me he loved me too even though I was part of his bad day.  Well okay. In other news, Evelyn’s birdhouse has a nest!

 Friday morning, we said goodbye to Nate and headed off to Virginia. My very good friend growing up, Alexis, her father passed away in early December. Our families were also close, so my parents had planned all along to attend the funeral.  It was just a matter of how was I also going to get to Virginia. Ultimately, Nate and I agreed Evelyn and Jameson could come with and miss two days of school.  It is a 10 hour drive to Richmond where Mr. and Mrs. Presseau live, but with stops it did take a little longer. We packed lots of car activities and snacks.  We took an extended break at the Tamarack to stretch our legs and look around. There were some glass blowers that were fun to watch.  It was fairly late once we reached our hotel. Everyone slept well and woke up in good moods. After first breakfast, Evelyn and Jameson did some schoolwork. Then it was time for second breakfast with Oma.  The funeral service was very nice. In addition to the family, other peopl...

 Nate’s birthday was last week Thursday so this post is very late. The kids and I woke up early to make a special breakfast on a stick. They helped put strawberries, bananas, shortcake, and whipped cream on skewers.  Nate also opened his presents before work. We gave him some books, a new Lego set and a new bird feeder. He got a blue bird feeder with mealworms. The blue birds found it right away and loved it. My parents arrived in the afternoon with surprise empanadas for dinner.  It was a relaxed birthday since the next day my mom and dad plus me and the kids were leaving for Richmond, VA in the morning.

 Happy Mardi Gras! I made a king cake over the weekend. The more I thought about it, the more I realized I didn’t want to wait until today to bake. I tried a new recipe which was also two recipes kind of combined. I wanted a cake with both cinnamon sugar and cream cheese filling.  Evelyn technically found the baby first. But she rehid the baby so Jameson could find it too.  It’s read across America week. Yesterday was pj day. Today was crazy sock day and who has the craziest socks? Dad of course.