Ain't nobody got time for that... but me.

The Scream. 

Can you see it? 

I think this is an accurate description of what's been going around here lately. 

Chris and Jacob have been extra obstinate, and Sam got busted blowing off and lying about his Kumon which has gotten hard for him.  All three have gotten themselves sent to their rooms. 

And this is all I seem to be doing lately. 

Oh and I messed up on my Classical Attitude Shawl and had to frog it. Luckily? I only had to frog a couple rows, still, I'm getting very near the end and I didn't want to frog it.  But now that I've done it, I find that things are coming together with it again. Maybe I'll finish it soon, today or tomorrow? 

I don't have much else cooking, I should be able to knock it out.  It's my Therapy.  

 

Happy Birthday Opa!

 

Last night, we went down to my Dad's to Celebrate his Birthday!  

The moment we walked in, he told us he wanted a picture with all the grandkids. I wholly supported that. I seriously debated leaving 2/3 of the kids at home because they were in rare form and we were 30 minutes late because of all their grumping and screaming when it was time to go. 

I feel like all I do is yell at them lately. But when they were with their cousins, they were on good behavior. It's good to let them be sweet together, so I don't feel quite as bad. 

My Dad didn't have much patience for us as tweens/teens either. He wasn't used to our noise.  I remember him yelling at us when we weren't fighting, and ignoring us when we fought. I hated it.

He's a good Grandpa though. 

My Dad is turning 73 today.  

My Stepmom jokes he's turning into an old man who doesn't like to turn left while driving, and likes to check the weather, so she got him an Apple Watch that he can check the weather.  I thought to myself, oh my goodness, I will drive out of the way to avoid turning left onto 267, and I've been checking the weather every day. Just like Pa. 

HAPPY BIRTHDAY OPA!

My Stepmom put out another amazing spread - Pork Tenderloin, spaetzle, and apple Strudel. 

Initially the kids balked at it, but then they tried it, and realized how awesome it was. 

They've learned their lesson. 

Everything my stepmom makes is amazing.  I prefer her Schnitzel and Spaetzle myself, but it was a scrumptious meal. Even all my kids cleaned their plates.  That was a birthday miracle too.  

As we headed out, the kids tackled my Dad with hugs, and I managed to snap the pic.  Daddy told me to send him the pic.  I know where I get it, that whole I must document this moment.  We got him a James Bond movie he can watch in his theatre basement, but the pictures and memories of the kids being sweet, that was the real Gift. 

Go Dogs Go!

I got to take Christopher to a Pep Band game tonight. 

He only gets to participate in a couple a year, and given how rough a time we've been having lately, technically I tagged Eric out.  But he got tied up in a meeting, so I got to be the one to go. 

I'm surprised at how glad I was that I got to go. 

A. There was a Women's Game first.  I find myself really enjoying watching our gals play. 

They played well, but Westfield found their attack strategy in the 4th quarter and they caught up and passed us, so we lost.  

2. Pep Band makes their appearance and they are more fun than watching the Cheerleaders! 

They've got Spirit, yes they do! 

The Saxophone section leads the band when our team is on Defense.  They confused Westfield by calling out their moves.  Every time the opposition bounced, passed, or shot, our band would holler out, "Bounce, Bounce, Pass, Shoot, Ohhhhhhh, Air Ball, Rebound, Bounce, Bounce...." It was fascinating.  If I had bad eyesight,  I'd sit by the band to watch the games. 

D. The Percussion Section TAKES OVER! 

There are a lot of percussionists that want to participate in Pep Band.  

So the Front Ensemble gets to do things like Cowbell, or Tamborine.  

They have fun. 

A vertical tamborine or Tamborine on a stick? 

Whatever you call it, Chris had a good time playing it. 

He usually hides towards the back, but by the time the Boys played, he was up close to the front.  

He was smart to wear his headphones too, the sound bounces around a lot in the gym.  

I kind of wish I'd brought a pair.  ;) One of these days we'll all be well prepared. 

The Boys won the second game of the double header, and it was all good. 

 

Tap Cardi Continued

 

One Panel Down!

It's taking forever, but I'm still making progress on my Tap Cardigan from We Are Knitters in Copper Pima Cotton. It's so soft, I'm getting a second wind of excitement to working on it.

I finished the Back a few weeks ago, but tonight I finished the first of the front panels.  This thing is going to be so huge! As I sat finishing the last couple rows, I could cover my whole leg with it.  I'm going to love wearing this sweater that goes down and covers my whole booty! 

What do you think, might I need to add some pockets?

Dog Bone Day

It's a Dog Bone Day. 

This year, the Middle School has decided to only bring out the Dog Bone Cart once a month. So I volunteered to go Serve for lunch.  Instead of 3 lunches, there are 6.. .to keep the kids spread out for Covid.  They start at 10 a.m. 

What's a Dog Bone you ask?  Well, since We Are Bulldogs, when the kids doing a good job like their homework, or exhibiting good character, they are given a reward of a pink piece of paper with a dog bone printed on it.  This year they are pink. Each dog bone is worth 1 unit, and the kids can save up, and use their dog bones as money to 'buy' things off the cart.  So they have erasers, slime, various fidgets and knickknacks.  If they save up they can get a sweatshirt or water bottle.  Saving for a month at a time, they had some shopping to do.  The 6th graders were maniac shoppers. 

I think it also teaches money management, and gives them confidence and pride in a job well done. 

Traditionally, I'm not a fan of middle schoolers or high schoolers, but these are good kids, and it was fun to reward them for good behavior, and to see them choose.  On a couple of occasions, some of the kids would shop for their friends.  I wanted to give them coupons just for being a good friend. 

There's Hope for our kids after all. 

I also got to see this Sweetboy too. Easy to spot in the green shirt and shoes. I learned he reads while eating his lunch, and I recognized the kids he sits with for lunch, all band friends. So it begins. 

He eats lunch at 10 am! Talk about early.  They were also given free ice cream for a treat for their good behavior, that doesn't happen very often either.   His teachers didn't tell him to bring his dog bones, so he didn't come shop at my cart, but I got to see him at his school. And that made all the rest worth it.  This was my first time volunteering inside the school since he started middle school. Stupid Covid. 

So, a pink dog bone was the embroidery icon of the day. ;) 

 

Baby's 1st Pep Band Game

It's Pep Band time for the Middle School!  

As a percussionist, Sam gets to be in front and take turns playing. 

He didn't take a turn on the drum set this time, but had fun playing cowbell. 

 

More Cowbell! 

This kid will bang on anything! 

He's got a stick to play the cowbell, but he'll play anything he can get his hands on. 

He's going to love driving, when he can play the steering wheel all the time. 

I had fun watching us win one lose one on a double header against Avon, and he had fun playing and chatting with his friends. It did my heart good to see him chatting with the boys and girls around him.  

He Loves Band! 

Therapeutic Thoughts

 

I got caught up on the Embroidery of the day. 

I went out for Taco Tuesday with my gals, it had been a month or so. I messed up last week, so it was good to get back to correct order of things.  Our $1 tacos have gone up to $1.50, but that's still a pretty sweet deal. 

My S.A.D. lamp arrived. 

I've been feeling in a rut, so I put out on the interwebs, aka FB, for some ideas. I've been in a rut, and more that one person that I care about has talked about being a winter funk the last few days.  I thought I'd put it out there where they could see.  3 or 4 people popped right back and suggested a SAD lamp.  Even my mother in law, who prompted the discussion has one.  She is very ready to get back to Florida with Dad, but they have to make sure of a few things before they can skip town. If they get the OK, I volunteered to help take them down.  But what to do in the mean time? 

Thus the sad lamp. 

I don't actually remember ordering it.  I remember looking at them, researching different perks, and then yesterday it popped up in my email that my lamp was on its way. 

I guess that was a sign that I needed the lamp. 

How big is my funk that I don't remember pushing play on the order?! 

Meanwhile, I saw this gaggle of geese as I left the neighborhood to go get Sam today. 

Something caught my eye.  A white bird!  

What white bird is tootling around with a gaggle of geese? 

 I pondered this as I drove to the school and back. I thought about that whale, the 50 mHz one, who has no one else to talk to? 

He must be so lonely. 

When I got back to the neighborhood, I was so sad for this single white duck (or goose) that was cruising around with these jerky Canadian geese all alone in the world.  In my head, he was lonely and sad, with no one to talk to. But by the time I got back, there were two!  

Well, that got me thinking.  We're not alone. I'm not alone.

Even when we feel really lonely, like in the winter, when we're stuck at home by ourselves, no one to talk to, feeling Sad.  Just know that you're not alone.  Somewhere there's another white goose or duck.

Nope, you're not alone.   

A Productive weekend

 We finally got the Christmas trees all taken down, and put away.   And when we had to vacuum up the carnage, Ahsoka disagreed with the process.  She wanted to attack the Vacuum. 

An Attack Dog! 

Ahsoka would bring her stick over to the vacuum, arguing between showing the stick to the vacuum and wanting to Get It. 

She's not used to us cleaning, I guess. 

She cracks us up. 

Given how hard the kids had to work on things like cleaning their rooms, doing their laundry, finding Joy in a vacuum attack dog was the high point of our day.