What we did instead

I've written before about how my family does not always make decisions that are popular in other families.  Generally, this doesn't bother me.  They make their decisions and we make ours and that's that.  However, as I wrote in that post, occasionally someone will indicate it's not the "correct" decision.

Yesterday was an example of that.  After playing out in the snow for over an hour, both Catherine and Thomas just wanted to come inside and drink some hot chocolate and put on warm jammies.  I had no problem with that at all.  It's part of the joy of snow days!  Catherine was supposed to have a scout meeting, but I wasn't terribly concerned about it, and when Andrew worked late unexpectedly it became obvious that we couldn't eat dinner together and make it to the scout meeting.  Catherine didn't particularly care, and I preferred dinner together since it's going to be tough this week to make that happen.  Our friends texted and asked if we could take their daughter along with ours to scouts because they had plans.  I explained that Andrew had worked late and that since we were choosing to eat a family dinner it meant Catherine wouldn't be going to scouts.  I then get a text that they have made arrangements to get their daughter to scouts and would be happy to include Catherine as well.  I'll be honest, I sighed and was a little bit irked, as this has happened before.  I made sure I waited before responding, which was to thank her but explain that with dinner being later than originally expected, Catherine would not be attending scouts.  I didn't hear back.  Please understand, I recognize that not everyone has the same feelings on this topic as we do.  I recognize the fact that this other family rarely does things the same way we do and that's totally fine.  It's their family and they are completely free to do as they please.  However, we have made the choice we've made, not because we can't get Catherine to scouts or because we are too lazy to take her, but because we have chosen to spend time as a family...all five of us not just the ones who don't have scouts.

And so how did we spend our evening instead?  We had some fun moments at dinner listening to Robert talk about his day (he was the only one with school stories!) and then the kids did some work in their bedrooms.  Of course everyone had a bath, and Andrew did some reading while I did some cleaning and picking up.  And then we all sat down and played a game together.  We had so many laughs and had so much fun...and it wasn't just me.  We all shared in the entertainment of each other.  I wouldn't trade that memory for anything!

Our snowday

Yes, we are home with a snow day.  We didn't quite get the amount of accumulation that was originally expected, but it was certainly enough to cause troubles, again, especially on these rural Ohio roads.  Unfortunately, Andrew and Robert still had to go to school, which did not particularly please any of us.  Andrew called to let me know they had made it though.  I'm still slightly concerned about their drive home.  While we didn't receive as much overnight it's been snowing more today than originally predicted.

In the meantime, we've been enjoying our day here.  Thomas slept until 10:00 this morning.  He definitely takes after his mother!  I usually sleep late on snow days as well, but this morning I had too much anxiety about the other school NOT closing.  I ended up getting up even earlier than on days I have to work!  On the upside though, it allowed me to have a much more productive day.  By noon, Thomas and I had gone through all of his summer clothes we left in the drawer from last year (as an aside, it seems absolutely ABSURD to be doing that with this much snow on the ground, but it technically is spring!) and after lunch Catherine and I enjoyed a board game while Thomas hung out with some building toys.  They played a short game on the wii, and now they've been outside for the last 75 minutes or so playing in the snow.  It's been a truly peaceful afternoon, and I'm very grateful for our time together today!

The snow has begun

In what I'm pretty sure is a first for me, we are under a winter storm warning, even though technically it's early spring!  There have been times we've had some March snow days, and I remember a few even as a child...but I don't recall any this late into the month, and I certainly don't recall any of a magnitude of 9" (the upper end of what is expected).  It is certainly the exact opposite of last year.

But I truly don't mind.  I'm scheduled to work tomorrow, so if school is closed it will cost me $$.  That's okay.  It has to be as there is nothing I can do about it.  I truly can't complain about a day with my family at home, especially since Andrew has had a bug this weekend and has slept most of the time...I think another day off tomorrow will serve him well!

A great week

It's a good week here.  I've been able to sub all three days this week in my most favorite assignment...preschool!  My good friend Jen has had to be home all week because her daughter has been suffering from a virus that has been going around.  While I know she hated being out of work, I was very grateful for the opportunity.  She was grateful that not only was she able to have the same sub for all three days (it doesn't always work out that way!) she was very comfortable that I was the one there.  I appreciate her confidence in me!  I love those little kiddos, but I certainly do not envy the paperwork and bureaucratic red tape that she deals with daily.  It's definitely the most physically exhausting of all the sub jobs I do, but without a doubt, it's my favorite.

And now my husband and I are celebrating a four day weekend!  He's taken two personal days for the next two days so that we can hang out and watch basketball together, and I've made sure that I'm not working either.  We are so looking forward to hanging out together and enjoying March Madness!

Looking for a house

Our family spent yesterday afternoon in the town where my husband works and to which we are hoping to move in a year.  While I had attended college there and was fairly familiar, I had never really looked at it through the eyes of a true resident, and I certainly wasn't overly familiar with the locations of all the residential streets.  We enjoyed our afternoon, and we are faced with many thoughts and options.  We are contemplating buying a major fixer that we can work on for the next year, but there is of course the risk of owning two homes at one time.  I keep insisting however, that we are not moving until next summer...although that may be my way of being in denial!

Green for St. Patrick's Day

I've changed my blog background to green for St. Patrick's Day.  I don't particularly love it, so I'll probably change it very soon, but today is green day.  As the kids were getting dressed for church this morning, I noticed that none of them were wearing green.  I thought about reminding them, but ultimately there wasn't really time to change so I decided to just let it go.  Probably not the nicest decision as a mom, but it is what it is.

Sundays have become my quiet time in the mornings.  Andrew takes the kids to church and I stay home.  To be totally honest, it's a very tough situation for me.  I have come to realize that I have way too many differences in philosophy and beliefs to regularly attend the Catholic church with him.  I am filled with guilt over that fact, but every time I attend I feel either angry or beaten up, and neither is the way I wish to feel after church.  I completely and totally support Andrew being there, and while I am at times less than enthused with my children being raised this way, I made a commitment that they would be and I stand by that.  Don't get me wrong, the Catholic church stands for many, many wonderful things, and the things with which I disagree, for the most part, Andrew disagrees as well.  However, he tends not to take it "personally" as I apparently do.  I long to attend the Methodist church here in town, but I've never been good about attending church by myself.  In the meantime, in the solitude of my quiet Sunday mornings, I honestly feel more in touch with God and feel a greater sense of peace than I would by attending church where it just upsets me.  It's not an ideal situation, but it's one that works for us for now.

Yesterday was draining

Yesterday was one of the most draining days I've had in a while.  First, I was working in a second and third grade resource room.  Those are never my favorite days.  The kids are not bad kids, but I'm just better in a classroom setting rather than in a small group.  I do okay with one-on-one, but I'm not as good when there are four, five, or six and that's it.  So it wasn't my favorite day, but it was only one day and life goes on.

I got home to find an email from my father letting me know that Mom had taken my aunt Cathy (her sister) to the hospital.  Aunt Cathy's face had begun to swell while at work and Mom had first taken her to an e/n/t who sent them straight to the e/r.  As of 11:30 last night they still had not determined any cause, but she was on an iv of fluids and antibiotics (although there was no indication of infection, they wanted to be safe) and was also on morphine to help with the pain.  God love my mother!  She has my father's illness to contend with, and is also the primary helper for my grandmother.  G.G. can get around and is fairly independent, but any time something happens it's my mom who has to help her out.  My aunt called my mother because one of her daughters can't drive and the other has three young children.  I know it's a lot for my mom to deal with some days.

And then we also had our situation with Piper, one of our cats.  Piper, and her twin brother Wally, were my babies from the get-go.  They've been around longer than my husband or any of my children.  But they are getting up there in age and that is part of the reason that we brought Lincoln and Rosie home.  Andrew kept saying that Piper didn't seem right.  He kept saying she was smaller and he didn't think she was eating.  I kept saying I thought he was over reacting, but he insisted yesterday that he take her to the vet.  I always let him handle these things because I don't want to become a blubbering idiot in front of the vet.  Andrew called and said that things weren't good.  We were to isolate her and monitor her, but things didn't look good.  She had lost four pounds (and she was only ten pounds to start!) and the vet was concerned about organ failure.  He said that he felt the most likely scenario was the fact that she had injured herself and was in a great deal of pain, and then had stopped eating because it was too painful to move around, but because she had stopped eating it may be too late to save her.  Andrew brought her home and we set things up in the downstairs bathroom...it's the only room we have where we can truly isolate her and we don't need to be going in and out of it.  It's also a room where there really isn't anything she can jump on.  After she was settled in the room, we sat the kids down and explained to them what was happening.  As much as I love my cats, they are my pets, and I can be philosophical that my children are healthy and life will be okay.  Of course I was sad, but the truly heart breaking part of last evening was the sobs of my two younger children.  I'll never forget the sound of their crying, and I'll especially never forget the look on Thomas's face.  It was awful.  Catherine just kept wailing, "But I don't want her to die!"  By the time we all went to bed last night, we were pretty drained.

But the good news is that Piper is eating very well!  She was given some fluids and steroids at the vet last night, and it seems to be helping tremendously!  It truly now does appear that it was an injury and not some horrible disease that was causing her discomfort.  Our hope now is that it is not a fracture, and that with rest and isolation she will continue to heal on her own.  We also have to give her an oral steroid for a few days, and since she is eating again that will be much easier that it could have been.  I was very glad to be able to share the good news with the kids when they got up this morning.  Today the sun is shining and I've had my vanilla caramel latte...it looks like it's going to be a good day!

Our plans for the future

While the last post was fun, whimsical plans of our children, this is a legitimate post about our plans for our family.  We have decided it is time to seriously begin looking for a new house...and this time it needs to be in my husband's school district.  Our school district has cut over $3 million from the budget in the last two years, and if the levy doesn't pass in May, another $1.5 million will also need to be cut.  While the board has done an amazingly tremendous job of keeping class sizes small and trying not to cut teachers, it still can not compare to the level of education Robert is receiving at Andrew's district.  It's not a move I ever really wanted to make, but I can see so many advantages to it...and the biggest advantage is to the kids.  It's going to be so hard to leave our friends here, and definitely hard to leave our house, but I like to think that we'll be able to find a house that is more practical for us, and we both have so many connections in the new town that I know it will all work out.  Hopefully a year from now (or possibly sooner) we'll be planning the switch!

Their plans for the future

A few weeks ago at dinner, Catherine and Thomas told us they were planning to live together when they grow up.  We told them that their husband/wife may not appreciate that.  They were disappointed, but then someone mentioned the possibility of a duplex.  They loved the thought of that and their grand plan began.  Thomas had already mentioned that he was planning to cut a hole in the wall on the inside between the two sides so that they didn't have to go outside to see each other.  Their big concern was the pets...Catherine wants cats and Thomas wants dogs and they were concerned how the pets might feel about each other.

A couple of days later they announced that they were planning to both be veterinarians when they grow up and work together.  Catherine then announced that she was going to wait two years after graduating from high school to go to college so that they could both go together at the same time.  We still thought the whole things was cute, but that part did make us frown a little bit!

Last Sunday, I took Catherine and Thomas to UD for the Notre Dame Club's Eucharistic Breakfast.  Andrew and Robert had to be at Sunday School and baseball practice and there was no way to do it all, so we split up (as we pretty much always do these days).  As we were driving onto campus, Thomas and Catherine were noticing all of the duplexes that were available for student housing.  I think their college choice was made right then!  They were so excited and I was just smiling.  Catherine then asked Thomas if they were still planning to be vets when they grow up.  Thomas replied, "Yes, but when we get fired (WHAT?) from that, we'll be builders because we build with Lego's all the time."  Then he went on to say, "Technically, I have to do all the work."  The whole thing just cracked me up.  Getting fired?  A back up career?  I love the whimsey of their dreams...and I hope they always are so close to each other.

Oh, and just so you don't think Robert is feeling left out...he was "invited" to join in the plan and they would find a triplex.  However, he wants no part of anything to do with the plan, or frankly any aspect of his brother and sister these days.  Ah, the "joys" of parenting a teenager!

March in the Midwest

We are currently under a winter storm warning that is scheduled to last until 1:00 tomorrow afternoon.  We are supposed to get somewhere from 2 to 6 inches of snow, but between the timing of it all and the wind (flat rural Ohio farmland!) I'm pretty sure we'll at least have a delay and maybe be home all day.  March snow storms never linger long though.  How quickly will this one be gone?  Well, the high on Saturday is predicted to be in the 50's.  I hate to complain, but as someone who suffers with sinus issues, I just know that it's going to be rough!

How to get a snowday

Thomas came home yesterday with this plan to get a snow day:

1) Put ice cubes in the toilet.  To be safe, he felt this meant to be ice cubes in EVERY toilet and then mentioned that no one was allowed to flush the toilet until the ice had melted.

2) Sleep with a spoon under your pillow.  Again, this required full family participation and he disbursed plastics spoons.  And yes, we did all have them under our pillows last night.

3) Sleep with jammies on backwards.  Since he was wearing the zippered footed jammies, this was particularly challenging, but he did it anyway!  He has decided that since it didn't work last night, this is where the plan is flawed.  He feels that full family participation is required here as well, and that isn't going to happen.  He was explaining to Catherine that she needed to do this and she said she didn't want to because it's uncomfortable.  He agreed, but mentioned it's a small price to pay in order to get a snow day.  He's cracking us up!

The end of basketball season

Basketball season officially ended in this house yesterday.  Thomas's final game was Thursday.  We weren't sure he was going to get to play because of his finger, but his hand had healed enough that we decided to let him play in his final game.  I'm so glad that we did.  He even managed to score in his final game and was especially excited it was a left handed shot!  After the game the coach handed out the trophies each player receives and the one thing he mentioned about Thomas is that he is always smiling.  It is a trait we sincerely hope he always has!

Catherine's final game yesterday was a loss, but she had fun.  Every girl on her team improved this year, but two in particular improved more than others.  Catherine was one of those players.  I regret that she hasn't played before this year, but we are going to try to send her to a college day camp this summer to try and help her with improving her skills.  And maybe one day it will even be warm enough that she (and Thomas) will be able to go outside and practice...but it's just been so chilly here lately!  Catherine's particular "area of specialty" was defense.  She was not at all afraid to get in there and mix it up when she was trying to keep the other team from scoring.  She had several steals, especially here at the end of the season.

While basketball is not my favorite sport (although I do enjoy it), it is definitely my favorite sport to watch my children play.  I'm going to miss watching them, especially since they have so much fun.  We get about a week off, and then baseball will really kick into gear for Robert and Andrew.  They've been practicing weekly for a month, but next week the twice weekly practices begin, and then they'll usually play two games and practice once.  The other two have decided not to play, so our lives will be just a bit less hectic.

And not that I'm counting, but Catherine and Thomas only have 64 days of school left, and Robert is down to 57!

My evening

I am suddenly looking forward to my evening!  Andrew received a phone call from a friend asking if he and Robert wanted to head out to their house and watch a movie.  The younger kids and I have an early morning tomorrow, so I've put them to bed, and I'm really looking forward to the opportunity to watch whatever I want on TV and just hang out with my crossword puzzles.  Sounds like a pretty awesome Saturday evening to me!