Life in the Dark Ages

Ok - so it was only "dark" for about 11 hours. We were very fortunate this week in that our power was only off for a brief time. There are lots of people who have been out of power for days now (including my parents). We came home from school early on Monday, though the weather wasn't yet that bad. Not long after dark, that changed. By Tuesday morning, we had so much ice accumulation that we lost power. The kids were amused at first, I think because it wasn't dark, so it didn't seem that strange. We turned on our gas fireplace which did a fairly good job of keeping us warm. Fortunately, we had turned up the heat warmer than normal in anticipation of losing power; that definitely helped to keep it from getting too cold. John cooked macaroni and cheese on the grill outside, so we enjoyed a warm lunch. The power came back on for a few hours in the afternoon - long enough to crank up the heat again - before going off for a longer stretch of time. We grilled again for dinner and ate by candlelight. We played board games with candles and flashlights; the kids were most amused. Baths were by candlelight (a well-known treat for me but something new for the kids). We all went to bed by 8:30 - also a treat - - extra sleep! We awoke in the middle of the night to every light in the house coming on - and, the power's been on since.

We've watched several movies, played games, and read books. The kids played outside several different times. Unfortunately, the whole family got sick with some sort of bug. Samuel threw up all day yesterday, and Hannah had a fever all day. Jacob was sick with the stomach bug today. I think all are feeling better now.

I left the house today (Friday) for the first time in four days. All I had seen of the storm was what I could see from our windows, the tv news, and facebook pictures people had posted. What I saw in person was absolutely unreal. It's like a tornado has ripped through town taking trees and power lines but, for the most part, leaving houses and buildings. The ice was beautiful, but the damage is astounding.

Pinewood Derby

And they're off . . . .

This weekend, the boys participated in the Cub Scouts Pinewood Derby. This was quite an event! John worked on their cars (you'll notice I said John, not the boys!) for days and days. The boys picked out a pattern and colors, that's about it. We had no idea what to expect. Next year, we'll be more prepared. Neither of our cars won any heats at all. They were pretty slow, in fact. Oh well. I think the boys had fun just going. We got free lunch too.

Jacob checks out the competition.

Samuel's troop votes on the coolest car.

Some of the cooler cars . . . .

Some Kind of Joke?

Ok - one product was kinda weird, but another has shown up at my door. Has someone filled out some new expectant mother card with my name on it? Earlier this week, I got a box of canned baby formula. Then, a second package showed up - sample diapers. I'm trying to get rid of baby stuff, and more shows up??

Stuff

Can you believe that I'm finally writing another post? Since joining Facebook, I find it harder to get around to writing something new for the blogging world (not that there are many out there who read this!). School has been back in session for just over a week. Things at school are going fairly well. We've implemented some new behavior plans for our entire group, and so far, they seem to be working - at least a little. That's a good thing because it's a long, long time until June.

I started this semester's grad class tonight. It's GT Curriculum. I am so glad to be back with my advisor; I love sitting under her instruction. I get something out of every class, and it's usually something that I can use in my classroom even though I'm not teaching GT. This semester I will have to write an entire unit based on an "ology" or "ography." I pretty much have free reign over my choice. Any cool suggestions? We spent part of class trying to match "ology" and "ography" vocabulary terms with what was being studied. It was really pretty challenging (although I'm certain that James would have been great at it because of his vast vocabulary!).

4th Grade continues to be a burden on me. Jacob is really doing fine, but his grades have slipped a little. I don't know why I feel such pressure about his performance. Actually, that's not true. I do know why. I still question (on a regular basis) our decision to skip kindergarten. Anytime he misses something, I worry that we made the wrong decision or at least that his teacher questions our decision. Then, if I get onto Jacob to get him to work harder (the problem is mostly not checking work, careless errors, bad handwriting) then he gets all upset. I have got to work on some kind of balance. AUGHHH!!