A Ton of Fun in 2021: Week 46 Recap

This week was exciting as my bestie from high school came back into town and asked if she could spend some time at my house during her stay. I learned that she appreciates the morning WAY more than I.  Her bedtime is also before I get home with the kids from their fifty million activities! But it was sure great to see her and catch up on life. She even came to ONU to my classes and interacted with my SM strategies class who got to hear her story and ask questions. I wish I had pictures of her and the kids playing some mad games of UNO in the evening. 

On Wednesday I was up early and off to the Toledo with PRSSA students to industry tours that had been schedule. Our stops included Toledo Metro Parks, Hart, Imagination Station and Owens Corning. We had lunch downtown and alumni Emma Prusha was able to take a break from her graduate classes at Toledo and join us.  I was upset with how many students bailed day before/day of and didn't attend, but the students who did got so much out of these visits. So informative and so fun to hear all the different journeys that led the professionals to their current positions.

Thursday was Veteran's Day and Kel was being honored at our high school as the Hometown Hero. Complete with a brunch and a ceremony, I had been invited back to attend. Yet, Thursday is my teaching day so I told Kel there was a REALLY good chance I wouldn't be coming back.  But that morning as I was getting ready, I taught my 9:30 class from Zoom as I headed back to Attica. I decided I'd never regret cancelling two classes to head back and join in honoring Kel. Best decision ever, as not only did I get to hear her talk about her experience, but I also was asked by our HS basketball coach to actually present her with the medal. WOW, I was moved to tears of how amazing she truly is and always has been. It was also really nice to see high school teachers and classmates who I haven't seen in years. 

This weekend found us all finally at home swim meet--The Lima Fall Fiesta. A huge invitational, the kids were excited to swim a regular meet at home, and maw was excited to finally attend a regular swim meet. Last year all our meets were live streamed and posted to YouTube. No one else does this, but because it was home and we still have the capability, Poppy and Grandma Julie were finally able to watch a meet online too! The kiddos did pretty good at the meet too. Isaac got 4th in the 200 free, 10th in the 100 free, 13th in both the 50 free and back, and 3rd in his relay, Olivia got 3rd in the IM and breast, 2nd in the fly, and her relays won both the 200 free and 200 IM (which means she came home with 5 medals!), not bad for the 9 year old in the 9-10 year old category!  Stay hungry, stay humble.

A Ton of Fun in 2021: Week 6 Recap

 Let it SNOW!

Oh my goodness. February came in dumping snow and ice and more snow. This week my kids stayed home more than the went to school. Monday- went to college 🤓snow day! Tuesday- virtually went to school online while the Elida teachers got vaccinations. Wednesday went to school!  Thursday- Olivia went to school all day, Isaac had me pick him up at 1:30 with a belly ache.  Friday- snow day! What is a momma to do when you are trying to teach in person at the university but have a two-hour delay (then cancelled) on all these days?! Well, Monday they had to come with me. I don't teach and had already lined up maw (thankfully she lives close!) to watch them on Tuesday when I teach all day. They bring stuff to do- Isaac watched 5 hours worth of cartoons.  Olivia plays teacher and helped me grade a few papers that had one particular answer so she could while I was answering emails, using the scanner and sitting on Zoom calls from my office. I treated them to their favorite lunch on the way in exchange for good behavior! 

Tuesday they went to Maws and did homework online. Speaking of which, here's a picture I've never been able to take before and couldn't be prouder-thus refrigerator-worthy! Both kiddos made the honor roll.  For Olivia this is regular...but for Isaac it's monumental. He's obsessed with checking his grades online nightly now.  He was over the moon that he got all A's and one B and so were his parents.  These will remain on the fridge until the next report card-which Isaac reminds us daily is March 9. LOL

Wednesday is my work-from-home day.  I typically also do my grocery shopping on Wednesday and those who know me best, know I love me a list and shopping at Ruler or Aldi.  This week found me at Aldi.  Here's my cart bagged up. Four heaping bags will get us at least a good two weeks worth of planned out meals.  And the best part?  This cart-load of groceries was around $100. Yep. Aldi always cost a bit more than Ruler, but I also buy at lot more produce because I like Aldi's better than Ruler. There are always about three things (cheese pizza rolls for kids lunches, spaghetti o's, and Breyer's Lactose Free ice cream or Toft's ice cream) that are very specific I have to go get at Meijer afterward. Other than that, I can save a ton of money by sticking to the planned out meal list and shopping at my favorites. 

Thursday shortly before my noon class I got a call from Elida schools to say Isaac wasn't feeling well and asking me to pick him up.  Nurse Lauren was awesome enough to hang out with him for 1.5 hours because I had a test in my noon class and it still takes me about 35 minutes to drive from ONU back to Elida. I think it was something little man ate because he looked white as a ghost and said he had a tummy ache, but no temperature. He came home and I made him lay on the couch and watch HGTV 🤣 Sorry buddy, you don't get to come home and watch cartoons or you'd want to come home everyday! 

Friday it poured down snow in the early morning hours and school was cancelled. Because I don't teach on Fridays, I just sat up shop at the end of our kitchen table and told the kids to do their homework online and have me check it before submitting. Highlight of the day was Isaac asking if H-E-L-L was a bad word from the other room.  Me confused said yeah, why do you ask? He said it was on his homework 😳Yikes! I put it on FB initially (check out the screenshot) and within 45 minutes the poor teacher was calling me apologizing. I took down the FB post (no intensions to get her in trouble!), but it did give us a good chuckle for the day. 

Saturday= Swim Meets. Again the kids did a great job. Here are screenshots of their times. Isaac swam similar times as before. Olivia continued to take time off of her events. As the season is starting to peek, the first weekend in March will be the championships at BG.  Both kids have qualified and are excited to head north for the big event

These last pictures are just some fun ones. Jeremy continues to work on his PhD, so here's a picture of where we find him working on his classes.  Olivia was being a kid and decided to take the Jenga pieces and make dominoes throughout the dining room. All-in-all a pretty busy indoor week! ❄️