Furlough Monday

This week is spring break at UW Fox. Although I envision using this time to get stuff done around the house, get ahead in my school work, or simply relax a bit - it seems to never work out that way.

Yesterday was technically a furlough day - or a day we do not get paid for - which they conveniently scheduled on a day that no one works anyway (did I mention it was break). Have I also mentioned before that they scheduled all of the furlough days (6 total) on non-instructional days, like the day after Thanksgiving and the day after final exams? Don't want to inconvenience the students... Of course, this just gives fodder for the legislature / public to say that we can trim fat from our budget without it impacting students - so trim a little more.....

But given that the university was closed, the Children's Center was also closed, so Jacob and I had the day to bond. We built forts:



The one with no roof is my fort. Jacob's was the one with the blankets.

We also rode our bikes to the park, I did lots of laundry, and we "decorated" the family room with pictures that we'd drawn on paper with Allison's markers (as she was not around to protest).

Today, Jacob was back in school and in the morning I went in for a student to make up an exam and to get some things done on campus in my ESFY coordinator role. I never get this stuff done during the regular workweek. Now I am sitting at home immobilized by the fact that starting any of the various projects around the house requires a significant commitment of time or mental energy (probably why they haven't been done yet).

I did parse through Jacob's summer clothes from last year and got rid of anything that likely won't fit. I thought that I would have to buy a whole new summer wardrobe for him, but there are actually quite a few t-shirts that should be OK. Shorts, on the other hand, we need new. I've found that Allison's clothes are much more seasonally fluid. A jumper paired with a long sleeved shirt and leggings in the winter can morph into a a summer outfit by losing the leggings and swapping a short sleeved t-shirt. Since she vastly prefers skirts and dresses, this works well.

Anyway - off to do something.....

Maple Syrup Day

On Saturday, we went to 1000 Islands Nature Center for Maple Syrup Day. It started with very good pancakes and sausage.



We'd never been to 1000 Islands, but apparently, it was conceived, designed, and funded by taxidermists. Brian's note was "gee, there are a lot of non-native species here." Like - the 10 foot tall polar bear. There were also snakes and small rodents in formaldehyde, at least 15 stuffed bears, and a room devoted to Africa. There were more stuffed ducks that I could count. One nice thing was that there was a lot to touch. The worst thing was the glass bookcase filled with small dead birds - who looked as though they had crashed into the window pane or been caught by a cat earlier in the day.



After breakfast, we took a nature hike. There was a maple syrup house. There was also a teepee. Jacob's comment was "I'm not going in that dirty old tent."



We looked for fish in the very high flowing Fox River. They actually offer some kids fishing classes in the summer.



Due to contamination - please do not eat any of the fish that you catch. Under no circumstances should you consume the carp.

Leprechauns

What gets you to make a late-night run to Target on March 16th? It's your son's fervent belief that a Leprechaun will be visiting tonight and leaving gold coins. Two things are imperative - one, that you try to catch the Leprechaun with a trap, and two - that the Leprechaun will surely leave gold coins behind. As a parent, I buy in because I fear that if there are no gold coins, it's a slippery slope from fake Leprechauns to the Easter Bunny to Santa Claus.

So, while I find it endearing that Jacob believes that a Leprechaun will be visiting our house tonight, I am also a little.... eh.... tired of the monthly march of trinket-requiring holidays. From St. Nick's Day (12/5 - which we avoided since it was a Saturday) to Christmas to Valentine's Day to St. Patrick's Day to the upcoming Easter holiday - with a few lost teeth to spice things up. I guess after Easter there will be a drought until Halloween. Unless I'm missing something..... like a sneaky Betsy Ross that comes on the 4th of July.

Beautiful Day!

It was a lovely day today! We took the kids this am to get new bikes (Jacob has seriously outgrown his and Allison had a hand-me-down last summer that needed replacement). They were so excited to get home and ride them.

A quarter of the way around the block, Allison fell off hers. I convinced her to finish the ride around the block - but her enthusiasm took a serious hit. Jacob continued to enjoy his periodically over the afternoon as he and the neighbor boy would decide to ride up and down the street every now and then.

We did spend the better part of the afternoon outside - playing baseball, swinging on the playset, and eating popice left over from last summer. Jacob played most of the afternoon with the neighbor Lucas. It'll be interesting to see if they are in the same kindergarten class or on the same soccer team this summer.

I got the fourth and final trash bag of winter dog poop cleaned up. Woo hoo!

What's new?

What's new? The snow has melted in the sunny front yard. We've found Lightening McQueen, who got lost in a snow drift in December. We've also found tons and tons of dog poo. Yuck.

Jacob is still enjoying karate. Both kids like swimming lessons really well. Yesterday was parent watch day at Jacob's swimming lessons. He's working on his arm stroke, and if he masters it - it will make him (at least in the eyes of the YMCA) a better swimmer than Allison. Allison is a fearless swimmer - big fan of diving for rings, jumping off the edge, and swimming dolphin style underwater. As for the official swimming techniques - not so much. Jacob is doing a pretty good job of mastering the technique, but isn't necessarily "comfortable" with the water. We could probably combine their strengths and have a regular fish.

Brian is busy with work - the same amount of work that kept him superbly busy before - only with less people to help / delegate to.

There was a meeting at Allison's school the other week to discuss enrollment. The numbers are like this right now: 3 second grade classes total of about 75 students; 2 first grade classes for a total of 61 students (30 and 31 - yikes!); 4 kindergartens for a total of 96 students (double yikes!!). Enrolled kindergartners for next year (Jacob's grade) - 44 with a projection of 50.

So next year there will hopefully be 3 third grades, 3 second grades, 4 first grades, and 2 kindergartens. If they lose a teacher there will still be 2 kindergartens and 4 first grades - but there will be 2 second and 2 third with a second/third split. Needless to say - current first grade parents are happy because under either scenario our kids go from 30-31 to 25-28 in a class. Current second grade parents are irate because with reduced staffing their numbers will go up from 25 to 28.

I'm kindof bummed that Jacob's kindergarten will be big (22 to 25; compared with Allison's 18); but happy that Allison's class size may go back down to 25 or even maybe 20. I know who the kindergarten teachers will be, but I don't know who will end up teaching second grade. Allison will not be in the split class because it would be to challenging to coordinate services for students in a mixed grade. (the principal seemed to be looking right at me when he told the parent group that there wouldn't be special needs students in the mixed grade and when he said it wouldn't be ideal for students who didn't have good organizational skills - I don't like the principal very much). Honestly - I think Allison would like and do well in a mixed class, but I understand the logic.

It'll be interesting. I partially can't believe both kids will be in school next year.

What's wrong with this picture??

The evolution of Astro's sleeping habits.

Stage (1) - puppy. Spent most of his time in a crate, locked up, whining.
Stage (2) - won't pee in the house (adolescence?). Got himself out of the crate, but not allowed onto the bed. We'll call this the Cincinnati and Madison phases.
Stage (3) - middle age (fond du lac). Allowed to sleep on the bed. I think we were sleep deprived with new babies in the house and didn't notice until it was too late, but he was still pretty sure he wasn't supposed to be there, so he would jump down with a nudge of the toe.
Stage (4) - retirement. Allowed to sleep on the bed, and not interested in moving to response to our desires to also sleep on the bed.
Stage (5) - old age. Home, home on the pillows. This results in two distinct problems - smelly pillows and wet pillows (from when the dog licks his paws - yeah, we'll assume it's his paws).

I inherited it here: